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Showing results for tags '79014 Dol Guldur Battle'.
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Dol Guldur battle! The final showdown in The Desolation of Smaug, and the flagship set of the December 2013 The Hobbit wave. I had my eye on this set since I first saw it. Radagast, Azog, and the Necromancer are all figures pivotal in the books and movie plot lines. The set looked to be a good stand alone model, I also combines with Dol Guldur Ambush, which Reviewers academy member Captain Nemo has reviewed here. So I had to have it. I was excited to find the set as early as I did, and knew I had to buy it. Set Information: Name: Dol Guldur Battle Set Number: 79014 Pieces: 797 Price: $69.99 Ages: 9-14 Minifigs: 6 Theme: The Hobbit Year of Release: December 2013 Bricklink Brickset S@H Flickr Set Box: The box is a nice dark blue in color and has a picture of a mountain ranger on the upper banner. The color really seems appropriate for this set. The background for the set seems fitting, a nice dark tanish color, it has a good decayed look. On the back of the box, a very nice orange color is more prevalent. The alternate image for the set is set on what looks like a piece of parchment. And there are a bunch of box to show the different features and functions. Since this is the biggest set in the wave, the top of the box has all of the figures included in the set. Again on something that looks a lot like parchment. Contents: Inside the box there are six bags, two manuals, and a sticker sheet. The manuals and sticker sheet in mine where quite bent up, as there is no cardboard backing. The box was surprisingly full. I found a few notable pieces in the set. The gate piece, while not new, is my first one, and the other pieces are just a bit rare in these colors. As for the 2x2 round plate with a hole, it's exclusive to the new Hobbit sets and I can see many good uses for it in my MOCs. Lastly the extra pieces, while the brick-separator isn't extra, I'm not sure where else to put it. Lots of cheese and connecting Technic bits. Manual: The front of the manuals is the same as the box, but without most of the information cluttering up the very nice art. There are two of them for this set, and they're surprisingly thick. Inside the manual is a great light blue color, here it shows what bags build what, and which manual they're in. (If you want to skip to your favorite minifigure. ) There is some very light Dwarven runes on the left side of the pages, they look pretty good, and add an extra layer to the set depth. I found no color inconsistencies in the manual, and the steps were easy to follow. The back of manual one has a some great art promoting thehobbit.lego.com. Manual two has the last three bags. Page one of the parts list. Page two of the parts list. 79011 and 79012 were crammed onto one page of the manual. I think 79013 has some of the best art of the whole of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings sets. It's really quite stunning. Page one of the minifigure checklist. The second of the two pages of minifigure checklist. This page "announced" the two new poly bags for this wave, Legolas, and Laketown guard. An ad for The Hobbit game. It would be nice to have that staff for Gandalf. Lastly an ad for the last wave of The Hobbit sets. The Ring flipping looks pretty good. Minifigures: There are six figures in this set, Radagast, The Necromancer, and Azog are all exclusive to this set. As far as I can tell Azog is the same as the one from San Diego Comic Con. Radagast has some great detailing, you can see the bird poop printed on his beard. I think he staff is perfect with the existing pieces. The back of the figures. Radagast's hat and beard are one piece, and you can kind of see that here. Radagast's clothing is extremely detailed. I'm really quite pleased, I didn't notice the leaves in his clothing in the movie, but I'm sure they're there. The gold embroidered leaves continue on the back of Radagast. The alternate head looks good. A close up of the four baddies in the set. They're all designed nicely, Azog's head covers it up but he does have some pecks printed on his chest. The Necromancer is a great sand green color and the orcs have a lot of bones in their design. The back of Azog and one of the Gundabad orcs. Azog's belt is printed on nicely, and the orc really does look good. The orc seems to have incorporated a spine in his armor, the bones really add a nice detail. Here's a great close up of Azog's "hand." I say "hand" since in LEGO form it's a hand, but in the movie it's his lower arm. Typical LEGO form here, and it does look okay. Though they do look a little funny since the arms are different lengths. I've had several people ask for this picture. Azog fits on here quite well. The Build: Each bag builds a different module for the set, or pieces to connect them. The first bag, shown here, builds the statue and the main section of the set. This module has the Necromancer reveal function. Bag two builds two connecting walls. This bag was short. By the third bag, your fortress is taking shape, this module has a gate Bag four builds a small section that will be connected to the tower. Once through bag number five you've built most of the main structure of the fortress, here you complete the tower. Lastly bag six builds the two staircases, and the cage. The completed set! Really an interesting build, some fun techniques to connect the different modules. Finished Model: So the completed model! It makes a pretty good display piece when combined with the minifigures. I can see this taking a prime display spot on my desk. I have applied the stickers as I think they really add to the set overall. First up of the smaller bits, is the statue. This must play a rather large part in the movie since it has been included here, we'll have to see. But it does look pretty good. Then there's the cage. It's really just a small rock with a cage attached to it, rather boring but it does have a function. Here's the main fortress chunk. Yes I do have the wall backwards, the stickered side is supposed to face this way. I think it makes a very nice backdrop for the minifigures, and there's so great splashes of color to break up the dark bley. The back is obviously not meant to be viewed. There isn't much texture back here, and it's the rear sides of all of the bricks that make up the front section. Here's a close up of the two small rooms in the tower. Some stickered bone piece add a little variation to them. The cage can also be place on top of the tower, which, I think, makes it more visually interesting. Functions: The first function involves finding this ring inside the statue. I noticed in the LEGO Catalog, that it's a wizard ring, I hope this is explained more in the movie. Basically every module of the set has a function. The left most one allows you to dump skulls on people, by turning the vine. The main feature allows you to "reveal" the Necromancer. You turn this flame part. And the Necromancer is revealed. A bit boring, since I've seen it used so many times. Then there's the sword swinging function. You turn the tooth and the sword swings out. Pretty nifty. The cage can be dropped on someone by pulling the pin out. I've found that it likes to come out by itself. And lastly the catapult can be fired. We've seen a lot of these since their introduction a few years ago. Conclusion: Over all, I think I got my moneys worth out of this set. There's a play feature in every module of it, and you can combine it with set 79011 for a larger battle. The minifigures are absolutely fantastic. Radagst is expertly detailed, the Necromancer, while a bit boring, is a pretty good representation from the movie, and the Orcs are top notch. (Though I would have liked to have seen some hair on the Gundabad Orcs) There really isn't too much of variation in the pieces in the set, let face it, there are a bunch of bley bricks. But really I'm quite satisfied, that's all that matters. Ratings: Playability: 9/10 This set is littered with play-features. I would give it a perfect score, however, the Necromancer reveal function seems a bit old at this point, since it's used so much. Design: 7/10 While it seems rather lacking in the design section, let's face it, it's a big grey blob, that, admittedly, represents a ruined fortress pretty well. Still a bit boring overall. Price: 10/10 It has a great price-per-piece ratio, and most of the minifigures are new and exclusive. Minifigures: 10/10 The minifigures are amazing. I may be a bit biased here, I bought this for the figs, but they really are designed well and look great on display! Parts: 6/10 Nothing super new here, and mostly dark-bley parts. Total: 42/50 Like this review? 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