Lord of the Rings Ongoing Discussion

[Balrogofmorgoth]

Got mine! One of each for now but I’ll get multiples eventually in case the theme doesn’t continue and their value goes up

[Anak]

I have seen this on the official LEGO.com LOTR page:

Build and recreate iconic moments from Middle-earth with LEGO® Lord of the Rings™ sets. Whether you’re a new fan, a super-fan, or somewhere in between, join the epic battle of good vs. evil. The fantasy world of Lord of the Rings™ is filled with legendary books, movies and the new The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power TV show.

 

 

[Legoman123]

Are we expecting Rivendell to be minifigure scale?  Personally I really hope it is but I don’t think it will be. 

[Jarreth2]

@Legoman123 I think a lot of us are hoping for minifigure scale, the piece count for it to be Rivendell some think suggests it’s going to me microscale. Still nothing concrete yet. My hope is minifigure scale and that the structure of Rivendell is somewhat similar to the Ewok Village and has pieces of the ‘city’ that fit together. Just had a thought .. wonder if there are any clues on the instructions inside the brickheadz ??

[Lordhelmet]

Just finished building them all.  I’m not really into brickheadz in general but there was some interesting build techniques and it was just fun to have lord of the rings legos again.  They were selling fast at my local store too. Aragorn and Arwen was my favorite build out of this round.  Now we just need Rivendell leaks :) .

[Balrogofmorgoth]

You know what would be spectacular? A GWP of Tolkien at his writing desk to go along with the Rivendell set

[MAB]

On 1/1/2023 at 1:23 AM, sebastian666 said:

I’ll be ordering all three sets as soon as they’re available. I don’t love the designs if I’m being honest, but I want LEGO to see there is demand for the LOTR theme. 

By buying LOTR brickheadz the message being sent is that you like LOTR brickheadz and presumably want more LOTR brickheadz.

[Lordhelmet]

2 hours ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

You know what would be spectacular? A GWP of Tolkien at his writing desk to go along with the Rivendell set

I would be happy with that, would be pretty cool.  Other cool options would be the inklings discussing manuscripts (include C.S. Lewis, Tolkien and one other).  or beren and Luthien (but probably don't have the rights to that).

 

Edited January 3, 2023 by Lordhelmet

[Balrogofmorgoth]

2 hours ago, Lordhelmet said:

I would be happy with that, would be pretty cool.  Other cool options would be the inklings discussing manuscripts (include C.S. Lewis, Tolkien and one other).  or beren and Luthien (but probably don't have the rights to that).

 

Problem is a GWP wouldn’t have more than one exclusive figure, especially not a licensed one. But I digress, it’s not going to happen anyway

[mtrsteve]

26 minutes ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

Problem is a GWP wouldn’t have more than one exclusive figure, especially not a licensed one. But I digress, it’s not going to happen anyway

Still fun to think about. What other GWP could we imagine that would make unlikely retail sets? Is that where we could see a giant 'the one ring'?

[Lordhelmet]

39 minutes ago, mtrsteve said:

Still fun to think about. What other GWP could we imagine that would make unlikely retail sets? Is that where we could see a giant 'the one ring'?

I think a giant the one ring would be cool with two aspects, gold (like the little rings with the sets) and with the printing of the words of the ring.  That would be pretty cool as an add on to Rivendell (or a future big set like hopefully a Barad Dur set).  

 

Also I really need some good LOTR leaks, I am still disappointed we have not seen any with all the summer stuff leaked (and a few fall things leaked).  It would be nice to hear about future sets, or more about Rivendell.  Not sure what Lego is thinking with delaying leaks on things like this (a new series).  It is more likely I would save money for Lego sets knowing something was coming out vs. spending it elsewhere without knowing (then being upset when they announce sets without a heads up).  

[Balrogofmorgoth]

3 hours ago, Lordhelmet said:

I think a giant the one ring would be cool with two aspects, gold (like the little rings with the sets) and with the printing of the words of the ring.  That would be pretty cool as an add on to Rivendell (or a future big set like hopefully a Barad Dur set).  

 

Also I really need some good LOTR leaks, I am still disappointed we have not seen any with all the summer stuff leaked (and a few fall things leaked).  It would be nice to hear about future sets, or more about Rivendell.  Not sure what Lego is thinking with delaying leaks on things like this (a new series).  It is more likely I would save money for Lego sets knowing something was coming out vs. spending it elsewhere without knowing (then being upset when they announce sets without a heads up).  

Lego doesn’t leak information themselves, leaks happen when other sources get to it and reveal it before lego does. As for official reveals, lego typically doesn’t reveal D2C sets until VERY soon before release these days. I’m sure more information on the Rivendell set will leak via some other source during the next couple of months. As for future sets, there may very well not be any, which is why we’ve heard nothing. I agree that it would be a huge wasted opportunity if that were the case, but really we just don’t know yet. Maybe this is all 2023 is going to bring and we’ll see more in 2024. Maybe this really is all we’ll get at all. It’s not a great sign that no other LOTR 2023 information has been given via written leaks aside from what we already know about. Personally, I’m hoping for the best but expecting the worst. I just can’t allow my hopes to get too high at this point without more information.

[Altair1]

13 hours ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

Lego doesn’t leak information themselves, leaks happen when other sources get to it and reveal it before lego does. As for official reveals, lego typically doesn’t reveal D2C sets until VERY soon before release these days. I’m sure more information on the Rivendell set will leak via some other source during the next couple of months. As for future sets, there may very well not be any, which is why we’ve heard nothing. I agree that it would be a huge wasted opportunity if that were the case, but really we just don’t know yet. Maybe this is all 2023 is going to bring and we’ll see more in 2024. Maybe this really is all we’ll get at all. It’s not a great sign that no other LOTR 2023 information has been given via written leaks aside from what we already know about. Personally, I’m hoping for the best but expecting the worst. I just can’t allow my hopes to get too high at this point without more information.

Fully agree with you. I am not counting on anything else besides Rivendell at this point. 

Edited January 4, 2023 by Altair1

[iragm]

It's insane to me that you guys are buying these brickheadz to try to get more LOTR.

You want more LOTR? Write a snail mail letter to Lego that says you want a minifig scale Rivendell (or whatever you want) and that you're disappointed with the brickheadz.  Companies listen to that far more than tweeting (which is mostly noise) or posting on a forum like this (which they won't see at all).  A letter will also cost you a lot less then a brickhead.

As @MAB said above, buying the brickheads sends a message that you want more brickheadz.  Which is fine, but I don't think it's sending the message you're trying to send.

[sahidko]

Yop never understood this thinking that by buying completely different type of product i might eventually get what i want. Like how would that work? LEGO will gather lets say 1 year of sales data for LOTR Brickheadz then spend another 1,5 years (or how long development process of new theme usually takes) and then maybe in 3 years we will get playscale based wave? Doesn't make much sense.

Edited January 4, 2023 by sahidko

[Lordhelmet]

59 minutes ago, iragm said:

It's insane to me that you guys are buying these brickheadz to try to get more LOTR.

You want more LOTR? Write a snail mail letter to Lego that says you want a minifig scale Rivendell (or whatever you want) and that you're disappointed with the brickheadz.  Companies listen to that far more than tweeting (which is mostly noise) or posting on a forum like this (which they won't see at all).  A letter will also cost you a lot less then a brickhead.

As @MAB said above, buying the brickheads sends a message that you want more brickheadz.  Which is fine, but I don't think it's sending the message you're trying to send.

This thinking (insanity as described above) would only really be that way if we kept doing it wave after wave, year after year.  Demonstrating to Lego that there is demand for this IP (even if not in the same format as what people want) is still important.  I would agree with the assessment if we don’t get any LOTR sets and next year they release more brickheadz and we all try to buy them again to get them to make actual sets (that would be insane and Lego clearly would have misread the demand -tangent - which also shows up in LOTR Lego ideas, letter writing (that I do) , and other channels besides here - good companies get a pulse of what their costumers want by listening to them not just sales).  However sending them a signal that this IP is popular regardless of format is a win for the LOTR Lego fans in general.  Hopefully between letter writing, demonstrated IP demand, product reviews, other media, demand for old sets driving up costs on their own website (bricklink) etc.  Lego will recognize the opportunity to create actual sets (if they are smart they could make that deduction from those activities and sources).  LOTR Lego fans aren’t going to just buy a bunch of waves of brickheadz every year without some real sets down the road.

 Worth noting In my case I will buy every LOTR set anyway just to keep the collection at 100% (that might be the truly insane part).

[Balrogofmorgoth]

2 hours ago, iragm said:

It's insane to me that you guys are buying these brickheadz to try to get more LOTR.

You want more LOTR? Write a snail mail letter to Lego that says you want a minifig scale Rivendell (or whatever you want) and that you're disappointed with the brickheadz.  Companies listen to that far more than tweeting (which is mostly noise) or posting on a forum like this (which they won't see at all).  A letter will also cost you a lot less then a brickhead.

As @MAB said above, buying the brickheads sends a message that you want more brickheadz.  Which is fine, but I don't think it's sending the message you're trying to send.

I disagree, it’s not that simple. I have seen a ton of people that don’t like Brickheadz say they’ll buy these just because they’re LOTR. So when the LOTR Brickheadz are selling a lot better than other Brickheadz, it’s clearly not because they’re Brickheadz, it’s because they’re LOTR. Lego is blind if they don’t see that

[Triceron]

1 minute ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

I disagree, it’s not that simple. I have seen a ton of people that don’t like Brickheadz say they’ll buy these just because they’re LOTR. So when the LOTR Brickheadz are selling a lot better than other Brickheadz, it’s clearly not because they’re Brickheadz, it’s because they’re LOTR. Lego is blind if they don’t see that

Yeah, but marketting doesn't consider that a strength towards a LOTR based playset, it would only be cause to create more LOTR themed Brickheadz because it's selling strong.

Just like buying more Nexo Knights wouldn't necessarily give Lego the message that people want the Castle brand back in full force.  Castle (and Classic Space) lucked out that they even offered to have a poll for their 90th anniversary, otherwise any 'Castle-related' or 'Space-related' purchases would have continued to get swept under their radar.

[Balrogofmorgoth]

Just now, Triceron said:

Yeah, but marketting doesn't consider that a strength towards a LOTR based playset, it would only be cause to create more LOTR themed Brickheadz because it's selling strong.

Just like buying more Nexo Knights wouldn't necessarily give Lego the message that people want the Castle brand back in full force.  Castle (and Classic Space) lucked out that they even offered to have a poll for their 90th anniversary, otherwise any 'Castle-related' or 'Space-related' purchases would have continued to get swept under their radar.

They would consider it a strength towards LOTR in general if they aren’t completely blind. And then test the waters with other types of sets

1 hour ago, Lordhelmet said:

This thinking (insanity as described above) would only really be that way if we kept doing it wave after wave, year after year.  Demonstrating to Lego that there is demand for this IP (even if not in the same format as what people want) is still important.  I would agree with the assessment if we don’t get any LOTR sets and next year they release more brickheadz and we all try to buy them again to get them to make actual sets (that would be insane and Lego clearly would have misread the demand -tangent - which also shows up in LOTR Lego ideas, letter writing (that I do) , and other channels besides here - good companies get a pulse of what their costumers want by listening to them not just sales).  However sending them a signal that this IP is popular regardless of format is a win for the LOTR Lego fans in general.  Hopefully between letter writing, demonstrated IP demand, product reviews, other media, demand for old sets driving up costs on their own website (bricklink) etc.  Lego will recognize the opportunity to create actual sets (if they are smart they could make that deduction from those activities and sources).  LOTR Lego fans aren’t going to just buy a bunch of waves of brickheadz every year without some real sets down the road.

 Worth noting In my case I will buy every LOTR set anyway just to keep the collection at 100% (that might be the truly insane part).

I agree with all of this

It’s also worth noting that boycotting the LOTR Brickheadz won’t help either. So might as well have them in the LOTR collection

[Triceron]

1 minute ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

They would consider it a strength towards LOTR in general if they aren’t completely blind. And then test the waters with other types of sets

For the most part, (TLG's) marketting is blind.

Look at how long it's taken for them to even recognize that their Classic Castle and Space brands have the power that they do right now.  It should have been very apparant well before their 90th anniversary poll, but they've turned a blind eye to it until they actually got their hands on some data.

I'd say a part of the revitalized interest in bringing back LOTR is in part due to Amazon's new series sparking interest in the brand in the public eye.  I think it's obvious that there has always been a fairly robust demand for LOTR theme and they have been turning a blind eye regardless.

Better sales of LOTR Brickheadz only really reinforces the idea that there is a higher demand for that LOTR Brickheadz.  I'd say it's the same for how they rolled out Lego Dimensions.  It's not like we're getting LOTR themed Brickheadz and Rivendell set because 'Lego saw how well the LOTR Dimensions characters sold'.

[Alexandrina]

On 1/3/2023 at 8:25 PM, Balrogofmorgoth said:

Problem is a GWP wouldn’t have more than one exclusive figure, especially not a licensed one.

I mean, the Christmas Carol GWP the other year had three licensed figures, though most of the parts to make them weren't exclusive.

[eldiano]

I wanted to buy that Hobbit Toys R US Macy’s exclusive poly bag but that 19.99 price tag was a deal breaker for me I hope they don’t inflate those prices for the upcoming LOTR sets

[mtrsteve]

3 hours ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

They would consider it a strength towards LOTR in general if they aren’t completely blind. And then test the waters with other types of sets

I agree with all of this

It’s also worth noting that boycotting the LOTR Brickheadz won’t help either. So might as well have them in the LOTR collection

Might as well have them in the collection IF you care for them. I feel no obligation to spend money on them simply because they exist. And I agree with the sentiment that the only clear message that Lego will get from people buying them is to make more LotR brickheads, which would just be more wasted dev time as far as I am concerned. Especially if it just churns out more balding Frodos.

[MAB]

12 hours ago, Balrogofmorgoth said:

It’s also worth noting that boycotting the LOTR Brickheadz won’t help either. So might as well have them in the LOTR collection

I'm not boycotting them, I'm just not buying them as they are not of interest to me. No different to how I don't boycott about 98% of LEGO's output, I don't buy it as it is just not of interest. There is no protest that boycotting suggests.

Like other licensed brickheadz, to me these are brickheadz first and the license second. I'm happy with my collection without having these. I was complete except for the sword you could buy through the in-store hunt in the US, I didn't think that was worth getting. I did get the sticker sheets though.

Some BH look OK. I have Darth Vader and Boba Fett on display as they look good. Whereas the LOTR ones do nothing for me so I can still be happy with my collection without them. If they had done the whole Fellowship and if they looked any good, I might have bought the BH.

[Balrogofmorgoth]

11 hours ago, mtrsteve said:

Might as well have them in the collection IF you care for them. I feel no obligation to spend money on them simply because they exist. And I agree with the sentiment that the only clear message that Lego will get from people buying them is to make more LotR brickheads, which would just be more wasted dev time as far as I am concerned. Especially if it just churns out more balding Frodos.

Yeah there’s absolutely no obligation to get them but there’s also no obligation not to. I still disagree that it sends that message. When LOTR BH outsell others, sure it may mean more LOTR BH but there’s absolutely no way it won’t also mean lego taking a closer look at the LOTR market. Plus BH may not be interesting to me, but LOTR BH are simply for being LOTR themed, so I don’t mind having them. And I do believe it will still send the message that there is a market for LOTR in general