Review: 9473 The Mines of Moria

[Lego Otaku]

Yet another review. Before anyone asks, I skipped set 9472 Weathertop because the part to cost ratio was bad at a bit over 400 pieces and $80 Toys R Us cost. Since they are available online at lower cost, I'll let someone else do that set. 9476 Orc Forge was not found anywhere locally so I can't do that one yet. Maybe someone else will get it?

Anyway on to the set!

776 pieces, MSRP: $80 USD Toys R Us price $100 USD Price is OK for the size of the set but I'd get one on sale if possible. Price per piece: 10.3 cents at MSRP and 12.9 cents at Toys R Us price.

Content of the box. The manuals and stickers are in separate bag with cardboard backing.

There are 2 manuals total and DSS (dreaded sticker sheer) with a total of 33 stickers. I haven't seen this many sticker in a single set since I got Idea book 6000 back a few decades ago. If your little kids are going to put this together, I strongly suggest adult help with stickers as some are somewhat small and can be hard to place evenly. The sticker has death grip type adhesive backing, which would make it hard to remove and reposition them. So get it right first time.

Some of the stickers are numbered so you can get the right one when called for in instruction book but not all stickers has number and I had some trouble figuring which sticker to use for the instruction.

Unassembled troll. The only thing missing are 2 blue technic pins with + end to join the hands to the arms. The pins are in different bag. So keep this in mind if you're going to part out and sell on BL as complete troll, the 2 pins need to be included.

There are 4 bags total in this set. 3 has 2 more smaller bags inside and 4th one has 3 bags inside.

First page showing how all is done. You can start with book #2 and bags #3 and 4 instead of first book without a problem.

Some interesting pieces including 2x2 corner panel, square macaroni bricks, and total of 19 dark grey masonry profile bricks. The set consists of mostly grey, dark grey, some reddish brown and a few tan. A total of 2 minifig sized books in the set, one with stickers added later.

Minifigs of Pippin, Gimili, and Boromir with 2 skeletons. The 3 has printed front and back head and torsos.

Legolas and 2 mine orcs. All has double sided printed head and torso plus their head piece has pointed ears. I can't figure out how the orc face differs as they look exactly the same both side. Seems redundant to have the same print on both side of the head. Maybe you can find the difference?

The well with a skeleton, chain, and a bucket waiting to be knocked over by a very careless hobbit.

The tomb with a book.

Both the well and the tomb has play feature but as you can see in the video, Skeleton don't like to be knocked down easily and I couldn't get the tomb's lid to flip. oh well.

The 2 doors. I like how the bracket were used so an abandoned weapon (an axe in this set) could be used to 'lock' the door.

Completed this part and as you can see, there's a long handled axe in the brackets to keep the orc from getting in quickly.

Other side of the doorway.

The library set done, with a hide away treasure chest under it.

The chest slides out (via plate on back). Probably there for the kid fun.

2 more sets attached to either side with more features. The 2 large pillars are break away type, the lever on the back is used to knock the pillars down.

The lever for knocking down the pillars and the plate to slide the treasure chest out.

The pillars "falls" down fairly easily with the push of the lever.

extra weapons from the final little bag, they are scattered about like abandoned or lost weapons. Nice variety there.

Leftover parts. Not as many but still nice to have freebies.

I'd post more pictures but the camera's battery is dead now so I got to wait to recharge it. I'll post picture and 360 video of the whole set plus the assembled troll with the club that I forgot to take picture of.

Price: 4/5 could be a bit better so I'd wait on a good sale unless you need it

parts: 4.5/5 lots of variety but not quite a lot of color

stickers: 1/5 THIRTY-THREE STICKERS?? Thankfully no STAMP (Sticker across multiple parts) or it would have been a zero point. Aside from minifig, there is no printed part anywhere.

A decent set overall.

Movie accuracy: 4/5 I don't remember the hidden treasure chest.

Fun factor: 4/5 The flipping tomb needs a little work to get it to flip better. The well with the skeleton could work if you place the skeleton just right. It's also tricky keeping the bucket upright with the chains pulling it down.

Overall it is a decent set but not quite as much fun to build or play as Helm's Deep set so I'd wait for sale to get this set. I'd also like to see more mine orc for that battle scene.

Update: more pictures and video now that my camera's got recharged.

Overhead view of the entire set

Another view of the entire set

The troll. I found a problem with this troll. The club makes him very top heavy and unless you put him on a plate, he tips over easily. Suggestion: get a large grey baseplate and put the whole set on it, then the troll can be used anywhere for playing without having him trip over his own toes.

360 view of the set plus few action with the 2 pillars, break off wall, and the skeleton on the well. The well set can work if you position the skeleton just right but with the chain and the bucket, it's still tricky to make it just right and working at the same time.

EDIT: name correction thanks for pointing it out.

Edited May 19, 2012 by Lego Otaku

[smitty9999]

Thanks for the review.

[Brickity]

33 stickers?!?.... wow, that's disappointing. The price seems too high for what we get IMO, though the figs and accessories are really nice.

[smitty9999]

Yes the LOTR figures are very nice but the sets they come in leave much to be desired.

[Lynx]

Thanks for the review. The whole Khazad-dum sequence is one of my favourites, so I'll probably get the set in spite of the 33 stickers. Hopefully, I can connect it to a set with Gandalf and the balrog next year.

Regarding the orc faces, one side shows the mouth and eyes slightly more open. Also, the lines in between the eyes differ a small bit.

[TheDarkness]

Thanks for the review!

33 stickers??

The minifigs are awesome, but I have my doubts about this set now

[Darkdragon]

Way too many stickers.

This does look like one of the better sets in the lineup though as far as parts/figs for the price (not at TRU price of course).

[Legonardo]

33? wow.

I know that many people will disagree with my opinion on this matter but I do prefer to have stickers as opposed to printed parts. having a limited parts collection causes you to use every single part you have and having the option of a design or just a plain brick is nice. that's just my opinion though and I am a bit disappointed by the huge amount of stickers too.

the figs are great!

=Legonardo=

Edited May 19, 2012 by Legonardo Davidy

[LEGO Family]

I like the set. But the price does seem way to high.

Great review though. :)

[Brinstar]

Another helpful and informative review Lego Otaku.

Of all the LOTR sets, this was the one I was least enthused about and your review has only confirmed my suspicions. Despite the relatively generous piece count, there just doesn't seem to be a lot to it. I like the mini-figs and particularly the giant troll but the mine itself leaves a lot to be desired. I understand that its supposed to be a play set but the mine doesn't feel very substantial, particularly for the price.The number of stickers is also very off-putting.

[Speedboat]

Thanks for another helpful review, Lego Otaku. I agree with you on the DSS in this set. 33 stickers are way too much and will probably be a dealbreaker for me, unless this set turns up for a very considerable discount somewhere. Which really is a shame, the minifigs and the rest of the build seem to be quite good. If you just leave all the stickers off, the set imho won't have the right "feeling" to it.

Edited May 19, 2012 by Speedboat

[Hive]

Good review, but the set itself doesn't impress me. I voted 'ok', and I doubt I'll be getting this even at a really good sale. I like the cave orcs though.

If I were to gift an LOTR set to a child, however, this would probably be a good candidate due to the many play features.

[roki]

Good review, 33 stickers is overkill, but it doesn't really bother me since I don't use them anyway. This is my favorite LOTR set so far, I like the minifigs and I think it really captures the atmosphere of the movie scene at least.

[Gabe]

Thanks for the early review Lego Otaku! Tbh i'll be getting all of the LOTR sets, but this seems like one of the better one's to me - nice piece count and beautiful figs! Yeah the stickers are annoying, but i do like the option to not use them if i don't want to. Having said that, i would have preferred a printed book though.

[JopieK]

Very expensive, but with nice parts. Nice review!

[JackJonespaw]

33 Stickers. I might not get this set if it wasn't for the figures. I'm not ever going to pass down a set with Sean Bean in it.

[lightningtiger]

Thanks for the review ' Lego Otaku ', an AWESOME set with a dark side......33 stickers !

Again, the figures are what make the set....though it has some great play features too !

On the list this one is......as long as I have got the cash when released.

[Cammo]

Although it's a very expensive set. It's the set with most of the protagonists.

This is a must-buy set for me, together with the Shelob set. Time to save some money. Only 3-4 weeks till they arrive in my region.

[Hive]

33 Stickers. I might not get this set if it wasn't for the figures. I'm not ever going to pass down a set with Sean Bean in it.

This is the best reasoning I have ever heard for buying a LEGO set.

[Combee]

Great review, I can't wait to get this set! One minor comment, it's Boromir, not Aragorn

[Gryphon Ink]

Nice review, it's nice to get a good look at the features of the set. It looks a little more substantial than I had thought, but I'm still not crazy about this set. It's probably the only one I don't want to buy unless it goes on clearance.

That's Boromir, not Aragorn, by the way. Too bad it is, since this is the only set he comes in. Boromir and the troll are the big selling points of this set in my opinion.

I wonder if this set will connect with other Moria sets to come in later waves. I kind of doubt it, but it would give the set a lot more value.

[K-Nut]

Great Review! Even with all the stickers, this is still probably my favorite set from the wave.

[Cammo]

It's my favourite set of this first wave as well!

[Impersoldier]

Great Review, I must buy this set just because of this awesome cave-troll

But all this 33 (!) stickers? I think TLG could have done this better

[Bilbo Baggins]

Great review now I'm really looking forward to this set.