Seaber

I'm glad Peter Jackson decided to make them look less like warriors compared to Gimli, the lack of helmets allows for a lot more variation. My guess is for the Dwarf figs: Balin - Widow's peak hair and new beard mold. Bifur - New hair and beard mold. Bofur - New hat mold, printed beard. Bombur - Beard printed on face and braid printed on torso. Dori - Beard printed on face. Dwalin - New beard mold. Fili - New hair mold based on slicked back hair, printed on beard. Gloin - New hair and beard molds. Kili - Printed beard, Black Dumbledore hair/new hair mold shared with Thorin. Nori - New Hair and beard combo, a la CMS Caveman. Oin - New Hair and beard combo, a la CMS Caveman. Ori - New hood? I can only see pictures with his hood up, but I remember him having the geekiest haircut anyway :D Thorin - Printed beard, new hair mold. I thought it was an Uruk captain, such as Lurtz, Ugluk or Mauhur, as they don't wear helmets in the films to make them more recognisable as leaders.

In the Hobbit (book) Azog's son Bolg is a Goblin Cheiftain. There is also a character called the Great Goblin who is being played by Barry Humphries in the movies. My guess is that they will make them into one character :)

I think the theme has got of to a brilliant start, and I love the look of the sets and minifigures so far. They aren't perfect yet, but they're only CGI mock-ups and blurry leaked photos. I can totally see why people might not like these sets though. I am sure I'll get them all (or try to) but won't leave any as they are. For example, I like the basic shape of Weathertop, but I would do the statues and ruins differently. Nevertheless, for fans of LOTR, there is a lot to like here. And probably a lot for everyone else too!

This would be great! But I think if Lego did make Isengard, they'd release Orthanc tower as one set (with office and palantir as you said, and maybe a sort of throne room or potions lab, to spice it up) and maybe another set with Treebeard with a wall section and dam for the 'release the river' sequence.

In the movies they are shown to be physically different (Goblins have green skin and larger eyes). I know in the books they are different words for the same thing, but they are used in the movies to contrast the 'free' Goblins of Moria to the 'servant' Orcs of Sauron and Saruman. Also, as the Goblins live underground they need the larger eyes to make the most of the small amounts of light.

As a distraction to revision for an exam tomorrow, I wrote some ideas down about the bad guys in this theme :D I'll be interested to see how the Orcs/Goblins/Uruk-Hai differ. I know in Tolkien's works the names are sometimes used interchangeably, but in the movies they have more defined characteristics. The Goblins are green and live in Moria. We're getting two in the Moria set, so I hope that we get more in future sets. The Bridge of Kazad-Dum is pretty much the only other major landmark after Balins tomb where goblins appear (albeit shooting arrows from a distance) or the scene where the fellowship is being chased through the Dwarrowdelf, although that's just a large hall of pillars and would probably make a rather boring set. I think a Goblin BP is totally necessary :D The Uruk-Hai are very dark skinned and can be from Isengard or Mordor. The Isengard Uruks have the white hand symbol and all look rather similar, although there are a few variations on helmets. As far as I can remember, there are Pikemen, Swordsmen, Archers, and Sappers, all with different helmet designs. Then there are the Beserkers who have different helmets and no armour. The Mordor Uruks have far simpler armour and don't wear helmets if I remember rightly. We're getting Uruk-Hai with Swords, Pikes and the Beserkers, so it would be nice to see the other variants as well. I'm pretty sure the Uruk-Hai in FOTR are called Scouts and have different helmets, but I might have got that wrong :) Ors are the most varied of the lot. I wouldn't mind if the Goblins and Uruk-Hai all had the same face, as there is very little difference between them, but the orcs should have a few different face prints in a few different colours. Compare Grishnakh to Gothmog, and there are no similarities, apart from the general hideousness :D Similar to the mummy warriors in Pharaoh's Quest, The Goblins and Uruks could have double sided faces to provide a bit of variety, whilst the Orcs could have several different faces. Out of all the sets so far, the Orc Forge is the only one to contain Orcs. They are mostly seen in ROTK in the battles for Osgiliath, Pelennor and the Black Gate, so hopefully we will get a few different designs for Orcs when more sets from RotK are released. All three races play substantial roles in LOTR, as well as goblins appearing in The Hobbit too. Of the main villains, Saruman and Wormtongue are not involved in any battles, Sauron fights once and goes and gets himself de-materialised and the Witch King is mostly seen breaking staffs and getting stabbed in the face. The main 'heroes' in battle for the bad guys are characters such as Lurtz and Gothmog. Quite a few of the more unique looking Orc/Uruk/Goblins could be made into minifigures, e.g. Grishnakh (the Orc who chases Merry and Pippin and gets squashed by Treebeard, Sharku (the Warg-rider captain), Snaga (cannibalised after calling Merry and Pippin "fresh"), The Orc with the skull on his head from the Battle of Pelennor and Shagrat and Gorbag (The Cirith Ungol guards who fight over the mithril vest). I know that a few of the individual characters I mentioned may not be made (wishful fan thinking!) but I think a wider variety of heads for Orcs is entirely feasible.

Just a quick question, is the Orc Force on the far left of Huw's photo? The sort of brown thing with no box in front of it.

Not sure why Gandalf Arrives is getting so much stick. Lots of previous Castle subthemes have had carts or carriages as one of their smaller sets. They're a good starting point of collecting a theme. As a bonus, you get two major characters, a horse, fireworks and a fairly decent looking cart. The cart is on screen for about five minutes from the start of the scenes in the Shire, and has a fairly important scene setting aboard it, whilst driving through the beautiful countryside. I for one am delighted we get this made into a set.

Pretty trustworthy source, good find :)

Is that genuine? It's in a different style to Frodo and Aragorn. It looks like he's using a Rohan sword, possibly suggesting it has got a new mold?

I would agree with Glamdring, apart from the fact Gandalf is one of the core characters of both the Hobbit and LOTR, and it's appearance in the Hobbit could potentially be quite big. Not as big as Anduril, but significant. Also, fingers crossed for Orcrist :P

In regard to new molds: Hobbits - I imagine they'll all have the same hair piece as they all have basically the same hairstyle, just in different colours. The One Ring is something I would prefer on a tile, rather than a large moulded thing that looks wrong. The light of Galadriel could use a gem, as is show in the preliminaries. I imagine Sting will get a new mold, but I'm personally not too fussed about molds for the other Hobbits, the old round-ended swords would do. Although, any new mold is a bonus :) Gandalf (the Grey) - His staff and Glamdring, should it appear in the set. His beard, hat and hair could all use old molds, but his hair and beard would be much better with new ones. New fireworks would be sweet as well :D Uruk-Hai - New sword, shield and helmet are vital, as well as new pikes. Pretty sure we will see them all :) Aragorn - Anduril. That's all :D Nazgul - New sword would be good! I know a new hood has been suggested, and I don't think it's vital, but it would be ace :) Boromir - He needs his horn :D His shild could be used with the Spartan mold, and his sword could be the longsword or highlander sword. Legolas - New hair mold (which could be used for all elves, bar Galadriel) A new bow would be great, but I'd be happy with the longbow from the Collectable Elf. Gimli - Could use the Fantasy era beard (two plats) and helmet (without wings) although new molds would be great. I think a new Awe head is more important though, his axe just does not resemble the Viking axes. Theoden - Helmet and Sword, sorted :D

http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2012/01/10/52607-behold-the-lotr-aragorn-lego-poster/ Aragorn poster :) Edit: Yikes, beaten to it by seconds :D

I guess it's possible they'll slip Bilbo or Thorin in, like they did with Jack Sparrow as a sort of 'trailer'. It'd be great to see some sets, but isn't February a bit early to show scenes from a film coming out in December (from the film makers point of view) ?

I don't think the current Lego hood looks a million miles away from the Nazgul's hood. Eight hooded Nazgul and the Witch King with his helmet on would suit me :D

You'd also get more Nazgul. Weathertop is all well and good, but I doubt many people will get all nine ringwraiths by buying multiple of that set. But I agree that Arwen should appear in a rivendell set, should there be one. Elrond, Old Bilbo and Arwen should could all debut here. I hope they save Galadriel and Celeborn for a Lorien set to be honest. Mirror of Galadriel could be a set along the same lines as Gandalf Arrives for a start, but I guess as long as they pop up somewhere, rivendell isn't an entirely silly place to do it :D

I was going to write a list of hopeful LOTR sets, but it turned into one idea for a large set and a sort of minifigure checklist :D The ones in bold are coming out in the first wave. Could someone confirm if Merry and Pippin have made an appearance in the prelims? Definite Minifigures (Due to importance to plot, etc) and some to have more than one appearance: Frodo (Coat design and Dishevelled design) Sam (Coat design and Dishevelled design) Merry (Coat design and Rohan armour design) Pippin (Coat design and Gondor armour design) Aragorn (Ranger design and King Design) Gandalf (Gandalf the Grey design and Gandalf the White design) Eowyn (Shild Maiden design and Armour design) Theoden (Robe design and Armour design) Legolas Gimli Eomer Arwen Galadriel Denethor Saruman Grima Wormtongue Lurtz Also, these characters should appear, although their secondary designs would be a bonus: Bilbo (FOTR design and ROTK design) Boromir (Standard design and Armour design) Faramir (Ranger design and Armour design) Elrond (Robe design and Armour design) These characters would require new moulds (And Sauron would have to be taller than regular figures): Sauron The Witch King Gollum Gothmog These characters could appear, depending on the sets Lego produces: Rosie Cotton Barliman Butterbur Celeborn Haldir Hama Gamling These creatures should appear: Treebeard and Ents Gwailhir Eagles Shelob Fell Beasts Watcher in the Water Cave Trolls Mountain Trolls Balrog Mumakil Wargs Armies that should appear: Rohirrim Rohan Soldiers Gondorian Soldiers (Citadel Guards and Guards of the Fountain Court if I was being greedy :D) Lorien Elves Orcs Goblins Uruk-hai Easterlings Haradrim Corsairs Wild Men The Other Eight Nazgul The King of the Dead and the Army of the Dead would be good. As see-through minifigures are impossible, is it possible to make minifigures entirely out of glow in the dark plastic? Perhaps that list is a little too hopeful, but I don't think any of those characters are unreasonable, all being main or supporting characters in the film series. Anyway, the set I was thinking of was the Shire. It would be like Diagon Alley, in that it has three main buildings with accessories, as well as a large amount of minifigures. However, as the Shire is Hobbie-sized, it would be a smaller set in terms of piece count and price. The main buildings of the Shire focussed on in the movies are Bag End and the Green Dragon, the pub. The third building would be the Mill, as it is one of the few buildings in the Shire )I think the only other one that springs to mind is the Green Dragon that is not build as a hole in the ground. It's a water mill, that could fit any number of play features as well as compliment one of the smaller accessories, the bridge. http://www.one-ring.co.uk/kb/000008.jpg I think that would look rather wonderful in brick form :D The other accessories would be Bag End's Gate (No admittance except on party business), a tree and a party tent with food, drink and a bench. A few animals (I remember pigs and chickens from the movie) would also be included. The Green Dragon would have a bar, tables and beer barrels, and Bag end would have a writing desk with the Red Book, a fireplace, a chest, a kitchen and a dining room. The minifigures included would be: Gandalf the Grey, Frodo (Coat design), Bilbo, Sam, Rosie Cotton, Gaffer, Ted Sandyman and two other Hobbits. These could be Merry and Pippin, or two random Hobbits (I think I'd prefer at least one more female Hobbit, or a Hobbit child)

I really like the scale to be honest :) It is similar to the scale Lego do things in, and you've made a good job of it! Hopefully Lego will give us a black gate with a few beautiful Easterling helmets/shields/pikes :) Mouth of Sauron is great too :D

I quite like the Witch King, it's very simple and looks a little too cheerful to be a fallen king, but I doubt I could make a better one with official parts :) Frodo is impressive!

I'm thinking all nine members of the fellowship, as well as Theoden and possibly Eomer would be shoe-ins. Eowyn, Haldir and Saruman would be possible as well so far. I'm hoping for better legs for the hobbits and dwarves. Five of the main LOTR characters are short, and fourteen of The Hobbit characters are, so better legs would be good, although I'm not sure if that's possible. Hopefully further down the line we'll get a new Gollum mould and a way to make the ents.