Fives

I could deal with an Osgiliath/Eowyn vs. Angmar crossover. It would be a clever way of killing two birds with one stone, and still leave space in the wave for nicely sized Minas Tirith sets. Also, just to go back to the whole 'demonic' Balrog discussion, I have one more point to make in favour of making the Balrog: Darth Maul. Seriously, red skin, yellow eyes and horns screams demonic to me. So why should the Balrog be chastised for its design more than an evil Sith Lord? Just some food for thought on the subject.

That's the best Middle-Earth poly bag we've gotten yet. The only thing it's missing is a shield like the ones from LTC. Still, I plan on getting 7 of these, to give me a Laketown army total of 8.

Hello! With the recent announcement of the Hobbit video game and the subsequent release of screenshots, we've been given a glimpse at what a LEGO Orcrist could've looked like. Unfortunately, the likelihood of Orcrist being officially made by TLG is pretty slim. So, what I'm wondering is if anyone knows about any websites (Brickforge and the like) that might have a sword product based on the design of Orcrist? If that were a thing, I would be tremendously interested and thankful.

I love the new designer vids. So great. I think its wonderful that Jordan showed four MEA sets combined. Its exactly what I've done and it looks awesome! As for the ring discussion, its gotta be Thrain's ring. That makes the most sense.

Blasters are different. They aren't weapons that have names. Orcrist, Anduril and Glamdring are all named weapons, and are given high levels of importance in the films.

Kids who see the movies and recognize the swords will wonder why they don't have an Orcrist. Kids are a lot cleverer than people think; many kids have a strong attention to detail, and not much gets past them.

Then don't buy that set! Simple!

Still no image. Weird. I'd like to see what it includes. Does anyone have any yet?

I saw him make a post on his tumblr page when the first images of the new wave were released. I think he may have also been involved with Dol Guldur Ambush, but I'm not sure.

If LEGO doesn't give us something from Gondor, it will be a huge slap to the face of the fans and collectors, but that's a conversation for a different thread.

It is noticeable that LEGO has realized how much fans are putting importance of figs these days, so I feel like the builds of the sets are less impressive, and instead the designers are putting way more effort into the figs. This wasn't the case with the initial LOTR release, but the sets have progressively become less detailed as the popularity has been going down. It's as if LEGO sees how LOTR/Hobbit sets are a little less popular that anticipated, so they feel like they can slack of on some sets here and there.

Yeah, I forgot he did that one as well. And that was a really nice set, design wise.

I believe it is nin-JAW-go.

Jordon Scott, who designed Mirkwood Spiders and sections of Orthanc, also designed MEA. I think the reason that this set feels a little lackluster is due to the fact that it intends to represent Thranduil's fortress, be a decent battle pack, and be modular, all for $35. Those are some steep expectations from a small set designed by a rather new designer. Also, there might be a chance that this set is only slightly based on aspects of scenes from the film. New Line may not have given LEGO too much info initially, so the designers had to go off memory, but also incorporate play features into a nature setting. On of the most detrimental aspects of the set is the Elf catapult on the top of the tree. It takes up so much space and is pretty dumb, but once removed, the tree gains more space for Minifigs to be set up, as well as the tree being able to be built upon and made taller.

I totally agree, but combining multiple sets without any alterations still looks decent. I definitely plan to make some changes this Xmas when I'm home and have access to my whole LEGO collection.

I think the theory that the Balrog looks too 'demonic' is weird. Anything depicting the evil characters in Middle-Earth technically looks demonic. Orthanc, a huge spiky black tower, doesn't really scream happiness when I look at it. Same can be said for The Black Gate, or even Dol Guldur. Sure, the Balrog kinda transcends the level of demonic look due to the fact that it basically is a living demon in Middle-Earth, but it is so outrageously iconic and pivotal to the story that for LEGO to ignore it is folly. The people who likely would buy the set would already be familiar with LOTR and know what the Balrog is, and those who find it offensive just don't need to buy it. I bring up the argument of Harry Potter. Harry Potter, as a story and franchise, has not been accepted by many religious groups. The witchcraft in the story is viewed as offensive to many, yet that didn't stop LEGO from making a ridiculously popular theme based on the films. The Balrog argument, in my eyes, is no different. While some may find certain aspects of LOTR as too offensive or suggestive, the majority of people are fine with it. For LEGO to suddenly make these efforts to avoid offending too many people just doesn't make sense. While they've been sensitive to their consumers around the world, they've never avoided producing as set due too religious symbols or beliefs. If they had been so sensitive in the past to all the beliefs of people in the world (religious or otherwise), then half the sets they've ever produced wouldn't have been put into production to begin with.

I believe Old Bilbo would make the most sense as the pre-order figure for the game. I picked up two more of the MEA sets (now at three total, with a goal of four), and when combined they look great.

Its a real shame that we didn't get Orcrist. Honestly LEGO, get it together!

Could you perhaps provide a link to what you read?

Finally got around to building Dol Guldur Battle. While its size is nice (bigger than Balin's Tomb), there is very little space on the battlements of the walls to place figs. Overall, it has a nice design, but it is just simply a big grey wall with some details and stairs. The Dol Guldur Ambush addition really does improve the structure, but it still lacks a sense of finality, and really seems like a big backdrop for figs to be place around. Definitely not the best of the wave (Laketown takes that place). On the plus side, Dol Guldur now kinda gives us a more concrete orc base. Before this, we only had the Black Gate and Orthanc, which aren't really fortresses. While this set isn't a great 'fortress', it still feels more complete as an evil base than any other evil sets we've gotten so far.

We haven't gotten any confirmation on when Smaug will die in the films. He could die at the end of DOS, which to me makes the most sense. PJ left the ends of FOTR and TTT on emotional notes, with the bigger conflicts/battles done. Same with AUJ. I doubt he'd end DOS with a huge dragon flying around. That just isn't a good place to end it, I think.

Finished Laketown Chase. This one is probably my favourite set of the wave so far. It just looks so nice, and has a warm, medieval village feel. And the snow looks awesome. Winter settings are the best in LEGO, especially anything Castle related. The boat is also brilliant, and would be perfect for vikings. The idea of the Laketown Guard polybag makes me really excited. Its just a shame that the Guard didn't get a red/purple cape as well. It would look really great.

Yeah. It'd be a shame if they change his design just because he got leaked early. I mean, it wasn't just the action figure. AUJ visual companions had his image in it, as well as the Gundabad orcs that have warranted the new orc figs. If they change the design, I'll be upset. He was the most frightening orc yet to come from these films.

So now that the sets our out and about (for the most part), I got to thinking about how there was so much speculation around a Bolg fig. Now that we've seen how LEGO decided to tackle the whole Beorn seeming larger issue, do people think that maybe LEGO could do a similar thing with Bolg? Perhaps combine the Azog idea (detailed jaw and nose area) with the face-in-beard concept. I think it could look stellar, and give Bolg that menacing look by having his head/beard/armour/shoulders all one big detailed piece. I'd personally love to see it happen.

I decided to go ahead tonight and build Dol Guldur Ambush and Mirkwood Elf Army. Here are my thoughts: Dol Guldur Ambush: bigger than I expected. This set is no simple, small build like Riddles in the Dark or Gandalf Arrives. It is much more substantial and fulfilling. To me, it seems like LEGO is testing the waters with a new size of set. Three figs and a bigger build for roughly $20 or so. Clever for smaller waves. I originally thought I'd buy multiples, but I'm not sure anymore. Also, without Dol Guldur Battle, it feels incomplete. But that is kind of expected, since it was intentionally designed to tack onto the bigger set. Overall, its a nice sized set for a smaller wave, but wouldn't really make sense in a bigger wave of 6-8 sets. Mirkwood Elf Army: like Dol Guldur Ambush, the size of this set surprised me. It is smaller than I expected. While the fig and piece counts (and subsequently the price) are higher, the overall size of the set is only slightly bigger than Dol Guldur Ambush, and that kinda leaves a sour taste in my mouth. It makes the set feel incomplete, and while LEGO shows two sets being combined to make a bigger fortress, I think that they should have made the set feel complete on its own. This is definitely a set for the figs. I am seriously considering buying about three more to be able to make a circle Elf base. I feel like LEGO let us down a bit with this set. It just feels a little lazy. Anyway, I'll build Laketown Chase and Dol Guldur Battle tomorrow and give my thoughts on those.