Altair1

I agree, next year's big set will probably be either Edoras (my personal preference as it would bring us Eowyn at last) or a new Helm's Deep.

GROND! It looks great ! Can't wait to bash the Minas Tirith door with it :-)

Technically we already have a Helm's Deep set, an Orthanc set, and a Moria set from 2012. You guys are talking like they do not exist :-) But I understand that if you do not own them, you would prefer to get some remakes rather than pay the high price for them.

I really hope you are right! It should include Eowyn of course, a cursed version of Theoden, a new Grima, etc...

Yes of course people would like it - I could use a second one myself. But the point I was trying to make is that GWPs are (unfortunately) usually exclusive - can you think of any which was later used in another set?

Not so sure about this, since we already got a fell beast as a GWP... But anyhow, I agree that we need to get Eowyn one way or another.

This has already been done a lot in previous posts. My personal wish would be (in order of preference) : Edoras, Lothlorien, Argonath and Grey Havens. But I think there is a higher probability for a new Helm's Deep (which I may consider if it is a significant improvement over the old one).

I knew it would be GROND! So good! Day one purchase confirmed, of course :-)

Where did you hear this? The only rumors I know of are about next year's set which could be (or not) a new Helm's Deep... I also doubt that the leaks, as frustrating as they may be for Lego, could result in the theme discontinuing. The only thing which really matters to them is sales, and as far as I know they have been rather good.

Yes, and I am not sure I like the yellow colour of the ground on the top floor... will see how it looks after building it, but I may need to redo it in white or grey...

Not at all. I have various white sets on display and none of them has yellowed at all, even after 10 or 15 years. I always make sure that they are not exposed to direct sunlight. I do not have this problem as I never take sets apart after building them. I bought a big house especially to have all the space that I need to display my sets indefinitely.

I am still betting on GROND !!!

I must say I do not understand those who go queue at physical stores. When I really want a set with its GWP I just order it on the online Lego store at the minute it is released. I did this many times and never missed a GWP I wanted.

I fully agree with your order of priority. I would just add the Argonath to the list.

Indeed! We already have two inside builds, the initial Moria set with the Troll and the recent one with the Balrog, so it would be nice to get an outside set showing the battle against the Watcher in front of the Doors of Durin.

The two most logical options for the Minas Tirith GWP are: - GROND, GROND, GROND! - Lighting of the beacon(s)

Same impression here, still can't believe that it is true, and that we will be building this wonder in just a few months :-)

Ah yes, saw the video too now, much better quality! There is the throne room behind. Well then it looks perfect to me, except for the green domes but I can always change the color if needed :-) And when you see the big entrance door you can't help thinking that Grond would be a great GWP !

Just also saw the Minas Tirith leaks on reddit! Looks great, except for two things: - The round green building tops a bit everywhere bother me a bit. I don't remember that color in the movie (weren't they more like greyish?) - Doesn't look like there are any interior scenes in the back ?

As someone else already clearly explained a few messages above, the thing with Orthanc is that it was already large and very well detailed. Helm's Deep on the other hand was relatively small (even with its extension) and probably deserves more a UCS remake. But again, only time will tell what comes next...

According to Brickset, 8550 of its members own Orthanc. Not bad for the most expensive set of the initial LOTR wave. I think Edoras and Lothlorien also qualify as ''main missing locations'', even if they may not be as iconic. But there is indeed a good chance that Lego continues to alternate between new sets and remakes, and in the case of the latter the most likely next one is Helm's Deep.

Yes that's what I did, bought two Black gates 79007 to build a full one. I find the result actually decent, and fitting pretty well in front of my Barad'Dur :-)

Of course it is understandable that those who missed the initial wave of LOTR and Hobbit sets have different wishes and expectations on the future of the theme than those (like me) who did buy all these sets at the time. Anyway time will tell, hopefully Lego will find the right balance between new sets and remakes to please as many fans as possible.

Well, in the case of Rivendell the tiny previous set was really lackluster and definitely needed a remake (and oh boy did they succeed in that remake!). As for the Shire, the previous set although very nice only featured Bag End (with no side scenes) and was actually a Hobbit set with dwarves, so there again a remake was welcome. On the other hand both Helm's Deep and Orthanc were complete and beautiful LOTR sets which do not really need remakes (although I would not mind getting at some point in the future a larger UCS Helm's Deep).

I hope not. We already have very decent versions of Helm's Deep and Orthanc. I would rather that they focused in priority on new locations (such as Edoras, Lothlorien, Grey Havens, etc...). Afterwards sure, why not. Very unlikely, given how disappointing the Hobbit movies were compared to the LOTR movies... my understanding is that the Hobbit sets sales were even worse than those of the LOTR sets at the time.