Ardelon

To state my opinion, I'm a bit disappointed with the sets – good parts packs, but not very interesting builds apart from Lake Town (and maybe DGB, which actually does look like the source material the more I look at it). I think there's a Prince of Persia arch in light bley in the MEA set – seems like a new color for the piece? The minifigs (and yeah, this wave really is all about the figs) are a mixed bag. The men of Esgaroth are great, enough said. The Elves might be too, but I'm not really interested in Elves. I think the new standard male woodland guard torso was necessary, as so far we only got a female torso (Tauriel) and a royal one (Legolas). Thranduil's ears seem to be a bit low, but that's just a funny little nitpick. I don't mind Thranduil's broadsword, but I was hoping for Elrond's elven-sword in bley instead of a PoP dagger. The new Orcs are nice but ever since we found out they had new prints, I expected better (spiky briefs ftw?). Still better than reusing the old Orcs, though. The warg is cool, but the fact that it has pupils while the others don't bothers me a bit. I guess TLG made a smart business move with giving hairpieces only to the DGA Orcs... The rest of the figs I rather dislike. Not a fan of the movie Beorn, which reveals my opinion on the LEGO character. He is, of course, accurate to the source material, which makes me worried about how the Necromancer will look in the movies. I was expecting a much less corporeal Necromancer. Azog should have been white IMO. Same old Gandalf is ok (the Thorin hair would have been nice), and the statue is pretty cool. Contrary to most, I don't really like Radagast. The beard shape and color seems off, as does his face print. Maybe a closer look will convince me otherwise. Looking forward to his torso print. Oh, and great work on the character gallery, deskp!

Even if so, is there a problem with prolonging licenses? LEGO is a top brand toy, The Hobbit is a hot franchise atm, the expected course of action would be to renew the license...

If you mean the arches in DGA and DGB, I think that's just two inverted slopes - the piece would be too flimsy otherwise. If you mean the gothic arch, then yeah, though it's been out since the summer LotR wave. Though I'm not sure if we've got in in reddish brown yet...

I voted generic, since I appreciate versatility, diversity, and, well, "generic-ness" in a theme and its factions. Theme-specific factions push the individuality of the figs and the good/evil divisons too far for my taste. I don't mind if the nameless soldiers are all the same, that's Castle as I remember it. Or maybe it's just my disappointment with KK1 (which was pretty cool faction-wise, but was missing generic soldiers) and KK2 (which I frankly dislike - the character-driven aspect, the colors and aesthetics, the brick-built creatures, etc.). All other System themes I would call generic, as a few unique royal/magical characters (or even a few named characters, like Majisto, Basil the Bat lord, Willa the witch) don't make the theme "specific", IMO. I'd like to add that like some other posters, I also miss the days when new factions were added to the old ones and enriched the Castle universe, as opposed to the current practice where each new theme is self-contained. I wonder why TLG went this way?

Hmm, the heads do seem pretty big, but I'll get used to them. Maybe they would look better on Woody-type figs, with the regular figs reserved for the kids. I actually think a Bombur-style torso could fit Homer (and other characters) well, but seeing as there are a lot of overweight characters in the Simpsons, I think it's unlikely we'll see so many new moulds/prints. Anyway, looking forward to the torso prints and accessories.

I have high expectations of this theme, as a parts pack. Shame about the Friends-style figs, but if it will help sales, so be it. Looking forward to pictures. Funny that the Little Mermiad and Cinderella sets seem to be the same for both the DUPLO and System themes, I guess that's because of their iconic status. The System Castle does sound more accurate than the DUPLO one, though...

Looks beautiful! (The colors still seem a bit pale, but I've checked on other screens, and I see it's just low saturation on my end). A big thanks to all those involved!

Finally, someone is calling out the extreme pessimists! I agree that a third LotR wave is (almost) guaranteed - I doubt whether TLG would release Orthanc if the theme wasn't doing well. I wonder what the odds are for a fourth wave - the only parallel I can think of off the top of my head is PotC, which doesnt give me much hope...

Well, so long as they change the print, they can keep the mould... We'll see whether Rhosgobel appears in the next two films, if so, I would expect a set - it's a nice compact build, with conflict (Spiders and who knows what else) and potential for play features, and a chance to get Radagast in a more moderately priced set...

I guess I prefer the fantasy Orcs/Trolls since they are more generic, and can be used for all kinds of characters, while the Tolkien Orcs/Trolls just come across as one-dimentionally evil (as they are supposed to!)

Are you sure thats Mirkwood? Looks more like the ruins Dale - a big stone fortification rather than a hidden elven fortress carved into a hill. Anyway, I wouldnt expect prologue Elves, just like we didnt get any LotR prologue sets. Unless, of course, the same type of soldiers show up in a DoS scene.

Dont forget about the Balrog.

I saw the movie a few days ago, and I liked it just fine. It seems to be very much a kids movie - non-flawed heroes, gratitious action, the antagonists bring about their own deaths, etc. The scene where a heart is said - not seen - to be eaten and the inclusion of "dancing girls" (I dont think they where refereed to as anything else?) doesnt really move it into mature territory IMO. Enjoyable on this level, shame the critics seem to think every movie has to be some goundbreaking philosophical or technical masterpiece.

So now TLG is marketing new parts in the form of kooky monsters, huh? Eh, why not...

Well, Im glad they showed this set - Laketown and its denizens was what I wanted to see the most from this wave. Shame it isnt in dark brown, it would have looked more mysterious and foreboding, but the color scheme is nice anyway. I was suprised at the small size, I expected a Laketown set to be more substantial, probably with Smaug attacking, as many of us thought. Im not a fan of the double boat combo, though. I would have preferred a Sea Serpent type boat: http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=6057-1 The minifigs look great. Im glad TLG gave the guard a new helmet (and yes, it does resemble Eastern European helmets, which were often inspired by the Byzantines to the south and the Mongols to the east, which were often inspired by the Persians, etc. - sorry for the lecture). But im not liking his purple torso - I think these oversaturated torsos dont work at all, though I guess they and all be drab, as they have to appeal to kids who like brighter colors. The other figs are great. As for Azog, I could get used to it, white or tan. The shoulders dont bother me as much, he is an Orc, after all - hes supposed to be ungainly and even deformed. BTW, someone actually bought the 1000-$ Azog fig on ebay! http://www.ebay.com/itm/sdcc-2013-ULTRA-RARE-sealed-LEGO-minifigure-HOBBIT-in-hand-AZOG-vhtf-promo-/121146782411?pt=Building_Toys_US&hash=item1c34e932cb

But that Minas Tirith doesnt even have seven levels! How can you compromise on your beliefs! Honestly, I think Nuju Metro did a fantastic job of scaling Minas Tirith down like he did. It is structured in levels, it has the gate, walls, trebuchets, citadel, rocky outcrop at the top, he even fit the statue inside. It has everything Minas Tirith needs to be Minas Tirith. And thats not mentioning the fell beast. Im actually surprised it only has 1317 supporters. Maybe everyone is expecting an official set?

But the fantasy dwarfs are under-armored. I agree with Flieger that a way to combine beards and armor would be a great step forward - I would even take a beard+armor mould. Im holding out hope that the designers will come up with a solution for the Battle of Five Armies sets. I would also like a method to combine beards and hoods. Otherwise, I do think that the the fantasy dwarf helmets without wings are pretty accurate for ME dwarves. On another note, while I do hope for Gondor sets, I wonder whether the next LotR wave wont focus on fellowship character weve only seen once - namely Boromir (in an Amon Hen set or thrown ninto a Balrog set) and the three supporting Hobbits (easy to combine with Gondor sets, or a Mt Doom set for Sam). That way, kids who missed out on the fellowship from 2 years before this next wave will have another crack at collecting them all.

Good news for a lot of AFOLs in the former Eastern Bloc - for me for example, its about an hours train ride to Vienna.

I wouldnt count on a minifig Sauron. Apart from a minute in the prologue, he wasnt in the actual LotR story in his physical form. Since he was present as the Eye, and we already got that, Sauron could be seen as covered. But though I consider the Third age armies ars more awesome than the Second age ones, I wouldnt mind a prologue set at all!

Smaug might be brick-built, like a Ninjago dragon. Arent they the biggest dragons we have to date? I wouldnt expect Smaug to be any smaller.

The thing is, Alcarin, the designers will make scenes that reflect "the epicness of the scene" that ring a bell with the casual viewers for their iconic status and thus their ability to sell. That would suggest a Balrog set and a Treebeard set, even more so since these guys would be brick-built, which is what LEGO is about. Id like to see some elements of Gondor, like a set in the style of Uruk-hai Army, the gate with grond, Pippin lighting the beacon (15 Dollar set right there), or a scaled down attack on Osgiliath. I dont see the point for making a whole Minas Tirith though. Its too big to be done whole, and unnecessary too. It would be like making the whole of Cloud City or Theed, whereas in all these locations, the action only took part in a select few places of these locations. Chances are we would end up with a three-tiered Minas Tirith somewhat larger than Helms Deep (not necessarily a bad thing, but would it sell?).

Intriguing project, but afaik CUUSOO is meant for stand-alone sets, and this seems a tad too grandiose. There was a thread here about TLG looking for new ideas for action themes – dunno if its still valid, but if so, this could be a cool entry.

Yeah, when I saw it, that was the first thing that occured to me, too! Though I wonder if this set (along with the warg attack set) doesnt actually decrease the chances of a Lorien set, as it would be somewhat repetitive.

It just occured to me that it seems strange that the designers didnt incorporate the new gothic arches from the LotR theme into these sets. I would have thought TLG would want to spread new molds across as many sets and themes as possible, to recoup the costs of the new mold. Just a thought.

I imagine TLG did some testing with kids, so I would guess the kids liked the theme enough for TLG to launch it. I wager parents and the like will buy the sets in droves, as its a simple, clear-cut introduction to medieval stereotypes, with the added benefit of being LEGO. Not everyone has such high standards as you do (I dont)! Otherwise, good work on the review, Echo. I actually like how the background colors kind of look like grass on the ground and the sky above. Not a bad set at all. I think the flick-fire chain is an innovative feature, and I appreciate that the flick-fire missile launcher was actually designed to look like a medieval ballista. The carriage looks decent, and the wall wasnt meant to be astounding anyway. Th figs designs are rather simplistic, but I guess that was the point of this theme. Ive made up my mind that I dont have a problem with the heraldry. I do wish for another color scheme for the designated bad guys other than black and red, but oh, well.