LOTR & The Hobbit 2013 Set Discussion

[Deathleech]

I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself there. But it is a good sign that Lego is willing to test the waters with large D2C Lord of the Rings sets.

Everyone is though.. we don't even know if this is real yet and we have people talking about it being a real set, price point, figures included, etc. Of course it's fun to speculate, but just saying everyone is imagining the possibilities.

Well, you could also say the same thing about Saruman and the orcs/Uruk-hai. But a guy can dream, can't he? I do hope for at least two eagles from the LotR/Hobbit themes.

If they include Saruman in an Orthanc set I see no reason to buy the Wizard Duel set. Unless maybe Gandalf has a new hair mold.

I don't know. the image looks fake, but the rumor has been persistent. I hope it's true, and I hope that TLG announces it soon if it's in the March 1 lineup.

If it is real, I doubt it would be in a March wave. I mean we got prelime pics from the June wave, wouldn't that have been in there as well? Unless of course it was on a different page not photographed...

[Blakstone]

And what's this talk about seeing the Balrog and Lothlorien?

Zoom in near the top middle of the photo. The Lord of the Rings section is to the left of Woody and Buzz.

http://cache.lego.com/r/aboutus/-/media/About%20Us/Media%20Assets%20Library/Workplace/PMD/ts.20120921T112930.High_Res_%20Product%20Development_View%20of%20the%20Open%20Room.jpg

[Haltiamieli]

Motayan also leaked us the first pictures of the insides of 10232 Palace Cinema, so it seems quite inevitable that his info on Orthanc D2C set is right too. Yay!

[Mr Narwhal]

Really Hoping that Orthanc doesn't come with another Palantir. I'd ruin the purpose of the Wizard Battle set, but since I'm a collector, I'd still get both :P

[The_Chosen_1]

Really Hoping that Orthanc doesn't come with another Palantir. I'd ruin the purpose of the Wizard Battle set, but since I'm a collector, I'd still get both :P

We could get one Palantir with an eye of Sauron print, and one plain black version.

[Mr Narwhal]

We could get one Palantir with an eye of Sauron print, and one plain black version.

Fair point, that actually would be pretty cool. But, what are they gonna do for the other interior layers, while the only place we really see is the Palantir room?

[Delta 38]

Ah yes, that old photo again. I couldn't see it when the picture first surfaced, but now that the Hobbit sets have been out for a while, I think I see a preliminary design for Bag End. Not too relevant, just interesting.

I feel pessimistic for some reason. The picture of Orthanc doesn't look real to me and the measurements seem unrealistic (I was thinking that we'd get a downscaled version, like with Helm's Deep and Weathertop).

Pretty much the only reason it looks "legitimate" is the background and the confidential watermark, and I can't quite explain where that comes from, but it seems likely someone could have just done a quick impression of Orthanc as a set and then pixellated it.

I'm hoping this isn't real. I can't afford UCS sets as it is, but I'd at least like the "normal" system-scale version to be released first.

[Mahtion]

Zoom in near the top middle of the photo. The Lord of the Rings section is to the left of Woody and Buzz.

http://cache.lego.com/r/aboutus/-/media/About%20Us/Media%20Assets%20Library/Workplace/PMD/ts.20120921T112930.High_Res_%20Product%20Development_View%20of%20the%20Open%20Room.jpg

I see Orthanc, Bag end, helms deep, I think Mirkwood spiders but where are the ones you mentioned. I see two possible shapes which could be the Balrog. Either right above Woody, the Balrog is facing head on. Or it is facing to the side on a shelf to the lower left

I don't really see anything like Lothlorien. There's a golden color shape above the shelf which could be above the Balrog (2 shelves above Woody). Hard to tell really.

Edited January 4, 2013 by Mahtion

[gundamz]

I think the Orthanc picture is real. Still, a bit disappointed that LEGO is not releasing any Gondor figures. Would be nice to have some Gondor soldiers and Mumakil (elephants).

[sup2yous]

They are saving all those minifigs (the ones I want!) until the last waves

[Vindice]

When i was on here yesterday most people seemed to think it was fake, now all of a sudden its the new Death Star!!

I think it's genuine because TLG would definately want to have one of the main pieces of architecture in the second wave and Orthanc is at once the easiest (compared to Barad Dur and minas Tirith) and probably the most recognizable!

What also interests me is that the image doesn't appear as detailed as some of the incredible mocs out there which is likely the road TLG would choose to go down. To do an ultra realistic version would cost the buyer far too much and they will probably want to squeeze it into a £130-150 price range. Colelctors can mod it easily enough but the little ones have an Orthanc to play in that doesn't cost a ridiculous amount of money.

I don't think there will be many figures. I would expect Saruman and Grima with possibly an Orc and an Uruk Hai. treebeard is a possibility but like some others i think it would be betterprice wise to have him in his own set.

It may not be the sign of a wave of D2C sets (even if it is confirmed) in the future but as Gandalf said "Hope is kindled!"

[Lordof theBricks]

I want to ask You guys something.What do You think if LEGO release some polybags with Gondorian soldiers,Mordor armored orcs,Rohan soldiers,and other armies? I believe it will be great opportunity to make really big armies.They actually can make that,but they unfortunately in polybags include heroes like Gandalf,Frodo,and other.For my appinion they shuld include just regullar soldiers.Because it will be selling a lot.

[Faefrost]

So let me see if I understand how this works?

1. We see an actual official photo of the new Modular set. Clear enough to show all the markings and colors and details. Everyone goes nuts tearing it apart and being all hyper critical over insane points.

2. We get fairly clear pictures showing at least preliminary box fronts of the new unexpected Castle line. Once again people go nuts because... I dunno? It isn't the exact design or theme they had in their heads that is so much better?

3. We get a completely un verified (I hesitate to call it) picture of a rumor that is nothing more than a pixelated black blob. It is at best a Rorschach test. And yet everyone has leapt to the conclusion that this is the best set ever, and is arguing the Minifigs and weird details and whether it is bigger and better than the Death Star. This is why TLG as a whole doesn't pay a tremendous amount of attention to AFOLs. We as a group seem to be completely and utterly insane.

[Zilcho]

The Orthanc set is not real. Why is the tower blurred but the why aremeasurementsso clear? Also, it wouldn't make much sense to release an Orthanc as well as a wizard battle as they are extremely similar sets and we would end up with 2 Sarumans in 1 wave. Also being taller than the Death Star is a bit ambitious, don't you think?

[Tocko]

So let me see if I understand how this works?

1. We see an actual official photo of the new Modular set. Clear enough to show all the markings and colors and details. Everyone goes nuts tearing it apart and being all hyper critical over insane points.

2. We get fairly clear pictures showing at least preliminary box fronts of the new unexpected Castle line. Once again people go nuts because... I dunno? It isn't the exact design or theme they had in their heads that is so much better?

3. We get a completely un verified (I hesitate to call it) picture of a rumor that is nothing more than a pixelated black blob. It is at best a Rorschach test. And yet everyone has leapt to the conclusion that this is the best set ever, and is arguing the Minifigs and weird details and whether it is bigger and better than the Death Star. This is why TLG as a whole doesn't pay a tremendous amount of attention to AFOLs. We as a group seem to be completely and utterly insane.

LOL! So right!

[Gryphon Ink]

So let me see if I understand how this works?

...

We as a group seem to be completely and utterly insane.

Yup, I think you got it. Sounds like Deathleech understands this, too. It mostly reminds me of when I was a kid and Empire Strikes Back was about to be released, and we would drop everything we were doing any time they played the trailers on TV so we could sit six inches away from the screen and analyze every blip and blob in the trailer. It was awfully fun to speculate, but NOTHING in that movie played out the way we thought it was going to.

[General Magma]

I see Orthanc, Bag end, helms deep, I think Mirkwood spiders but where are the ones you mentioned. I see two possible shapes which could be the Balrog. Either right above Woody, the Balrog is facing head on. Or it is facing to the side on a shelf to the lower left

I don't really see anything like Lothlorien. There's a golden color shape above the shelf which could be above the Balrog (2 shelves above Woody). Hard to tell really.

On top, there's Lothlorien,

underneath it, the Balrog.

[TheDoctor]

(snip)

Now that's been isolated i can really see the spiral stairs around the tree trunk!

And you can really tell that that Balrog shape is very similar to the one in the game

Thanks Magma!

Edited January 4, 2013 by TheDoctor

[Brickington]

The Orthanc set is not real. Why is the tower blurred but the why aremeasurementsso clear? Also, it wouldn't make much sense to release an Orthanc as well as a wizard battle as they are extremely similar sets and we would end up with 2 Sarumans in 1 wave. Also being taller than the Death Star is a bit ambitious, don't you think?

There you might be wrong. In the Potc theme we had the captain's cabin (which was the cabin of Blackbeard) and the Queen Anne's Revenge.

[Maxim I]

There you might be wrong. In the Potc theme we had the captain's cabin (which was the cabin of Blackbeard) and the Queen Anne's Revenge.

Yup, but the only minifig you had 2 times was Jack Sparrow, who was in every set they released...

Also, the cc was an addition for the QAR (I got them both and tested it)...

edit: I think there was also a zombified crewmember in both sets, but he was easily modified to another crewmember.

When you would have 2 times Saruman, you can't do nothing with the second one...

Edited January 4, 2013 by DaMaximus

[TheDoctor]

(snip)

When you would have 2 times Saruman, you can't do nothing with the second one...

Well I want two to display one on the balcony of the Orthanc and the other inside battling Gandalf

Plus it's always nice to have a back up when there are hungry dogs around

Edited January 4, 2013 by TheDoctor

[Maxim I]

Well I want two to display one on the balcony of the Orthanc and the other inside battling Gandalf

Plus it's always nice to have a back up when there are hungry dogs around

Allright, I withdraw my opinion...

[Cammo]

The image seemed to be removed from Flickr. I guess Lego demanded him to remove them? New images of the Modular Cinema building are up though.

[Mahtion]

Thanks Magma for the isolated image of Lothlorien and the Balrog. When I saw it in the full image I thought the Balrog was facing to the side but I see it now.

As pixelated as the tower looks it still had visible bricks and resembled its video game incarnation. Maybe it was a custom MOC photoshopped to look official. If this was the case why would Lego demand the pic removed from Flickr?

[sup2yous]

I think that that orthanc pic could be true, one of the things which sets it out is that like some of the other hobbit/lotr set posters, all the sets are set on paper backgrounds with nails at the top, like the isengard pic.

Example: