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Fair enough, I guess I have a rather myopic view of the fan base! Not at all trying to insinuate anything about big fans needing to read the books (and certainly not the Silmarillion). I genuinely forgot that people collect physical media as I have never owned a dvd or bluray but the book nook would fit great alongside those as well! I think it’s more accurate to say big fans are likely to have either/both the books and films then. Hopefully my original point still stands, I really like the idea of a book nook, especially for LotR, and was surprised to see such a negative reaction towards it here. It’s really nice as a one off but probably a lot less appealing if you have every other set, at least there’s no exclusive minifig tied to it

I’m quite late to the party but I think the book nook looks great and is one of the best possible formats for a LotR set. I have moved far too many times in the past few years to bring any Lego with me and display room is always subject to change, even within the same space. However, I do know for a fact that wherever I end up settling down will have a dedicated bookshelf where I will be putting my treasured second edition of the LotR trilogy and collector’s edition of the Hobbit. A Lego book nook tucked in there wouldn’t need much extra space and would simply become a permanent fixture on the shelf. I imagine nearly everyone that’s a big enough LotR fan to spend hundreds on a Lego set has copies of the books somewhere to accompany a book nook! As much as I adore Rivendell I still haven’t bought it because it’s simply too big to display anywhere. The set that got me out of my dark ages (Lion Knight’s Castle) was already a challenge to display and barely fit on a mantle unfolded with the front stairs removed. Adding the blacksmith set and a few MOCs completely dominated the little shelf space I had. Rivendell may have fit split apart at a certain orientation but at the expense of displaying everything else, Barad Dur would be unthinkable. And that was in a relatively big place in the states, my current tiny place in Japan could never! All that is to say that, as an adult fan, display room is the primary constraint for me when considering purchasing a set. The book nook doesn’t require any additional shelving or furniture, it can just be placed in an existing bookshelf. Maybe I’m way too out of touch with the average person but I think most people have at least a modest bookshelf and serious LotR fans are almost guaranteed to? The choice of setting and presentation here also perfectly matches the format. Anything sandwiched between books on a shelf is going to be dark, especially towards the back. The balrog is framed emerging from a dark, claustrophobic tunnel towards Gandalf standing well lit in the open. The composition of the build being deliberately designed around the typical lighting conditions it will be displayed in is genuinely remarkable. I don’t think the actual design of the balrog is perfect but is a good bit more accurate than the Jun Chi figure from the Adventurers I used as a stand in as a kid. I think it captures the silhouette well enough which is most important, the details on the black bricks will be partially obscured in the darkness anyway. The price is a bit of a joke but I think it’s justifiable for people like me that will likely only buy this set from the range and display it in perpetuity. I’d rather pay $120 for a well done vignette of one of the most iconic scenes of the trilogy than $500 for a massive single location that cannibalizes my entire display area or requires me to build extra shelving. It’s absolutely for a more casual Lego fan or a more reasonable entry point for LotR fans that don’t have any Lego.

That might be the most exciting news yet! I am primarily interested in cool new torso prints but was a bit concerned about them being fleshie and every other color of non human. This sounds like it has a ton of potential for some really cool figs, excited to see how they turn out!

Well I must admit I'm a little underwhelmed by the official reveal but I suppose nothing they did would satisfy everyone. My biggest complaint is certainly the stickers, the lack of animals can be easily remedied with a PaB order but the stickers can't be fixed. I guess we've just been spoiled by the blacksmith, LKC, and viking village all having entirely printed elements. I was really hoping the Majisto stickers were only a limitation of it being a GWP but it looks like they have no qualms about including them in more "premium" castle sets going forward. I'm still getting it for sure as I've realized I have neither the time or parts to make my own supplemental castle builds. This will look fantastic next to my blacksmith and lion knight's castle and certainly seems well designed enough to justify the price. It definitely feels like Lego is aware that people like me would likely pick it up regardless and chose to cut some corners in the final version to squeeze more profit out of it. I suppose that's "just business" but still doesn't sit right with me

I know most people here are more excited about Gringott's than another microscale Hogwarts but we just received ours yesterday and love it! I probably wouldn't have bought it for myself but my girlfriend was super hyped for it and shared all the pre release pics with me, glad we picked it up! I think it looks much better than the considerably larger and more expensive previous version. Sure, some of the finer details are lost, but I think the overall silhouette looks nicer and I really like the water and terrain of the smaller version. Sometimes less is more and I think the more zoomed out perspective looks better for a display piece. The super micro versions of iconic areas and scenes are still fully recognizable and the instruction pages with little blurbs about them are quite fun to read as you build. Overall very pleased with it and it's a nice change of pace after building the absolutely massive Ninjago gardens/market combo. This is my first and likely only HP set (other than the awesome GWPs that came with it) so I'm probably the exact target demographic for it. I can see it not really fitting in with a larger HP display but it works very well as a standalone piece.

Fleshie Johnny Thunder feels heretical to me but I think it actually works really well here, nicely done! The sunset mosaic makes for a really beautiful backdrop. Aging up the whole cast just makes me feel old though

I have absolutely hated stickers since I was a kid and continue to actively avoid any sets with them. Of the dozens of good reasons provided in this thread, the biggest one for me is the objectively poor quality. Stickered pieces will fray, lose color around the edges, peel, and generally degrade in quality incredibly fast. They need to be handled and stored with extreme care but age will still cause them to degrade regardless. As I rarely keep sets together long and generally buy them specifically for parts, I don't even apply stickers anymore or consider them to be part of a set. Even brand new stickers' colors don't perfectly match with the bricks they're to be placed on and have an obvious silhouette. They look cheap from the start and only continue to look worse over time For example, the upcoming 77013 Well of Souls set would have been an instant buy of multiple copies for me if there was even a single printed element in the set. Without stickers it would look like a very bland wall and arch surrounding a plain yellow 2x4 that's supposed to represent the Ark of the Covenant. As a parts pack it's just some very common pieces in a hodgepodge of colors that could be had for cheaper on PaB or BL. I think I'm better off spending $40 on some of the beautiful printed pieces from the Adventurers line that are perfectly preserved 25 years later! Would anyone be ok with stickers for minifigs one day? The exact same arguments people use to justify stickers now could be applied

The description on the listed sets on S@H explicitly mention scenes from the first 3 movies and later mention the ToD by name and set number. I know everyone loves to assume incompetency and point fingers but I find it hard to believe they'd explicitly mention a cancelled set on their own website and leave it up. Either way speculation right now is pointless, at least we have official confirmation of 3 sets now! I was fully prepared for the entire wave to be cancelled and having to buy some of the sets that made it to shelves from scalpers. Can we all just take a moment to appreciate the 3 fantastic sets we are getting? I'm very pleased with the price points remaining the same and will probably pick up multiple copies of the Lost Tomb for some Adventurers MOCs.

Love a good ravine, especially one with a waterfall! The gold mine is a perfect use of the underground space that would otherwise be hidden. That round tower looks really good, I may have to borrow that technique! Not sure where the cat-thedral is in relation to the rest of the build but it's very cute. Love the giant paw statue behind the pulpit with winch hooks for claws

So many medieval entries this time! Really happy to see the community engaging with the theme so much and expanding on the excellent official sets we got last year. I will say a fair number seem to be following a bit too closely and just look like alt builds of the Lion Knights' Castle. I suppose a level of similarity is expected when the 1x2 bley masonry brick single handedly carries the entire modern castle world though. Top 3 4 castle entries: Travelling Medicus I have a soft spot for any civilian builds and this one is my favorite. Shocking amount of detail packed into an eight stud wide carriage and the little forest scene it goes with is too cute! Medieval Stonemasons Guild A refreshing concept with a great execution- the scaffolding and winches are lovely and could go with any other medieval construction in process. The church and stained glass are suitably detailed without being over the top, also love the miniature church model! Stroggilofanaro Gatehouse A smaller and more restrained build that pulls off a very eye catching and unique shape with a fraction of the piece count most others use Castle Ambush It's big, unwieldly, and directly copies a large number of design elements from 10305. Despite all that, I think it manages to have a very distinct personality with the wide variety in depth and height throughout. The arched stone bridge is a classic and the zipline is so fun! Really evocative of the classic Forestmen feel Top 3 non-castle historical entries: The Lost Temple Beautifully realized Mesoamerican temple with suitably vibrant colors. Technically styled as an Adventurers setting but could easily be used in a more historical context. General Store Of the small number of western builds this is by far my favorite, it absolutely nails the setting down to every minute detail. The angled siding looks fantastic as well as the vegetation and covered wagon Small Shinto Shrine It's a Shinto shrine, what more is there to say? I've seen a large number of Lego recreations but this one does an excellent job despite the piece restrictions for the program. The roof is especially well done!

Wow, I really appreciate the new figs not having any flesh peeking through on the torso prints! I prefer yellow for overall consistency and if not for the dual molded hobbit legs it would be a pretty seamless switch. Even paired with fleshies the printed skin is usually way off in shade while limiting use of the broad range of flesh tones that exist. The original Aragorn is pretty bad in that regard but the Indiana Jones wave had some of the most egregious examples of this:

Oh wow I was just about to buy the dragon from the 76177 Shang Chi set, will hold off until we see the Eastern Palace Dragon. I'm not a fan of the existing chunky Dragon of the East with a shell? and all sorts of blasters attached to it though. Hoping for a more lithe and less sci fi dragon to terrorize (or protect) my Chinese village with!

I hope you're right and the higher costs are isolated to City sets specifically in the US! There are a number of them I've been tempted to get but just can't justify the price and not being able to use a significant number of the other parts. I have zero interest in anything newer than the 1920's so a medieval village with a good selection of animals is doubly appealing to me. Fingers crossed that most of the prototype design makes it into the final product and that the parts make their way onto PAB eventually

With the frankly absurd $70 price tag for the 230 piece 60346 Barn and Farm Animals along with similarly high prices for the wildlife rescue sets I'm quite skeptical of a $250 price for this. One could argue that most of the animal molds already exist with the costs allocated to previous sets but TLG continues to at least give the impression of high marginal costs for them based on a single cow costing $10 on PAB. Even tiny animals like rabbits and birds range from $1.50-2.50 each. If the goat mold truly returns they're well aware of the high demand for it and will likely try to squeeze as much profit out of the set as possible. Since I'm an absolute sucker for castle and animals in general I'm going to buy it regardless of price and I imagine a large number of AFOLs feel the same way.

You raise a good point, I had neglected to consider the incredibly fragmented state of the licensing rights to the franchise. Gotta love intellectual property laws! No reason to postpone making my own interpretation of Barrow Wights then

These look excellent and are beautifully photographed! Really like your setup of background elements with a perfectly captured depth of field effect. Is there another light source shining through the window in the background of the first pic or is the natural light reflecting to make a nice glow? The Aloy pieces look great here and had me checking the price on Bricklink, think it's one I'll have to admire from a distance Edit: I found your Youtube channel through your Flickr and watched your behind the photo video, so informative! I've been try to up my photography game and your channel has so many great instructional videos. Really appreciate the shooting on phone one as that's what I'm currently limited to!

In anticipation for the Rivendell set I've been rewatching the films and playing through the Lego LotR game with my girlfriend, it's been an absolute blast! At this point I'm not sure which one of us is more excited for the return of Lego LotR sets. I know it's unreasonable to compare the 2012 wave (and game) to any current sets but I have found it pretty jarring how much is skipped in the game and corresponding sets. We've been watching half a (extended cut) film and then playing the respective parts of the game but often times 2 hours of the film will be condensed down to a single level. Bilbo's party doesn't exist and Lothlorien was breezed over in less than a minute! And even more is skipped in the translation from book to film, I can't quote the exact page length at the moment but I remember almost half of Fellowship taking place before Rivendell in the book with a lot of great world building and imaginative locations I'd love to see realized in Lego. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the previous LotR line only focused on action heavy parts of the series and neglected the peaceful world building parts that for me are the most enjoyable. It's kind of an unfortunate double distillation where the sets only represent the most bombastic set pieces from films that have already been trimmed down to the most dramatic scenes from the books. With the return of LotR focusing on Rivendell where no combat happens at all I'm somewhat hopeful but it's also only one of two possible locations where the entire fellowship is present. I would prefer to at least get sets for the Shire, the Prancing Pony, and Meduseld as they're lived in and more "grounded" locations with their own histories that could be explored rather than just the exact moments the fellowship passed through them in the films. It seems like a very distant pipe dream that we'll ever get sets based on book only locations like the scouring of the Shire and Barrow Downs but perhaps now the designers will feel less tied down to films that came out twenty years ago. But even if Rivendell is the only thing we ever get at least we'll have the minifigs (and ferns) to create a huge number of our own MOCs!

Man I thought the original Legolas looked whack but in comparison to the new one he looks pretty decent. I think the 3D ears look ridiculous in both cases but the new one really doesn't fit him at all. I always used this hair piece for Legolas long before any official sets existed and probably will again Also really not a fan of the cheek lines on all the elf faces, can't be the only one that thinks they look like chad squidward

Super cool comparison to the film, I was curious if the set actually had a 1:1 correspondence to any particular shot in it. I've never had a clear mental "map" of Rivendell due to the inconsistency in its presentation in the films like you mentioned. It's even confusing to navigate in the Lego LotR game! Circling various areas of the bigature is very helpful for getting an understanding of the space Fully agree with you, I think the decision to combine the most iconic and representational parts of Rivendell rather than trying to be perfectly accurate to the film was a great move. Seems odd to have a crumbling, moss covered tower right next to their meeting space in the film, the tower in the set looks much better!

Wow this looks even better than the leaks, so much detail! Absolutely love the trees, the cypress especially Call me crazy but what's exciting me most is the new ferns though, can think of SO many use cases for them. All the new weapon molds look great but are much less universal than ferns!

As someone who missed the original MMV I'm going to buy it regardless but the prototype images don't make it look terribly appealing. The buildings look pretty odd as the colors are all fairly bright and clash. I like the sand green one and the red guarded inn throwback but the snot yellow one really stands out. I would assume they fold in together like the MMV if not for the colors, as is it seems like four completely separate sets thrown together. Obviously heavily subject to change so not much use nitpicking it now. I would be shocked if we don't get it in some form with the treatment castle has been getting lately along with the legendary status of MMV and MVR. With the blacksmith retiring late this year it seems like this set may fill the gap, hopefully at a price point that isn't too much higher

Apologies if it's posted earlier in the thread but I wasn't able to find it by searching for "castle"- do we know an approximate release date for the new Disney castle? My girlfriend is currently obsessed with the original 71040 castle but resale prices for it are kinda steep. Hoping she'll be satisfied with the smaller new one or that its release would at least slightly bring the 71040 prices down. I was not aware that Lego was so popular among female Chinese influencers, I've had many MOC'd up Disney castles and Eiffel Towers shared with me in the past few days

I got excited by the title but certainly didn't expect Vikings! I suppose pillaging your neighbors rather than colonizing them could be seen as better long term? Regardless, they do look very cool! I really like the figureheads and wide variety of weapons even if brickforge is kinda cheating

These set leaks sound great and happen to be new versions of the exact sets I don't have from the 2008 wave. Quite interested to see how they compare, I had passed on those original sets due to not liking the designs and large amounts of stickers. Pretty annoyed that the Temple of Doom set is centered around minecarts again and disappointed to hear the hieroglyphics are stickers again. Lego has come quite a ways in 15 years but I guess some things stay the same

Very impressive, thanks for sharing! I really love your Dragon Fortress build, wasn't around when you first posted it so I'm happy you included it here. I'm a huge fan of re-imagined Adventurers builds and Asian architecture in general, hope to see more from you (love both pagodas on your flickr as well).