HarryPotter27

Hoping for the same, I think the Shire is a good set in terms of minifigures, gwp, textiles, and printed tiles, but the build itself looks like a child attempted to recreate the iconic location. I think certain angles look very rough, and the trees are horrible. As a whole, the set has a great enthusiasm, and it's fun, but it lacks the polish, and I feel a different designer could have executed it way better.

I don't think it's gonna be a microscale style like one of those architecture sets, but something much more similar to how they executed the Barad-Dûr, and I think everybody loves it. They can try to fit the figures on the top levek and probably around the main gate (since we have 4 soldiers), then they can go microscale for layering. I think it's gonna be a very hard set to execute, and I hope the designer who got assigned to it does a similar level of perfection to Rivendell and not some of the lackluster builds of the Shire set. Also, a true microscale set totally wouldn't fit with the line of sets we have so far.

I wouldn’t mind a bit of microscale building as long as it is something like what they did with the Barad-Dûr front part. At over 8000 pieces it would be a crime if we don’t have a good portion of the set being minifig scale, maybe it would make to have the first layer of walls big enough to fit minifigures and moving towards microscale for the back of the build. I just hope they don’t make an architecture type of set that just looks weird with 1x1 pieces and doesn’t have the same fun to it as Barad-Dûr and the best LEGO set of all time Rivendell. The minifig lineup sounds a bit underwhelming for a set of this size. And I really hope we get a Gondor banner textile 🤞🏻

I know a lot of people hate the Shire set, but at least we got a good number of minifigs for the price range (11 different characters if you count the GWP), plus unique textiles that we’ll probably never see again from LEGO. Everything in the set gives a good base to extend it into a proper-looking Shire, because on its own the build looks pretty unacceptable. If Minas Tirith ends up being €600 or more, I really hope it comes with at least 16–18 minifigs, plus a nice GWP and a Gondor flag textile. This will probably be the only time we ever get Minas Tirith in LEGO form, so I want all the exclusive stuff there if I decide to make it bigger. I just hope we don’t end up with a nightmarish microscale situation.

I also think playsets wouldn't make that much sense since the youngest fans of LOTR are all adults by now, so adult-oriented sets make more sense. I'm still wondering about the possibility of them doing some sort of smaller sets that can be used as battle packs since the demand for them would be very big, not only by LOTR fans but also castle ones. I remember there was a huge demand for clone troopers, so they started making those battle packs again, and they also started offering knights pieces on their website to satisfy army builders. The helm's deep extension battle pack is now selling for well over 6/7 times the original price, and I guess Lego is aware of that since they have all of the Bricklink data.

I have a side question here. Do we have any info if they plan to come back with a full wave? I'm a huge fan of the theme but I have none of the OG sets and I'm wondering whether to slowly start buying some of them and I am thinking which ones are the most worth it and least likely to be recreated again even in the case of a new wave which I assume even if it's created wouldn't be merely as big as what we got for Harry Potter. Maybe some figures like the troll from Moria or Thranduil have very little chance to be remade. Also, got my eye on a new sealed Helm's Deep in my local Lego store for 480eur which is crazy expensive.

Children mostly like certain sets based on their initial reaction to them so if the sets are attractive they might like them because of the knights, dwarves, elves, goblins and other magic creatures which would also be a selling point for castle fans. Tolkien's universe is just so big and there are plenty of possibilities for sets. A big plus is that some figures like the knights are suitable for army building and they can place the same figure in 2-3 sets or have some sets similar to battle packs like Uruk-Hai army. I agree that the new series probably won't hav a kid fanbase but the same is valid for The Mandalorian and the sets are loved by people from all ages. I think the LOTR movies will be like the original trilogy for Lego and most of the big and expensive sets would be based on it and there would be a bit less sets based on the new show and the Hobbit movies. I think they will 100% do new versions of some classics the Shire and Helm's Deep and probably realize that the second movie is called "The Two Towers" for a reason and there is one (really iconic) which they are missing.

Yeah exactly, the movies were popular enough and the box office proves that but there was a major problem with the execution of the theme by the Lego designers. They were unsure about who their target audience was and some of the sets were designed poorly like the Attack on Weathertop. Many of the builds lacked character and didn't look magical and captivating which should be important for attracting customers. If (or when) LOTR returns, the first wave would be extremely important in order to attract a bigger fanbase. When the Harry Potter theme returned the first major set was the 2018 Great Hall which was nearly perfectly executed, it has a great selection of minifigures and it is the most iconic location in the series. It was suitable as a playset for children and a great display piece for nostalgic adults. All of the new Harry Potter sets have some play features but they are still good and complete display pieces unlike for example the Barrel Escape in the Hobbit line. Maybe the best thing about the LOTR and Hobbit lines were the minifigures and sets like the Uruk-Hai army and Helm's Deep which still have room for improvement especially with the newer building techniques.

It is simple Microeconomics that high demand and low supply push the prices up since we have a free market with many small individual sellers. This is the reason why prices have gone up three or four times for most of the sets and some of the minifigures cost more than 60 euros. There was a similar situation with the Harry Potter theme before 2018. Right now Lego has so many shitty and pointless themes like Super Mario and Vidiyo which are not selling particularly well. I remember that the medieval blacksmith is one of the best selling sets for this year and there is a rapid increase in the number of sets for the adult market. Not to mention that they are currently selling 3 Star Wars sets which are over 700$. Lego is now more and more oriented towards people with deeper pockets - adults. I think that LOTR is almost as popular as Harry Potter and Star Wars but the main difference is that new Fantastic Beasts movies are being made and there is new Star Wars content every year. I think that if the new show proves successful there is an extremely high chance that they are going to revive the theme for at least one new wave. I guess they will do something similar in number and size to the first wave of Harry Potter sets in 2018 and adjust it afterwards depending on sales. Another theme is Jurassic World which is a bit less popular than LOTR but they still made multiple waves and it is still ongoing.

Do you think that the new LOTR Amazon show in 2022 can lead to the return of the series? Maybe as it happened with the Harry Potter series when the second Fantastic Beasts movie was released - mostly sets from the HP movies and a few sets from FB. I think that LOTR theme can be almost as successful as the Harry Potter line with a CMF series and some UCS sets like Helm's deep for around 350-400$. We can see from the current prices on the second hand market that the demand for such sets is really high.

Guys, is the Razor Crest retiring this year because I am planning what to buy before Christmas?

I totally agree with you, many people confirmed that the number of minifigs is going to be 16 which would make it much easier to collect them all.

The sets don't seem to be as well thought as some other waves such as Harry Potter. In the Harry Potter theme, we can clearly see how all sets fit together although they are all great standalone sets. Building your own Jurassic Park with those sets seems like a mirage because designers seem to have a new strange idea for each set. The 2015 wave was superior to the others because it came with two full-size cages, different minifig characters in all sets (not just an endless repetition of Owen and Claire) and some of the sets had some sort of movie accuracy (without the one with T-Rex). An Ankylosaurus sounds great but it should have been in separate sets because many people already have the Indominus Rex (which was definitely the best JW set). Also, two big dinosaurs sounds like a terrible piece to price ratio and a really small and insignificant build. We still miss great builds such as a visitor center and a Mosasaurus stage.

I still hope that the rumors are misleading because it would be so annoying to release the Indominus Rex again. There are so many important dinosaurs we're missing like the Brachiosaurus, Mosasaurs, and Spinosaurus. They seem to repeat certain sets every year such as Pretadon and Velociraptor chase. Putting the same version of Blue in two sets during the Fallen Kingdom wave was just ridiculous and this year sounds as if it is going to be worse.

You are absolutely right because Draco from CMF was a great addition to the Quidditch set and the boy with Gryffindor flag can be used as a fan of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and be placed on the tribunes. Also, there was a cabinet in the Clock tower which was meant for Moody from the CMF and I made great use of it. By far the only two sets which I disliked and didn't buy were Aragog in the Forbidden Forest because of the poor minifig selection (the same Harry and Ron from the Hogwarts Express set) and the First task set because of the horrible brick-built dragon and lack of new characters in the set.

As we can see there was a decent level of consistency within the previous waves of Wizarding World because by collecting all of them we are able to make one big Hogwarts display so there is no point in releasing the same Weasley's car again and creating a classroom set which cannot be connected to the other parts of Hogwarts.

I was wondering if they will make a rare minifigure like Grindelwald again because it will make collecting them all much harder. I was fortunate enough to receive Grindelwald at the beginning (4th package) but I had to spend a fortune before I find Luna and Harry Potter with the invisibility cloak.

What is the purpose of making another standalone castle? Lego would expect some of the fans to buy all of the sets but many would find two Hogwarts castles pointless. Almost every set now is recreation of 2011 line such as Hogwarts Express, Quidditch match and parts of the castle. The only thing left to recreate is Diagon Alley or they can make part of the castle and leave Diagon Alley for the next year.

Am I the only one who believes that the price of Lego 71043 would be less than the rumoured $500 and there is high chance that it won't be a Hogwarts set. The purpose of sets like the Great Hall is to collect the whole castle by buying smaller sets. If they make it part of these, it would prevent many people from collecting the whole castle. The other chance is to make another Hogwarts but it seems pointless. They might make a recreation of Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade or the Ministry of Magic set around 200-300$.

1. Harry Potter 2. Ron Weasley 3. Hermione Granger 4. Sirius Black 5. Moaning Myrtle 6. Lucius Malfoy 7. Dudley Dursley (piggy tale) 8. Vernon Dursley (with letters) 9. Petunia Dursley 10. Gilderoy Lockhart 11. Albus Dumbledore 12. Minerva McGonagall 13. Draco Malfoy 14. Dobby (slave outfit) 15. Neville Longbottom 16. Ginny Weasley 17. Tom Riddle 18. Severus Snape 19. Rubeus Hagrid 20. Vincent Crabbe 21. Gregory Goyle 22. J. K. Rowling (super rare 1/240)