Virginia_Bricks

16 bags in so far (the outer gates and half of the hall base structure). So far a good and varying build and decent amount of unique build techniques to get some of the angles and small details. The mini-fig pacing is not good. You get 3 in the first 8 bags and then 1 in the next 20-30 and the final 5 in the final 30. I don't really get it unless they counted the king statues as mini-figures for pacing purposes since Lego is really good with how they pace builds.

I would guess this is just the Sauron Helmet/Balrog Book Nook for 2027

If Helm's Deep or Edoras (the set could likely be named this and be only Meduseld just like "The Shire") is the next set here are my guesses at mini-figures: Helm's Deep: King Theoden, Eomer, Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, Haldir, 2 Uruk-Hai, 2 Rohan Soldiers, and 2 Elven Soldiers Edoras: King Theoden, Eowyn, Grima, Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, Eomer, and 2 Rohan Soldiers

They are in a paper bag in the spare parts bag. Same bag as Shadowfax' torso and the large bar pieces.

Setting aside the extreme hyperbole in your comment, it is disappointing that the sounds aren't closer to the games/anime. They synthesizer in the Smart Brick should be able to create the sounds but clearly they haven't programmed many sounds into them. Thankfully they can be updated and more sounds might be yet to come.

Everything is up on Lego's website now. Prices for the sets are reasonable and shows how much the Smart Brick adds to the cost now that we have these prices and the SW Smart Brick prices.

That is what is on the retirement spreadsheet. It is purely a leak/rumor since Lego does not officially reveal retirement dates and it could also be extended. That being said I feel comfortable that it won't change unlike Rivendell which kept getting extended.

Grond is still available in the US, so if there is actually a bug in your order and it got removed CS should be able to fix it. There are always issues like this on release day with the sheer volume of orders and 99% it works out fine.

Honestly if the theme is selling as well as we expect it is. Orthanc, Meduseld, and Helm's Deep all seem to be in the hopper. Rivendell and Barad-Dur are both supposed to retire next year, opening up a new $400+ slot for Orthanc/Helm's Deep and I can see Meduseld being in the $300-400 range.

With the whole first wave now revealed, I think Lego did a very good job in designing the Smart Play sets. I have no interest in that style of sets, but the age range they are designing for will. The blocky look takes getting used to, but first off its Lego and blocks and second off each was clearly designed so you could easily remove and replace the Smart Brick. The design has to therefore fit around that requirement. The mix of this, the brick built statues of Pokemon and the rumored Poke Ball with interior scene set seems like a pretty good launch for Lego and Pokemon. Way better than what Mega ever did.

Another release day not staying up and just ordering naturally in the morning. Once in a while the GWPs sell out overnight on release, but its rare and they aren't that desirable when all but 1 mini-figure head is exclusive.

What's the chance that the Starter Trio set gets its retirement date extended? Not big into purchasing sets in year 1 unless the GWP really speaks to me, so I didn't buy it yet but definitely want it. Trying to also purchase the Death Star (don't judge my spending habits...) before it retires and I know that is slated to retire in 2028 so wondering which I should prioritize in 2027.

Eevee was cube like because in the anime and game its head is naturally a cube-like shape. These sets are taking on a more cube like shape because they need to incorporate a 2 stud by 4 stud by 5 plate tall brick (Smark Brick) in the middle. That means especially for small Pokemon you don't have a lot of time to be able to shape the edges and keep the Smart Brick hidden. If you realize this you notice that the Smart Brick is the length of Charmander's torso and half the width. Hard to make it more accurate without inflating the piece count and the price. That and creating designs where you can easily take the Smart Brick in and out to charge or switch which Pokemon has it. This all assumes the Smart Bricks goes inside these models, which we can't know for certain yet. Yes, they could have ditched the Smart Brick idea but incorporating technology play sold well with Super Mario and Nintendo wants to keep that approach to Lego sets going it seems. We are getting plenty of 18+ accurate Pokemon statues which are more my style so maybe that is why I'm not too upset with the Smart Brick sets.

The only one that looks bad is Charmander, other than that it is just a stylistic choice. Fine if you don't like it, but it isn't bad.

My guess is they will do a smaller one down the road, but wanted to release in the first wave 3 different price points. Given how many buildable Dobbys, Grogus, etc.... we have, Pikachu seems destined for the same treatment.