Balrogofmorgoth

I got two of the set and bought a few more Death Eaters on eBay for only a couple bucks each. Turned one of them into Lucius

Definitely excited to be getting more HP 2023 info soon

I do think anyone expecting 20 minifigures is setting themselves up for disappointment. Even if it’s a minifigure based set, I think about 12ish would be more likely, a number which also happens to fit the amount of necessary main characters for those scenes. Since leakers don’t seem to have much to go on yet as far as figures I would keep expectations low for now, as much as it pains me. Lion Knights’ Castle has a lot of minifigures but aside from that, Icons sets don’t tend to be minfig-oriented. Granted, this is probably the most highly anticipated and the biggest license they’ve used for an Icons set. But they would need a lot of new prints. Who knows

A microscale one off with no minifigures would definitely be a great way to appeal to as few people as possible, if that’s what they’re going for. I would buy it because I’m gonna get any LOTR products they release no matter what. But they can’t count on enough people doing that. And even though it may very well be the case considering how little they seem to understand their adult market, it would definitely be a money losing move for them. Microscale in and of itself will turn plenty of people off. Lack of figures would turn the majority of the rest off. All that would be left are hardcore LOTR fans and collectors of the microscale architecture niche. And of those people, still only the ones with the budget for a $500 would buy it. Not setting themselves up for much success at that point.

I don’t necessarily hate the idea of microscale as long as it’s done well. But if we don’t get a lot of minifigures it will be a massive let down considering this is probably our only chance at anymore official LOTR figures. Plus it will turn a lot of people off of buying the set, leading to no chance of a reboot

I wonder how many of those pieces are landscape and how many are structure. We may get cliffs and trees and waterfalls. While those things should be included to a degree, I do hope most of it goes into the structure and architecture

I agree with this, although when I saw the piece count, microscale was certainly my first thought as well. I do think the sheer size of the structure of Hogwarts makes it much more suitable for microscale than Rivendell, which is much more open and smaller scale structurally speaking, lending itself much more towards being more minifig compatible. Either way I won’t judge it until I see it, I hated the idea of microscale Hogwarts and I ended up loving it. We’ll see how this goes The initial piece of information suggested it would include minifigures, but we don’t have any idea what the amount looks like yet

I saw the same thing, it’s an AI generated fake from an account that admits to fake leaks But how about that piece count??? 6167 pieces according to Brick Clicker

I think you’re missing the mark here. The issue is not that expensive sets are all in the same category of only appealing to certain people. That could be said of any specific type of lego set. The “category”, so to speak, is a group of expensive sets that don’t even appeal to the majority of people who typically buy and collect large expensive sets. Unless the design of this set is really bad, I doubt it will fall into that category considering the amount of people this sort of set would appeal to. It would have to be very specifically bad for it to fit into a “who is this even for?” category like the Hulkbuster

Oh absolutely, I’m not trying to twist your words, I’m just voicing my excitement for both potential aspects of the set, especially since it’s been so long since we’ve gotten LOTR. I’m very excited to see how they tackle the architecture in this set, but it doesn’t diminish my excitement for the potential figures, neither does already having the ones from 2012-2013. I loved how they handled the little bit of Rivendell architecture in the Council of Elrond set back in 2013, so I’m definitely very excited to see what they can do with a $500 set 10 years later

I was lucky in the sense that I was able I get everything the last time around but unlucky in the sense that at the time I didn’t think to get multiples of anything. I wish I had gotten several Uruk-Hai Army sets and a second Black Gate. Maybe a couple more Councils I definitely agree with $500 being the new $200, it’s gotten ridiculous. Lego is putting out way too many crazy expensive sets, it’s impossible to keep up with any of it as a fan of multiple licensed themes. It makes me actually happy that they release duds like the Black Panther bust and Hulkbuster. I wouldn’t mind getting the Hogwarts Express but it just isn’t worth that price

Is it weird that I actually liked Aqua Raiders more than Atlantis?

Oh absolutely, I definitely have my heart set on certain things and will be very disappointed if (when) lego just drops it after this D2C, BUT at the end of the day, I will greedily accept anything they give us

Yeah that was always infuriating. To be fair though, there was hardly ever any effort put into Jurassic sets and some were even completely made up or from non-canon material. Not to mention half the Owen figures weren’t even scene accurate! I would hope a Minas Tirith set wouldn’t come with Frodo and that figures in each set would be scene accurate, more similar to what we see in the HP sets. Fingers crossed

I mean I have every set from LOTR and The Hobbit but that certainly doesn’t diminish any excitement for what we might see from this set. 10 years is a long time, and lego designs have come a long way. I’m very excited to see what they do with it

Exactly, those sets and figures were ahead of their time but that certainly doesn’t mean they can’t do better now. I for one am very interested in the figures and seeing what improvements and updates they make

you’re not wrong, but it’s usually a lot harder with D2C sets. Although minifig leaks for D2C sets have been fairly common lately (Lupin, Kuiil, Mythrol, Sinister Strange, etc.) so hopefully we’ll get to see some juicy minifig leaks for Rivendell at some point

They didn’t make a set where the Witch King fit, which is a completely valid frustration in and of itself. But the Mouth was perfect for the Black Gate set. To leave him out of that set just because we didn’t have the Witch King yet would be stupid. I mean that’s one of the best minifigures lego has ever released, it would be such a waste to exclude him based on simply not having the Witch King

The current secondary market prices for the old LOTR sets makes me wish I had gotten a second Orthanc and kept it sealed! Some of the regular sets too for that matter. It’s insane how much people are selling them for. I may have to get multiples of the Brickheadz just in case

Yes but imagine if those were the only Star Wars sets…think of how much would be missing When have a said it’s one set I don’t like? I’ve specifically named several. It’s becoming a trend. Also I never said the LOTR sets that came out before were perfect. There will always be nitpicks. But there’s a difference between a good set with some negative aspects and a set that has very little or nothing to offer. The overwhelming majority of people I’ve talked to have shared the same frustrations with some of these sets, I’m not making this up based purely on my own personal opinion. I’ve also talked to lego employees whose stores are struggling big time to sell these sets. I’m not sure why you’re trying so hard to make me trust lego with a purely adult oriented LOTR theme, it was never my intention to take this discussion this far. I’m merely stating my concern. Side note: anyone who complained that the Mouth of Sauron was in the set is not worth listening to. That’s just straight up nonsensical bs

I’m not saying this set will be bad. All I’m saying is that based on observation of other sets, I would be worried if lego launched this theme with only adults in mind. And yes, 5x vip points of specific sets is a very clear indication of desperation for sales.

I’m not even trying to make it about those other sets honestly, my main point is that we can look at a lot of recent D2C sets, mostly licensed ones, and see that not very many adults like them or want them. Even leaving out sales numbers, it’s hard to find members of the lego community that don’t dislike a lot of these sets. With that in mind, I think it’s a valid concern that if lego decides to only aim LOTR at adults, they very well could miss the mark and design sets that people just don’t want and offer very little value to people

5x vip points is a clear indication. And yes, I’ve spoken to lego store employees so I know what sets haven’t sold well. Besides, you don’t have to go very far into the lego corner of the internet to see that nobody wants this Hulkbuster

Let me rephrase. They are out of touch with their adult market in licensed themes. There might be a good one every now and then, like the Sanctum. But more often than not it seems to be a Hulkbuster situation. A lot of their licensed D2C sets have not been selling well

It’s not just the Black Panther set. Hogwarts Icons? Hogwarts Express isn’t terrible but nobody wanted it, and I don’t know very many people that are buying it. And then there’s the Hulkbuster…yikes. It’s very clear that lego is completely out of touch with their adult market, which is why I have little faith in a LOTR theme if they only target adults