NiceMarmot

I totally agree. But unfortunately, as far as torsos go, I think we're likely to only get one orc and one Uruk-hai (plus maybe one Uruk-hai leader torso). TLG will have no problem doing three slightly different Frodo torsos, but it seems that when they do generic baddies, they're just that - generic. However I would expect to get a few different heads with different expressions.

Yes, Going Postal is one of my favorite Discworld books too! I immediately thought of that when I saw this post. I've been thinking about doing a super-micro scale Historica on top of four elephants on the back of a turtle...

I agree with the pricing on this one. Gandalf, Frodo, a horse, and a cart. Or maybe Gandalf and Frodo and some hobbit-house scenery like the round doorway. Hopefully $19.99 instead, but considering it's licensed, you're probably right. Probably has a bit of scenery, like the interior of the cave, or the web? Trying to make a web might make for some interesting pieces. Brick-built spider? Or molded body with legs made of parts? Battle-pack seems like an obvious possibility. Could also be Saruman reviewing the Uruk-hai? Or maybe the Uruk-hai army camp, with Merry and Pippin as captives? $35-40 if it's a set. Given the numbering, it does seem like it should be the $50 set, but I'm having a hard time visualizing it. I guess if there were three Nazgul, plus Aragorn and the hobbits (giving eight total minifigs) that might justify such a high price. Besides minifigs though, what does it have? The ruins at the top of the hill I suppose. They'd have to be pretty good ruins; maybe with some sort of play feature? Yes, I'm guessing Balrog with some interior scene and a collapsing bridge play feature. Agreed, although that seems like too many minifigs. Maybe just Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, Theoden, and four Uruk Hai. Or add Eomer and take away an orc. I'm guessing there's a play feature simulating the blowing up of the wall. Probably an impulse set. If the Uruk-hai Army set is a battlepack, then hopefully this would be Saruman supervising the forging of new orcs. Seems a bit light on the play-features. But I suppose they'll come up with something, and hey, when all else fails, they'll just add some flick-fire missiles. So this wave is the Fellowship and Two Towers. Then there will probably be a wave slightly in advance of the first Hobbit movie; I imagine that will be Hobbit-oriented. Then I'm guessing another wave focused on The Return of the King. And then another wave before the second Hobbit movie. Seems like they would have tried to do three LOTR waves and two Hobbit waves. I suppose if it's successful they can always add more waves later and pick set ideas from anywhere in the books.

You can switch! We'll welcome you with open arms! There is even snow high in our Rakath mountains, so you can have a bit of the Mitgardia experience in Kaliphlin too.

Interesting list; no idea how to tell if it's accurate or not. Let's think these through a bit: Gandalf Arrives - probably a good little scene, fairly inexpensive, Gandalf arriving at Bag End or whatever it's called, a few minifigs plus two walls, a round doorway, a floor and some furnishings? Shelob Attacks - a big brick-built spider, some scenery, and two hobbits ~$20 maybe? Uruk-hai Army - a battlepack? Attack on Weathertop - I think this is the $30 set: some monoliths, a bit of landscaping, couple of Nazgul and Aragorn and some hobbits Mines of Moria - bunch of minifigs, some fairly elaborate interior setting, a big Balrog, one or two play features - $50 set? Battle of Helm's Deep - this is the $100 set probably: six to eight minifigs, very castle-like, multiple play features Orc Forge - can't remember this one... is this where Saruman creates orcs? So the distribution of set size/price seems appropriate and in-line with what TLG has done for past themes. Probably should bump those numbers up by $5-10 each since it's licensed. If you look at recent themes like HP, PoP, PotC, etc, there definitely are some patterns: a few inexpensive sets with either minifigs in an action scene or minifigs in a more settled scene with interesting objects (like Captains Cabin), then some mid-range sets which typically have a few more minfigs, a small building or setting, and a few play features, and then some big sets with more minifigs, a lot bigger whole buildings, and more play features. I think this list fits in fairly well with that scheme. Weathertop is the one that doesn't fit for me, since there's no architecture and limited scenery, and no obvious play features to me. As LEGO is (almost) always focused on kids, we should analyze whether possible sets would appeal to kids, not just to AFOLs. The keys for kids are probably recognizability, playability, and some sort of uniqueness/strangeness - it has to be a bit unusual and not bland. Shelob Attacks is a good example of this - the spider is recognizable, it's a fairly major scene, it's playable, and definitely unusual - kids will say 'cool! giant spider attacking minfig! Mom, I want it!'. Moria is a good choice too; the Balrog is unusual and compelling, it's playable, and as a major scene, it's pretty recognizable. Helm's Deep could certainly be playable; recognizability might be a bit low, but it definitely is a major scene. Attack on Weathertop is the opposite - hard to make unusual or recognizable except to hard-code fans, and really not that playable except for minifigs whacking each other. Other sets I'd like to see: Ents - Treebeard with Merry and Pippin - TLG seems to have a thing for trees (Harry Potter sets, Ewok Attack, etc). Probably an inexpensive set, and a bit hard to make playable. Gollum and Bilbo - not sure how playable this is. I should probably come up with a list of possible Hobbit sets, but I can't remember the book very well... Meeting Galadriel / Lothlorien -not very playable, but could be visually cool, plus gives the theme a sorely needed female minifig The Black Gate - could be a huge set, and playable too, but the gate itself might be a bit bland. Rivendell - just because the architecture is so unusual (I'd like see a Rohan set for the same reason), but hard to make these appeal to kids Corsairs of Umbar - what's not to like about this? I think TLG at some point will definitely do a set with Frodo and Gollum fighting over the ring at the edge of the Cracks of Doom chasm in Mt Doom. What do you all think the possible sets are? What sets would you like to see? (These are not always the same, unfortunately...)

Thanks for the praise on the dune; it was hard and took a lot of pieces but I think it turned out well, especially since I didn't have a lot of time. I was going for the enveloping-the-tower look. I wanted it a bit higher, but given the 32x32 limitations, I would have to make the sides a lot steeper, and I don't think it would look that realistic. I've tried to make the leading edge of the dune (facing away from the tower) have a consistent medium slope. Then the trailing edge has a steeper slope at the top, gradually flattening out to much more gradual slope at the bottom. I think that gives it a more realistic look. I haven't really done any landscape shaping like this of this size before, so it was good to use a new technique; it would certainly apply to other dirt, rock, and grass landscaping. I was amazed at the number of 1x1, 1x2, 1x3, and 1x4 plates I used. If I were to do this type of landscaping in green, I'd have to get a lot more plates. The tower admittedly isn't anything special and didn't stretch my building techniques at all, but the sand dune was the real focus here. I had originally planned on giving the tower more 'texture', more decoration, and more crumbling at the base, but didn't have anywhere near the time necessary to do that. I am happy with the way the roof turned out, although for some reason I couldn't find another 6x8 reddish-brown plate (they must be in some other build...).

Really nice! Kind of an unusual design; looks good. And I think the orange beard on the statue looks fine.

Thanks! Yes, the dune was a major pain. It probably took four times as long to build the dune as to build everything else. And it nearly exhausted my supply of 1x1 and 1x2 tan plates; I was getting a bit worried towards the end.

I snuck a new watchtower in just under the wire on the 15th, California time. I wasn't planning on building another one, but my son and I were fooling around with bricks, and before you know you're almost there. It's a pretty simple one and I didn't have time to do all I wanted to it, and the photography was a bit rushed, but it turned out OK. The tower of T'wur ZaGorth, on the northern edges of the Westersands desert. It's seen better days. T'wur ZaGorth - side Check out the full post

For your consideration: the watchtower of T'wur ZaGorth. I was recently traveling through the desert northwest of the Arkbri River (a wasteland known to some as the Westersands), and came upon this ancient watchtower, near the northern edge of the desert. Built long ago as part of a chain of towers to guard this part of the Siccus Badlands against invasion from the north, it has fallen into disrepair, and the sand dunes are encroaching on it. The top of the tower is slowly crumbling, and the sands have filled up the base and almost obscured the doorway. I thought it abandoned, but as I came closer I was greeted with shouts and demands to halt! The local villagers, dirt poor and wretched, apparently still staff the tower and keep guard. What loyal, dutiful folk! They've put up a small roof to keep the midday sun off, but other than that, have no funds for major renovations. They had petitioned the High King for money to refurbish the tower and make it safe, but I think everyone in Cedrica is otherwise occupied these days. IMG_4056-front IMG_4052-side IMG_4059-ladder-side T'wur ZaGorth - top down T'wur ZaGorth - top IMG_4057-dune Admittedly a rush job, to get it in on the 15th (it's still the 15th where I live). I wanted to do a bit more with this but ran out of time. The sand dune takes a lot of time, and a ton of tan plates!

This link is broken for me. Looks like it got shortened or something.

I agree! Having never built one, I have serious round tower envy! That just looks great; can't wait to see the finished product. BTW, nice job on the waves!

apologies to Shelley, but here goes: I met a traveller from our old Guildland Who said: "One vast and dark bley leg of stone Stands in the desert. On top, high above the sand, On an array of mirrors, the sun beams down And sends via pulses our every command. Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed. And on the pedestal these words appear: `My name is Legomandias, Builder of MOCs: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!' Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of those colossal bricks, boundless and bare, The lone and level sands stretch far away".

I wouldn't say I'm a collector at all, and I have no mint sets at all. I bought LEGO initially for the kids, and that brought me out of my dark ages, so while I love building MOCs (by myself and with them), the LEGO are primarily there for them. Or at least that's what I tell my wife. I never really understood the folks that have a ton of sets built sitting around collecting dust; but I realize that there are different personalities and interests, and that's OK. We have an almost 5 year old boy, and a 12 yro girl. She plays with LEGO rarely, mostly if everyone else is also. I think that's because we didn't buy LEGO for her early on, and only had a few sets until recently. Only in the last year have we really started to accumulate sets and bricks. We set up some rules for LEGO, and they seem to work fairly well. The rules in our house are: the LEGO belongs to everyone - there's no my LEGO vs your LEGO (except for very selected minifigures) don't destroy or take apart anything someone else has built, except two weeks after someone else's creation is built, you can take it apart (but try to ask first) no LEGO outside, in the car, or in the bathrooms put the LEGO bricks back into the correct bins once you're done My son has a bit of a hard time with the two week rule (especially since he's not exactly sure how long a week is...), but in general he's pretty good, especially if I'm still actively building something. The most he'll probably do is 'augment' it with some wacky minifigs. I'd say a week after I finish building something, he considers it fair game for serious 'redesign'. It's actually kind of neat, because he's way more experimental with pieces than I am, probably because he doesn't know what the 'right' way to use a piece is, and sometimes he really comes up with some cool stuff. That said, we've had an AT-ST MOC sitting around for more than six months; he plays with it but hasn't destroyed it. I guess he thinks it's so great he doesn't want to mess with it. He's not so good at the 'putting back' rule either, although getting better. It's not like we have a ton of bins, so it's not too hard to sort. He and I are starting to build more stuff together, and he's able to follow simple LEGO directions, with some help.

I really love the design of this, and the very creative use of common slope and arch pieces to make something beautiful and unique. Just goes to show that even fairly common pieces can be used to create something special! This design really looks like Kaliphlin guild tower. You're going to join the Kaliphlin Guild, right? We're clearly the best, and this a perfect tower for the guild, so you've got a great headstart already!

Wow! Very cool looking, Erudhalion/Gabe! Go for it! Hopefully the due date is Dec 15th Hawaii time and not Australia time, thus giving you plenty of extra time!

Aww, you'll get her in the end! Great story and build! Robuko, you've definitely got a knack for great stories, and I really like how they're all fairly consistent with each other. By the time this Historical Stimulus effort is done, you'll have enough for your own fantasy novel! (seriously!) The Hero Factory head over the doorway is inspired (I think it's an HF head). I also really like the sunglasses on the mummy; it's a nice detail that is very inline with the story. You've got lots of great details all over. Even the sarcophagus and and the guy fixing the side of the pyramid; just goes to show that you don't need a lot of specialized pieces to add nice details.

Ooh, I really like that last one. Going to have to show my 4 yro son that one; he loves those crystal pieces for some reason. Will try to come up with some ideas and post them too. BTW, another subject for either this thread or another one would be how to make shields -- for those of us who don't relish paying $0.50 a shield on BL for every castle soldier we have. I sense a thread that will have to be stickied, or at least referenced from the Historical Themes Index stickied thread.

Where's the hut on the ice with the generator, TV, and heaters? Oh, that's right, this isn't Wisconsin ice-fishing! This is great! I agree that the raised road really helps identify the rest of it as part of a lake or river. Great job with the snow and ice. And I like the guy feeding an apple to the horse. Perhaps you could ship a few tonnes of salted northern kjargefish south to us in Kaliphlin? My agent can take delivery in Petraea. Yum!

Dugal, that's going to look great no matter what! Wow!

Wow. I think we need to build one of these in Kaliphlin. Honestly, it could work. Something about a band of norse dwarven builders getting shipwrecked on a southern coast, and wanting to thank their god for saving them...

Yeah this is great! I really like the dark-blue and tan combination; will have to get some more dark-blue bricks now... My BL Wanted List is really expanding recently as all these great MOCs are giving me lots of ideas. I am totally going to steal that closed hatch idea; so much better than the open hole with a ladder that I usually use. I really like the SNOT sand base! And having the studs-up dark-tan plates partially over it adds to it even more. Another bush behind the ostriches might work, as might some texture on the dark tan plates (like using some dark-tan 1x1 and 1x2 plates so it's not so flat). But really, it's great the way it is.

I really like the situation of this MOC on the slopes of a volcano. That lava flow is great; good use of an orange antenna. I wish I had more trans-orange bricks! Back to BrickLink I guess... I also really like the way this build is modular; really nice to see inside, and improves playability. But I'm not sure I'd want to keep my ale in the cellar; that lava stream right under it would heat it up too much! Couple of minor suggestions, but in general this looks pretty good as is: I'm not a big fan of red, but in this situation it works OK with the black; dark-red might look better, but those bricks are a bit harder to come by. If you have some dark-red slopes, you might want to try them. I'd put a few orange/trans-orange plates or maybe two cheese pieces back-to-back on the lava river plates across the bottom, just so it's not so flat. See how it looks with a bit of texture, or try to create ripples in the lava. I'd like to see how it looks with a more lived-in look, like with a few minifigs and some clutter, like food, weapons, cups, etc. You might want to consider putting some long 1 wide plates on the ends of the roof, to hide the blocky ends of those red slope bricks. Look at Derfel Cadarn's medieval village building guide for examples. They're a bit of a pain, but really do make the roof look a lot better. You're getting a really good white background and base under it for the photos (probably using foamcore). If you add another light source from another angle, like from the right on the main photo, you won't get shadows like you have now. Not only will the photos then look a bit better, but if you ever want to wipe out the background completely in an image editing tool, it will be a lot easier. Maybe just a bit more of a story: who built it and when, what's the volcano named, some more about the dwarves, etc... Keep up the good work! We're really seeing a big push of Kaliphlin watchtowers here in the homestretch!

I think I understand what you want to do. I haven't tried it myself, but I think the key will be keeping the top of the cliff and the tower in focus, while making the bottom part of the cliff and the microscale landscape below a bit out of focus. If it's all in focus, it won't probably won't look right. If you can achieve this look with your camera that's great. You could try turning on the 'macro' focus feature, and forcing a fast shutter speed and/or wide/low aperture to make the lens only focus on the foreground. If you can't control the shutter or aperture, try using macro and forcing the ISO as low as possible, like 80 or 100. Or you can take the best photo you can, and then fuzz / blur that part of the photo using an image/photo editing tool. Otherwise, Captn Mugwash's idea of losing the baseplate altogether is fine. I didn't use a baseplate for my mountain lookout MOC, and I think it turned out fine. I did merge it with a photo to help really show how high it was. Good Luck!

"You can pry my bricks from my cold, dead, yellow curved ABS 983's!"