Lord of the Rings Ongoing Discussion

[Eurolock]

Changing topic slightly…

There have been a lot of very high quality entries for the Lego Ideas Lord of the Rings challenge over the last few days. Some really incredible builds to draw inspiration from.  Worth checking it out if you haven’t been following the challenge.

Whatever Lego may (or may not) have sketched out as plans for Barad Dur, it isn’t going to be anything approaching the fantastic version that has been entered into the challenge. 

[RichardGoring]

Ooh nice! Page for anyone who wants it - LEGO IDEAS - Exploring the world of Middle-Earth

The rather spectacular Barad-Dur by BrickMOCBay

This one by Brickwood is also beautifully and very cleverly done. Check out the beards!

[Lordhelmet]

10 hours ago, Eurolock said:

Changing topic slightly…

There have been a lot of very high quality entries for the Lego Ideas Lord of the Rings challenge over the last few days. Some really incredible builds to draw inspiration from.  Worth checking it out if you haven’t been following the challenge.

Whatever Lego may (or may not) have sketched out as plans for Barad Dur, it isn’t going to be anything approaching the fantastic version that has been entered into the challenge. 

I like the Balrog Gandalf scene with the orange bricks representing the light on the rocks.  Thought that part was pretty slick.  Disappointed too because I am working on a MOC for the challenge and realized mine would not be that good, but still will submit once done.

[Eurolock]

16 minutes ago, Lordhelmet said:

I like the Balrog Gandalf scene with the orange bricks representing the light on the rocks.  Thought that part was pretty slick.  Disappointed too because I am working on a MOC for the challenge and realized mine would not be that good, but still will submit once done.

Agree that version of the Balrog scene is very impressive. The gradual change in colors on the rockwork to give the impression of object source lighting is a really clever idea.  I think there is an element of tinkering with the images here though (you can see what appears to be fiery glow on various parts of the Balrog). Nonetheless, very very cool.

The Balrog scene is very heavily represented. Clearly a fan favorite. Lego should take note. One of the other Balrog entries has some incredibly detailed dwarven columns that are worth studying.

There really are a lot of great entries. There are very ‘lifelike’ (for want of a better word) versions of  Treebeard and Oliphant which I would love to recreate.

 

One comment that I would have about the challenge is that I think Lego should have separate prizes for digital submissions and actual brick built models.  Many of the digital submissions use a multitude of parts that simply aren’t available in the colors used (the huge gold ring in the ‘Forth Eorlingas’ build for example). 

Strikes me that this puts the physical brick built models at something of a disadvantage.

[RichardGoring]

1 hour ago, Eurolock said:

One comment that I would have about the challenge is that I think Lego should have separate prizes for digital submissions and actual brick built models.  Many of the digital submissions use a multitude of parts that simply aren’t available in the colors used (the huge gold ring in the ‘Forth Eorlingas’ build for example). 

Strikes me that this puts the physical brick built models at something of a disadvantage.

I like that idea a lot.

[Gorilla94]

The leaked picture of dreamz characters shows a new beard piece compatible to armour :)

[Lordhelmet]

On 3/31/2023 at 11:53 AM, Eurolock said:

Agree that version of the Balrog scene is very impressive. The gradual change in colors on the rockwork to give the impression of object source lighting is a really clever idea.  I think there is an element of tinkering with the images here though (you can see what appears to be fiery glow on various parts of the Balrog). Nonetheless, very very cool.

The Balrog scene is very heavily represented. Clearly a fan favorite. Lego should take note. One of the other Balrog entries has some incredibly detailed dwarven columns that are worth studying.

There really are a lot of great entries. There are very ‘lifelike’ (for want of a better word) versions of  Treebeard and Oliphant which I would love to recreate.

 

One comment that I would have about the challenge is that I think Lego should have separate prizes for digital submissions and actual brick built models.  Many of the digital submissions use a multitude of parts that simply aren’t available in the colors used (the huge gold ring in the ‘Forth Eorlingas’ build for example). 

Strikes me that this puts the physical brick built models at something of a disadvantage.

I agree, but mostly because I am building one for real (and have all my brick link orders in now to finish it up in the next few days). Seeing some of the digital editing makes me realize I cannot touch the color schemes (or effects like the lights in the balrog), would be nice to give the real brick built its own category to make up for some of the differences there.  On the bright side, so far at least, I haven't seen anyone submit my idea though there is still time. 

[Eurolock]

9 hours ago, Lordhelmet said:

I agree, but mostly because I am building one for real (and have all my brick link orders in now to finish it up in the next few days). Seeing some of the digital editing makes me realize I cannot touch the color schemes (or effects like the lights in the balrog), would be nice to give the real brick built its own category to make up for some of the differences there.  On the bright side, so far at least, I haven't seen anyone submit my idea though there is still time. 

I’m starting to think I should have submitted a digital entry…just because it seems to be a real chore trying to get decent photographs of my brick built model.

[Lordhelmet]

16 hours ago, Eurolock said:

I’m starting to think I should have submitted a digital entry…just because it seems to be a real chore trying to get decent photographs of my brick built model.

This was my first submission to ideas, and I learned how hard it was to take a decent picture (all the glare).  I used a sheet between the light source and the MOC to get a picture that I could submit.  It seemed to work but is not a great picture (especially compare to all the photoshopped ones).

 

I had fun with it, I don't think ill win but I liked my idea and am the only one to submit it (so far at least).  I submitted (today so it probably won't be there for a day or two) a diorama scene where Gandalf tells Frodo about Pity, but I titled it Follow your Nose.  Pretty happy with how it turned out, but there are some crazy good builds out there.

[Eurolock]

Sounds very interesting. I’m going to assume that Gollum will be hiding in the back somewhere. I’m hoping to get my photographs taken tomorrow. Getting close to the wire.

[Eurolock]

Photographs submitted….but rejected for ‘too low picture quality’.  Need to try again I guess but looks like I will miss the deadline

IMG_3071 by Eurolock, on Flickr

IMG_3053 by Eurolock, on Flickr

Edited April 9, 2023 by Eurolock

[Jarreth2]

@Eurolock too low quality ?? What the heck !!! Hope you don’t miss it .. this is great 👍🏼

[RichardGoring]

Agreed, that seems really harsh. Especially for a brick-built submission. Photos look good enough to me, and not as bad as many digital submissions with all sorts of crazy effects applied to them.

[Eurolock]

1 hour ago, RichardGoring said:

Agreed, that seems really harsh. Especially for a brick-built submission. Photos look good enough to me, and not as bad as many digital submissions with all sorts of crazy effects applied to them.

It’s also frustrating that they don’t give any indication of why they aren’t considered good enough quality for the competition….or even if there is a problem with all the pictures or just one of them.  Hard to know if the problem is fixed before you resubmit.

I know there was absolutely no chance of winning anything. Just wanted to take part.

[krtwood]

On 4/8/2023 at 10:48 PM, Eurolock said:

It’s also frustrating that they don’t give any indication of why they aren’t considered good enough quality for the competition….or even if there is a problem with all the pictures or just one of them.  Hard to know if the problem is fixed before you resubmit.

I know there was absolutely no chance of winning anything. Just wanted to take part.

My guess would be the seams in the background are the problem.  Pretty easy to fix in post.

[Lordhelmet]

On 4/8/2023 at 7:59 PM, Eurolock said:

Photographs submitted….but rejected for ‘too low picture quality’.  Need to try again I guess but looks like I will miss the deadline

IMG_3071 by Eurolock, on Flickr

IMG_3053 by Eurolock, on Flickr

Awesome, your looks great (and I think I saw it on the submission page), mine was rejected for photos too (about the same quality).  I had to retake everything and resubmitted but it made it on the page this morning.

 https://ideas.lego.com/challenges/58660122-6eea-44ec-bfb4-a0d26f4015fa/application/1f314752-cc82-4b07-a353-a62524b7b4b6. 

This was my first MOC, and first Ideas submission, lots of fun to do, I don't expect to win seeing some of the newest entries, but it was still a fun competition.

[Eurolock]

40 minutes ago, Lordhelmet said:

Awesome, your looks great (and I think I saw it on the submission page), mine was rejected for photos too (about the same quality).  I had to retake everything and resubmitted but it made it on the page this morning.

 https://ideas.lego.com/challenges/58660122-6eea-44ec-bfb4-a0d26f4015fa/application/1f314752-cc82-4b07-a353-a62524b7b4b6. 

This was my first MOC, and first Ideas submission, lots of fun to do, I don't expect to win seeing some of the newest entries, but it was still a fun competition.

I really like your build. Added a comment to get the conversation going.

[Jarreth2]

There are some stunning entries. I’ve only today seen Treebeard by the Brick Bang .. I’ve seen lots of Ent MOC’s .. but this one is stunning, very natural looking whilst obviously the character, great scale and some very ingenious parts usage .. I don’t envy Lego trying to pick a contest winner from these. 😳🌳

[Lordhelmet]

5 hours ago, Jarreth2 said:

There are some stunning entries. I’ve only today seen Treebeard by the Brick Bang .. I’ve seen lots of Ent MOC’s .. but this one is stunning, very natural looking whilst obviously the character, great scale and some very ingenious parts usage .. I don’t envy Lego trying to pick a contest winner from these. 😳🌳

That Treebeard is special!  The parts usage was cool too (the owl especially).  Lots of great entries overall though, fun to look through them all.  

 

On another note, I talked to my local Lego store this past week and asked how Rivendell was selling.  I was told it is still selling a few each shipment after the initial sell out.  I think that is some good news for overall sales if they are still selling fairly regularly.  Hopefully we will start hearing real leaks about the theme coming back for real.

[RichardGoring]

Some of those competition builds are mind-blowing. Amazing work. I hope they make use of them all and promote a bunch of them in some form. They deserve to be seen widely.

[Eurolock]

On 4/11/2023 at 9:26 AM, RichardGoring said:

Some of those competition builds are mind-blowing. Amazing work. I hope they make use of them all and promote a bunch of them in some form. They deserve to be seen widely.

There are definitely some amazing LOTR builds. I particularly like one of the versions of Bilbos party because there is so much fun in the build.

https://ideas.lego.com/s/ca:42e2952bdcdc4f42bb14c947a30f2ce5

The popularity of some of the builds does perplex me though. There are some very popular builds that bear very little resemblance to the location they are portraying (even though it is clear it is the movie representation that is the inspiration). They are still great builds from a technical and artistic point of view.

[kuzyabricks]

If anyone is interested in adding something behind the waterfall in rivendell @itavix uploaded a pretty cool gazebo pavilion on Instagram you can check out

[Gorilla94]

I am thinking at the moment how to make the perfect hobbits combinating old and new parts. I just want one cute fellowship without multible versions of each character. What do you guys think?

I guess there is no discussion about the legs. Dual mouldet feet are superior.

I'd also use the new capes.

I actually prefer Frodos old torso over the new one. Merry's new torso has shiny golden details, so I'd go with that one while I like the Design of the older one more. The new one for Samwise with the Jacket is more accurate, i guess, but the Design with all the bags on the old torso looks so much better in my opinion, that I'll probably use that one. With Pippin I am not sure... Did Pippin actually wear a belt like on the old torso in any sceene? The new print without one seems more accurate to me, but the old one looks fancier in my opinion with the shiny belt buckle and the shirt details on the neck.

The heads are my big issue... I like them looking cute. The friendly faces from the new set are great for Pippin, and Frodo... not sure about Sam and Merry. I think they should have different hair colours, because it looks better next to each other and Sam should not be looking angry. Maybe I should give Sam the new Merry Face  and medium nougat hair and Merry keeps the old head.

I'd really like to hear your opinions.

I really hope we will see dual moulded bare feet with dark tan pants for Bilbo in the future.

Edited April 15, 2023 by Gorilla94

[Lordhelmet]

On 4/15/2023 at 8:09 AM, Gorilla94 said:

I am thinking at the moment how to make the perfect hobbits combinating old and new parts. I just want one cute fellowship without multible versions of each character. What do you guys think?

I guess there is no discussion about the legs. Dual mouldet feet are superior.

I'd also use the new capes.

I actually prefer Frodos old torso over the new one. Merry's new torso has shiny golden details, so I'd go with that one while I like the Design of the older one more. The new one for Samwise with the Jacket is more accurate, i guess, but the Design with all the bags on the old torso looks so much better in my opinion, that I'll probably use that one. With Pippin I am not sure... Did Pippin actually wear a belt like on the old torso in any sceene? The new print without one seems more accurate to me, but the old one looks fancier in my opinion with the shiny belt buckle and the shirt details on the neck.

The heads are my big issue... I like them looking cute. The friendly faces from the new set are great for Pippin, and Frodo... not sure about Sam and Merry. I think they should have different hair colours, because it looks better next to each other and Sam should not be looking angry. Maybe I should give Sam the new Merry Face  and medium nougat hair and Merry keeps the old head.

I'd really like to hear your opinions.

I really hope we will see dual moulded bare feet with dark tan pants for Bilbo in the future.

I think the new prints look more accurate, the old prints look great but are more cartoonish (so it depends on which loom you are going for or prefer).  I changed Sam’s hair on the new one, but would say that the new ones look better than the old ones overall (hobbits).  Face prints for merry and pippen are the only thing I would probably say would be better using the old ones.  To me they are both great sets so it really comes down to your preferences for the looks.

 

Now elves on the other hand, I did change Legolas hair and face print, probably would have changed Arwen too if it were cheaper (don’t want to mix my parts between characters), and Elrond was also a consideration.

[gdugaucquier]

On 4/15/2023 at 2:09 PM, Gorilla94 said:

...Did Pippin actually wear a belt like on the old torso in any sceene? The new print without one seems more accurate to me, but the old one looks fancier in my opinion with the shiny belt buckle and the shirt details on the neck.

Pippin got a belt for his sword sheath, so it depends on the scene. Logically in Rivendell he does not wear his sword, but the original Pippin came in the Moriaset, and there he has his sword.

In the movie I think he wears it when leaving Rivendell (but the buckle is hidden behind his jacket) and you can see the belt (buckle again hidden) clearly when he is crying after Gandalf fell in Moria. It could be that he got the belt with buckle in Lothlorien, but I don't think so. In some promo images you can see Pippin clearly wears a belt with buckle and those images are from scenes before Lothlorien.