Fives

When I first saw what the Great Goblin was gonna look like in the film, I was unsure. I felt that PJ had gone a bit far, but like the dwarf designs, I've gotten used to it, and now I can't wait to see this big ugly guy in action in the film!

I know that these pics are official, but when should we expect some larger hi-res pics, with more detailed views of the figs (particularly Krell, Rex and Kenobi). I really want to see that Krell fig up close.

I absolutely love the fact that it is the AOTC Clone Trooper that is included in the planet set. I have never got any planet sets before, but I may get about four or six of these, plus two of the AOTC BPs to make a decent AOTC Clone Army. That new Clone is just fantastic! I cannot wait to see more AOTC sets in the future!

I gotta say, I'm surprisingly pleased by these sets. It is extremely trooper centric, which I'm glad about. I'm thinking I'll need to get the BARC set. The new Rex and Obi-Wan figs look amazing! I definitely want about two of each BP. The Umbarra set looks decent too, but I hate how you only get one 212th trooper, so I may need to get some more of them. Same goes for the single 501st trooper with the AT-RT, unless there are more in the Z-95. I'm upset that we haven't seen any pics of Krell yet, and it seems like we aren't gonna get an ARC version of Fives, which is really upsetting, since the Z-95 would have been the perfect chance for that fig. Regardless, this is gonna be an very good army building wave for my Republic forces.

Wow! I was not expecting to have my question answered by the man who designed the Hobbit minifigs! And your answer is one that does not surprise me, since keeping the brothers together in the sets makes a lot of sense. You have done an amazing job on these figures, and the LOTR ones as well! By far some of the best figures ever produced, in my opinion.

I completely realize that I'm probably looking really deeply into the figure placement of the Barrel set. I was just saying how I wonder how deep the thought process is for the designers, and how it would be interesting to know why they placed the figs the way they did. Also, I just tried to go to the Hobbit page on LEGO.com and it said that the page could not be found. I know that every time I have gone to the site, the home page is blank, I can't zoom on the pictures of the sets when my mouse rolls over them, and I wasn't able to look at any other characters other than Bilbo, Gandalf and Balin (the advance arrow didn't work). So, perhaps the site is down to be polished up a bit, and maybe they'll just relaunch it some time in November with all the pictures of the products.

This may seem like a random thought, but I really wonder how the theme designers decided where to place the dwarves across the sets. They have all been placed well, but I wonder if their placement should be any reflection on their involvement in that scene, or if the designers just needed to spread them out and it ended up like this. For instance, Gloin is in the Barrel Escape set, which oddly makes sense, since his son Gimli and Thranduil's son Legolas will become close friends 60 years later, so perhaps the designers placed him in that set to emphasize the ironic bond between to two families.

I picked up the Hobbit board game. Not likely gonna use it as a game, but rather as a fantastic parts pack. So many nice green pieces!

I've found that Jackson's portrayal of the dwarves has helped me memorize all the names. Since his versions are all so unique from each other, it is easier to tell the difference. Also, the fact that we now have a visual reference to go by helps. I could see a picture of any of the dwarves and instantly know who it is. I think the films are going to make the dwarves much more memorable characters than they were in the book.

I know that a lot of people will disagree, but I chose the Mirkwood spiders set. Although the set itself is quite bland and the spiders can not live up to Shelob, the figure selection is really great! I feel like Tauriel is going to become one of my favourite characters from the films, so to be able to get her minifig, along with Legolas in his armour, a year before the second film's release is quite a treat. Also, Fili and Kili are really awesome figs. But to be fully honest, I feel like without every dwarf, all the sets seem quite empty.

I had to vote Balin. His hair/beard piece is great and overall he is one of the best LEGO representations of the characters. I also really like Dori, and Thorin is up there as well, but not only is Balin's figure really excellent, but he is also my favourite of the dwarves.

Just bought the Hobbit board game at the Sherway Gardens store in Toronto, and when I asked about the set poster, I was told that only one set will be released on December 1st in time for the film, while the rest will be out in the new year. Bag End will be released, the others we have to wait for. The store clerk I was talking to explicitly told me that any information found on blog or fan sites is wrong, and that the LEGO stores know the release dates. Sounds like we need to wait a little longer to get our hands on these amazing looking sets.

I just saw the Dredd 3D movie a couple days ago and I would love an official Dredd figure. I don't even need full sets, just the figure.

Unless they have some unreleased LOTR sets that could be ready by then.

Is anyone else finding it strange that EB Games doesn't have the LEGO LOTR Elrond offer available yet while the US and other places have it? I really want to pre-order the game, but I also want to get the free Elrond fig really badly. Has anyone heard when we may be getting the offer available here?

SpiderSpaceman, you make a really interesting point about the troll helmet. If TLG utilizes the studs on the troll's head they could easily design two helmets, the one seen in the poster, and the one worn by the trolls who attacked Minas Tirith with the two massive horns.

Tauriel's hair is going to call for a new, one-time mould, which I'm honestly quite glad about. Sure, they could just re-use Legolas's hair, but it would be nice to see a new mould.

Rancor? I think you mean Balrog...

If Saruman's official minifig is exactly like the video game picture, I will ridiculously happy! Beautiful! Same with the troll, Witch-King and Fell Beast! Need all those in sets!

Seeing that size comparison makes me think that the Great Goblin should be the same size as the Hulk. That way he isn't too big to Gandalf, but seems quite large to Thorin and Co.

Found some pictures of the Great Goblin and Bolg action figures to be released. I'm not quite %100 with the designs, but maybe they just look strange as action figures and will look way better on screen and in LEGO form. http://forum.rebelscum.com/t1072994-12/

I thought that we were going to see something revealed more officially today, since it's Frodo's and Bilbo's birthday and Hobbit Day. Even though Nori and Thorin were leaked yesterday, I was hoping that we might get to see the rest of the dwarf minifigs. I really hope that Fili doesn't just get the princess hair. He could end up with something similar to Thorin's hair but in dark tan.

This picture with Thorin shows the scene in Bag End before the events at the Trollshaw. Therefore, Thorin would not have found Orcrist yet, so we can still have hope for an Orcrist mould. Also, if you want him to have a blue cloak, I know that the CW Barriss Offee fig has a short dark blue cape, which would match Throin's colours.

Of all the people shown in that picture, I find the inclusion of Galia, Hondo, Embo and Satine to be quite random. I definitely think Vizsla will die at the hands of Maul, and his death could cause the fall of the Death Watch, eliminating them as a threat and finishing their story. As was said by someone else, Oppress could perish at the hands of Sidious. Oppress no longer has a major role any more. He was made to find Maul. Now that Maul is back, Oppress can fade away. Ahsoka and Rex both can't die till closer to the end of the series. They are both too close to Anakin, and need to die closer to the events of ROTS.