Ardelon

The more I look at the sets, the more I like them. I thought the castle was too simple at first, but now it believe it to be a nice blend of classic aesthetic and modern features. I still think the dark tan base is a bit off, and there are too much blue highlights, but I dont mind the big wall pieces, as it would be hard to build a castle without them. I especially like how the designers put a walkway around the 3rd storey of the gatehouse - there, at least, is one improvement over the Kingdoms castle.Looking forward to deatiled pics of the other sets. The trees are great though, shame we wont get those in the sets! The heraldry does seem a bit silly, and the color schemes are uninspired, but I try to take it from the POV of a kid you hasnt been exposed to other Castle themes, and so doesnt care aut the repetition. I do believe that these sets were meant to draw in a younger crowd, compared to LotR. edit @ Krulis: That seems to be sensei Wus beard, not Gandalfs.

Brilliant Marlinspike Hall, large88! Though I think it would be more accurate in yellow or tan, with a dark gray/bley roof. SandMirror38, looking forward to your version.

Its this picture, to be exact (courtesy of Krulis): http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/lego/images/3/37/LEGITSeries10.jpg I seriously doubt the fig will be called "revolutionary soldier", or that its meant to be from the American Revolutionary War at all. Is there an official source for the name?

That would be a tough sell! The thing is, there is no automatic link between destroying property and promoting environmentalism, while pollution (e.g. through fossil fuels) is a way to destroy the environment, so you would have much a harder time claiming the theme would be apolitical. But if you managed, sure, I could support it. @ Dr.Cogg: That idea could work.

First of all, nice sets! I especially like the Stinker vehicles (my fav is the Juggernaut), they seem to have more personality than the good guys! The good guys are lacking a base, though (I assume the ship is the Stinker base). I’m kind of surprised at the critisim of the alleged political aspect. It’s not like the bad guys are some regular energy or logging company going about its business producing and providing fuel and energy. These are bullies that like to pollute and destroy the environment for a quick buck, or for the fun of it. To claim the theme has a political agenda is like saying the Castle theme is pushing a monarchist agenda, with all their noble kings. Polluters are a stereotypical kind of villain, just like heroic kings and knights are a stereotypical kind of good guy. And it’s pretty tough to deny that fossil fuels are big pollutants, whatever the efficiency or reliability of alternative energy sources. So yes, the bad guys use fossil fuels, but it’s just one of their weapons, along with circular sawblades, harpoons, or “oil dumping units” – (hopefully) even the biggest “drill baby drill” supporter wouldn’t advocate dumping oil into the ocean. It’s not really a left-right thing either – while environmentalism is generally (though not at all exclusively) associated with the left, so is protecting the jobs of coal miners, for example. On the other hand the private sector (associated with the right) is pretty strong in inventing and pushing cleaner technologies. I wonder if it’s a cultural thing, since it mostly seems to be our colleagues from the US who bring up the political aspects of the theme in this thread. AFAIK, this debate is more current in the US than Europe or other parts of the developed world, where the preferability of alternative energy over fossil fuels seems to be a given. But then, Captain Planet was a US production. And if that made it past the moral guardians, I don’t think this project would face any such hurdles, apart from the “LEGO Friends are sexist” types – in which case TLG could use the publicity. As for my own personal bias, there should be a third faction that would kick both the other factions’ behinds with nuclear powered vehicles … The Atom is your friend!

I, on the other hand, would prefer a plain gold fig. But thats all moot, if there will only be 5000 of them, as fbtb states.

Maybe a more realistic way to get a molded fell beast (which I prefer to a brick-built variant) with enough construction elements in the set would be to combine it with an attack on Minas Tirith set. Think this: a stretch of wall and a siege tower or catapult with two Mordor Orcs and a soldier of Gondor. Maybe even add a tower with a Gondorian trebuchet, for the fell beast to knock down. Then: 1) either Eowyn (on her horse?), Merry, Witch king on fell beast 2) or Gandalf on Shadowfax, Pippin, Witch king on fell beast Six figs, of which 3 main characters, a horse, a molded fell beast, and plenty of construction. The one downside I see to this is that it would be a pretty big set, and it might mean no small Uruk hai army type set for Gondor soldiers and Mordor Orcs (though this drawback would be mooted if TLG released battlepacks).

Just realized I forgot to add MHO on this series, so here goes: fav fig: forest maiden (and the history figs generally) least fav fig: roller derby girl (though her skates are possibly the best accessory) Very happy about all the neat accessories, not happy at all about the fig distribution. A step upwards from series 8. High quality review as usual, White Fang, thanks for that.

I liked the movie a lot. Im usually a stickler for faithful adaptations, and thus rarely satisfied, but in this case I think PJ did a great job with his adaptation. Maybe apart from the Azog arc, which I thought redundant, but even that wasnt too bad. My other gripes are making Saruman into a pompous fool, and making the goblins a pretty pathetic threat. As for the "long" intro, I actually expected more backstory, such as the Dwarves being driven out of Moria by the Balrog and out of the Grey Mountains by dragons, something about Dain of the Iron Hills and the rise of Sauron... Otherwise, the visuals of "Middle Earth" were stunning, the appendices were worked in very well, and I had no issues with the pacing - I wouldnt have minded staying there an hour longer!

I like this version too, deskp, but I agree wih Mr_Malfoy that a Nazgul with fell beast should be included, if the beast would be molded - its one of the few options for a set with a molded fell beast and a substantial construction component.

Agreed and agreed. Hopefully, each of the two Orcs will have a different torso, too. I remember there was an extra Orc with another torso in the early Orc Forge images; I was kind of disappointed TLG didnt include the alternate torso for one of the two Orcs in that set.

Pine cones, I would say - in the book, he sets them on fire with multicolored flames and throws them at the Wargs. They were of normal fire color in the films, but the set designers probably didnt know that.

Im pretty disappointed by the lack of Corsairs (I assume the bad guys in the Ship set are Orcs, since on the box they look the same as the figs on the Black Gate box). I actually thought the rumor of 12 figs for the ship set was inflated; I expected Aragorn (but no Legolas or Gimli, which could have been put in other sets), the King of the Dead and two (un)dead soldiers (as came true), and 2-3 Corsairs. But it looks like TLG included Legolas and Gimli at the expense of the Corsairs. The Black Gate looks cool, The WIzard Battle looks pretty unimpressive, but could be a good way to get both wizards. I was expecting less gray and more tan in Rivendell. The elven-figs should be great, though. Hopefully, there are more sets, like the Balrog or something with Gondorian soldiers. If not, maybe some Hobbit sets, or is TLG splitting this wave between LotR and Castle? I wouldnt expect any battle packs just yet, as jhc2nmfn explained above.

Exactly what I thought. Not that its a bad thing, so long as the figs dont go the KKII route. So far Im pretty optimistic.

That is a pretty bold claim to state without evidence. How much of a share did EVE or Zelda or BttF have on that reddit chart? None of course, since they arent genres per se. And thats part of the point. The Wild West has been a huge part of Western pop culture for over a century, recognizable to people of all ages, through exposure to a wide variety of media. Compared to that, these online games are merely a fad, recognizable to young men with an internet connection or gaming console, and interest in these particular franchises. And BttF, while a popular franchise, has long been off the hype radar. Its basically a car with two dudes, not really instantly recognizable. Yes, boys and young men are the core "consumers" of LEGO, but buyers - parents, grandparents, etc. - are much more likely to buy a universally-recognized Wild West themed set for their offspring over any of these other properties, of which they might have only a hazy knowledge, or none. My point is, a Wild West set would have a guaranteed demand, thanks to its pop-cultural recognition that crosses political, technological and age boundaries, a recognition the other contenders didnt or dont have. And well see what LR and Django will do to the werstern genre. At the least TLG could have kept it in reserve, for after LR ends.

there is the newest Nute Gunray fig: http://www.bricklink.com/ml/sw363.jpg (I dont know anything about Neimoidian biology, but I assume the character is male)

Pretty neat, though the Walking Stick could be longer. And I hope youll be able to straighten out those fishing poles later! Are the dark areas between the wings digitally altered, or is it some kind of photo trick?

I was going to wait for pics, but a combination of free time and lack of patience led me to post my opinions on the figs now, if they be accurate: Yeti – Sounds too small in minifig scale, but a new monster could be useful. Evil Mech – As was expected. I expect just a recolor. Welder – I assume a molded helmet instead of a printed mask. Will he have a some kind of blowtorch as an accessory? Lady Robot – Pink highlighs? Lipstick? Eyelashes? I wonder what “she” will look like... Jazz Musician – Looking forward to an new instrument. Constable – about time! Holiday Elf – I was disappointed that the gnome didnt have a red phrygian cap, which would be useful for French revolutionaries. Hopefully the elf will have one. Bavarian Lady – Could be useful for historical female figs. Scarecrow – Depends on execution. straw bag head or pumpkin head? anyway, Im looking forward to a non-horror scarecrow. Mountain Climber – Probably wont be interested. Grandma – Should be a useful civilian fig. What accessories could she have? A cat? Knitting needles? Tiki Warrior – Looking forward to seeing him. Gingerbread Man – I wonder whether hell be yellow or the more typical brown, or whether he will, in fact, be a guy in a gingerbread man suit? (Odd numbered series, after all). Barbarian – I expect a Conan-like barbarian, as seen in Toths drawings, as opposed to a late Roman / dark ages barbarian, whose niche was filled by the highlander. Dinner Waitress – As others have said, a waitress on roller skates would be fun. Scientist – I wonder how TLG will spice him up. maybe an einstein lookalike like in Toths design?

Nah, as others have said, LEGO being a toy for action-hungry boys, TLG limietd the icky girls and the boring mundade jobs to two... Hopefully this just a hiccup and there will be three complete sets further on.

My thoughts exactly. Otherwise, I would love to see some Mideastern or Far Eastern soldier types. But I guess they dont have the pop-cultural recognition. But the CM range has given us some suprising and obscure figs, so Im keeping my hopes up. As for series 11 itself, it seems somewhat less interesting than series 9 and 10, but ill wait for pics for further comments.

I myself wouldnt like to see any change to the classic faction shields.I just cant see them as the same faction otherwise. For this reason, I wasnt too thriilled with the Joust Falcon knight, though sadly he does hint at the way TLG would go if remaking older factions. News faces and torsos and metallic colors, sure. Browns and grays would have to be updated anyway. But new shields? Bleh.

Prophetic!

Hmm, was there a backlash though? Some AFOLs were opposed, as is always the case, but generally, I thought the AFOL community (at least on EB) was largely in favor of LotR, and I would imagine the general public, without any strong ties to LEGO Castle, would be even more enthusiastic abot LotR. Meaning, I see this more as a supply-side decision rather than demand-side. I dont know what consequences that would have though, apart from being as far from LotR as possible so as not to cannibalize sales (Meaning, I too am hoping for a revisit of 80s Castle...)

The two dangers I see in this theme are flesh parts on the torsos and that the cavalry uniforms probably wont be compatible with the old Western ones. Im pretty surprised that it took a license to get TLG to take another stab at Western...

I voted "yes" on the first question, as I like to see what TLG is giving us in advance (whether unofficial leaks or official teasers) and get my appetite whetted; Im not one of those that can hold off something just for the surprise factor. As for the second question, I voted "no", simply because I didnt see much added value in the teaser images. Sure it showed us a lot of new parts, but in an "incomplete" or "unfulfilling" way - yes, just like a teaser does... The main info for me was what the figs are going to be, and with that known, I would prefer better quality images or at least frontal images of this quality. These pics were a bit too "artistic" for me, and it seemed to me to be rather unnecessary to release these if the official release really is only one week away (that was the crucial info of this leak for me). That said, I generally would welcome any info prior to the release, even this teaser . its not bad and it didnt spoil anything for me, its just that the prior leaks were better.