246 members have voted

  1. 1. How do you rate this set?

    • Poor
      2
    • Below Average
      2
    • Average
      10
    • Above Average
      46
    • Outstanding
      186


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I think Barad- dur is about eight times higher than Orthanc.

I'd be happy with - and purchase - a Barad-Dur that matched the size of Lego Orthanc. All the interior would be cool Mordor stuff - torture chamber, armory, forge, etc. - topped with a blazing Eye of Sauron. To make up for the less iconic interior, Lego could include a ton of rare and exclusive Orc characters - Shagrat, Gorbag, Mordor Uruk-hai, etc. It would be really impressive to have the two to display side by side (rather than an Ent, the accompanying creature could be a Fell-beast with a nondescript Nazgul).

But as for Orthanc itself. It took me 6 hours from start to finish to construct it. An excellent, satisfying and monstrous build. Well worth the $199.

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Just finished the complete tower - with all four walls. Looks totally awesome. The top floor with the petals is a work of art.

I'm not completely happy with my wall split points yet ( a couple of bricks normally pop off when I push the two halves together ). I may need to add a row of plates/tiles somewhere to make a more robust split....

I've edited a link to your superb 'fourth wall' into the review. Thanks! :wub:

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I think Barad- dur is about eight times higher than Orthanc.

A complete Barad-dur would be like the opening scene of Spaceballs.

(now there is something someone should moc)

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I'd be happy with - and purchase - a Barad-Dur that matched the size of Lego Orthanc. All the interior would be cool Mordor stuff - torture chamber, armory, forge, etc. - topped with a blazing Eye of Sauron. To make up for the less iconic interior, Lego could include a ton of rare and exclusive Orc characters - Shagrat, Gorbag, Mordor Uruk-hai, etc. It would be really impressive to have the two to display side by side (rather than an Ent, the accompanying creature could be a Fell-beast with a nondescript Nazgul).

I'll second this! Tbh, accurate or not, I wouldn't want a Barad-Dur much bigger than Orthanc, I wouldn't have the space to display it! As long as it is recognisable with the eye, and matches in enough with Orthanc but is still distinct as its own tower, I would be very happy indeed :-) And to include a brick built fell beast, like the ent, would just be the icing on the cake!

Edited by Almaras22

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Got the set yesterday and took six hours to assemble. Something went horribly wrong with bag 12. There were five pieces missing and five pieces that should not have been there. I have had deformed parts before, but never parts that were wrong.

Edit I found a mistake and turns out there is only one missing piece and one piece that shouldn't be there.

Edited by WallyTheCat

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Got the set yesterday and took six hours to assemble. Something went horribly wrong with bag 12. There were five pieces missing and five pieces that should not have been there. I have had deformed parts before, but never parts that were wrong.

Edit I found a mistake and turns out there is only one missing piece and one piece that shouldn't be there.

Are you by any chance talking about the 1x4 tile in front of the shelves? That's supposed to be a dark brown one (on top of a medium brown 1x4 plate), not a black one. I was confused by the instructions there when I suddenly needed five black ones.

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Wow! The Ent looks amazing! This is really outstanding. Altough, I think the price is too high. Not a fan of the LotR Lego sets, but they designed this set very well.

Great review! :thumbup:

Edited by Dutchy

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Are you by any chance talking about the 1x4 tile in front of the shelves? That's supposed to be a dark brown one (on top of a medium brown 1x4 plate), not a black one. I was confused by the instructions there when I suddenly needed five black ones.

Yes the five black 1x4 tiles. I accidentally used four of them where there should have been 1x3 tiles.

There is still a black profile 1x2 brick missing and a dark brown black 1x4 tile leftover. I spent quite a while trying to see if I made a mistake, but could find anything else wrong.

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Does anyone have a spare parts pic? I had leftover 1x1 bricks, headlight and standard ones in black. I doesn't look like I have missed anything, but I'm not sure...

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Just ordered it RIGHT in time for the deadline! :grin: Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

Edited by Tolkien

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Excellent review! This is truly a remarkable set, and I feel that you've communicated every single detail that we needed in order to form an accurate opinion of how great of a set this truly is.

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I got and built this yesterday. Amazingly tall. Ent was bigger than I thought.

How big is it?

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How big is it?

73cm high, 21cm wide and 16cm deep,and roughly 3 & 1/3 times higher than the tower of helm hammer hand in the helms deep set. :classic:

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Great review, Rufus! I have to say that the LEGO group has really done this right this time. 3 different designers - especially that the guy who developed Unexpected Journey and Helm's Deep always comes out as an outstanding set builder - were hired to design this monstrousity. I agree with a lot of people here that the detailing added to this set is just purely stunning. Needless to say that my contact at the store called me the day they got this in and it was my day off therefore i threw everything aside and made a run to the otherside of town : ). Was it worth it? Every minute and every piece of it. Now Orthanc constitutes my baddies center piece towering over my orc forges and breeding grounds.

Also, a point that i really appreciated from the Rufus review is that never complain about a set that has useful elements in useful colors in plenty. It is a pivotal characteritic of a set that every builder should consider.

I have to say that this is the only set besides Unexpected Gathering that i have never considered so far taking apart.

If i would have to critique one thing about the set though - 5 minifigures for a $200 set is pretty measly. Could have thrown a couple more Uruks in there just to sweeten the pie.

Thank you for the wonderful pictures again, Rufus !!!! You are a treasure to our community.

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This is a great review Rufus! The time you took to organize all the parts in the bags and the pictures capturing the playability really bring this set to life for anyone who hasnt seen the movies. I do agree with some of the others that there could of been more minifigures in this set, but the structure itself makes up for it. Im new to your reviews, but I had a great time reading this one...glad Im not a committed LOTR fan or else I would HAVE to get this one!

Coot

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73cm high, 21cm wide and 16cm deep,and roughly 3 & 1/3 times higher than the tower of helm hammer hand in the helms deep set. :classic:

Thanks, but I was actually talking about the Ent. :grin:

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Thanks, but I was actually talking about the Ent. :grin:

Oops my bad, here is how high it is- Ent stands over 9" (23cm) tall :classic:

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