Lord of the Rings Ongoing Discussion

[Agent Kallus]

Dobby style Dual molded legs for the hobbits? Not sure if the Dwarves should have mid legs or not.

[mirkwoodspiders]

13 hours ago, Brickroll said:

I don’t know, there are some stinkers in there, but there have also been some knock your socks off level D2Cs—look at the Ninjago City ones, the first two Harry Potter ones, Razor Crest, Cantina, the castle, AT AT, modulars, Monkie Kid (I believe many of themes are exclusive D2Cs, but I’m not sure) etc. You may have a point though, it’s probably not a great idea to get our yearnings get ahead of realism.

Yeah, I'm half venting, half serious I guess. You're right, though, there have been some massive hits for D2Cs the last few years and it'd be wrong to ignore those. I'm dealing with recency bias I guess with the reveals we've gotten this last month/summer. 

[Agent Kallus]

I've just ordered myself a sealed copy of the tower of Orthanc, so it'd be awesome if this set was Barad-dûr so I could pair them up 

[Balrogofmorgoth]

2 hours ago, Agent Kallus said:

I've just ordered myself a sealed copy of the tower of Orthanc, so it'd be awesome if this set was Barad-dûr so I could pair them up 

I think Barad-Dûr would be my top pick. Even over Minas Tirith. Especially if a Sauron minifig is included 

Edited October 21, 2022 by Balrogofmorgoth

[sahidko]

Sauron would be great for sure. If it's playset Minas Tirith i hope we get armored Olog Hai bigfig.

[Gorilla94]

I'd have liked an official Sauron, but the intro figures like Sauron and Isildur are the ones i can accept not to have the easiest. It is not like he appeared later. Now there are gorgeous customs available, so the AFOL willing to spend 500€ has him already quite likely. Witchking, Faramir and Eowyn would make more people buying a Set, I guess.

If this D2C is just a one time thing I could see it being Barad-Dur with different iconic scenes from the movies inside like the Jusassic Park gate.

[Balrogofmorgoth]

2 hours ago, Gorilla94 said:

I'd have liked an official Sauron, but the intro figures like Sauron and Isildur are the ones i can accept not to have the easiest. It is not like he appeared later. Now there are gorgeous customs available, so the AFOL willing to spend 500€ has him already quite likely. Witchking, Faramir and Eowyn would make more people buying a Set, I guess.

If this D2C is just a one time thing I could see it being Barad-Dur with different iconic scenes from the movies inside like the Jusassic Park gate.

Except the JP gate didn’t do very well. So I doubt they would go that route again. I’m honestly fully expecting something kind of out there like a buildable map or something. Lego’s decision making has been very questionable lately so I find myself doubting this will be any kind of play scale set. Here’s hoping though

[Gorilla94]

Hm... I don't know. You are right. There are terrible decisions and sets these days... but for every poorly executed UCS Gunship in a scale worthless for playing or displaying with minifigures is something like a 501 battlepack. While there is a terrible Black Panther bust many stores did not sell a single copy of, there is also the minifig Tumbler. There are definitely some people with common sense left who know for example that people like cool minifigures of beloved characters. I think it isn't too optimistic to expect at least a solid 300€ set with a delusional 500€ price tag. I don't expect some complete rubbish like a brickbuild 1:1 scale sword.

Edited October 23, 2022 by Gorilla94

[kevkipo]

Do you guys think the potential of more Middle-Earth sets is hinging on this big one selling well? I feel like we're coming out of the gates with a bad start in that case... Take it as you will, very few kids will be able to buy a 500+ dollar set, let alone be allowed to buy it. A much stronger start would be a 30 to 50 dollar set with characters kids consider cool, i.e Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, Gandalf, knights, soldiers, trolls, dragons etc.

Edited October 25, 2022 by kevkipo

[BTappel]

Hard to say what this means for future middle earth sets.  Look at classic castle - nothing for 10 years and then bam we get 2 castles and a blacksmith.  I don’t think a huge license like LOTR will end up with only one real set, so maybe they will release another set or two over the next couple years similar to classic castle?  Really don’t know what TLG is thinking.  Clearly they aren’t thinking like me who wants more castle stuff more often.

[MAB]

On 10/25/2022 at 11:23 AM, kevkipo said:

Do you guys think the potential of more Middle-Earth sets is hinging on this big one selling well?

I doubt it. If they are thinking of bringing it back as a theme, but decide to judge interest in a whole range of sets by releasing a $500 set, then frankly they are idiots. A $500 set will tell them how many people are up for a $500 set and not how many people would buy into a range of smaller sets.

 

[Altair1]

On 10/25/2022 at 12:23 PM, kevkipo said:

Do you guys think the potential of more Middle-Earth sets is hinging on this big one selling well? I feel like we're coming out of the gates with a bad start in that case... Take it as you will, very few kids will be able to buy a 500+ dollar set, let alone be allowed to buy it. A much stronger start would be a 30 to 50 dollar set with characters kids consider cool, i.e Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, Gandalf, knights, soldiers, trolls, dragons etc.

Sadly, I believe the chances for more sets are very small, even if this big one sells well. They are probably just trying to make a one-time gesture to the LOTR AFOL who were frustrated by the limited number of sets in this theme. But I would love to be proven wrong here :-)

Edited October 27, 2022 by Altair1

[DocStrange]

I just find it really hard to believe that Lego is coming out with brick heads and a humongous set. Brickheads are far from popular, and most people pass on them that I know. Plus, a $500 set which most people cannot afford. It seems like Lego doesn't want this theme to sell well. 

[MAB]

59 minutes ago, DocStrange said:

I just find it really hard to believe that Lego is coming out with brick heads and a humongous set. Brickheads are far from popular, and most people pass on them that I know.

Are they unpopular though? Given how long and how many they have made, they must have sales data about them and they keep on making more across a range of subjects and types of themes (licensed and in-house). To me, that suggests that they must be selling well enough to keep going.

[RichardGoring]

I agree, to be produced for this long and in this number, they must be popular.

Also, the $500 D2C could well be about trying to bring new people into LEGO. There are many fans of Lord of the Rings, with lots of rekindled interest after the Amazon series, so good timing for people with plenty of money to be inspired to get it. Very profitable for LEGO.

Sadly, the global economic situation is adversely impacting so many people, their plans may fall flat.

[NoOneOfImportance]

I would honestly not be surprised if they just released these Brickheadz and the $500... I think a lot of their LOTR market is adults, so they likely wouldn't go the route of a whole theme, but rather just a single big D2C and some smaller BH models (which are basically just bought by AFOLs anyway) ... Especially if the line last time didn't sell well enough in their eyes, which considering some of the sales at the end of the theme (if I remember right), I wouldn't be surprised...

[Altair1]

4 hours ago, MAB said:

Are they unpopular though? Given how long and how many they have made, they must have sales data about them and they keep on making more across a range of subjects and types of themes (licensed and in-house). To me, that suggests that they must be selling well enough to keep going.

To me, that suggests that a lot of people have very bad taste ;-)

[TheDoctor]

On 10/23/2022 at 9:06 PM, Gorilla94 said:

complete rubbish like a brickbuild 1:1 scale sword.

Since reading this last weekend, it's all I can think about and I have a baaaaad feeling about the set now...

As awful as it would be, I can really see LEGO making a sword. I won't be getting my hopes up for a playset.

[RichardGoring]

1 hour ago, TheDoctor said:

Since reading this last weekend, it's all I can think about and I have a baaaaad feeling about the set now...

As awful as it would be, I can really see LEGO making a sword. I won't be getting my hopes up for a playset.

They're going to do it, aren't they? It's going to be Narsil, and sold as a 2in1.

1. Broken into pieces

2. Reforged

"The perfect LEGO representation of your (second) favorite icon from Middle Earth"

[Altair1]

8 hours ago, RichardGoring said:

They're going to do it, aren't they? It's going to be Narsil, and sold as a 2in1.

1. Broken into pieces

2. Reforged

"The perfect LEGO representation of your (second) favorite icon from Middle Earth"

I have the actual Anduril replica from the movie, so I guess it would be cool to hang its Lego version by its side, but I would much prefer Minas Tirith!

[Agent Kallus]

13 hours ago, RichardGoring said:

They're going to do it, aren't they? It's going to be Narsil, and sold as a 2in1.

1. Broken into pieces

2. Reforged

"The perfect LEGO representation of your (second) favorite icon from Middle Earth"

Not for $500 they wouldn't, surely?

 

All I want is for it to be system or minifigure scale, preferably a location but I'd still love a minifig scaled Balrog or something.

[RichardGoring]

2 hours ago, Agent Kallus said:

Not for $500 they wouldn't, surely?

All I want is for it to be system or minifigure scale, preferably a location but I'd still love a minifig scaled Balrog or something.

I hope not. It was more poking fun at current trends. I could certainly see them trying something like that though...

[MAB]

3 hours ago, Agent Kallus said:

Not for $500 they wouldn't, surely?

They'd have to pad it out a bit to get the piece count up. So they'd probably add Legolas's quiver and Gimli's axe-head. :-)

Maybe let's just not think of such things!

[CastleRail]

On 10/27/2022 at 5:07 PM, NoOneOfImportance said:

I would honestly not be surprised if they just released these Brickheadz and the $500... I think a lot of their LOTR market is adults, so they likely wouldn't go the route of a whole theme, but rather just a single big D2C and some smaller BH models (which are basically just bought by AFOLs anyway) ... Especially if the line last time didn't sell well enough in their eyes, which considering some of the sales at the end of the theme (if I remember right), I wouldn't be surprised...

The same sort of treatment as Stranger Things has gotten - one excellent set and one Brickheadz then just sit on the license. Fingers crossed that doesn't happen but don't be too surprised

[Agent Kallus]

1 hour ago, CastleRail said:

The same sort of treatment as Stranger Things has gotten - one excellent set and one Brickheadz then just sit on the license. Fingers crossed that doesn't happen but don't be too surprised

Well we know of 3 briskheadz two packs, Frodo + Gollum, Gandalf + Durin's Bane ( the Balrog) and Aragon + Arwen.