Eru Magnus Valar

The green Moria Orcs are my favourite. Not because they are the rarest (they only appeared in one set, that also came with that fantastic Cave Troll) but because they are green, got the creepiest eye colour, and they both came with the extremely cool pointy eared hairpiece. Also their body print with the silver scaled armour looks really nice. Too bad TLG did not give them leg printing. Still they are my favourite of the lot, though I do love all the other type of Orcs Lego made too. The only thing I did not like were all the Mordor Orcs that came without a hairpiece. Most minifigs just look unfinished and not right with a bold stud instead of a hat, helmet, or hairpiece. I fixed it, now all of them are equiped with a ragtag of different helmets and hats. What I also like about all the Orcs (including the Uruk Hai) is how versatile they are in Sci-Fi MOCs as aliens. Whether as monsters in a medieval like fairy-tale setting or some type of distopian futuristic scenario wicked Orcs just are badasss villains. They even look good on Tatooine getting drunk in the Mos Eisley Cantina.

Yep I voted for: Helm's Deep. A nice big castle, which I thought was an interesting build (although I think that is true for all LOTR sets). King Theoden is very beautiful minifig, one of my all time favourite castle minifigs, and so is Haldir. Four Uruk-hai including the Berserker, of a total of eight minifigures plus a horse, and a Lego castle (even though it is licensed) that is very different from all other Lego castles. As I already mentioned I also like Council of Elrond a lot, as well as the Shelob set, and Wheathertop. I decided, as this poll is simple and straightforward with only one choice, not to vote for Tower of Orthanc simply because I feel I should limit myself to all the sets I have build, and Tower of Orthanc is the only one I have not build yet, and is still sitting in its sealed box. But even if I had, Helm's Deep contains more interesting minifigures, yet the structure itself as a building might easily sway me to change my opinion had I already build Orthanc to vote that the best set of the bunch. As Deathleech also mentioned, Mines of Moria is also a really nice set, though mostly because of the minifigs. The build was good but somehow left something to be desired, I ended up buying Mines of Moria twice because of the green Orcs, and the cave Troll. How about another poll on your favourite LOTR Hobbit minifig; your favourite Elf minifig; your favourite Orc minifig; your favourite human and/or wizard minifig?! (I just lumped the two wizards and humans together, even though wizards in Tolkien's universe are not human but angelic beings).

LOL, I thought oooh that is easy; set #79003 Bag End, and then I thought: hold on (facepalm) that is not an 'LOTR' set, but a 'The Hobbit' set. Now it is much harder. Tower of Orthanc or Helm's Deep. This is almost impossible. I guess Helm's Deep or maybe not!? I cannot choose between them. I'll sleep on it, and vote tommorow. Actually a lot of the smaller sets are also really nice such as: The council of Elrond; Shelob attacks; and Wheathertop. Yep, must sleep on this. ps. Interesting topic.

Hello everyone! It is already quite a while ago since I made this account here, though I never did much with it until recently. After having posted a few comments on some topics on the historic forum, last couple of days, I thought it only proper to give a shout out to all fellow Lego fans on this introduction forum. Not sure why I at the time choose this ridiculous, rather pompous nick for this site, other then that I remember at the time reading a lot of background info on the lore, history, and creation myth of Tolkien's Middle Earth cannon. Anyway I guess I am stuck with this nick now so, you all better get used to it As the title already says: I am from The Netherlands, Amsterdam to be precise. I got back as an adult into Lego in 2010. My favourite Lego themes are first and foremost: Castle, and Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit. I have always been fascinated with the medieval times, the Renaissance, as well as ancient history: the Romans, ancient Greeks, etc. their mythology as well as that of the ancient Germanic/Nordic, and Celtic tribes and peoples from Europe. Next to my very broad interest in history, I am also a science fiction fan. So ever since I was a kid I always had a fondness for the Lego space theme, next to the castle line. Growing up in the eighties I was a huge Star Wars fan as a kid. At first when I got back into Lego I swore to myself I would never buy any Star Wars Lego, for fear of 'completist collection syndrome'. Well I caved in two years back or so, though fortunately I managed only to buy a couple of sets from that theme. I also have collected most of the CMF's, some Marvel, and DC superheroes sets, almost all the Winter village sets, the Prince of Persia theme, as well as Pirates of the Caribbean, and I am the proud owner of the Imperial Flag ship, one of my all time favourite Lego sets. I am currently reading George R,R. Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire' fantasy novels. And I am also a fan of the TV series Game of Thrones, based on these books. A fictional fantasy world that lends itself well to Lego MOC'ing. I think what I like best about Eurobricks, are all the amazing MOC's which people showcase on the historic section. I feel a bit intimidated by the Guilds of Historica. I suppose if you want to partake in that, you need to read up on all the storylines, lore, and mythology the members have created, as well as possess great photography equipment and skills to upload and contribute to it. I do build MOC's sporadically, but not as often as l would like. I hope to be sharing some more of my fondness for Lego on these forums with you all! All the best to you. Yours sincerely, Eru.

Ooooooooh those guys. You know what I did?! Since those figs actually do have really nice printing, in three varieties. I just tossed out the those crown-lion shields. Merged them with my Fantasy era Crown knights, and the dozen CMF Crown knight minifigs I have. Went to Bricklink and bought a bunch of Fantasy Era crown shields to replace those 2013 castle shields I did not like that much and; voila! I now have twice, or three times as many Crownies as I had before.

Hahaha you crack me up with number 21; 20; and 20. But I have no idea who the hell the Blue Lions are? Personally I think the fright knights were also really horrible (both sets as well as minifigs), and don't deserve the sixteenth position but at most the 20th.

Being Dutch, I grew up with Lego catalogues where those Lion knights (or crusaders as they are referred to in English) and Black Falcons in Dutch had official names which did not in any way refer to their heraldry. The Lion knights/crusaders were called: 'de ridders van Blankenvoort', and the Black Falcons; 'de ridders van Donkervoort'. And those forest men, if I am not mistaken were actually referred to as Robin Hood and his merry men (but in Dutch of course). I am inclined to look upon '2nd classic castle' as one continuous theme running from 1984 up until the end 1994. So eleven years in total. In 1995 the Royal knights were introduced. The minifgures with the silly duuphloo lion head sigil. (1st classic castle being the yellow castle, and the other few sets of that era) Anyway my personal favourites are Fantasy Era, and 2010 Kingdoms. And don't make me choose between them. Well okay then: Fantasy Era. Because of the dragons, trolls, and dwarfs that were not included in the (2010) Kingdoms theme. The problem with that poll you propose, as Artanis I from Down Under, already pointed out is that only in this century did TLG introduce separate themes, instead of a more or less continues castle world with factions.

I think I can predict which castle theme would win: The 2007-2009 Fantasy Era castle theme. And as runner-up I would probably put my money on the classic castle theme from 1984 with the Black Falcons, and the Lion knights (which for some mysterious reason many people call: crusaders), and the Robin Hood gang (1987). Although I don't know if that is actually all considered the same theme?!

Hi Tuskel! Wow! You really wrote a nice, and also very elaborate introduction. Happy building times.

I do own that set, but no, I did not MOC an entrance, but guess what?!? Someone else did. With a lot more bricks you will find inside the box of the Lonely mountain set itself. Check this topic: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=103725

Fantastic MOC! Those large brick build statues look also really good on either side of the entrance to your Erebor .

Thank you. When I get around to building another MOC, that somehow fits in the GOH world and makes any sense, and above all, I can make some good photographs of (which I currently cannot), I will have a go. And if it does not fit, I can always still show it in the historic section. Thank you too! Thanks. Nice to see we are interested in the same themes. Maybe we will come across each others posts / comments / topics in either the historic or sci-fi section of the forum, and end up discussing MOC's, and/or peculiarities of certain themes, or technical stuff etc. Hey 'play well'! It is funny how that indeed comes across as almost divined in Dutch, though actually not quite. Hope the commuting isn't killing you with all the traffic jams and /or delayed trains. Thank you too for welcoming me. At first the completist syndrome drove me nuts, and I thought the best way to handle it when I started collecting, was to limit myself to only one theme. Now I am much less bothered by it, and don't care that much, with most themes anyway, that I do not, and will not get all the sets from a particular theme. Thanks!

Wow! Your cyberpunk samurai minifigs and mecha's look incredible! Really nice! Love that 'speeder bike' too.

Well I am glad that after first offering me insult, I now have your approval too. I am so glad that someone like you, who demonstrates to posses similar social skills as the character Sheldon Cooper (from TBBT), is present here to amuse and enlighten me with all your constructive remarks. I am sure we will be just getting along fine. Good day to you too.

I admit. I definitely am not a hipster. And in all modesty I am quite proud of that ;) *shrugs shoulders* And I don't care if the language I use is fashionable anyway. I don't even think the word 'wicked' was still fashionable when Sasha Baron Cohen used it when he played Ali G in the nineties. Speaking of wicked critters, you certainly have a lot of those down under where you live.

Well as long as there are no bloody cheeky monkeys! Because that monkey sigil was probably the lamest coat of arms ever if it wasn't for King Leo's duuhploh Lion crest! The scorpion coat of arms is wicked though! I bricklinked a bunch of various Scorpion KKII soldiers and knights and a bunch of their shields. The shield with the white and grey raptor on blue background was nice too. The purple knight with the golden fox was kind of cool too. though I get why Ardelon refers to some of them as a bunch of jellybeanies. The knights from 2005 from KKII clad entirely in one colour: bright green; bright red; light soapie blue is not that pleasing to the eye, at least not compared to the 2010 Kingdoms and 1980's crusaders, black falcons etc. I do love purple ABS in combination with pearl silver ABS, some white, black, silver and gold printing and either light or dark grey ABS as a colour scheme for a new house / faction of knights will look so fantastic. So while we keep this wishing well thread alive, I am all for knights sporting those colours. A dragon design not that different from that of the Kingdoms Green Dragon knights would be nice, or a Hydra, a Griffin, or a bird of prey as coat of arms, and voila! A new all time favourite team of knights or elves might be born. The shield with unicorn sigil included in this set is also really great: http://brickset.com/...tle-at-the-Pass Some of those KKII sets had some interesting parts, some good minifigs, and fine shields in spite of all the other things which were definitely horribly wrong with it..

Nice MOC! I love diorama's like yours. They really tell a tale. Though I am not sure who the informant is. The guy with frodo's hair, and gimli's grumpy face perhaps?! Or the soulless ginger on the run? Questions! Questions... Really curious how some of those slopes, representing rock boulders, in the wall of the two buildings are attached, I have seen it before in other MOC's, but never attempted it myself.

This is the only castle I had (still have) as a kid: http://brickset.com/...Knight-s-Castle So I cannot speak out of experience as none of the other many sets I had/have, and/or played with as a child had these raised base plates. Except for this set: http://brickset.com/...-I-Command-Base Base plates with moon crater landscape, which were fantastic, to drive and jump over with your moon buggies, and use as pick-nick spots for your astronauts, or places where they could delve 'moon ore' etc. I have read many set reviews on brickset.com, and comments on the brickset-forum of people who did play with them, and have or had them as a child, and what always lingered with me were all the people who mentioned that those raised base plates do not seem stand the test of time very well. Raised base plates apparently (at least quite a few of them) according to what I read, crack, break, become brittle over time. Personally just from having looked at photo's, some of the sets with raised base plates to me as an adult look kind of cheesy, yet with the eyes of the inner-child within me have something charming as well. It makes those castle sets, of which many don't have that many bricks, looks more impressive and grand to the eye. The pits or dungeons, inside seem to offer extra play value, and somehow the idea of role-playing as a kid, acting out a castle siege seems even more appealing with a raised base plate. Yet I know this is not necessarily true! As a little kid I solved this problem by either placing my castles, as I did not have a vast amount of extra bricks to build a mountain to place my castle on, on a stack of books, and build a ramp for my minifigs and horses with Lego bricks on one side to climb this paper 'rock plateau'. Or I went to an arts & crafts shop and bought a blue sheet of A1 size paper (representing water), and a smaller green sheet of paper (representing land) to place in the centre on top of the blue paper on which a placed my castle. I cut some corners off the paper, and wavy pattern along the sides of the paper with some scissors to make the giant moat and island look 'organic'. Being Dutch, medieval castles in The Netherlands always rely on a moat, as there are no mountains, so my imagined castle worlds were not always that rocky and hilly either. And in case I did not have coloured paper, I just spend half the afternoon drawing, and colouring in a white sheet of paper. Considering that flat base plates also eat into the budget and number of other bricks and minifigs that a set contains, I do not necessarily prefer their inclusion. Though base plates are handy for castle and landscape MOC'ing as well as fundamental for displaying large groups of castle minifigs. Ultimately none of the castle sets I have bought as an AFOL included them, so I won't miss them, as the sets are perfectly fine without them.

No need to be so caustic, I was just wondering if he meant what I thought he could mean with it. After all, with all the fantasy novels, games, series etcetera around, some mythical creatures become completely different things, or are just totally dissimilar creatures who are nonetheless referred to using similar sounding/written names. E.g.: Wargs in Tolkien's world are giant wolfs, but in George R.R. Martin's books; Wargs are people with the ability to enter the minds of animals and perceive the world through their senses and even control their actions. And a Manticore for instance in these same ASOIAF books is also a completely different looking creature, not at all resembling how in Persian mythology this creature is depicted.

Some comments questions regarding proposed/fantasized minifigs and creatures, races and/or factions. Vipers & Lizard people?!? Really? As in (or somewhat like) the reptilians from Ninjago from two waves/years ago? Or the new snake minifigs from NInjago from 2015?! I hope not! Then you might as well start collecting all those Ninjago sets with those type of figures in it. No need to wait for a new castle theme for that. I do like some of those Ninjago villain minifigs, but no way is that what I will be hoping for when TLG releases a new Castle theme. Do you mean Griffin? Where U wrote Gryphon? Griffin: a legendary creature with the head, talons, and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion. If TLG can design one that looks good, with plenty of articulation points, like the dragons (Smaug; Red/Black dragon from 2013 Castle; Green/Gold dragon from 2008 Castle set: Troll warship; etc.) then yes why not. Though a warg size deer, elk or moose (just like the those white/grey and brown ones from the Hobbit) would be just as, or even be nicer. Again; Lizard men?! really? Dark Elves or Drows as you refer to them could be interesting. But what colour to choose for them? Fluorescent white so they will glow green in the dark maybe? Black does not work so well on minifigs I think. Remember the Fantasy Era black skeleton warriors? Their face prints looked really dull, and did not stand out. Goblins are usually green, trolls green, tawny, or grey. The humans and elves will all have classic yellow heads and the dwarfs too. I definitely would love more civilian style medieval/fantasy humans in the mix. And also more female minifigs. Some peasants, some craftsmen, merchants, princes, princesses, as well as kids. I feel that if TLG will put more individual characters with hairpieces and hats in the mix, whom you can dress up as combatants with extra armour pieces (body armour/harnass), and helmets and shields and swords, axes etc. You don't have to have so many sets containing so many identical minifig torso elements. Unless you want to build a huge army. If the theme is going to be around for three years (and yes all of this is pure conjecture and wishful thinking) then I hope TLG will not flood (like Ninjago or Chima) the market with too many sets every year. People need to get the chance to save up and buy and collect them all too, if they are of course desirable sets. Five to seven sets tops in one year will be enough. Not counting polybags (which are never or hardly ever available in my country any way), battle packs, or an advent calender. And otherwise I hope that TLG will keep a wave in production for a little longer if they think inundating the market all at once with many sets is a good thing. Also I hope the heraldry will be as beautiful as that of the 2010 Kingdoms and 2007 Castle line, or that of the classic castle sets from 1984 until mid 1990's. But definitely NOT like last theme from 2013; well at least with regard to those crown/lion knights, or that King Leo's sigil from 2000 and that other royal knights Lion emblem. I hope TLG will be inspired by actual historic medieval heraldry and coat of arms designs for the sigils of the various houses to which the knights, elves, goblins/trolls belong. On a last note Lego is after all a construction toy; I hope all the sets will be interesting to build no matter what size, and contain a good assortment of bricks for MOC'ing too.

Maybe. It does show that Castlefans crave this evergreen theme as much as ever, and the lack of new sets for 2015 shows a huge hiatus.

Nice ornithopter! As already mentioned (if possible) a video in which you demonstrate how the wings flap, will probably help gather more votes for your Lego Ideas project. Do you know how many bricks your build contains? Have you also considered constructing it with technic axles etcetera, and cloth similar to that used for all the Lego sail ships? Since the wings of Leonardo's design look much more like that of a bird (such as the wings of a pigeon or a swallow) and less like those of a bat or dragon. ps. Funny, when I saw that minifig, I also thought 'hey he looks a bit like Ezio Auditore'.

I know, yet there is still a chance this Lego IDEA in review stage might get approved, and will be produced: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/36275 Anyway back on topic... I hope that the 2016 castle theme, granted that it is well thought out and equally well received by Lego fans, will at least continue to be around for two years. And if good maybe even for three years or more. The fantasy Era castle theme lasted three years, Kingdoms was around for three years,and I personally would have liked to see that theme continue into 2013 with a fourth wave of sets. Also the last *'regular' 2011 Kingdoms wave, with one of the best all time caste sets #7189 'Mill Village Raid' was around for only +/- three months, which was pretty ridiculous IMO. *(the excellent Joust set, and chess set, I suppose in my mind did not count as another 'regular' full wave of sets) And yes as many others have also said: a new theme with multiple distinct factions, peoples, and mythological creatures and races is most welcome, as well as TLG not just again bringing another theme with an evil wizard and his minions versus a good king and his soldiers/knights. Finally, and most of all; I also love to see another new 'Medieval Market Village' type set with only small bricks and without any big wall sections and other BURP's. ps. Sorry, but I have no idea how to quote someone on this forum properly with his/her name appearing in the header?!

From what I understand, based on what the original poster BrickJagger beliefs to be true after having spoken with a store manager at a Lego store, TLG will release a new fantasy era castle theme in 2016. If this turns out to be indeed true, this is fantastic! Like BrickJagger I have been lurking about on Brickset every now and then already for a some years, but hardly ever engage in commenting, replying, chatting etc. on this Lego site/forum. I am a little more prolific on another LUG (Brickset) which I am sure you are all familiar with. What I really like about Eurobricks are how the forums are arranged according to Lego theme, being a huge Lego LOTR and castle fan I often have a look around here on the historic section. If it in the future proofs to be true what BrickJagger mentioned, than I will be once more a very happy AFOL, it is really too bad that in all probability the LOTR theme has ended. There will be no more new Hobbit Lego sets released either, and on top of that the non licensed castle theme has also expired this year. If we are lucky we might get one more LOTR Minas Tirith set. If that Lego Ideas project which has achieved the 10.000 votes status, will get approved, and then ultimately will be in some form developed further by TLG, taken in production, and some day appear at Legoshop@home. I rediscovered Lego in 2010 with the release of the Kingdoms theme. A worthy successor to the 'fantasy era' castle theme from 2007 to 2009, from which I also still managed to buy some sets. The concept of that theme which entailed four races: humans (crown knights), in alliance with mine dwelling gold digging dwarfs, pitted against a wizard commanding armies of undead skeleton warriors, who in 2008 was joined by marauding hordes of trolls, was absolutely marvellous! So a new fantasy theme will be great! I love to see new sets with elves, goblins, trolls, dwarfs, men (regular humans), as well as wizards, witches, fairies, pixies, giants, ogres, knights, brigands, and other outlaws. And above all I also hope there will be more civilian sets: a miller; a farm; a black/gold/silversmith. Some medieval town sets. And as others have also mentioned not just another theme with only two parties who are pitted against each other. I loved the heraldry design for Kingdoms, the Green Dragon knights are, next to my fond childhood memories of the Black Falcon knights, still my favourite castle faction. Although I cherish all my fantasy era trolls just as much. More over, when I lump all my fantasy era trolls (minifig & bigfig) together with my Mordor, Moria, gundabad and Uruk Hai orcs, and cave trolls I have an army that none of my other castle factions can match, well at least not in numbers/size. I felt that the 2013 castle theme was not as interesting as the two preceding themes. The minifigures were really nice, but the sets themselves were somewhat underwhelming, the builds another rehash without something new and refreshing. The king's castle was very similar to that of the preceding theme, but just not as good as the Kingdoms version. I liked the dragon mountain set best, though that is not difficult when TLG puts in a splendid giant dragon. I hope the Castle theme will make a strong come back in 2015!

@Disco86 I absolutely love this set! If it will ever become a real set, I will definitely buy multiple copies of it (at least two, though I would love to buy more). I adore the minifigures, especially the rangers and soldiers from Gondor, but also the Orcs. It would have been nice if one of the Orcs would have been new and different from the generic ones that already exist. A new face, torso, leg print, and perhaps even a new ABS skin colour, but even so, you can never have enough vile villainous Orcs. The only thing which bothers me a little is the price point; at € 99,99 it is overpriced. But then LOTR Lego sets at Lego's suggested retail price are always too expensive. Though that has not stopped me from buying all LOTR/Hobbit sets which TLG released. I already supported your Lego Idea a while back but kind of forgot about it. I am supporting so many LOTR projects on Ideas, at least all those that look good, fortunately there are plenty of those. So when I just logged in at the Lego Ideas site and saw that you still have 323 days left and already 1070 supporters, there is a good change you will gather 10.000 supporters. I hope TLG will notice your project like so many other great LOTR projects, and produce more sets, either as Lego Ideas sets that get 10.000 votes or that TLG will design other sets themselves. I am so disappointed TLG is probably not going to release more waves of LOTR Lego. LOTR and The Hobbit Lego are my all time favourite Lego themes. Good luck with your project, I hope you will gain 10.000 supporters, and of course more important that TLG will actually take your idea into production. ps. Noob question! What exactly does MEC stand for? MOC = my own creation, I am not familiar with this acronym: MEC. Anyone know the answer to this? Thank you in advance.