Cyprinus

Apparently the new 3-in-1 Castle is a "Horse Knight" castle. And there is a 40$ 390 piece "unicorn castle" coming alongside it.

Several leakers confirmed it being a Bag End set. Which makes sense and as far as I am concerned is preferable to paying an extra 250$ for another grassy hill with a door and some windows. I think it is more that we don't actually know the price. I saw some saying it is 200-239$, you mention 250$...Something around 200$ for 1600 pieces wouldn't be anything unique, there is a 240$, 1900 piece X-wing, 230$ 1600 piece Red Bull Racing Car (though I guess it is Technic), Nocturnia is 200$ for 1700 pieces (and no license fees) and so on....

Bag End apparently will have 2017 pieces. Could be a similiar size, but a lot of small pieces for detailing the rockwork.

I imagine it won't be the LIons, just to avoid having two lion castles at the same time when other factions would have nothing.

Hopefully a better build than the modern Eldorado. :P

Wasn't the one just retiring simply the "medieval castle"? Anyway, I don't follow the 3 in 1 sets too much, so I have to ask: how often do they feature new printed pieces? Because we'd need a few to get any faction beyond Lions, Falcons or Forestmen (which feel... unlikely).

I'm sure you know far better than lego does and only that is why we don't have lotr and castle lines aimed at kid, but instead get ninjago, dreamzzz and such.

I think they already used it a Wednesday set (76781).

Bag End in April, possibly another one later in the year.

The inn in MTS is a reference to the original guarded inn, but it is called the "Broken Axes Inn". But I imagine more than a few people will want to slot the modular's sign in there...

Hoping for a mounted Nazgul, let alone two seems very wishful thinking...

It is less about the stories, more about the creatures themselves. The Watcher was the only one of its kind we saw - plenty debate whether it is one of the Nameless Things found deep below the earth - and having one chilling in some pool in a bright forest feels weird. Meanwhile the Great Eagles - even if largely a taxi service in the books ;) - were explicitely the servants of Manwe (king of the Valar aka gods) and wouldn't be involved in a petty conflict between men. I mean, I have plenty of things to complain about in regards to the movies :P

Honestly it is a bit early to tell. You could easily make a RoP trailer that wouldn't have any glaring issues and we all know how that show turned out. Here, beyond sidelining Helm in his own story, we already could see a few things that honestly have no place being there except to milk nostalgia. The great eagle, the watcher in the water... Also, the bit where Wulf flat out tells Helm he'll kill him? He wouldn't leave alive... Plus I kinda feel giving Helm a hammer is the wrong choice - he was called Hammerhand because he could strike so hard he'd kill without a weapon, but casual viewers will likely connect the moniker with the weapon.

If we get a Bag End set, I expect we get a Bilbo (or even two - young/older one), Sam, Frodo, Gandalf, Pippin and Merry to pad out the count. Maybe a Thorin, but more dwarves are unlikely, too many moulds to make. I mean, at best we'd get figures that supposedly are generic hobbits. Case in point being Gloin in Rivendell, where designers said something to the effect of "this isn't Gloin, we can't call him that".

The list found here.

December 31st 2025. For now anyway.

Compared to Hogwarts it has very little. Which kinda makes the modular design not work. Like for outside areas you have the White Tree Courtyard, Palace, Beacon, Gate, battle of Gandalf and Witch-King. Interior-wise we look at the Palace, the place where Denethor's pyre was (might be a tad dark for Lego), Houses of Healing. Not a lot to go with for modular designs. Sure, playsets can work, but that is moving the goalpost.

Gollum was surprisingly popular, there is that. And the story of the hunt for Gollum is more a story of Aragorn and Gandalf than Gollum himself (or at least it can be so). So it can make sense. Different battles. Galadriel destroyed the place only after the Ring was destroyed. The White Council made Sauron retreat to Mordor during the events of the Hobbit, but I don't think we get much detail on it, and only 10 years later the Nazgul reoccupied it. I saw some claim Sauron set it up, with his Maiar powers letting him know where to find her. People making said claims didn't explain why Sauron never showed such powers in canon stories, nor how would it help him get to the exact spot in the ocean exactly at the right time...

The show in general suffers from bad writing, terrible pacind and paying no attention to time, distance and logistics. They also seem to want to mimic whatever they can from the Jackson movies, even parts that weren't too well received. The Durin/Elrond bits are among the best parts of the show, with a proper gem or two in there, but they also kinda get elevated due to how bad the rest is. Also Elrond is arguably the least fitting elf to choose for the "timeless being forgets mortal lifespans thing" - his own twin brother was a mortal after all. Th creation of Mordor suffers from the shows usual logistics and logic issues, but even with those aside, you wonder who made such an unique magical item a key to a dam. That thing is impressively obviously magical compared to most artifacts in Middle Earth. Meanwhile while some visuals of the ring-making are nice, Celebrimbor behaving like alloys were some arcane secret nobody thought about was dumb. And I feel making the Three first, with Sauron around the forge is a change we didn't need. Eh, wouldn't put too much stock in the Estate's opinion ever since Christopher stepped down. While he wasn't a fan of Jackson's movies, I doubt he'd have a better opinion about RoP, which could change things.

Something that popped up...

Edoras may be a bit much, I'd expect Meduseld itself :P And I still don't see Minas Tirith happening in a reasonable scale, price or both.

Well, they used new moulds for all the pieces (aside from the One Ring - as that one is still in use). Why would they do it if the old ones were around?

I expect the official info sometime in may. The survey leak had it at 83 cm tall, 44 cm wide and 36 cm deep. But that could have changed in the meantime.

Exactly how I feel - they're good efforts, but not something I'd want to get. It was this Having a single set in 2025 in the vein of Rivendell/Barad Dur (or even a Brickhead) would be enough to fulfill it.