mtrsteve

No argument, but I was thinking in terms of which characters are most widely known, because that's likely what moves units. I'm fairly confident Legolas is more recognizable - especially in minifig form - than Meriadoc. Leaving more room for variety of figs within the series would probably be better for marketing too, not to mention you can branch out and do figures that would never have a full set built around them. The latter partially sidesteps the "paywall" issue, because it's better that Merry and Pippin are expensive if the alternative is a great character not existing at all. Give me a cheap Faramir over another printing of Samwise ALL DAY.

I think you could get away with just Gandalf, Frodo, Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas as the fellowship core and leave 7 figs open for options.

I agree. If this were a playset with the whole bridge so you could have balrog and orcs on one side and some more fellowship members on the other that would be great. But as a display item highlighting this interaction, it would be weird to shoehorn more figs in. Where would they go?

Misproportioned compared to what? And being different from the brick head version doesn't hurt it IMO, and in any case is a weird standard to bring up if proportions apparently matter so much... I think it looks great. On par or better than any comparable sized MOC I've seen. Then again, I'm in the camp that would have preferred a molded version in a play set so take my opinion with a brick of salt

Good to know. I'm not immersed enough to know which leakers are leakers and which are just leakers. I knew I'd seen the name before, and was curious noone had mentioned it here. Now I know why.

Jedi Bricks did a video over the weekend claiming to have it from a reliable source that there will be more LotR sets in 2026. So it seems like we can rest the fears that the line is ended.

It's not that hard to understand. The Shire is overpriced. People wanted smaller sets at a smaller price tag. We got a smaller set, but the price tag is still huge. $400 CAD after taxes is NOT a smaller, more affordable set in any meaningful sense. If you're gonna charge me that much, give me something that reflects it.

I agree with BlazeJ, I think you could do it with the first level having an actual defendable wall, and then some not quite microscale cheating to give the appearance of seven levels, with a small minifigable section on top for the courtyard, and the rest as rooms accessible from the back, much like many of the great MOCs out there. I don't hate the idea of just white tower + courtyard though either. Could be stunning like Rivendell. So long as they make it suitable to display as a counterpoint to Barad Dur I'll be happy.

Ok, any minute now Lego will announce that the price of The Shire is an April fools joke, right?

5:42 in that video you get a nice shot of the white tree above Bilbo's fireplace.

Agreed. I think the party tree *should* have been this detailed for the price we are paying. This is over the top for the GWP though, and I doubt anyone is actually going to do this for that build.

What should I look for on PAB for making more hobbits? Do they have the dual molded legs and the hair?

I think for me the middle ground will be just doing the party tree in this style, and see how I like that look. I think the one on top of bag end is OK as is, but my opinion might change after I flesh out the party tree...

Yep, something closer to this would justify the price. Even if just the party tree had gotten this glow up, it would feel much closer in both vibe and value.

Yeah, that picture with all three sets next to each other almost tips this into don't buy territory for me. It looks *really* underwhelming. A $350 CAD Lego set should be a statement piece.