LEGO Hobbit 2014

[gdugaucquier]

I also made Orcrist with a 3d-printer

Edited October 19, 2014 by gdugaucquier

[kevkipo]

I also made Orcrist with a 3d-printer

That is sweet!

[Hypernova888]

I also made Orcrist with a 3d-printer

Awesome! You should post some pictures! ;)

[Mr. Cube]

"only give 2 different Orcs for BOTH LOTR and the Hobbit..."

Well, we have:

moria orc head (olive green, 2 prints) + hairpiece

goblin head (dark tan, 2 prints) + hairpiece

mordor/hunter orc (dark tan, 1 print) + hairpiece

gundabad orc (medium dark flash, 1 print) + hairpiece

hunter orc - new (dark tan, 1 print)

gundabad orc - new (medium dark flash, 1 print)

+ new "dreadlocks" hairpiece, "dumbledore" hairpiece, "thorin" hairpiece...

that´s a ton of possible variations (and in addition you can use Kithaba´s, Yeoman Zombie´s or Weequay Skiff Guard´s head...)

[Ashnflash]

I picked up the Witch King Battle yesterday and I just love the minifigures in it for such a cheap price!

[Ql97]

Now Azog wears armor and lego couldn't be bothered to give either a new print (other than face printing change).

You're being a little unfair to Lego on that point. Azog is a digital character, and as such, changes to his appearance can be made pretty late in production. The armor and new arm would appear to be one of these changes, almost certainly made after Lego finalized their design for the set. By the time Lego saw the new design for Azog, it was too late to do anything about it.

[Albus]

Some people on this forum are being extremely entitled, as if LEGO owes them something. LEGO does not owe you any particular sets, just because they are a major part of the movie. LEGO made sets based on what they thought would sell. Maybe they made some mistakes. That doesn't mean they should be attacked. Getting angry about the issue is just silly.

Sure, there is nothing wrong with complaining because you are disappointed that you didn't get certain characters/scenes/locations that you wanted, but attacking LEGO because they didn't meet your demands is arrogant.

I am extremely happy with the selection of sets we've received, particularly from The Hobbit (it's a shame LOTR couldn't have another wave, but we'll see), which has pretty much covered all bases. There are a couple of minifigs that would have been nice, but complaining because LEGO didn't provide you the "right" characters is just ridiculous. LEGO is not under any obligation to provide you with every single version of a character seen in the film, simply because it appears in the film and you deem it important.

We also have to remember that LEGO has been put in a very unique situation with the Hobbit films. There were originally only meant to be two films, and LEGO would have designed the sets around those. Then they announced a third film, and have been constantly revising release dates, costumes, characters (as seen with the Azog changes above), etc, making it very difficult for LEGO to come up with an accurate representation of the final films. We don't know how much of the films they get to see beforehand, especially in such a turbulent production process as with The Hobbit. Criticising LEGO for not including what they did not know is very unreasonable.

"BO5A is not great" - well, clearly it is, otherwise there wouldn't be people praising it.

[deskp]

Just a thought guys but the calendar for the movie has been unveiled and it clearly shows Thorin fighting azog in the ruins on the cover and azog is not wearing his armour so maybe lego was right afterall. http://38.media.tumb...l467o1_1280.jpg http://33.media.tumb...flo3_r3_500.jpg

The mvoie changes thigns long after the marchandise is printed. Azog didn't have armor before, but now they decided he should have it.

[Deathleech]

"only give 2 different Orcs for BOTH LOTR and the Hobbit..."

Well, we have:

moria orc head (olive green, 2 prints) + hairpiece

goblin head (dark tan, 2 prints) + hairpiece

mordor/hunter orc (dark tan, 1 print) + hairpiece

gundabad orc (medium dark flash, 1 print) + hairpiece

hunter orc - new (dark tan, 1 print)

gundabad orc - new (medium dark flash, 1 print)

+ new "dreadlocks" hairpiece, "dumbledore" hairpiece, "thorin" hairpiece...

that´s a ton of possible variations (and in addition you can use Kithaba´s, Yeoman Zombie´s or Weequay Skiff Guard´s head...)

Well the Moria Orcs are a different color so their parts can't be used on any of the other orcs, nor can any part of the orange Gundabad Orcs with two different face prints. The goblins' skull cap from Goblin King Battle doesn't fit right on the Mordor Orc face as it cuts off right in the middle of the fore head piercings and looks weird. That's several options off the table right there severely limiting the options.

Lego really should have given us another Mordor Orc and Gundabad Orc print. An olive green Mordor Orc in armor (with no green on the torso or arms), or a Gundabad Orc in armor (also with no flesh showing) would have been perfect. Then we could have a lot more variety. Heck, even if Lego would have given use double sided faces and not left any orcs "bald" it would have significantly increased the variety. As is, Lego seems to have really wasted prints on silly things like giving the Goblin Town goblins two different body prints, and the same for the Undead Soldiers. Why make two seperate prints for figures only in one set when Mordor Orcs have all shared the exact same print and been in four different sets now?

[Steph 104th]

Azog getting armour is an easy change for PJ to make as it does not require to be filmed again as he is digital, therefore the just add the armour to his virtual presence-easy last minute change.

[Faefrost]

Woot! My Wife just got me the new Laketown Attack and Dol Guldur sets. She found them newly shelved at Target today.

The sad thing is looking at them, at least the Laketown set (combined with the last one) will end up in her Winter Village display. They have that nice quaint Alpine look to them with the snow covered roofs and all. Winter Village Orc Masacre! What a Christmas display. I assume I am not the only one who's Hobbity things will be repurposed come Christmas?

Actually this new Laketown set combined with the old would look to be among the most flexible of the Middle Earth sets that can be spread to other themes. The general fishing village theme works well with regular Lego Castle or Pirates. They would make for a nice home port for a ship. Maybe a North Carolina in Winter for the QAR? (and the orcs blend in well enough for QAR crew.)

[Hypernova888]

Winter Village Orc Masacre!

Actually this new Laketown set combined with the old would look to be among the most flexible of the Middle Earth sets that can be spread to other themes. The general fishing village theme works well with regular Lego Castle or Pirates. They would make for a nice home port for a ship. Maybe a North Carolina in Winter for the QAR? (and the orcs blend in well enough for QAR crew.)

That's a good point. And I REALLY want to see the gundabad hunters on the winter village roofs.

"BO5A is not great" - well, clearly it is, otherwise there wouldn't be people praising it.

^This.

[kevkipo]

The sad thing is looking at them, at least the Laketown set (combined with the last one) will end up in her Winter Village display. They have that nice quaint Alpine look to them with the snow covered roofs and all. Winter Village Orc Masacre! What a Christmas display. I assume I am not the only one who's Hobbity things will be repurposed come Christmas?

Lol same here, they are on the dressoir this Holiday

[Matti]

I must admit when reading that these might be our last waves of Hobbit and LOTR, i wasn't surprised..

I have had the same amount of joy over this line as everyone else, acquired a few of the best sets, and been following the new releases with a little grin on my face very time.. Not because the sets were terrible, but because i think that you could sense where TLG had to go with these sets, contrary to what they might have expected. These are all just wild guesses, but when i had my younger brothers, who are in the target group, talking about the LOTR and Hobbit lines they weren't really that amazed about it as i was, which was ironic since i am the adult.. Simply because they don't recall the LOTR movies as part of their childhood. They are too young..

TLG made some LOTR sets, and i think this was a bold and cool move. Which turned into some great sets. But it was mostly grey bricks all over. In my humble opinion i think they gave us the best out of the line that was possible this time around.. And we got our minifigs

The Hobbit as a motion picture has disappointed me a lot, and my thoughts go out to TLG as this must be a struggle when it has been stretched over 3 movies.. It has already been discussed, and i won't go deeper into the sets ;) I bought Bag End, and might get the WKB..

And thinking of the iconic pieces in both LOTR and Hobbit stories, it just has to be a struggle trying to make these into affordable and playable sets. Organic forms like Balrogs, Mumaks and huge building like Minas Tirith.. I would rather let the AFOL community handle these.. ;)

I would love a Cirith Ungol in all white trans bricks though….. ;)

[Darth Punk]

Woot! My Wife just got me the new Laketown Attack and Dol Guldur sets. She found them newly shelved at Target today.

The sad thing is looking at them, at least the Laketown set (combined with the last one) will end up in her Winter Village display. They have that nice quaint Alpine look to them with the snow covered roofs and all. Winter Village Orc Masacre! What a Christmas display. I assume I am not the only one who's Hobbity things will be repurposed come Christmas?

Actually this new Laketown set combined with the old would look to be among the most flexible of the Middle Earth sets that can be spread to other themes. The general fishing village theme works well with regular Lego Castle or Pirates. They would make for a nice home port for a ship. Maybe a North Carolina in Winter for the QAR? (and the orcs blend in well enough for QAR crew.)

No, you are not the only one. I used last years Laketown set in our winter scene and look forward to expanding the waterfront property. And as long as I keep it on the side everyone is happy.

I also think Laketown would make a nice pirate port, add some docks and parts from the upcoming pirate sets and it'll be time to plunder. Though what would be even better would be a Viking invasion. Vikings vs pirates, I wonder who would win?

[bachamn]

Speaking to the US release, are these being sold in any other major department stores this time around? I've seen WKB and Lake Town Attack sets at Target, but they don't have the others yet. I know other stores sold the previous LotR and Hobbit releases (my local K-Mart and Walmart still have some of the older sets) but I've only heard people talking about this wave being at Target and TRU so far so I'm curious if they've been spotted elsewhere? (LEGO store obviously, but I don't have one near me). Trying to avoid TRU due to their overpricing. Still not seen Erebor on the shelves anywhere though.

[Mr. Cube]

Deathleech: I agree that goblins' skull cap doesn't fit right on the Mordor Orc face, but I can live with that.

If you mix these parts together in all possible combinations, you´ll get 144 unique orcs. Yes, it would be great to get another Mordor Orc face or torso...but we can get the large variety of bad guys this way. But there is no way of getting Gondor soldiers, RotK Witch King...etc etc (except making customs or using Aragorn´s torso from the Black Gate)

.

* pictures are from brickset.com

Edited October 20, 2014 by Mr. Cube

[nymmerod]

I've read so much bashing on this 3rd Hobbit wave here and partially felt some of the same disappointment... UNTIL this weekend. I went to the Lego Store and picked up all 4 sets and built them all. I'm really pleased with them. I think reading so many negative things really lowered my expectations or something but as I built them I realized these are awesome sets.

I think Lego Smaug is the coolest toy I have ever owned.

I think the sets all do a good job of striking a balance between KFOL playability, AFOL appeal and faithfulness to the ever-changing source material.

The only real flaw here is the lack of an un-named dwarf soldier. I am supremely satisfied with completeness of the Hobbit line. (Would that I could say the same for the LOTR line being complete).

Speaking to the US release, are these being sold in any other major department stores this time around? I've seen WKB and Lake Town Attack sets at Target, but they don't have the others yet. I know other stores sold the previous LotR and Hobbit releases (my local K-Mart and Walmart still have some of the older sets) but I've only heard people talking about this wave being at Target and TRU so far so I'm curious if they've been spotted elsewhere? (LEGO store obviously, but I don't have one near me). Trying to avoid TRU due to their overpricing. Still not seen Erebor on the shelves anywhere though.

I've scoured stores in the Salt Lake City area. Seeing the same thing, two small sets at the Targets. Nothing in Walmart/Kmart/Shopko/etc. I only checked one TRU which doesn't have ANY of the new sets out. The Lego Store was the best option for picking up all 4 here.

[Ardelon]

Why make two seperate prints for figures only in one set when Mordor Orcs have all shared the exact same print and been in four different sets now?

1. More Goblin Town torsos increase the appeal of the set, which it seems it needs, as many AFOLs thought the set was pretty weak.

2. Less Orc torsos keep down the costs for the other sets.

Sensible enough, if not fan-friendly.

But I agree that an armored Orc is sorely missed. If only the Moria Orc didnt have that "fleshie" triangle, he could have been used as a Mordor/Morgul/Morannon Orc, and probably a Dol Guldur Orc. Though a new helmet mold would be necessary.

[gdugaucquier]

Finely time to post Thranduil with his own sword (still needs some work).

[sahidko]

How low do you think the price for the new Elrond minifig will drop? Really want to build some armored elven army but the prices still look too high.

[Deathleech]

If you mix these parts together in all possible combinations, you´ll get 144 unique orcs.

Two of those hair pieces are never included with the Mordor Orcs. The Lurtz one is only with Uruk-hai, and the other looks like the Fili/Kili/Thoren one? Don't get me wrong, they work for simply adding variety, but you can add any number of different hair pieces to orcs just for the sake of variety. Also the bald cap doesn't fit right on the Mordor Orc with piercing and I assume it doesn't fit right on the one with white paint on his forehead so that limits it's options. The bald orcs don't work with the Goblin face since it is double sided (but it doesn't appear you included this one anyways?).

So the total combination of unique orcs you can get is realistically more like 100 or so. It's not bad at all, and like I said you can get even more by switching in random hair pieces and Castle helmets. I just think the torsos are really lacking. We only got one Mordor Orc torso and then the three goblin ones. If Lego had given us an armored one and maybe a different colored orc face then I think we could have REALLY had a lot of options. Re-using the exact same Mordor Orc print four times just seemed like a huge waste of resources imo.

[gdugaucquier]

Here is Orcrist. It is really small so it is hard to take a picture.

And this is Galadriel from the WKB, but I modified her hair. (I'm rather proud of this one )

[kevkipo]

Very nice, i love Orcrist there

[Floundie]

That's a great Orcrist.

I only just noticed the Canadian prices for the new sets aren't the same as we had known for a very long time. They are all more expensive except for Lake Town and BOFA!