Ardelon

I guess these Frodo and Gandlaf polybags are meant for people who arent into LEGO, dont want to get into LEGO in spite of the Middle Earth licenses, and just want an iconic character for cheap.

Wow, hardly a trickle of leaks all year, and now this flood... Im kind of hoping TLG will speed up the release of official pics of series 9 now, to get the hype back to the upcoming series...

Impressive, especially the doors and stairs. Another way to break all the brown (which I actually think makes the build more realistic) could be by adding more stuff, like colored plates for carpets, cones for bottles, potted flowers, maybe a cat or a rat, if you have them, etc.

Great polybag, but i dont see us getting it here. Otherwise I agree with those saying this polybag is one of the best out there. An olive hood, or a dark green cape would have been better, but other than that, a hood (rather than the hairpiece) is a great way for elves to have quivers, so I say smart move, TLG.

Not too interested in this theme. The aliens look cool, but otherwise the theme looks ike its trying too hard to appeal to the pre-teen boys that, admittedly, are the target audience, with jellybean astronauts in outsized vehicles bashing sinister bad guys. I expect it will sell, and I wish all those excited for the theme many a happy hour building and playing feature-testing... It seems to me that space from Mars Mission onwards has a new pattern that TLG will stick to, like Police and Fire repeats in City. Shame, I guess themes like Futuron, Ice Planet or Rock Raiders will be few and very far between.

Yeah, somehow the dark blue looks better than the original regular blue. And the giant figurehead is nicely done, if a bit large.

I voted for Ironhook - not the most distinguished looking, but with the most piratey torso, and the good hat as well.

Those Brick Fortress minilegs are great, just what I imagined TLG should do. I think loose pants were pretty much the norm in medieval times, when not everyone could afford tailor-made outfits and loose clothes were always better than tight ones (especially in the crotch area...). Meaning you should embrace these minilegs as giving a higher level of accuracy.

Both very nice reviews. I voted "average", only thanks to the figs and the wargs. I see the tree mostly as a parts pack. I don't particularly care for all the play features packed into the set, and boy are there a lot of them (not that it's a bad thing). Yep, it's been mentioned. Kind of logical as PJ's wargs are rather hyena-like, for better or (IMO) worse. And The Lion King seems to be the source of the modern pop-culture idea of hyenas.

Both very good reviews. I voted below average for this set, since while it si a good parts pack, it makes for a rather bland set IMO. Furthermore, I dont even have much interest in the figs except Fili. The redeeming features are the mushrooms and red leaves. The spiders are very good, though not the best. Big Cam, could you please post a photo of one of the dwarves with the quiver, so as to get a better idea of how exactly the hair „works“? (A side view would be interesting.)Thanks.

Nice, I especially like the variety of Romans, with some having sleeves or chain mail or gladiator parts - makes it much more realistic than just having an army of clones.

I vote for the Bag End set. It was tied in my mind with the Goblin Town set, but in the end, Bag End has lots of civilian accessories, lots and lots of green pieces and cooler figs, as well as a solid-looking build (the one thing missing is a mushroom). Compared to that, the other sets seem poorer on the parts and figs front (although I think the Gollum set is really nice for a set its size, though not very attention-grabing). I might change my mind once I see the movie and reviews of the sets.

I'm not too thrilled with the elves so far. They jut seem a bit too intricate, or gaudy, or "overdone". So I'm going with the CM elf, he's yellow, comes with a shield and a still pretty rare longbow. And, as Venkefedo above points out, he can fit a quiver. Otherwise I say "meh" on the elves.

My money is on Friends,both on longevity and lucrativity. It has the makings of a new evergreen line (TLGs attempts to attract girls is an evergreen theme itself) and it seems to be very succesful. LotR will live as long as there is media pushing it, as many others here have stated more eloquently, and its buyers are mainly LEGO history fans and general fantasy fans. My conservative (hopefully wrong) bet is 2-3 waves of LotR/Hobbit sets after the last movie comes out.

Cool build, I especially like the crooked stairs, the ramshackle roof and the hanging skeleton and his well-dressed pal...

Im pretty optimistic about this. It gives a chance for SW to grow. I see no reason to bash the movies beforehand, maybe because I dont have such a negative opinion of the PT. As for the time period, I would say it will continue sometime after SW6, rather than be a Old Republic prequel. After all, its titled Episode 7, rather than Episode 0 or -1.

To me this list sounds exceptionally promising if true. Hopefully it wont be debunked!

Yeah, I also hoped for more info on Yazneg, as well as the white warg. I guess we wont see a bio for the scribe, as that would already have been put up with the Goblin town set.

LEGO Hobbit site updated with minifig descriptions (Bifur, Yazneg, hunter orc, goblin warrior). http://thehobbit.lego.com/en-us/characters/bilbo/ edit: link added

Nice scene, it really does evoke a peaceful and carefree time. And yes, the crane is tops!

Eh, if the new police theme really is spun as some kind of night police, then what a cop-out! Simply make the boxes darker and blam, a "new" take on the police theme... Anyway, I like to think of the "museum" as simply the entrance or foyer, with the rest to be MOCed, it's how I explain away the small size in my head. Though it's nice to have a museum and burning house, hopefully it's the start of a trend. Not being fire or vehicle oriented, I can't say much about the other sets. Wish more civilian (or hospital) sets were on the way. I think Joebot above is on to something.

Unpopular? In the homeland of Karl May? Im also suprised at the long silence from the CUUSOO team on this set...

Hmm, a public grill? Interesting idea, havent seen that one anywhere... Anyway, I like the little details in your builds, like the grill, fountain, and yes, the lawnmower. And is that Exoforce hair as a vegetable?

Very neat, the rocks look very craggy and natural, and the stonework on the hut is also great. For the smoke, maybe use some gray bricks as the core surrounded by the trans-clear bricks? I havent tried it out, so I dont know whether it looks good, just a wild suggestion. And the small dead tree is a gem!

Very impressive size, and full of detail, which is no mean feat. And I agree the cracks in the wall are superb. These are the kinds of MoCs i love, showing the big picture, but you can find plenty details when you look closely. The siege engines are also neat.