ka.lego

Hi. I'm super late, but recently got The Ghost as a gift. Looking to MOD but wanted some ideas. Do you have these photos up somewhere? Thanks.

Hmmm...only two replies on that message on onering.net. I hope there ends up being a crossover of Tolkien fans who find a new or renew a love for Lego. I guess the fanbases are pretty different. SW fans have been weaned on merchandising and are used to buying all sorts of SW stuff, while I guess Tolkien fans didn't really have that option, at least not until the Jackson films. Plus the Tolkien fans read more...just sayin, a different crowd. Hope they can get into the idea of building out their geekdom in plastic. Who knows? I can totally relate on the price thing. That goes for any toy really...if you're not used to buying them over the years, you have no real sense of how expensive things are. Oh well, thanks for the info!

Haven't posted here in a while, but I wholeheartedly agree that this year is a particularly exciting one. (I will be broke.) This LOTR line is one thing, but combined with Super Heroes, the SW Line breaking away from the movies in a big way with that Sith fighter and great minifigs (as opposed to sticking to the repeating of old sets), Friends (yeah, I said it), great Ninjago sets/figs, and some really cool Collectible minifigs, it seems like a big push to try some new things. Anyone here a part of the LOTR / Tolkien online community (I assume there is one)? Curious if the LOTR Lego announcements is causing much of a strir. Wonder if this will move people to buy their first sets (or their first sets in years) the way SW did for many, including myself.

Thanks for that. Agreed...I'd love the variety too!

As I try to catch up and pour over the many pages of missed comments, this was sums quite a bit up for me. I'm generally a critical person and appreciate dialogue, but I have to admit that sometimes things on ANY Internet forum could be more thoughtful, but again, that's THE INTERNET so one learns to be patient and accept it for what it is. I think there have been some good suggestions here for improvement that I'd love to see as well (new molds for weapons and armor, white Nazgul on Weathertop) but ultimately I'm super excited that this is happening at all and am pretty impressed by the (prelim, rough, proof-of-concept) pics. I love the idea that the Battlepack/army building set is an expansion of the Helms Deep scene. It would be great if there were obvious connection points to the structures to extend a wall or something, but even without it would be great to just get parts that help build that setting and scene. I hope future waves incorporate this idea too, because of the scale of the battles/scenes in the books/films. Yeah. It's important to remember Lucas had the foresight to hold onto the licensing / merchandising rights of his film rather than the standard practice of asking for more points, etc. At the time the studios could care less about merchandising and Lucas redefined the game. (And many of our childhoods in the process.) So, in my opinion, the SW property ended up being more than just about films and story, and also becam a way to sell a brand (and toys from that brand), which drove the introduction of all sorts of characters and vehicles and playsets in the movies knowing that they'd end up making for cool toys later on. Tolkien created Middle Earth in a very different historical moment that didn't foresee things (couldn't) the way a pop culturally savvy kid from Modesto, CA who was repeatedly burned by Hollywood and corporations like Lucas could. And of course Peter Jackson isnt trying to make a franchise, rather he's moreso trying to pay homage to Tolkien's work in a new art form. So yeah, we're limited. It can't really be a SW, but it's the closest thing out there in terms of scale and scope and a comparable (overlapping) following who will throw down $$$ and €€€ and £££ and ¥¥¥ on some ABS plastic. As I said when this theme was still a hotly debated rumor, it makes perfect sense that TLG went after this license. With HP done, they needed a strong license that will bring in sales and potentially new customers. POTC, PoP, Toy Story, and Cars are all well and good, but just don't have the $$$ potential of the big three: SW, LOTR, and HP. Oh and they were already smart to grab Super Heroes (smart to combine Marvel and DC in one line for many reasons). Now that it's here, let's enjoy it while it lasts, because after that, there aren't a whole lot of properties with the same global appeal to both kids and adults. Star Trek is the only one that jumps out at me, but that's always been a mess in terms of merchandising and the brands been pretty diluted. Yes, I hope so. I really want to see the battle outside Mordor. An oliphant with soldiers set? A Nazgul on a flying dragon beasty? There will definitely be good things to come. And your last comment about your non-LEGO coworkers eager to buy sums up my earlier point about why this license is a huge coup for LEGO, business-wise. Brilliant catch! Hope thats the case. I think TLG made a good move on this. It makes many of us longtime FOLs feel like we're getting something new rather than just new printing or colors as well as stresses the action-oriented nature of this property. Important point. It's always remember that TLG has to design these things with its target audience in mind who, judging from my nephew and his friends, don't do much other than build the sets as designed and then play. For those of us who then end up doing a lot of MOCing and modding, it's good to keep that in mind when judging any sets. We have to realize its not about us anymore and that we're a (key) secondary market. Besides, if you know you're gonna just MOC, loot for parts, or mod, then I suppose you're not expecting TLG to change much and are jus happy to get new sets to fuel your work, no? Said better than I would have. Oh and on the question re: why LOTR is in Historical... Bwahahahaha!!! Yeah, that whole POTC based on actual events exchange scares/amuses me. But those things aside, Castle being here to begin with is troublesome. It seems to me to be a hold out from the days when TLG purported to do more historical adventure type things (again scary to me), back when there were the "Wild" West things and the Castle stuff didn't have witches, skeleton armies, and dragons. But that was a log time ago. Wondering why this remains the nomenclature? That Unofficial Minifig Collectors Guide tried to update the theme categorization recently and it made the same mistake. I know thats too crazy to think of the changes for many, so whatever, historical (ugh) it is.

The Great Debate ends. So now we quibble over if the sets will suck or not? Ha. Fantastic news!!! I was thinking, if they're actually considering a Minecraft set, they have to be pursuing a LOTR license. AWESOME! And I have to give it up to those of you who knew this was coming but honored the confidentiality. You must've been rolling your eyes at some of the discussion / arguments on this thread.

Doubt it. Too much invested / built around the existing fig. Sure, they've been evolving the basic fig with the fleshtone figs, alt bodies (eg octopus, mermaids, snakemen, etc) and heads (aliens, wind-up robot, snakes, etc), but even this only extends the basic minifig template, which only makes the basic figure more relevant and important. Plus, it's their key piece of unique, identifiable intellectual property since they no longer have the rights to the basic brick. At least that was the impression I got when one of my t-shirt designs raised eyebrows at TLG (but eventually got the go ahead btw). They may add new things like this here and there, but the minifig is a LEGO staple. But, hey, I'm sure at a certain point the team who was working on Fabuland thought those would be around forever. Eek! Hahaha.

Here's a link to a pic of a better fitting Friends hairpiece on a minifig from one of my fave AFOL blogs, thebrickblogger.com. Looks great. I'm hoping this does well too, so much so that it branches into these figs doing more imaginative/fantasy play in addition to the realistic stuff. I could see how these figs appeal to a different demographic. And, yes, I'm especially glad some accessories are compatible with the traditional minifig.

...ahem... Oh yeah. That's what I meant. Me too...yes...by the book, strict engineering and feasability testing.

Ha. I've always wondered about that "historic" title. I get the surface logic though (castles...old stuff...historic...heh), but LOTR aside, there are also dragons, witches, skeleton knights, and orcs in Castle. As Cornelius says, historical accuracy's never been strict. Being a history geek, it's always going to be awkward when a toy line is linked even remotely as presenting something historical. But yeah...nitpicking I guess...I guess...wah. But yes, we still don't know if this LOTR is happening, despite my hopes it does. I'm rooting for it. Yeah, that was my thinking as well. Besides, I remember not too long ago on FBTB folks were debating whether or not the appearance of Jack Sparrow at Comicon was an indication of a POTC license. There were those that were quick to say "YES!!!" There were also those who were quick to respond, "Wait. Calm down. It's not official. Just wait." There were even those who said, "No, it's not gonna happen because Mega Bloks had the POTC license. Duh." We know how that ended up. I also vaguely remember folks wishing for Marvel / DC licenses, and a similiar conversation happened. There were the immediately excited folks, the "chill" folks, and the naysayers... There was a simliar argument that since Mega Bloks had Iron Man, it wasn't going to happen. We also know how that ended up. At this point, anything's possible. The folks at LEGO and the folks at MGM/New Line (and Lucas/Hasbro, Marvel/Disney, DC/WB. etc.) operate on a $$$ level that I won't even begin to understand or have a true "insider" access to despite having friends and family who work as low-level professionals at all except for MGM or New Line. Unless someone here is on the in with a Licensing Professional at these places or a high-level LEGO person, then we're all mostly just speculating based on some Internet sleuthing, he said/she said, rumors, etc....some of us are more willing to admit that than others. But the rules of these kinds of $$$$$$$$ licensing deals are somewhat simple / generalizable: despite whatever contracts are there, if you make the right business deal, anything's negotiable, whether it's a preexisting licensing conflict, etc. So yeah, the debate is good...and fun. Now I'm a fairly rational person and totally see how signs point more towards it NOT happening. BUT the geek in me clings tightly to the fewer indications that it might be happening—it's more than possible based on existing molds, etc., it's highly desired and could be profitable, the arguably misread/misunderstood blog post that started this whole thing, the timing with the new movie, LEGO's track record with licensing, etc etc etc—and holds on to the shred of hope. (I mean, isn't that what LOTR was all about...clinging onto that hope? Yeah, I'm a geek.) Anyway, based on what I said in the last paragraph, there's no point in trying to pooh pooh folks' infatuation with this rumor and its possibility. Folks tried to reason away people's excited wishful thinking with POTC and Superheroes, and lo and behold those license deals came true. So in the meantime we wait and keep hyping the thing up...because that's what we do. We are people who play with toys. Heh.

Seriously. Perhaps I'm a little new to this forum posting thing, but I don't really get the frustration folks seem to be having with the fact that conversations continue about this theme despite it being confirmed. While I get that there are rules / categories for forum posts, isn't a part of this whole forum to build community and connect people through fun conversations about our favorite toy. If it were just about giving us the "news" or facts about this theme being confirmed or not, I don't know that I'd bother...I'd just wait til it appears on one of the news blogs and be done with it. But for me, it's all about the speculation, conversation, and overall collective "what-if"-ing. I mean, to attempt to bring us back to reality, we're either young people who play with building toys or grown adults who play with building toys...either way, if we were looking to maintain serious, 100% purposeful conversations, maybe these forums for such toy fans might not be the be a good place to kick it. Seems like it's a recipe for unnecessary aggravation. Agreed. For me, my life will continue either way (and I'm pretty sure that's the case for all of us, if I may be so bold), which is why I'm wondering why folks seem annoyed by us having the conversation at all. Anyhoo, let's get back to the silly speculation because, well, it's fun...and again, I'm a grown man who plays with kids toys. Just sayin.

This conversation about LOTR vs Fantasy 2 definitely made me think. Either way, I'd be happy too. It's entirely true that the licensed stuff is relatively more expensive...makes "sense" (although a bit of a bummer) since more parties get a cut of the profits. Don't really care much for the non-fleshies argument personally. LEGO evolves and I'm open to it. I used to bemoan the shift from classic space to the newer space lines with their more detailed prints and accessories, but I learned to appreciate all the new possibilities that come from variety. Besides, on a half-serious note I hate that we call them "fleshies", since my flesh is brown. Reminds me of being a kid with the crayons and having others ask for "flesh color"...just sayin. Not trying to troll, just to raise what seems to be an oft-unmade point. And it does somewhat make sense to bring up here in the LOTR topic since one of the Pros to a possible LOTR theme, in my opinion, is an expansion on the variety of minifigs/creatures we'd be getting if the theme actually happens...elves, dwarves, orcs, trolls, uruk hai, eagles, ents, hobbits, dragons, etc. To me, the fear of "fleshies" is an argument for minifigs to stay the same...unnecessarily limited. I *love* the fact that licensed themes (NBA, Star Wars, and POTC) have given me some fleshtone variety in my minifig possibilities. Here's hoping that LOTR continues the trend. Thanks for that. Brilliant breakdown. This adds a great new direction to this topic and really helps concretize what's possible. I think you're spot on with the comparisons. And I'm 100% with you on the variety of figs. Here's hoping. Besides, they could pull a POTC and not be 100% accurate with which figs are in which scenes / movies, just for the sake of not having to give us too many Gandalfs, Frodos, etc. I'd love it if they could avoid the Anakin/Dastan/Jack Sparrow clone syndrome.

I had the same experience. Maybe it's just not available yet. My local TRU had all but that.

Really loving this theme. The dinos are pretty amazing. I don't have a Pteranodon, but of the rest, each head comes off and is connected to the body by a Technic style pin. (Only exception being the tiny raptor-looking green one from the Dino Defense set whose head is connected to the body...a single piece.) Oh, the MOC possibilities. I've been waiting to see the inevitable flood of dino mechs. Haven't seen anything completed yet (any leads?), so I started on one last night. Couldn't resist. Who knows if I'll finish. Enjoy. (Sorry if this is the wrong place...I'm showing it not to "show-off" the MOC per se, but moreso to show an example of the new dino pieces in "the wild" and how they can be connected to other pieces.) On a related note, finally got a chance to build the copter from T-Rex Hunter I picked up two weeks ago, and I have to say I love it. Simple but effective design with some cool playability. (I particularly appreciate the harness to lift the T-Rex.) I did get Dino Defense but I'm not too interested in taking the time to build it, for what it's worth. Don't get me wrong...it does look like a fun / great set, but just a little big for my current work space and I know I'll just end up taking it apart anyway. I really just wanted the dinos and pieces. BUT the other two sets (Triceratops Trapper & aforementioned T-Rex Hunter) I got and have built are brilliant vehicles, the best in the series imho. Actually, I think they're some of the best I've seen in a while, but I'm seemingly easier to please compared to some of the critics I've seen on here. I have to say, between this theme, Alien Conquest, and Pharaoh's Quest, TLG's non-licensed action themes have been pretty fantastic lately. Being a fan of bulky yellow construction City vehicles (like these), Dino 2012 is a welcome theme, with its combo of this style vehicle and the dino action. Quirky and fun.

Yeah, too bad, because it really was a brilliant idea. I like the theme suggestions on that brickipedia page. Clever...AND do-able.

Got 5885 Triceratops Trapper, 5886 T-Rex Hunter, and 5887 Dino Defense HQ yesterday. Only had time to build 5886 and open the rest just to see the dinos, and from these brief interactions I have to share that these are truly fun sets with some great pieces. I may not get the others because these three have what I need, but I will share that, after building 5886, I may end up getting another one of these sets at the next buy-one-get-one 50% sale at TRU for the Tyrannosaurus (which I love), the black minifig torso with the cool utility vest that could be used for custom figs across themes (eg sci-fi, steam punk, post-apoc, military, etc), the cool tires, and the black crossbar/railing pieces. (There are other fun pieces in there as well.) Oh! And there was some question a while back as to whether the tranquilizer on the rifle was removable...it is and can be replaced with other pieces such as a lightsaber handle for a scope. The truck itself is very cool as designed. I love the unique shape of it. The trap cage is really fun. I foresee many MOC mechs with dinosaur heads, a la the Ostrich phenomenon, since the connection is a basic Technic pin. These heads are very cool (the larger dinos). Very poseable. The mouths of the t-Rexs have a cool clicking feature. One could argue that the overall aesthetic of the dinos is too detailed. I see it. However I think they look great and don't contrast too much with the minifigs, especially in light of the ever evolving look and the infusion of more and more detail. Can't wait to read folks' reviews to get their takes.

Sorry, I've dropped off on this thread for the last two weeks or so and didn't quite see an answer to this when reviewing the replies, but has there been anything more getting us closer to a confirmation? Last I heard were the rumors someone heard from a LEGO store. Any new news? Brilliantly said. 100% agree. Bottom line is the "bottom line"...they'll do it if they can make money. It's really hard for me to see nothing but positive indicators of profit potential here, unless the licensing deal is too expensive. This just seems like a smart business gamble for several reasons. First, unlike the recent Prince of Persia or even the recent POTC license which had the immediate tie-in to only the latest sequel and all its marketing, a tie-in to "The Hobbit" is guaranteed a minimum life-span of two films to connect with marketing-wise; the films are already slated to be produced and released and will get two cycles of a marketing push. Cha-ching. People also have pointed out that when the LOTR films were still big they didn't necessarily do so well at selling the action figures they put on the market. Great point. However I do think that LEGO is the way to go because of this. LEGO has this appeal beyond the "cool looking plastic figures" they've done in the past. There's a classic / nostalgic vibe to LEGO that I think will appeal not just to the kids but to the *old* kids who, when "The Hobbit" films are released, will match their childhood fondness for the novel (or the old Rankin Bass cartoons) with their childhood fondness for LEGO. A match made in heaven / the Undying Lands! On an aside, does anyone know what happens with unsold sets after they're taken off the market? Seems to me that, unlike those unsold traditional action figures / figurines, they can always piece out the non-specific pieces (i.e. not the printed minifigs) and put them back into sets. Curious if that actually happens. I'm wondering if that makes it a slightly less-risky prospect for TLG to try out. (I keep thinking of Prince of Persia whose film didn't quite have the staying power / blockbuster appeal to match the hype...what'll happen to those unsold sets? Or maybe they all sold? I loved em...great parts.) Again, I completely agree with this. I think the two quoted comments above really have the right perspective on the possibilities of this theme. I really don't think LEGO sits around and bases themes so simply on factors like vehicle count. I think, if anything, they consider it, but also make things appropriate to the theme. Some themes call for tons of vehicles, while others are okay with a larger number of playsets. Granted though, some vehicles are necessary, and I really think the options people have been pointing out, including Gandalf's Cart, are perfectly fine. (I'd LOVE his cart, complete with fireworks stash.) I think it'll be like Harry Potter, which had 4 playsets and 2 vehicles (if you count the Trolley handcart thing as a vehicle) in 2011. 2010's HP line had 5 playsets and 1 vehicle. So...yeah. Besides, TLG also needs a certain level of variety in their product offerings. They've got things like Racers, Star Wars, Dino, and City to cover a lot of vehicle-based play. Alongside, they sell things like Castle, which btw had 3 playsets and 1 vehicle in 2011. Just sayin...

Here here. That's actually how I was with all the new themes this year—Ninjago, Pharaoh's Quest, Alien Conquest—and this seems to just be following suit. The vehicles aren't immediately grabbing, but I know based on track record, once I build these things I'm going to very impressed. Plus, I can't shake a brick at the dinosaurs, especially w the cool printing. This is gonna be fun. The manager of my local LEGO Store yesterday said there wouldn't be anything new until January. I asked about Xmas, but he said the items they have now are the ones meant to run through the holiday and referenced the holiday catalog. But as pointed out by others here, my experience is also that things come out a little earlier. (For example the catalog he mentioned also says the Black Pearl wouldn't be on sale til Nov 1, but it has been available at the LEGO Store in question for at least two weeks now.) Who knows? I'm hoping some trickle out before the holidays.

Yeah. I think it's less about giving us truly unique sets and more about giving us the licensed characters, settings, and scenes from a deeply developed property from one of the best (and earliest) world-builders of fantasy fiction, J.R.R. Tolkien. I'm pretty sure TLG's thinking of the demand ($$$) rather than creating sets that are 100% new and unique to their past offerings. For example, did they need to do POTC since they already had their own pirates line that they could've just expanded? And I'm with Jack Bricker on the possibilities... But also Haltiamieli is right to point out that the original article more clearly interpreted doesn't say anything about a LEGO Hobbit game. I posted a comment with my $0.02 on the LEGO Flickr group yesterday that captures my thoughts best. It seems appropriate to post it here as well: Yeah, this would be a dream come true. But as pointed out, that article isn't looking like it's anywhere near to confirming my dream. It's good to remember though that TLG has been re-releasing and creating more Fantasy-related minifigs and relatable accessories via the Collectible Minifigs. [A Hobbit/Tolkien Licensed Theme] would be an easy enough thing to do [at this point] production-wise with the elven ears, dwarf beards/legs, etc. Don't *need* to produce new pieces, if they just wanted to test reception. Besides, if a relatively small property like Prince of Persia can get a theme to *build* hype for an untested film from a successful video game nowhere near the scale of Tolkien's popularity, and then POTC gets one somewhat after the fact of the franchise's heyday, maybe TLG and movie merchandisers are trying to think ahead of the game on this one, especially given that Tolkien sets would be *more* guaranteed to sell since the books have a truly international, multigenerational, tried-and-tested fan base. Alongside Star Wars, it's the Holy Grail for LEGO who has a truly int'l, multigenerational, and extremely geeky customer base. The European market would go nuts a nd the folks here in NA would probably as well. And The Hobbit is definitely the more kid-friendly chapter of the Middle-Earth saga. Whose with me? (I type this pretending I'm somehow convincing TLG...ha...silly fanboy.) All that said, it's LEGO, so we can build Tolkien sets on our own anyway.

I absolutely agree with this. Those dragons are my favorite part of this theme, and that's saying a bit because I also love the new skeleton figs, the cool ninjas, the weapons, the printed windows, and the odd vehicles (mainly the chopper). So yeah, these dragons are great. I also see the different designs of the dragons being a huge factor in making me feel the need to buy each one, unlike the Jedi starfighters. Like you've pointed out, it seems like they definitely went for different dragon styles, perhaps inspired by the ones you mentioned. I hope it's that soon. My ADU minMy linkifigs need to start fighting dragons. Or better still, I want to convert it to something Cloverfield-esque. Umm...heck yeah. Tiamat MOC anyone? Just have to use the different heads of the NinjaGo dragons. Fun.

Agreed on both accounts. As I wrote before, I really loved the review and was convinced that this was a great theme by the thorough info. I bought this a while back when Toys R Us had a sale, but because we just had our first son, had to hold off on actually building it. I've been doing so during Koda's short naps / feedings. It's taking a while...I usually do about 2 bags in each sitting. I still have one or two bags to finish, but the bulk of the thing is built...just missing the part where the mini-jet connects. Anyway, I thought exactly what TheBrickHitHouse did... "This seems smaller than the box." I kept thinking, for some weird reason, it'd be the size of the Clone Turbo Tank. But vexorian also hit it on the head. This thing is a nice tight vehicle. I love the details of the "base" and the playability of the ship, detaching base, guns, and alien autopsy / containment unit. This is definitely a fun time for LEGO original themes. I think NinjaGo and this theme show the wacky fun that can please both KFOLs and AFOLs alike. If not, at least I'm sold! My fave too. Re: Sam Elliot. Can't wait to see it? From a particular film?

Wow! Thank you so much for this review. I saw it yesterday afternoon and it really did give me proof-positive that this, to me, is one of the most exciting themes to date. I thought the review really featured a lot of the things I had questions about, especially the interior shots of the HQ and cockpit. I had no idea from the promo pics that this thing had such a level of detail as well as sheer playable fun. I had to share your review on my blog. Great stuff!!! I recently got the Alien Defender, Tripod Invader, and Jet-Copter encounter, but this set wasn't yet available. I feel like a kid again...not an easy thing for a 34-year-old. Ha. Cheers. Oh, and as SoulGem pointed out, I'm LOVING the retro blueness of this theme!!!

I 100% agree. This looks like a great year for non-licensed sets. All pretty top notch. Between this theme, Ninjago, and Pharaoh's Quest, I'm pretty excited that Lego's original themes have so much to offer in terms of creative theme-ing, playability, great pieces for MOCs, awesome new figs (still looking for more females though), and great minifig accessories. My wallet hurts, but my love for the hobby is skyrocketing. Great work TLC, for what it's worth. :thumbup: I'm still pouring over the images on FBTB's Flickr from Toy Fair. Just saw them now. I really have to give it up to the designers / creators of this theme. It really blends some cool real-world stuff with sci-fi goodness. Cool trucks, jeeps, etc. mixed with spaceships and aliens? Done deal. And the art direction for the aliens is fantastic.