Wardancer

I would give him a box of Gandalf arrives. Gandalf, as an old wiseman, is probably the character closest to resembling an old Englisch professor. Also the set has a very peaceful atmosphere. It is not based on conflict, which might please Tolkien when he sees that his work was turned into a toy for hundreds of thousands of children. I would thank him for not making the LOTR books an obvious Christian allegory (as his friend Lewis did with Narnia) and tell him that in the 21st century scenarios of enchanted pseudo middle ages are (still) one of the dominant means of escaping the complexity and rationality of modernity.

I would draw a line between the fell beast and smaug on the one hand, and the balrog and treebeard on the other. The fell beasts and smaug are bound to be ridden. When combined with highly detailled figs, brick-built creatures look too blocky in my opinion. That seldom works. The green fantasy area dragon is a great dragon and TLG has proven its creature skills with the the dinos as well. The brick built dragons in the dragon contests a while ago were all artfully made, but as soon as they interact with figs, they look a bit off IMHO. The balrog and treebeard might work brick-built because they do not consist of flesh and bones.

Figs proofreading my Diss von MWardancer A bunch of figs proofreading the 500 pages of my dissertation. Those familiar with German spelling will even find a mistake in the picture.

Seems like a good choice. The helmet looks a bit heavy, but even Elves are heavily armoured sometimes. For elven riders or heavy guards ok, for an archer it is a bit too much. Mix in a few CMf elf hairpieces. I would use the big bow from the CMF elf though. The katanas make the best elven swords IMHO. Don't forget there is a dragon katana...

I've been wondering for a week now: What might that be? A CMS Black knight?

Those who are fortunate enough to own a Haldir already, do you think he could be enhanced even more by giving him metallic-gold arms? Would that match the torso better than the pearl-gold ones? What do you think?

Haldir is my favourite. He might be the best fig ever in my eyes. He is not flawless though, because he is a fleshie. Theoden comes second.

Since I will finish a 4,5 year dissertation project next week, I treated myself to a Hogwarts Castle, which I hope to mod into an elven temple of sorts. I paid 85 Euro for it (MISB), which reminds me that even a 130 Euro Helm's Deep will one day be much cheaper... I hope to sell off the Harry Potter figs and thereby get the Hogwarts for even less. Also I bought some Atlantis deep see fish thingy for 8 Euro. It has many interesting parts and the barracuda warrior which I hope to turn into a chimera one day.

As cool as the set is, it gives me a somewhat incomplete feeling due to it being open on the back. Of course TLG cannot sell you a mountain, but well... If I had the money my first step would be to buy two Helms Deeps and combine them into a fully closed castle, like when you combine 2 kingdoms jousts. That would not be movie accurate, but at least the orcs could not enter the castle any more simply by walking around to the other side. I hope to see the first MOCs of mountains soon.

HOHOHO, 46 Magmamonsters :laugh: That is army building! Here is a German article about it: http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/gadgets/multimillionaer-faelscht-billig-barcodes-fuer-lego-steine-a-834454.html

Keep in mind that there are new horses around. A posable centaur might be worth a try...

Strange that they introduce olive green tree branches with the new monster figher werewolf. I can not see why it was necessary to produce that part in a new colour for this set. So they have randomly introduced a very important new part without reason?

Hmm, so the main banner is a sticker. I am not sure how I like that. It might be a good thing, so you can apply the same sticker to banners of different colors.

I am not into Star Wars LEGO, but I am also stunned by this. Great job!

Great! The Kunai will be an extremely versatile item, as it is basically just a spike. Imagine it on walls, wheels, custom lances, everywhere you have always wanted a spike. Also I LOVE the fact that it resembles the original spear elaborate. Smart move, Brickforge. Also I like the arrows. However, maybe there should a pack with spiked arrows only for historic themes that cannot use a round, explosive head. The battle claws I have mixed feelings about. It is good to have them in different colours, but the original werewolf/wolverine claws look better to me.

I think customizing is "ok" in every form. Having come out of the dark ages not long ago, I still marval at the creativity unleashed by this. And I enjoy building an army that no one else will ever have unless he copies all my customs. My own perspective is that of a purist customizer, i.e. I enjoy customs most which look as if TLG would have produced them. The original LEGO has a certain naive, stylized look which should be preserved besides from pure compatibility to studs. This applies to custom products as well as customization techniques (again, I am speaking of my personal tastes here). Concerning products, it is a fine line. A Brickarms Damian Blade looks like an original product to me, a Brickarms Claimore a bit less... Some customizers have a very distinct style, most of their stuff doesn't work for me. With techniques, there are some that take away the LEGO charm. Drybrushing for example, makes stuff look like Warhammer, also self-bent metal parts. Great customs may be the result (there was a great space marine here somewhere), but that is not what I go for. I still hate megablocks and clone brands. But not for aestetic reasons, just because they imitate TLG and do it poorly.

Thank you very much. This is very relevant. I might take ages until compatible bardings are released. I don't remember any bardings in LOTR... Not I thing some minor customization will make the old baring compatible if you don't want the horse all the way up.

Congrats marshal banana. I think you can be very proud. Your set does not gain its popularity by referencing very specific pop-cultural products (Minecraft, Shawn of the Dead) and attracting their fandom, but by its own, pure quality.

Thanks for the review! Good to see that the horses hair sticks out a bit. This will be easier to paint.

Well spoken, andhe. It leaves the impression that they had lots of figs left and did not want to make new ones. What I like about it is that all the pawns have this nice helmet. Its not rare, I know, but the more interesting than the others. Also, I like every set that puts more green capes in circulation. If I were expanding my kingdoms army, I would get it, but I don't. TLG chould have released this a year ago, then I would have masses now. After the advent kalendars, I guess, most demand for figs, especially special figs like the queen, has already been met. And yes, the plastic looks cheap. Thats a pity, one could have used it for bignettes.

Would it make sense to order elsewhere? I have no experience with ordering stuff from other countries. What do European buyers think? I would start with 4 Gandalf arrives for horses, gray capes, dark tan parts etc., but not for 15 Euro each.

Amazon.de lists the sets for June 23rd. Uruk-Hai Army 39.99 Euro Gandalf Arrives 14.99 Mines of Moria 79,99 Helms Deep 139,99 The prices are a kick in the nuts IMHO.

I also like the lensmen a lot. The beholder gives me almost a feeling of disgust, which speaks for its realism. The toadstools make it look like a big ball of meat, great part usage there!

The Brothers Brick have a very elaborate review of the Uruk-Hai army up. For example, it shows the new horse with an old barding.

Where? Which prices do you mean?