Lord of the Rings Ongoing Discussion

[jodawill]

5 hours ago, QuiggoldsPegLeg said:

Just thinking, building that roof and getting all those 1x1 tiles lined up on a 45 degree angle is probably going to be a real pain. 

Also it looks like Lego is using an “illegal” technique of putting the plates in between studs for the mushrooms on the trees.

Those are tiles, not plates. It's legal to use tiles this way, but not plates.

1 hour ago, wesker said:

The set looks great! I'm surprised they molded so many new weapons for this set. I wasn't expecting that at all. The updated figures of the Fellowship all look good although Sam and Gimli being gingers might take some getting used to.

I do hope we eventually see some more affordable sets in the line.

I bet they put all of these weapons into a single mold. It's probably considered a single element and comes in a bag.

[Surge]

what head do arwen and legolas have? they look so familiar but i cannot remember for the life of me

[AmperZand]

4 hours ago, Blazej_Holen said:

I missed that. My bad then. Anyway, I strongly feel this is definitely not a one-off set. Maybe the faith of Barad-Dur lies in the sales numbers in upcoming months…

I realise that LEGO has said that further LotR sets are contingent on Rivendell selling well, but I strongly suspect that Barad-dûr is already in the works regardless.

I have reason to believe that some of the LEGO Ambassadors, i.e. select influencers, have already seen it or have had its release confirmed by LEGO.

The leaked image of it only reinforces that belief and the fact that the survey it leaked from was about pricing, not features, makes me doubly sure.

A Barad-dûr set including a Sauron minifigure will be released. That’s my strong suspicion.

Edited February 7, 2023 by AmperZand

[Triceron]

1 hour ago, MAB said:

That seems a bit soon. I doubt they have even analysed sales figures  of the brickheadz sets yet, let alone had time to produce a new one based on those sales.

Totaly understand.  I didn't think it to be true, just wanted to humor the irony in the thought.

I kinda think the opposite, where Lego's marketting might be using the GWP as a gateway to get LOTR enthusiasts and collectors to branch out and collect the other LOTR Brickheadz.

[Poco Lypso]

7 minutes ago, AmperZand said:

I realise that LEGO has said that further LotR sets are contingent on Rivendell selling well, but I strongly suspect that Barad-dûr is already in the works regardless.

I have reason to believe that some of the LEGO Ambassadors, i.e. select influencers, have already seen it or have had its release confirmed by LEGO.

The leaked image of it only reinforces that belief and the fact that the survey it leaked from was about pricing, not features, makes me doubly sure.

A Barad-dûr set including a Sauron minifigure will be released. That’s my strong suspicion.

was revealed in september 

 

[ToaDraco]

1 hour ago, wesker said:

The set looks great! I'm surprised they molded so many new weapons for this set. I wasn't expecting that at all. The updated figures of the Fellowship all look good although Sam and Gimli being gingers might take some getting used to.

I do hope we eventually see some more affordable sets in the line.

Oh I definitely think we'll get a bunch of regular retail sets at some point. The fact that they made so many new very lotr specific molds is evidence to me that this is going to be more than just a couple of expensive d2cs and a few brickheads. 

[Retro Brick Reviews]

I've seen that in discussing value a lot of people are bringing up the amount of tiles used for roof decoration, with some very... exaggerated numbers. 

I decided to do some math to calculate a rough estimate of how many tiles there actually are, and it is *roughly* 500 1x1 tiles, give or take. That's a bit under 1/12 of the total piece count, which means that (if all 6167 pieces had equal value) about $40 of the set's cost goes toward 1x1 tiles. Feel free to factor this into your arguments for how fair the price is.

[Agent Kallus]

1 hour ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

I’d be shocked if it didn’t sell really well. The price is very high, but I have a feeling enough people will want this that they’ll pay it no matter what

I can’t believe people are actually saying dark orange is more accurate for Gimli’s beard than reddish brown. Have you actually seen the films? I mean sure in some lights it can have a tiny orange tint but it’s clearly brown

Eh, it is somewhere between the 2. Either works in my opinion. Though I do prefer the old Gimli there pretty close, luckily I do have the old Gimli, so I will repurse new Gimli for other dwarves.

1 hour ago, kuzyabricks said:

Picked up a gandalf and Legolas head to replace the ones in this set and an alternative for arwen 😁😁😁 now I'm completely on the hype train since I can fix the figures!!!

Ironically Gandalf is the figure I have the biggest army of of all LotR characters. Because he was in a lot of cheap sets ( Gandalf arrives, dol goldur polybag, wizard duel) and because one of my Mum's friends worked as part of the Lego newspaper giveaway supply chain that year and gave me a bag of spare polybags ( like 30 of them including 6 of the Gandalf one, and I already had one too, it was a wonderful surprise) I've been repopurseinf the old Gandalf the grey torso for peasants, I never had a Gandalf the white though ( he could be coming in Barad-dûr though, on the back of an eagle?)

1 hour ago, mirkwoodspiders said:

Absolutely, same here. I think this stands on its own merit if it really is a one-off, but they put so much thought and effort into this I can't imagine they'd want to stop here with so many other possibilities. Sales should be solid, if not fantastic, and that should help LOTR's case, if they aren't already planing more anyway. 

Have we ever had this many new molds for a one off? (other than specialised heads)

1 hour ago, StegoLover said:

Honestly, that new leaf piece they're using for this set has a lot of potential for forest builds.

And I love how we will be able to recreate the meme from the movie 'One does not simply walk into Mordor.' Lol

I do love the new leaf

1 hour ago, Alegrispa said:

Oh man. F***! G*d damn it! Those a**holes really want to bleed us dry, don't they?

Sorry, it's just- that it feels like a rip-off. Most MSRPs do nowadays. And as far as we know, the only other LotR set on the horizon is another huge set. It just hurts.

Guess I'm gonna have to start setting aside 30 bucks a month from now on and maybe even sell some stuff. "Luckily" the Indiana Jones sets turned out to be a skippable disappointment. Hopefully they rest of the year won't feature anything nearly as cool as Rivendell, but it's only February, so who knows!

I mean they don't look as good as I'd hoped but I wouldn't completely judge the indy sets till we have proper clear images.

1 hour ago, Altair1 said:

 

 

2 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

This is by far my favorite location set. Might be the best aesthetic design of all time. The only area it's missing to be the best set is structural/technic skeleton, and that's not a failing of the set but simply that it doesn't require one.

 

I does look like a best set of all time contender. Not really sure what you're trying to say about a technic structure?

2 hours ago, KevinMD said:

I’ve been soaking the pictures in all morning. What a beauty. 
I wonder if the shard of Narsil portends an original battle set, with Sauron, Isildur, and Elrond. Perhaps with Mt doom. 

I could see that as part of the Barad-dûr set.

2 hours ago, kuzyabricks said:

The mantis face will work very well thank you!

And ironically it doesn't work well for mantis. Since I already have a mantis and from the gotg advent calendar I might do the same. And I'll give mantis a young herimomie head just to give her big eyes.

3 hours ago, THELEGOBATMAN said:

This set is truly astonishing. I mean, wow. Definitely in my top 5 sets of all time.

The build uses so many fantastic techniques, and is so unbelievably detailed. A bunch of new weapons moulds too!

The minifigures are all fantastic. Hobbies look great with dual-moulded legs, and Gandalf really benefits from cloaked legs. The techniques they've used for mini-legs and skirt pieces sitting down is so cool too.

The only thing I really don't like is the new elven hairpiece. It works terribly for Legolas.

It is a great set. Though I quite like how the new elven hair works on Elrond with the printed circlet. I do agree it doesn't look too good on legolas but I have the old hair for him.

3 hours ago, mtrsteve said:

Why are we assuming that sword isn't meant to be anduril? 

It's the pommel for me.

[A_Forest_of_Lego]

8 minutes ago, Retro Brick Reviews said:

I decided to do some math to calculate a rough estimate of how many tiles there actually are, and it is *roughly* 500 1x1 tiles, give or take. 

Just on the roof? That's a lot of tiles to try and align perfectly! lol

I love the set! I'm so happy they added lots of rooms on the inside and it's not just for display as many large sets are!

[Blazej_Holen]

23 minutes ago, jodawill said:

Those are tiles, not plates. It's legal to use tiles this way, but not plates.

I bet they put all of these weapons into a single mold. It's probably considered a single element and comes in a bag.

I cant say whether its considered one element or not, but its definitelly the one bagged batch same as Ninjago weapons or the City tools etc. I am wandering whether it includes the shards of Narail as well or if the Narsil is its own mould. Also how many weaopons are in one batch? My guess is Boromir sward, Aragorn sword, elven sword, dwarwen axe and Sting all twice. Lets jope we get two batches at least in the set ;)

[hungryhobbit]

I'm looking forward to purchasing this set on day 1! I am surprised that they did not include any horses in the set, although I could easily stick a couple in from other sets. I do appreciate the new molds, and look forward to displaying in all it's grandeur!

[Blazej_Holen]

2 minutes ago, Agent Kallus said:

It's the pommel for me.

And crossguard as well :)

Edited February 7, 2023 by Blazej_Holen

[Triceron]

Kudos to those who've seen and known about it for not saying a word.  I think this has been kept as a nice surprise, even in the face of all the rumors that had been floating around about it.  I don't think much was known about this internally being shown to certain people, as far back as Sept last year, at least.

[Blazej_Holen]

2 minutes ago, hungryhobbit said:

3 minutes ago, hungryhobbit said:

I am surprised that they did not include any horses in the set, although I could easily stick a couple in from other sets.

There should be Bill the ponny to complete the Fellowship of the ring :)

Edited February 7, 2023 by Blazej_Holen

[Brickroll]

1 hour ago, Surge said:

what head do arwen and legolas have? they look so familiar but i cannot remember for the life of me

I believe those are the Tina Goldstein and Han Solo (from Solo) headpieces, although those may not have been the original uses. 

[Agent Kallus]

Do we think that Arwen and the female background elf will also have the printed sitting down slopes like Elrond and Gandalf ?

[mtrsteve]

1 hour ago, Agent Kallus said:

It's the pommel for me.

Yeah i clearly just hadn't paid close enough attention to see it yet. 

1 hour ago, Blazej_Holen said:

I cant say whether its considered one element or not, but its definitelly the one bagged batch same as Ninjago weapons or the City tools etc. I am wandering whether it includes the shards of Narail as well or if the Narsil is its own mould. Also how many weaopons are in one batch? My guess is Boromir sward, Aragorn sword, elven sword, dwarwen axe and Sting all twice. Lets jope we get two batches at least in the set ;)

If you pause the 360deg animation on the Lego store website, it looks like there are four of the elvish looking weapon in there. 

Edited February 8, 2023 by mtrsteve

[Maple]

1 hour ago, Retro Brick Reviews said:

I've seen that in discussing value a lot of people are bringing up the amount of tiles used for roof decoration, with some very... exaggerated numbers. 

I decided to do some math to calculate a rough estimate of how many tiles there actually are, and it is *roughly* 500 1x1 tiles, give or take. That's a bit under 1/12 of the total piece count, which means that (if all 6167 pieces had equal value) about $40 of the set's cost goes toward 1x1 tiles. Feel free to factor this into your arguments for how fair the price is.

I did a quick count and my number was closer to 700 tiles. There are nearly 100 on the small little roof, both sides have ~48.

[Retro Brick Reviews]

2 minutes ago, Maple said:

I did a quick count and my number was closer to 700 tiles. There are nearly 100 on the small little roof, both sides have ~48.

The small roof has 88 tiles (44 on each side), and the main roof plus the side section has around 450. How'd you get 700?

[DaleDVM]

It is an amazing looking set.  MOC worthy by an AFOL and certainly one of the best TLG has ever released.  The only part not truly MOC worthy are the trees.  There is only so much a LEGO designer can do to make great trees before the costs of the set balloon into the stratosphere.  So the trees included look good enough to complement the rest of the design.

As for the minis some are better, some are worse than the originals.  However, all of them look pretty good.  The legs and parts for making the minis sit is just perfection!

I am most excited for the new molds.  The weapons look great.  The leaf pieces are going to be the most useful.  

And damn, that is a lot of printed floor tiles!  They are beautiful!

Boromir's shield is literally perfect as a generic round shield for so many factions!  I hope I find a cheap way to obtain hundreds of them.

I will get a pair of these sets to go with my 2 complete collections of the previous sets. 

The set is certainly expensive.  However, my heirs can sell them for more than double what I bought them for 20-30 years down the line.  It is an investment, and in the meantime I can enjoy them. 

[Agent Kallus]

In the armoury/forge room under the gazebo there are 3 identical swords in a row. Does anyone know what exact weapon they are based on? Because ive heard people calling them elf swords but they almost look more jaggedy and orclike to me. Admittedly it's kinda hard to see them properly as they only seem to appear in that shot in that room under the arch. 

And if they are Orc swords that would suggest that they weren't made for this set but were included just because they are part of the new weapon pack and so must be included with the others. This would obviously suggest that they were made with another set in mind. 

 

[Clone OPatra]

Well... it's beautiful. Glorious. Superb. Way out of my price range, and that's ok.

Of course I wished LEGO made some small memento/collectibles for the fans who don't have deep pockets full of cash. Sure I spend more than AUD $800 a year on LEGO these days, but not in one go. I'd love a $40-$50 vignette of the four hobbits hiding under the tree with a Ringwraith up above, for example. But I get that that's now how they do business anymore.

The Minifigures have some flaws, which is a shame. Even billion dollar companies have to have their limits and procedures to keep those profits safely going up, but when they can't do new faceprints for every main character, it does kind of hurt. Nothing new, as LEGO would have us believe many dissimilar actresses look the exact same in LEGO form. For standard sets it's annoying but ok. For big prestige ones like this, come on.

I'm also torn on the new Gimli beard. It's great there's a helmet-less option now, but it does sacrifice the hair down his back when he does have the helmet on.

[AmperZand]

I still prefer my Yellowship of the Ring. I can’t abide fleshies and the K2 short legs with fleshy feet in the new Rivendell set are a turn for the worse. They, like all fleshy parts, are an abomination.

 

[Yoggington]

3 hours ago, Lordhelmet said:

Have seen the castle used as a price comparison a few times on here and on YouTube.  Just curious as the castle is currently priced at $400 US.  With 22 minifigs, 4500 pieces and measures 38 cm H, 44cm W, and 33cm D.  Rivendell is 21* minifigs (including statues), 6167 pieces, and measures 39 cm H, 75cm wide, and 50cm deep.  I understand the castle has more big pieces but the detail work and look make me question the comparison as one being objectively a good deal and one being overpriced.  I am not saying it is cheap (I don’t think either are cheap).  

I'm just throwing the Castle out there as the nearest comparison - it's similar in size. (And maybe more importantly - it's recent enough to have it's price aligned with the recent bumps).

I think my perceived lack of value might be something to do with the general shape and silhouette of it. It's all negative space and spindly bits compared to the sheer bulk of the Castle. And then when you do see something filling up your vision, it's a gazillion 1x1 tiles and half as many leaves. Despite you having the footprint stats there in black and white, I am still equating them mentally as having roughly the same footprint :D

I'll wait to see it in person, but for now, that's a no from me dawg.

[Balrogofmorgoth]

26 minutes ago, Clone OPatra said:

Well... it's beautiful. Glorious. Superb. Way out of my price range, and that's ok.

Of course I wished LEGO made some small memento/collectibles for the fans who don't have deep pockets full of cash. Sure I spend more than AUD $800 a year on LEGO these days, but not in one go. I'd love a $40-$50 vignette of the four hobbits hiding under the tree with a Ringwraith up above, for example. But I get that that's now how they do business anymore.

The Minifigures have some flaws, which is a shame. Even billion dollar companies have to have their limits and procedures to keep those profits safely going up, but when they can't do new faceprints for every main character, it does kind of hurt. Nothing new, as LEGO would have us believe many dissimilar actresses look the exact same in LEGO form. For standard sets it's annoying but ok. For big prestige ones like this, come on.

I'm also torn on the new Gimli beard. It's great there's a helmet-less option now, but it does sacrifice the hair down his back when he does have the helmet on.

Actually I saw an image of him with the helmet on and it does have hair on the back. The Dumbledore hair piece just goes over it. It has that braid in the back like the old one did