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Lord of the Rings Ongoing Discussion

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Update - September 2022

According to Promobricks, LotR is returning in 2023 in the form of two BrickHeadz sets:

40630: Frodo and Gollum
40631: 
Gandalf the Gray and the Balrog

And _possibly_ a large D2C set, but that was not 100% confirmed.

________________________________
Hello everyone! 

I know the topic already has been discuss a while ago but it was before amazon annonced that they are working on a Lord of the rings tv series. 

Do you guys think that with the new tv series , Lego would bring back LoTR / Hobbits sets ? ( I am huge fan! ) and a lot of things haven't been done yet ( gondor soldiers, sauron , for quick examples ). 

I send a mail to lego and they repplied saying that the idea was interresting but not anny plans for the moment and that with enough demand why not consider the idea. ( i don't know if they are serious or if it is juste a smart markething respons to keep me dreaming haha ).

What do you guys think about it ? Is it possible that the LoTR would make a come back?? 

Have a nice day everyone!

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I would love if Lord Of The Rings would make a return as there are tons of sets that I never got, and tons of sets that nobody got (Minas Tirith). But now would be a silly time to bring it back. I am a fan of the movies and was not even aware a TV show was being made, I just don't see any reason for Lego bringing it back as there is no big draw to the material at this time. Honestly and sadly the only time I see lotr coming back is if they made another Middle Earth movie, and who know when or if that will happen. 

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Yeah, I don't think the timing is right at the moment, but with Nexo Knights gone and no other medieval/castle theme out there, when they're ready to do that again I think new LoTR might be an option... especially if the new series does well.  But they might also just go with generic fantasy that could play to both LoTR as well as the end of Game of Thrones.  I'd be happy with more LoTR, that's for sure, but we'll just have to wait and see!

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It won't be out until 2020 / 2021 and so I doubt LEGO would do anything before then. Plus it won't be LOTR but pre-LOTR so characters are likely to be a bit different - I've seen reports it might be based on adventures of young Aragorn, for example.

 

The reply from LEGO is fairly standard.

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I'd love to see the LOTR line return either as a full wave of sets or a one-off D2C release like Pirates of the Caribbean did with the Silent Mary. Regardless what form it takes however, it needs to learn from the mistakes that were made with the second wave and the Hobbit that caused the line to meet a premature end.

There should also be a focus on the things that were missed last time. Gondor should be represented over any other faction while Eowyn, Faramir and the Witch-King need to be among the first characters pushed out. There would be no excuse for shafting them again.

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1 hour ago, wesker said:

There should also be a focus on the things that were missed last time. Gondor should be represented over any other faction while Eowyn, Faramir and the Witch-King need to be among the first characters pushed out. There would be no excuse for shafting them again.

 

While longer term collectors might want this, it would almost certainly lead to failure of the range if it happened. It is already 5 years since the last sets and what they did before was before. What they would need to do now / in future is to appeal to current buyers. If they were to do LOTR based on the movies again (as opposed to whatever the amazon series will focus on) then it is highly likely that the first sets would contain The Fellowship characters, since without them there is little interest for new buyers. Why would buyers buy into sets containing Eowyn and the Witch King if there were no sets containing the popular characters?

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The Fellowship characters are always going to be an obvious inclusion. I think that goes without saying. But they weren't the only characters present when the line debuted. We also saw Theoden, Eomer, Elrond, Haldir and Lurtz in the first year, as well as two sets focusing heavily on Rohan. There's no reason why a LOTR revival couldn't substitute those for a Gondor focus and still provide the core characters for newcomer buyers like the original wave did.

Besides with Gandalf and Pippin at Minas Tirith, Aragorn/Legolas/Gimli in the Battle of Pelennor and Merry taking part in the Witch-King battle - you already have 6/9 of the Fellowship covered.

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They're doing LEGO Overwatch. I can't see why they wouldn't be able to draw from the upcoming TV show in order to do more LOTR sets - licensed themes haven't been exclusive to movies in a good few years now.
Of course, that doesn't guarantee anything - it'd have to be given the greenlight first. But if they could do a large Minas Tirith set and another Bag End set, they'd already be able to draw in plenty of people.

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I've asked this in every LOTR related thread for the past two years: Why would Lego bring back a theme that didn't do well? There's no debating that it was a commercial flop. Blame the set choices all you want, it didn't sell well. I just don't get why some people assume it will be back :shrug_confused:

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7 hours ago, BrickJagger said:

I've asked this in every LOTR related thread for the past two years: Why would Lego bring back a theme that didn't do well? There's no debating that it was a commercial flop. Blame the set choices all you want, it didn't sell well. I just don't get why some people assume it will be back :shrug_confused:

Are there some official sources for this? All I´ve found are just some speculations and AFOLs opinions. I think that there still is a chance for one or few big exclusive sets of iconic builds/locations (like micro Hogwarts) with the most famous/desirable characters.

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35 minutes ago, Mr. Cube said:

Are there some official sources for this? All I´ve found are just some speculations and AFOLs opinions.

Same...

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15 hours ago, General Magma said:

They're doing LEGO Overwatch. I can't see why they wouldn't be able to draw from the upcoming TV show in order to do more LOTR sets - licensed themes haven't been exclusive to movies in a good few years now.
Of course, that doesn't guarantee anything - it'd have to be given the greenlight first. But if they could do a large Minas Tirith set and another Bag End set, they'd already be able to draw in plenty of people.

That is assuming the Minas Tirith and Bag End feature in the new series. It is still unclear what is even going to be in the new series, whether it will be the same story covered in the movies or other materials prior to the start of the movies. There have been rumours that this series will concentrate on young Aragorn. Quite a lot happens to Aragorn beforehand - losing his father, growing up in Rivendell (as Estel), finding out about his true identity, his relationship with Arwen, leaving Rivendell, fighting for Rohan and Gondor (as Thorongil), his capture of Gollum, etc.

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I wouldn't hold my breath, but if they did sets based on a new "prequel" series, then it's not out of line that they would release new sets/versions from LOTR and They Hobbit, same as they are doing for Harry Potter and Star Wars.

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1 hour ago, fred67 said:

I wouldn't hold my breath, but if they did sets based on a new "prequel" series, then it's not out of line that they would release new sets/versions from LOTR and They Hobbit, same as they are doing for Harry Potter and Star Wars.

Yes correct. The difference though is that (at least from an AFOL perspective) SW and HP sets of the past were popular and so re-releases / new versions help bolster sales of sets from new films (including ones that might not be as good as the originals!). Whereas if sales of LOTR and Hobbit sets were bad in the past (as many people seem to think so), would the same thing happen? Wouldn't that be dragging sales down rather than bolstering them.

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Well, we have nothing but anecdotal evidence to suggest LOTR sales were bad, but it seems clear to me that, if sales were great, they'd keep the theme going.

Like i said, i wouldn't hold my breath.

EDIT: I should point out that they did stop HP before the series was even done.  They claimed it was because it was getting "darker," and not such a suitable series for LEGO.  However, when they came back at the end to release new sets, it seems they were very well received.  I guess there's a psychology behind it - people want something more when you take it away.  I guess there's also that new fans come along and see what they missed.

Again, I would not put anything past them.  That they ever even released LOTR sets was just a stunner to begin with - we'd been arguing here on EB for quite some time about the possibility of LOTR LEGO.  I'd always argued, as I do now, to not count it as out of the question, but don't get your hopes up, either.

Edited by fred67

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18 hours ago, Mr. Cube said:

Are there some official sources for this? All I´ve found are just some speculations and AFOLs opinions. I think that there still is a chance for one or few big exclusive sets of iconic builds/locations (like micro Hogwarts) with the most famous/desirable characters.

It was pretty well documented that the second wave of LOTR and last two waves of Hobbit were on clearance literally everywhere. The last wave of Hobbit sold so poorly that some stores chose not to even stock it. 

That stuff it buried in the Future LOTR Sets (now known as LOTR General Discussion) and Hobbit 2014 threads, but those threads are enormous and it would take me awhile to find it again.

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5 hours ago, BrickJagger said:

It was pretty well documented that the second wave of LOTR and last two waves of Hobbit were on clearance literally everywhere. The last wave of Hobbit sold so poorly that some stores chose not to even stock it. 

That stuff it buried in the Future LOTR Sets (now known as LOTR General Discussion) and Hobbit 2014 threads, but those threads are enormous and it would take me awhile to find it again.

Ah, anecdotal evidence.  Fair enough.

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9 hours ago, x105Black said:

Ah, anecdotal evidence.  Fair enough.

It's not just anecdotal. Like I said, big stores (It was either Target or Walmart, maybe both?) decided not to stock the 2014 Hobbit sets, and there are at least a couple of "reliable sources" saying that the line was not selling well, if I recall.

I don't like LOTR in the slightest but I was there when it happened. You're welcome to dig through over 1,000 pages of banter and wishlists if you would like :wink:

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6 hours ago, BrickJagger said:

It's not just anecdotal. Like I said, big stores (It was either Target or Walmart, maybe both?) decided not to stock the 2014 Hobbit sets, and there are at least a couple of "reliable sources" saying that the line was not selling well, if I recall.

I don't like LOTR in the slightest but I was there when it happened. You're welcome to dig through over 1,000 pages of banter and wishlists if you would like :wink:

This response is the definition of anecdotal evidence and on top of it, you're admitting a clear bias (you don't like the theme). Concrete data would be published numbers for sales with targets to compare. All we have here is your assertions which, while possibly accurate, are anecdotal. Then there's your dislike for the theme spurring you on. That's not an insult, it's all right that you feel this way, but it's a bit weird that you don't see that this isn't enough to satisfy people who want more info.

Personally, I wonder if Lego still has the license for LotR and The Hobbit stuff or if the original license had limits on it that would be reflected in Lego not treating it the way they have treated other licenses.

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While his response may have been anecdotal, it's the best we'll ever get.  TLG doesn't release data for specific themes.  It's not a stretch to understand what happened though - if sets sell well, they stay on the shelves longer, and the company continues the theme.  It's really that simple.  LOTR and the Hobbit died quickly.

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14 hours ago, fred67 said:

It's not a stretch to understand what happened though - if sets sell well, they stay on the shelves longer, and the company continues the theme.  It's really that simple.  LOTR and the Hobbit died quickly.

It´s not as simple as that. We do not know what exactly was in the licence contract. Maybe just 2 LotR + 2 The Hobbit waves were planned, but this has to be changed after The Hobbit became trilogy, so they did 3 Hobbit waves instead.

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I would love to see a new LotR Theme. But I have to agree that the old sets were not that spectacular. It was not because of the set choice but the poor composition of the sets itself. Don't get me wrong I like 9474 and 10237 but e.g. the 9472 9476 79005  are very small for what they could be.

Also there could be done more with the Elves village Elrond (something like the ewok village) with trees and river or the 9469 could have get at least one hobbit house. Or a set where Frodo first encountered Aragon. Would have been a nice village set with little houses and the inn. When I first saw the 9474 I really wanted it. But when I saw that it was that small and for this price I was disappointed and didn't buy it.

9473 is a really nice set though. And the pirate ambush ship is ok but nothing special. But I don't know where in the movies it has played a role.

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The pirate ship was in the Extended Cut of Return of the King only so many people who saw those movies probably didn't even see that scene. That's, anecdotally, a hint that there was some weirdness going on behind the scenes with set design and execution for LOTR at the very least. I was really surprised to see a set for that and not sets for other key scenes that were in the theatrical releases.

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15 minutes ago, mccoyed said:

The pirate ship was in the Extended Cut of Return of the King only

Ok. Thanks. Maybe I will find this scenes on YT

15 minutes ago, mccoyed said:

I was really surprised to see a set for that and not sets for other key scenes that were in the theatrical releases. 

Yes. Exactly. I also heard this from other people who did text reviews that they were confused about the decision over this set. I think its not bad at all. We have too less ships in TLW but for LOTR there could be done so much more. Maybe TLG was annoyed with licensing or something like this.

If they would make an update on this theme they have definitely much material to choose from...

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