Trunkbass

I would love a joined Middle-Earth theme in 2015, if that means we get more LOTR (and Hobbit) sets ! There is one problem though, I think. Does the name 'Middle-Earth' ring enough bells? I mean everybody knows 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings' because the films are called that way. Middle-Earth is a nice name to combine the two franchises, but will it be popular/recognizable enough? Star Wars covers it all set-wise, but the movies are also all called 'Star Wars', so this is different I think. I do know that probably everybody knows where Middel-Earth stands for/comes from, but I think it's a little less easy to use as a branding name because of the lack of being a movie title.

@ Haltiamieli: Wow, this really looks like the gate of Minas Tirith! Nice work! What program did you use to design this (I'm new to these things)?

Yeah, those bald orcs are pretty awful. I prefer hairpieces over helmets or cowls, but it may be harder to differentiate them that way. Those shields don't look bad as well. I would love to see a picture of your army!

Thanks guys! I guess I'll be stacking up DGA-sets while scanning for Bricklink opportunities! What do you guys use to differentiate your orc army? Do you use helmets from the Castle fantasy era or banners, other shields, ...? Feel free to show some pictures! I couldn't find a lot on Orc armies, it's mostly (and understandable, since we have sets like 9471) Uruk-Hai armies.

Who ever spoke of an effective demise of the LOTR line? 2014 is a messy year for LEGO with all the movie sets and stuff. Everything can happen! On topic: your list looks good. I would indeed expect the BO5A-set to have some more bad guys for playability, at least according to 'LEGO-logic'. Armored Dwarfs and Dain on his boar would be epic!

Wow! Where do you guys buy your LEGO?! Even with an Amazon discount around 25/30% of the European price I only buy one (cheap) set twice max. Too bad the polybags are nowhere to be found in Europe (on the continent), as far as I know. I would buy A LOT of them I sent TLG (Belgium) an email yesterday, but no response yet.

I've sent them a message too. I wouldn't count on a thorough answer though, but one can hope. If not, at least they got the message that there are some people who'd love the LOTR line to stay.

@ desp: Thanks for the links! These are indeed a lot cheaper then those I stumbled upon. Do you have good experiences with ordering minifigures from a Bricklink store in the US (payment, waittimes, import taxes, etc.)? Set-wise the Dol Guldur Ambush indeed seems like one of the cheaper options. I might get some Attack of the Wargs sets too if there discounted, then you can have some evil cavalry as well. I don't mind the leg printing on the Hunters. Although they do look like more like 'scoutish' orcs, there legs are easily replaced by regular brown pants, as Deathleech pointed out.

Hi guys, I have a question about (Mordor) orc army building. I'm (at the moment) not a big fan of buying minifigures from Bricklink, because in Europe the prices are mostly 5-10 euro for a nice orc with hairpiece. I've bought Uruk-Hai Army multiple times because the price for 4 Uruks was more or less the same on Bricklink and you do get the extra pieces if you buy the set. I was wondering, which set(s) would you guys buy to build an orc army? There have only been a couple of sets with orcs that got nice hairpieces. Which would be the most profitable according to you? I'll list up all the sets that have orcs (or goblins) in it to my knowledge. I know some might seem a bit ridiculous (Orthanc f.e.) but I wanted to make a complete list. - 2012 LOTR The Mines of Moria: 2 Moria Goblins with headpieces (maybe to distinct from the regular orc color/armor, could stack up cave trolls as well) - 2012 LOTR The Orc Forge: 2 orcs, one with headpiece (the headpiece is nice, and you get Uruks too) - 2012 HOBBIT Attack of the Wargs: 3 orcs, two with headpiece, one is Yaznek (you get two nice wargs too) - 2012 HOBBIT Goblin King Battle: 3 orcs, all with bald headpieces (one has little feet, but easily adjustable, probably too expensive) - 2013 LOTR Battle at the Black Gate: 2 orcs, no headpieces (and an awfully misplaced Uruk helmet! ) - 2013 LOTR Pirate Ship Ambush: 2 orcs, no headpieces (probably way too expensive) - 2013 LOTR Tower of Orthanc: 1 orc, no headpiece (just ridiculous for orc army building) - 2013 HOBBIT Dol Guldur Ambush: 2 orcs, with headpieces (trying to sell Beorn a dozen times scares me of) - 2013 HOBBIT Mirkwood Elf Amy: 2 orcs, no headpiece, a warg (nice Elves too but quite expensive in Europe at the moment) - 2013 HOBBIT Dol Guldur Battle: 2 orcs, no headpieces (Azog is nice but hardly reusable as grunt) Feel free to post your own methods, ideas, ... How do YOU muster an Orc army?

, `You could always take a screenshot and blank out your personal details? Or would posting this get us in any trouble with TLG? You could also send the email/picture to a moderator so that he can verify it for us without posting it on the forum? It's certainly not personal, I would love to believe that the future for LoTR might be not as grim as we thought.

I agree with qiadris! Lothlórien it is!

I like it, looks very sturdy! Nice removable roof function too! You also got a pretty decent Uruk-Hai collection there! Did you buy multiple sets or did you just pick them up on Bricklink?

I know we already have Bag End in the 2012 Unexpected Gathering set, but wouldn't it be awesome if we got a 2000 piece Hobbit hole ^^?

Is there simply nothing we can do? Wasn't Ninjago supposed to be discontinued as well? It did got reinstated right? Couldn't we fire up a petition or a Facebook page or something like that to make sure LEGO at least knows the (possible) extend of interest in the LOTR theme? Or do you guys think that it's too early for things like that?