Questions for fans of the Castle and Lord of the Rings themes

[kuzyabricks]

3 minutes ago, MAB said:

You don't have to have it all though. Just like you can enjoy Castle or Pirates without owning every set.

 

In that sense LOTR and The Hobbit are quite bad (at least the originals) as you have to own just about every set to own the main cast. It would be a bit weird to have 7 out of 9 of the Fellowship or just 10 of the company of Dwarves. Obviously now you can buy the big set and be done in one go.

I wish I had the same budget when the original LOTR sets came out haha. I only have Rivendell and the pirate ship (revitalized into an orc ship for castle) so I Do have the main cast. But there were only around 35 sets (hobbit and LOTR off the top of my head) so its much easier to collect imo. There are so many vehicles in Star Wars and so many different eras it's much more difficult to keep up. With Pirates it's just ships and forts, simple! However if they do release a turbo tank I'll have to pick it up. 

[MAB]

17 minutes ago, kuzyabricks said:

I wish I had the same budget when the original LOTR sets came out haha. I only have Rivendell and the pirate ship (revitalized into an orc ship for castle) so I Do have the main cast. But there were only around 35 sets (hobbit and LOTR off the top of my head) so its much easier to collect imo. There are so many vehicles in Star Wars and so many different eras it's much more difficult to keep up. With Pirates it's just ships and forts, simple! However if they do release a turbo tank I'll have to pick it up. 

Sure, but then you can also split bigger themes up, and collect only LOTR and not The Hobbit. And in SW you can just go for your favourite movie or trilogy or TV series. It is also not necessary to keep up with everything they ptoduce. If you are an OT collector, once you have an X-Wing, a Millennium Falcon and a landspeeder, then you don't need to buy the next one or the next one. Plus you can have an X-wing, a MF and a landspeeder bought years apart if you want to spread the cost.  Lots of sets means spreading the cost - and that wasn't possible with the original LOTR. You had to buy it all within two years or so.

The same with figures. You can choose to have however copies you want of the same figure in slightly different outfits. You don't have to own every figure variant or every vehicle just because LEGO produce it.  One good thing about them producing so much stuff is that it comes down to deciding what you want, rather than needing to have it all. After all, they are compatible toys that you can mix and match rather than collectables with a checklist. Harry Potter has gone like that too. There are so many similar sets with a bit of building and so many variants of Harry, Ron and Hermione, you don't need them all to have the core characters and a display to put them in. For many people, that is enough without having to own everything.

Edited January 18 by MAB

[Gorilla94]

My advice would be to become really, really picky. As picky as you can get. I want a perfect version of what I love. So I just buy just perfect models without stickers or with a 3rd Party custom printed parts pack available. That's why I do not own any HP-Sets except for the small one with Aragog (my Lotr Kankra) but have every teacher, student, and staff member as well as every creature in the prettiest version possible in a small display case. Next wave I'll get Norbert, Fang and the little grey owl of Ron seperatrly. They might be expensive but still much cheaper than buying huge sets. My two face from Batman is for example combination of 3 different figures... head and hair from one, printed coin from another, Torso and Legs from TLBM... ) I still spend a lot of money on Lego, but the space my displays (one for each theme) take is manageable and dust protected, while it has all the gorgeous and cute little details that would otherwise be located all over the place in a huge landscape of "decent" sets. I did not get Rivendell, because i am not too much into elves. If they give us Erebor or Moria in that quality I'll get it. Otherwise I am just glad I got a better shield and sword for Boromir.

[kuzyabricks]

2 hours ago, MAB said:

Sure, but then you can also split bigger themes up, and collect only LOTR and not The Hobbit. And in SW you can just go for your favourite movie or trilogy or TV series. It is also not necessary to keep up with everything they ptoduce. If you are an OT collector, once you have an X-Wing, a Millennium Falcon and a landspeeder, then you don't need to buy the next one or the next one. Plus you can have an X-wing, a MF and a landspeeder bought years apart if you want to spread the cost.  Lots of sets means spreading the cost - and that wasn't possible with the original LOTR. You had to buy it all within two years or so.

The same with figures. You can choose to have however copies you want of the same figure in slightly different outfits. You don't have to own every figure variant or every vehicle just because LEGO produce it.  One good thing about them producing so much stuff is that it comes down to deciding what you want, rather than needing to have it all. After all, they are compatible toys that you can mix and match rather than collectables with a checklist. Harry Potter has gone like that too. There are so many similar sets with a bit of building and so many variants of Harry, Ron and Hermione, you don't need them all to have the core characters and a display to put them in. For many people, that is enough without having to own everything.

Once you buy one set from a theme others become more appealing. If I got one x-wing I'd want another two to make a fleet, or if I got a land speeder that means I need other Tatooine sets to have a display. If get a falcon I'll need a tie-fighter to oppose it, if I get a separatist set I'll need a republic set to have it fight against. At least that's the way I collect. I'm willing to that for my pirates collection for example, but if I don't want to start with SW. I have a few SW sets and I want other ones but I know if I get a clone set fir example I'll just bust the bank by trying to make an army.

[Captain Pirate Man]

I got into LOTR collecting when the Hobbit sets were on shelves. I then went back and picked up the LOTR sets I wanted for a "some what" decent price. I forget what I paid for Orthanc, but no where near what it goes for today. 

I'm of the opinion that I wouldn't recommend new people start collecting this theme unfortunately though. It's small enough that you will want to get all the minifigs (at least), and like others pointed out, they spread them out throughout the whole wave, so you kinda just end up buying EVERYTHING. Which LOTR is probably the most expensive theme to collect for (for it's size). 

Another problem I have with it, is you want MORE. More sets, minifigs, etc. But Lego doesn't offer more sets, so then you end up mocking. But even then, it's not easy or cheap to MOC a bunch of fleshy minifigs to populate a LOTR display, let alone mocking sets. So bottom line, it's honestly not a fun theme to collect for. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE it, and will buy Barad Dur day one. But when I compare it to collecting for Castle and Pirates, it's a distant third (for the reasons I just stated). My wife collects HP, and I'm jealous of how easy it is for her to MOC those sets, just buy two of them and get to work. I'm not buying two Rivendell's or Barad Durs, not for that price, lol. 

Having said that, I DID do MOCS for a lot of the older stuff, to put them on par with sets like Rivendell. I doubled up Helms Deep, tripled up Bag End, and we did are own Erebor. I'm also using the Viking village set to make my Lake Town bigger and better. I might even get the new D&D set and add that to my LOTR as well. But again, it requires thinking outside of the box. It's not easy like HP and other themes are. So even though I LOVE IT, and am committed to collecting it, I don't recommend it for new collectors. 

Edited January 18 by Captain Pirate Man

[MAB]

12 hours ago, Captain Pirate Man said:

But even then, it's not easy or cheap to MOC a bunch of fleshy minifigs to populate a LOTR display, let alone mocking sets. So bottom line, it's honestly not a fun theme to collect for.

It depends what you mean by easy. It is not easy if you have to get it all right now. Whereas if you are in it for the long term, it is quite easy to find new figures or parts to add to a LOTR collection. I bought a lot of CMF S3 elves, for example, when they were cheap, around the time of the original LOTR sets came out. A few years later I sold the heads and hair, and git about what I paid for the figures. Another year, the Legolas head from Dimensions was cheap on PAB, so I bought a load of those. HP and Owen torsos from JW gave a source of cheap fleshie hands. Cheap heads from HP theme now give more variation. If you play the long game MOCing minifigures is possible. Similarly, Gandalf and Eomer were very cheap in 2012/13, as they were in small sets and people tend to only want one or two. The reasonably generic parts for that type of figure are very useful for new figures whether in you are building for LOTR,  POTC, POP, SW, etc. If you keep your eyes open in other themes, there are always useful parts to find.

[sonofasubmariner]

Right now I have four shelves dedicated to my sets, although I may add a fifth at some point, and I choose what to keep limited by that space. Right now I have a Marvel/City shelf, a Medieval shelf (waiting on March!), Rivendell on its own shelf and a miscellaneous for the smaller sets/MOCs that don't fit otherwise.

I love the look and everything I've read about Lion Knights Castle, but ultimately I decided I wanted town setup more than a castle. I'm also intrigued by Barad-Dur, but can't justify it. I may try to get the minifigs on Bricklink, depending on what they are.

[kuzyabricks]

18 hours ago, Captain Pirate Man said:

I got into LOTR collecting when the Hobbit sets were on shelves. I then went back and picked up the LOTR sets I wanted for a "some what" decent price. I forget what I paid for Orthanc, but no where near what it goes for today. 

I'm of the opinion that I wouldn't recommend new people start collecting this theme unfortunately though. It's small enough that you will want to get all the minifigs (at least), and like others pointed out, they spread them out throughout the whole wave, so you kinda just end up buying EVERYTHING. Which LOTR is probably the most expensive theme to collect for (for it's size). 

Another problem I have with it, is you want MORE. More sets, minifigs, etc. But Lego doesn't offer more sets, so then you end up mocking. But even then, it's not easy or cheap to MOC a bunch of fleshy minifigs to populate a LOTR display, let alone mocking sets. So bottom line, it's honestly not a fun theme to collect for. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE it, and will buy Barad Dur day one. But when I compare it to collecting for Castle and Pirates, it's a distant third (for the reasons I just stated). My wife collects HP, and I'm jealous of how easy it is for her to MOC those sets, just buy two of them and get to work. I'm not buying two Rivendell's or Barad Durs, not for that price, lol. 

Having said that, I DID do MOCS for a lot of the older stuff, to put them on par with sets like Rivendell. I doubled up Helms Deep, tripled up Bag End, and we did are own Erebor. I'm also using the Viking village set to make my Lake Town bigger and better. I might even get the new D&D set and add that to my LOTR as well. But again, it requires thinking outside of the box. It's not easy like HP and other themes are. So even though I LOVE IT, and am committed to collecting it, I don't recommend it for new collectors. 

Could you please share pictures of these mocs? Sounds awesome!

[Captain Pirate Man]

On 1/19/2024 at 10:24 AM, kuzyabricks said:

Could you please share pictures of these mocs? Sounds awesome!

VERY much a WIP, and progress has been slow of late (lack of bricks).

FULL display:

Shire:

Helm's Deep:

 

On 1/19/2024 at 4:16 AM, MAB said:

It depends what you mean by easy. It is not easy if you have to get it all right now. Whereas if you are in it for the long term, it is quite easy to find new figures or parts to add to a LOTR collection. I bought a lot of CMF S3 elves, for example, when they were cheap, around the time of the original LOTR sets came out. A few years later I sold the heads and hair, and git about what I paid for the figures. Another year, the Legolas head from Dimensions was cheap on PAB, so I bought a load of those. HP and Owen torsos from JW gave a source of cheap fleshie hands. Cheap heads from HP theme now give more variation. If you play the long game MOCing minifigures is possible. Similarly, Gandalf and Eomer were very cheap in 2012/13, as they were in small sets and people tend to only want one or two. The reasonably generic parts for that type of figure are very useful for new figures whether in you are building for LOTR,  POTC, POP, SW, etc. If you keep your eyes open in other themes, there are always useful parts to find.

You sound like me, been collecting it for a while. YES, we used to be able to find Gandolf, Legolas and Gollum pretty cheap. But even those have dried up, here in 2024. I'm just saying it's not an easy theme to collect for, compared to most others. 

[kuzyabricks]

1 hour ago, Captain Pirate Man said:

VERY much a WIP, and progress has been slow of late (lack of bricks).

FULL display:

Shire:

Helm's Deep:

 

You sound like me, been collecting it for a while. YES, we used to be able to find Gandolf, Legolas and Gollum pretty cheap. But even those have dried up, here in 2024. I'm just saying it's not an easy theme to collect for, compared to most others. 

Looks awesome, thank you!