LOTR & The Hobbit 2012

[Watchman]

TLG's announcement amounts to an early Christmas present ! Thanks TLG

Awesome news.

what's there not to like - the most excellent toy ever, combined with the most excellent fantasy story ever.

Perfect !

[Cwetqo]

Now that it is official here are the sets I know about:

9469 Gandalf Arrives

9470 Shelob Attacks

9471 Uruk-hai Army

9472 Attack on Weathertop

9473 The Mines of Moria

9474 The Battle of Helm's Deep

9476 The Orc Forge

Enjoy

I can confirm this, i just dont remember last set. Maybe it will be later release, like black pearl in PoTC. Prices are similar like PoTC, from 15 to 129 euro.

I have not seen any pics, so i have no clue if they will be worth it.

[K-Nut]

Mines of Moria! Hell, LOTR in general is gonna be friggin awesome! Thanks TLG! But I'll miss the old castle sets, as they were my favorite theme.

[Rumble Strike]

I am geeking out at that list of names! Can't wait to see what they look like. I know some of them will be smaller sets but mmmmm, the minifigure possibilities are just amazing.

[Dannylonglegs]

No way! This is amazing news! I can't wait to see pics!

~Insectoid Aristocrat

[NiceMarmot]

Now that it is official here are the sets I know about:

9469 Gandalf Arrives

9470 Shelob Attacks

9471 Uruk-hai Army

9472 Attack on Weathertop

9473 The Mines of Moria

9474 The Battle of Helm's Deep

9476 The Orc Forge

Interesting list; no idea how to tell if it's accurate or not.

Let's think these through a bit:

• Gandalf Arrives - probably a good little scene, fairly inexpensive, Gandalf arriving at Bag End or whatever it's called, a few minifigs plus two walls, a round doorway, a floor and some furnishings?
  
• Shelob Attacks - a big brick-built spider, some scenery, and two hobbits ~$20 maybe?
  
• Uruk-hai Army - a battlepack?
  
• Attack on Weathertop - I think this is the $30 set: some monoliths, a bit of landscaping, couple of Nazgul and Aragorn and some hobbits
  
• Mines of Moria - bunch of minifigs, some fairly elaborate interior setting, a big Balrog, one or two play features - $50 set?
  
• Battle of Helm's Deep - this is the $100 set probably: six to eight minifigs, very castle-like, multiple play features
  
• Orc Forge - can't remember this one... is this where Saruman creates orcs?
  

So the distribution of set size/price seems appropriate and in-line with what TLG has done for past themes. Probably should bump those numbers up by $5-10 each since it's licensed.

If you look at recent themes like HP, PoP, PotC, etc, there definitely are some patterns: a few inexpensive sets with either minifigs in an action scene or minifigs in a more settled scene with interesting objects (like Captains Cabin), then some mid-range sets which typically have a few more minfigs, a small building or setting, and a few play features, and then some big sets with more minifigs, a lot bigger whole buildings, and more play features. I think this list fits in fairly well with that scheme. Weathertop is the one that doesn't fit for me, since there's no architecture and limited scenery, and no obvious play features to me.

As LEGO is (almost) always focused on kids, we should analyze whether possible sets would appeal to kids, not just to AFOLs. The keys for kids are probably recognizability, playability, and some sort of uniqueness/strangeness - it has to be a bit unusual and not bland. Shelob Attacks is a good example of this - the spider is recognizable, it's a fairly major scene, it's playable, and definitely unusual - kids will say 'cool! giant spider attacking minfig! Mom, I want it!'. Moria is a good choice too; the Balrog is unusual and compelling, it's playable, and as a major scene, it's pretty recognizable. Helm's Deep could certainly be playable; recognizability might be a bit low, but it definitely is a major scene. Attack on Weathertop is the opposite - hard to make unusual or recognizable except to hard-code fans, and really not that playable except for minifigs whacking each other.

Other sets I'd like to see:

• Ents - Treebeard with Merry and Pippin - TLG seems to have a thing for trees (Harry Potter sets, Ewok Attack, etc). Probably an inexpensive set, and a bit hard to make playable.
  
• Gollum and Bilbo - not sure how playable this is. I should probably come up with a list of possible Hobbit sets, but I can't remember the book very well...
  
• Meeting Galadriel / Lothlorien -not very playable, but could be visually cool, plus gives the theme a sorely needed female minifig
  
• The Black Gate - could be a huge set, and playable too, but the gate itself might be a bit bland.
  
• Rivendell - just because the architecture is so unusual (I'd like see a Rohan set for the same reason), but hard to make these appeal to kids
  
• Corsairs of Umbar - what's not to like about this?
  

I think TLG at some point will definitely do a set with Frodo and Gollum fighting over the ring at the edge of the Cracks of Doom chasm in Mt Doom.

What do you all think the possible sets are? What sets would you like to see? (These are not always the same, unfortunately...)

[1980-Something-Space-Guy]

Can one ask more from Lego?

All of our dream licenses are coming to life!

[fred67]

I hope these sets are better than the PotC sets... those were pretty underwhelming for me, and those set names strike some similar vibes.

How does Attack on Weathertop ,The Mines of Moria or The Battle of Helm's Deep sound underwhelming.

Agree with Andonii. The problem with POTC is that they had to pick stuff from the new movie, and it just wasn't as iconic or interesting as the sets from the older movies (IMO).

[ka.lego]

The Great Debate ends. So now we quibble over if the sets will suck or not? Ha. Fantastic news!!! I was thinking, if they're actually considering a Minecraft set, they have to be pursuing a LOTR license. AWESOME!

And I have to give it up to those of you who knew this was coming but honored the confidentiality. You must've been rolling your eyes at some of the discussion / arguments on this thread.

[Itaria No Shintaku]

Anyone else an avid hater of fleshie figs????

You called upon me...

By the way, I'm buying 400 nazguls!

Edited December 16, 2011 by Itaria No Shintaku

[-zenn]

Probably gonna pick me up a few parts from the sets only for the fleshie heads for NCS. I'm not a LOTR fan at all, just don't like the whole fantasy genre.

[Hellfyre]

This is amazing news! I'll be broke next year, but it will be worth it! LOTR are my favourite books of all time, and the films are among mine too. I can't wait for pictures, I'll have to land a good job next year just to get this line.

Anyway, since it says multi-year agreement, I really hope we see Sauron in his warrior and spiritual eyeball form in the wave afterward I was surprised to see that rumoured set list didn't contain the dark lord, considering he is the main villain of the franchise. Maybe he will made similar to the new SW planet sets, which would be interesting to see.

[SoupOrFishOil]

Palpatine didn't appear until two years after Star Wars was released, but Vader is probably more iconic.

[Nightshroud99]

All I am going to say is that I knew this theme would be coming as soon as the first rumors started to circulate and I am ecstatic!!!

Also now someone can do a Eurobricks Lord of the Rings Mafia!

[Mr. Elijah Timms]

I can confirm this, i just dont remember last set. Maybe it will be later release, like black pearl in PoTC. Prices are similar like PoTC, from 15 to 129 euro.

I have not seen any pics, so i have no clue if they will be worth it.

Thanks Cwetqo... of them all, the Gandalf set sounds really pleasant, and the Mines of Moria could be epic... Balrog, anyone???

[Haltiamieli]

Brings up an interesting question, are LOTR fans even more geeky and protective of their beloved story than SW fans?!

Nah, we had to learn to deal with the reality already a decade ago when Peter Jackson butchered our beloved story! (yes, I'm only half-joking – I kind of have a love/hate relationship with the movies)

[Belchher]

Will be interesting to see what approach they take, with something like the Moria set they could go so many ways. The Balrog and the bridge, the entry doors with the watcher in the lake, or The Chamber of Mazarbul and a cave troll perhaps. Lets just hope it isn't something lame like Pipping sitting next to the well with a stone in his hand!

I still have very mixed feelings about this, but given it says summer 2012, I'm guessing the chances are pretty good we'll see the sets come the February toy fairs.

[Itaria No Shintaku]

Alas I believe they took the license from the movies...

...so no official Tom Bombadil for us.

[KristofBD]

Well this is excellent news! I can't wait to see the first pictures!

[Brickton]

Greetings Legonians

I love the idea of Lord of the Rings Lego. I have seen some awesome AFOL creations based on the LOTR universe, for example Mines of Moria, Orthanc tower, Ents....so I am really looking forward to this series. Additionally, as an old role-player it is literally like a dream come true to play in this genre and have some great new lego parts to facilitate it. I am sooo looking forward to creating a Smaug....will be a huge challenge to do him well.

[Laura Beinbrech]

This just made my year! Two of the earliest things my brother and I made with our LEGO back when we were kids were Star Wars vehicles (including a custom Darth Vader using a Blacktron I torso, a black Castle helmet and an index card mask) and Lord of the Rings stuff... I know for a fact that I'd have been willing to chew off my left arm for some official LoTR sets from LEGO: My custom Gandalf the White fig was one of three minifigs that survived my first dark age (not counting ones that my friend gave back when he didn't want to play with LEGO anymore and I happened to be coming out of my dark age at the time), and I still have him... It would be nice to finally be able to give Gen. Gandalf, Msgt Gimli Gloinson, Cpl Ugluk, Senator Galadriel and other such characters an official makeover when I can get the sets.

...Looks like I'll be getting multiples of Weathertop (so I can give my girlfriend the hobbits, like she wants), at least one Gandalf Arrives, Mines of Moria (never can have too many dwarves) and a couple Uruk-hai battle packs (need MOAR orcs)...

[Darth Hagrid]

...so no official Tom Bombadil for us.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[Patriot720]

I wonder why the line has a summer release when the Hobbit movie isn't coming out until December? This means people who haven't read the books or seen the previous movies wouldn't be inclined to buy sets. I feel like initially they won't sell very well as hype for the movie probably won't begin until around November.

But nevertheless, as a fan of the series I will be buying plenty of sets

Edited December 16, 2011 by Patriot720

[Omega 8]

The one thing that really worries me about this is if lego fails to capture the epicness (not a real word) and size of some of the lotr sets. For instance Minas Tirith. I feel like it will be harder to do compared to star wars.

I'd imagine that it's likely a Minas Tirith set could be "multi-scale" similar to the latest Hogwarts Castle set. Looking at it from the exterior it captures the look and feel of the structure and once you flip it around, it is a compartmentalized play set with throne room etc.

[VenVoi]

I'll admit I'm not into the LOTR/Hobbit franchise, but I might pick up a couple of the smaller sets if they look interesting; the promo pic definitely caught my fancy. I look forward to seeing pictures!