LEGO LotR - general discussion

[aabdguy87]

So do you think we can realistically expect to see more LOTR minifigs through Dimensions?

[HawkLord]

No, from what I've read in the Dimensions sections, there will be practically no going back to themes they've already released Dimensions material for. So, a lot of the Dimensions stuff is one and done, more or less. People have been asking the same thing about Dimensions Doctor Who and BttF and the general reply from those in the know seems to be that Lego is just not going back.

Dimensions and Ideas are not the way AFOLs are going to get another shot at LOTR material. I think the best everyone can hope for is Jackson coming through with The Silmarilian and maybe Lego stuff for that.

[sahidko]

Dimensions and Ideas are not the way AFOLs are going to get another shot at LOTR material. I think the best everyone can hope for is Jackson coming through with The Silmarilian and maybe Lego stuff for that.

Don't think Silmarillion is a good movie material (besides the fact that Christopher Tolkien said he won't give rights of it to Jackson...on the other hand he is already 91 years old). Children of Hurin would be much better choice imho.

[MAB]

No, because most of those fans would rather buy a set than one overpriced minifig. LOTR fans, unfortunely, doesn't have that option.

Which is presumably because LOTR was never that good when it came to sales. If it was a good line financially, lego would have continued with it. That doesn't mean it was a disaster, just that other lines performed better. We know this. LOTR was never on the best selling lists, while other lines were. And there are no overpriced figures in the primary lego market, which lego caters for. If people didn't buy the sets at the time and now complain about secondary market prices, it is their fault and not lego's that they missed out. Maybe if they had, then the line would have continued. But the mass interest was not there, like it was for other themes.

[Csc167]

I think the Silmarillion would make a great tv show and it you could easily make it several seasons. I drool when I think of the lego sets that could be made

[Alcarin]

Don't think Silmarillion is a good movie material (besides the fact that Christopher Tolkien said he won't give rights of it to Jackson...on the other hand he is already 91 years old). Children of Hurin would be much better choice imho.

Doing Children of Hurin is like doing a book in the middle and do only 1 chapter(part) of it.... Its like starting LOTR movie when Wargs attack the people moving to helm's Deep and finish it after the battle with Gandalf's speech... completely weird and without conclusion.

Children of Hurin is a "ballad" of suffering with a sad end, without hope more or less. and the end is relatively devastating if we only take the kids into account, but the explain why such story is being told you would need to explain the whole Hurin story, which you cannot explain if you dont know the story of Silmarillion.... Because ordinary audience will not understand why there is another "dark lord" and Sauron serves him... why he hates children of Hurin that much, and they will not grasp the concept, unless reading book. and not just Children of Hurin book, but whole Silmarillion.

Silmarillion would be a great 5 part movie though..... 10-12 hours....

Finish 1st movie at Feanor's death, then you have 3 battles (4 but one was relatively minor) to end each movie with, while the 5th movie ends with Morgoth taken down in prison and starts the story of Celebrimbor forging the rings.... the end.

That or HBO 5-6 seasons 10 episodes like Game of Thrones. But it just has to be HBO really.

[Ql97]

And, as expected, both Lorien and Rivendell were rejected.

[x105Black]

And, as expected, both Lorien and Rivendell were rejected.

I think that both were unrealistic in terms of what Ideas is able to produce. Great ideas, though. And wonderful MOCs.

[Forresto]

Harry Potter saw a revival in sets I don't see why the same couldn't happen for Lord of the Rings. The books are classic and considered amongst the best in English and Western literature. The Lord of the Rings Films are universally acclaimed and will remain forever in cinema history as one of the best trilogies ever made on film. There will always be buzz and interest for them so the chances of sets down the road is always a possibility. The problem is now it's gone from mainstream back to a niche fandom since there are no more movies coming out.

[sahidko]

Doing Children of Hurin is like doing a book in the middle and do only 1 chapter(part) of it.... Its like starting LOTR movie when Wargs attack the people moving to helm's Deep and finish it after the battle with Gandalf's speech... completely weird and without conclusion.

Children of Hurin is a "ballad" of suffering with a sad end, without hope more or less. and the end is relatively devastating if we only take the kids into account, but the explain why such story is being told you would need to explain the whole Hurin story, which you cannot explain if you dont know the story of Silmarillion.... Because ordinary audience will not understand why there is another "dark lord" and Sauron serves him... why he hates children of Hurin that much, and they will not grasp the concept, unless reading book. and not just Children of Hurin book, but whole Silmarillion.

Silmarillion would be a great 5 part movie though..... 10-12 hours....

Finish 1st movie at Feanor's death, then you have 3 battles (4 but one was relatively minor) to end each movie with, while the 5th movie ends with Morgoth taken down in prison and starts the story of Celebrimbor forging the rings.... the end.

That or HBO 5-6 seasons 10 episodes like Game of Thrones. But it just has to be HBO really.

Sure because prologue of LOTR didn't capture thousands years of history in 4 minutes in epic intro.

Sorry at least i tried to be realistic, nobody will make/watch 5 movies or TV series of something that will begin with 1st episode being world creation through singing. (don`t get me wrong i love Silmarillion).

Edited March 12, 2016 by sahidko

[MAB]

Harry Potter saw a revival in sets I don't see why the same couldn't happen for Lord of the Rings..... There will always be buzz and interest for them so the chances of sets down the road is always a possibility.

Not if Lego doesn't want it to happen. It's been too long now. If they do new sets, they will be rehashes of existing sets / characters. Sales of sets containing Eowyn or Witch King or Sauron would be poor. Why would people buy them without being able to get Frodo and the Fellowship.

And sales of rehashes would be poor too. The seem not to have been great first time around and second time they'd only appeal to people that didn't buy in first time around, so a very small market. Plus there would be complaints about rehashes and value of collections, and so on.

[Lyichir]

Harry Potter saw a revival in sets I don't see why the same couldn't happen for Lord of the Rings. The books are classic and considered amongst the best in English and Western literature. The Lord of the Rings Films are universally acclaimed and will remain forever in cinema history as one of the best trilogies ever made on film. There will always be buzz and interest for them so the chances of sets down the road is always a possibility. The problem is now it's gone from mainstream back to a niche fandom since there are no more movies coming out.

Harry Potter's revival tied in with new movies, though—and like LotR/The Hobbit, it ended shortly after the series had concluded. It's looking like Harry Potter will also be debuting in Lego Dimensions this year, but not only is that an opportunity that LotR has already taken advantage of (with packs debuting in the game's first year), but even that ties in somewhat with the new Fantastic Beasts movie (which seemingly will also be getting Dimensions packs). Unless another movie based on the Lord of the Rings universe is released, I'm afraid that the chances of further Lord of the Rings sets being released are very slim.

[x105Black]

Not if Lego doesn't want it to happen. It's been too long now. If they do new sets, they will be rehashes of existing sets / characters. Sales of sets containing Eowyn or Witch King or Sauron would be poor. Why would people buy them without being able to get Frodo and the Fellowship.

And sales of rehashes would be poor too. The seem not to have been great first time around and second time they'd only appeal to people that didn't buy in first time around, so a very small market. Plus there would be complaints about rehashes and value of collections, and so on.

Value of collections is not a very important argument. And I think that the sales figures could be quite good. There will be many who missed out on all of the theme, or even some of the theme, who will want to buy. There will also be many purchasing only that which was unreleased, like Eowyn or the Witch King.

The argument about rehashes is a decent one, but to quell that all they have to do is improve upon the models they released last time, and use even newer parts. Basically, while I don't think that they will release more sets any time soon, I disagree that it would inevitably be unpopular and sell poorly.

[Deathleech]

Not if Lego doesn't want it to happen. It's been too long now. If they do new sets, they will be rehashes of existing sets / characters. Sales of sets containing Eowyn or Witch King or Sauron would be poor. Why would people buy them without being able to get Frodo and the Fellowship.

They would have to do the main characters again, but they could easily skip some of the more obscure secondary characters that they have already released. We really don't need another version (or one in the first place) of the Mouth of Sauron, Haldir, Arwen, etc. Sure they are nice to have, but they aren't essential. Those spots could be filled with characters like Eowyn and the Witch King.

And sales of rehashes would be poor too. The seem not to have been great first time around and second time they'd only appeal to people that didn't buy in first time around, so a very small market. Plus there would be complaints about rehashes and value of collections, and so on.

I would hope Lego would improve the previous designs. All the hobbits with flesh feet would be a good start and reason enough for me to re-buy all of them. Gandalf with a better hair mold and Legolas with hair that can accommodate a quiver would get me to buy those characters again as well. That just leaves Gimli and Aragorn from the main Fellowship. As for the actual sets they could fairly easily pick different locations that we never got the first time around. They might have to re-do some of the main locations like Helm's Deep, but they could do Edoras, Amon-hen, Osgiliath, etc. and include some of the main characters in those sets. Heck, even re-doing Helm's Deep but improving the design would probably get enough people to buy the new version. Look at Star Wars and how they constantly are offering the same vehicles but just change them around a bit.

[MAB]

Value of collections is not a very important argument.

I didn't say it was an important argument. I said there would be complaints, and there would.

And I think that the sales figures could be quite good. There will be many who missed out on all of the theme, or even some of the theme, who will want to buy.

I don't. The people that missed out would be Lego fans that weren't into lotr but are now, or lotr fans that weren't into Lego but are now, or new to both. Given nothing new in lotr in the past 10 years, those new to lotr is likely to be a small number. There may be some people that were into both but didn't buy first time around, but are they going to be numerous or indeed in a position to buy now?

The argument about rehashes is a decent one, but to quell that all they have to do is improve upon the models they released last time, and use even newer parts.

"All" they have to do? Did they manage that between waves 1 and 2 of lotr, or from the first wave of Hobbit sets to the last?

[Forresto]

All you do is not release any castle or fantasy theme at the same time you release a wave of LOTOR sets. Make the sets appealing to not just fans of the books/movies but to castle fans as well. Make new pieces that are extremely desirable to people who build medieval sets that are exclusive to the line. You divert castle for either a year or spring and summer so that the LOTOR sets are the only ones out for long enough many of the castle people cave in.

The line can't be made up of as many big sets as the original one. You do basically a series similar to the micro fighters in Star Wars but with kickass figures. Then you do a battle pack sized line with some cool figures. then you do a series of set pieces in the $25 dollar line. Then make one $50 dollar set with a good assortment of figures and then a big set. You want to make the theme have cool stuff but be cheap enough you can get into it at first and get a good array of figs and sets. Then the next wave once you have them hooked you do a bunch of bigger sets but still have a few smaller ones available.

Edited March 12, 2016 by Forresto

[BrickJagger]

All you do is not release any castle or fantasy theme at the same time you release a wave of LOTOR sets. Make the sets appealing to not just fans of the books/movies but to castle fans as well. Make new pieces that are extremely desirable to people who build medieval sets that are exclusive to the line. You divert castle for either a year or spring and summer so that the LOTOR sets are the only ones out for long enough many of the castle people cave in.

So basically, you're saying that Lego should bring back a theme that has been dead as a doornail for three solid years (Despite an insistence from the five or six people left in this thread that it can still be saved) and force people to buy it by not making Castle sets?

Say, I distinctly remember them doing that the first (And only) time. Look how that turned out!

There is no realistic, conceivable, theoretical, or mathematical way The Lord Of The Rings is ever coming back.

It needed to be said.

I'm now leaving this thread. Goodbye.

[Deathleech]

I think that both were unrealistic in terms of what Ideas is able to produce. Great ideas, though. And wonderful MOCs.

Rinvendell didn't have a chance at being made. It was absolutely gigantic, easily $200+, and a much smaller version has already been made by Lego. Lothlorien on the other hand seemed like it might have had the possibility. Sure it was also too big, but if Lego scaled it back a bit it would have been perfect. It also didn't have any new molds required.

The line can't be made up of as many big sets as the original one. You do basically a series similar to the micro fighters in Star Wars but with kickass figures. Then you do a battle pack sized line with some cool figures. then you do a series of set pieces in the $25 dollar line. Then make one $50 dollar set with a good assortment of figures and then a big set. You want to make the theme have cool stuff but be cheap enough you can get into it at first and get a good array of figs and sets. Then the next wave once you have them hooked you do a bunch of bigger sets but still have a few smaller ones available.

I disagree. Most people want the minifigures and aren't nearly as interested in the builds. The locations in LotR don't really lend themselves that well to being made into Lego sets since they are either massive fortresses or huge outdoor environments. The minifigures also require a lot of new molds. For these reasons I think something similar to how the Simpsons was handled would be the perfect model to follow. Give us a few waves of CMFs and then one big $200+ set to go along with each wave.

Of course at this point it's pretty mute. I don't see Lego coming back to the LotR license ever.

[x105Black]

I didn't say it was an important argument. I said there would be complaints, and there would.

Fair enough. But I guess what I'm saying is that the complaints are sort of irrelevant in the long run.

I don't. The people that missed out would be Lego fans that weren't into lotr but are now, or lotr fans that weren't into Lego but are now, or new to both. Given nothing new in lotr in the past 10 years, those new to lotr is likely to be a small number. There may be some people that were into both but didn't buy first time around, but are they going to be numerous or indeed in a position to buy now?

I think that there is an audience, that's all I'm saying. I still think it's a good idea.

I would hope Lego would improve the previous designs. All the hobbits with flesh feet would be a good start and reason enough for me to re-buy all of them. Gandalf with a better hair mold and Legolas with hair that can accommodate a quiver would get me to buy those characters again as well. That just leaves Gimli and Aragorn from the main Fellowship. As for the actual sets they could fairly easily pick different locations that we never got the first time around. They might have to re-do some of the main locations like Helm's Deep, but they could do Edoras, Amon-hen, Osgiliath, etc. and include some of the main characters in those sets. Heck, even re-doing Helm's Deep but improving the design would probably get enough people to buy the new version. Look at Star Wars and how they constantly are offering the same vehicles but just change them around a bit.

I like these ideas. Flesh feet would be a great start.

There is no realistic, conceivable, theoretical, or mathematical way The Lord Of The Rings is ever coming back.

It needed to be said.

I'm now leaving this thread. Goodbye.

I don't think it's completely out of the realm of possibility. A return of the Lord of the Rings is definitely not likely, but it is possible.

Rinvendell didn't have a chance at being made. It was absolutely gigantic, easily $200+, and a much smaller version has already been made by Lego. Lothlorien on the other hand seemed like it might have had the possibility. Sure it was also too big, but if Lego scaled it back a bit it would have been perfect. It also didn't have any new molds required.

A smaller Lothlorien project on Ideas might have a better chance. Sure, they could have scaled back the set with this one, but I think they want to approve the sets for what they are. And while they do make changes, they try to keep them minimal.

Edited March 12, 2016 by x105Black

[Ql97]

They would have to do the main characters again, but they could easily skip some of the more obscure secondary characters that they have already released. We really don't need another version (or one in the first place) of the Mouth of Sauron, Haldir, Arwen, etc. Sure they are nice to have, but they aren't essential. Those spots could be filled with characters like Eowyn and the Witch King.

I would hope Lego would improve the previous designs. All the hobbits with flesh feet would be a good start and reason enough for me to re-buy all of them. Gandalf with a better hair mold and Legolas with hair that can accommodate a quiver would get me to buy those characters again as well. That just leaves Gimli and Aragorn from the main Fellowship. As for the actual sets they could fairly easily pick different locations that we never got the first time around. They might have to re-do some of the main locations like Helm's Deep, but they could do Edoras, Amon-hen, Osgiliath, etc. and include some of the main characters in those sets. Heck, even re-doing Helm's Deep but improving the design would probably get enough people to buy the new version. Look at Star Wars and how they constantly are offering the same vehicles but just change them around a bit.

They could easily make Aragorn, Gimli, and several other existing characters better by adding arm printing. I mean, it's a common enough thing, with Ghostbusters, Wonder Woman, etc. Giving them arm printing would go a long way for these characters. Gollum could also be improved on by giving him a Smeagol face. Orcs of course, we could always use some new prints for torsos and faces. And of course, there are the significant (but not essential) versions of existing characters, like king Aragorn and queen Arwen, robed Theoden, Rohan Merry and Gondor Pippin, etc.

I don't think it's completely out of the realm of possibility. A return of the Lord of the Rings is definitely not likely, but it is possible.

Of course it's possible. It's also possible that I will quantum teleport to th--

[Alcarin]

Sure because prologue of LOTR didn't capture thousands years of history in 4 minutes in epic intro.

Sorry at least i tried to be realistic, nobody will make/watch 5 movies or TV series of something that will begin with 1st episode being world creation through singing. (don`t get me wrong i love Silmarillion).

The "4" minute intro can take care of singing, and creation of the World, but it cannot replace character building.... the intro of LOTR took care of the creation of the ring, NOT character building... But to make Children of Hurin, you need to explain, who is Morgoth, who are every other spirits, who fought one against another (Maia like Sauron) then you need to explain who is Hurin (youd do that in an intro???) then you would have to interrupt the whole ballad with another explaining of Hurin since in the ballad there is no explanation of Hurin's deeds, but only that he rides away with his army and is gone, then Morgoth hates his children.... this is simply insufficient.

The whole story cut out of Silmarillion really makes little sense, its a supplement of Silmarillion not a stand alone work like Hobbit could be used.

And to finish it off, its a story that ends in a terribly sad way.

Its just totally incompatible of usual filmmaking, just like Silmarillion is too grand in scope to make it into a 1 band movie or even a trilogy, just like Game of Thrones.

[Lindulan]

Given nothing new in lotr in the past 10 years, those new to lotr is likely to be a small number.

I think you're wrong here. The Hobbit is still on 7th grade reading lists here in the US, which was how I discovered Tolkien. At that time, there had been nothing new in LOTR since the Ralph Bakshi movie in the 70s. Don't forget Tolkien was voted Author of the Century in the UK before the movies even existed.

If anything, the movies make it more likely that middle-schoolers getting their first taste of Tolkien will explore more, and releasing new Lego sets every few years might just create new TFOLs and AFOLs from this group. Not that I'm saying it will happen, just that I believe you're underestimating the power of the books.

[MAB]

I think you're wrong here. The Hobbit is still on 7th grade reading lists here in the US, which was how I discovered Tolkien. At that time, there had been nothing new in LOTR since the Ralph Bakshi movie in the 70s. Don't forget Tolkien was voted Author of the Century in the UK before the movies even existed.

If anything, the movies make it more likely that middle-schoolers getting their first taste of Tolkien will explore more, and releasing new Lego sets every few years might just create new TFOLs and AFOLs from this group. Not that I'm saying it will happen, just that I believe you're underestimating the power of the books.

So there are maybe 3-4 years worth of youngish students that probably cannot afford the sets that would have come along in the meantime since the last sets.

[Lindulan]

All the more reason to go the CMF + D2C route a la The Simpsons. Something affordable for the younger new fans with something collectible for the devout AFOLs.

[x105Black]

So there are maybe 3-4 years worth of youngish students that probably cannot afford the sets that would have come along in the meantime since the last sets.

Are you just not a fan? You sound like you don't want them to release new sets.

Edited March 14, 2016 by x105Black