dwarf-brik

You did a great job blending the Uruks into a non-Lotr scene! Magnificent! ~Dwarf

I wouldn't worry a whole lot about scammers on Bricklink - just go with the ones with the most positive feedback and you'll be fine. Plus, since Lego is very lightweight, shipping for just minifigs and accessories shouldn't be too high. You just have to do what you have to do if you want to army-build. Learn to love the mail order! ~Dwarf

One word: Bricklink! The basic troops that come in the $10 set should be around $2 each once they hit the market. ~Dwarf

I really don't see the issue with this. I had never noticed it before I read this thread, and it doesn't seem to affect the strength of the piece, so I think we're all making a mountain out of a molehill. ~Dwarf

It's by no means pretty, but it sure is a lotta fun to play with! Which is, in the end, the point. Too bad it had so many BURPs. ~Dwarf

Not if you know where to look. Also, when you remove the chain you leave a large hole in the top of the hairpiece, and those cost $3 each on Briclink, and are in very short supply there. So, the keychains still remain a non-optimal way to collect Mordor Orcs. ~Dwarf

Just FYI, the keychains cost $5 USD each, and removing the screws holding the chain in place will leave a big hole in the top of the Orcs hairpiece. So really, Bricklink, though the average cost for a Orc there is $4.50 USD, is the best place to go, since you won't have to (A) take the trouble of removing the screw, and (B) you won't have an unsightly hole in the minifig to deal with. ~Dwarf

Just what it says in the title. I'm willing to pay no more than $3-$4 USD for the polybag, and I'd also be interested in just the Mirkwood Elf figure and not the accessories. I'd like multiples. I have a large amount of collectable minifigs on hand, so I'd be willing to trade for the Mirkwood Elf. Just PM me with the ones you want and I'll see what I can do for you. ~Dwarf

Finally picked up an Uruk-Hai army set that I found on sale. I checked 5 stores, and only one had that set, and I managed to get the last. I'm really impressed with it - the pieces are lovely, especially the wall pieces (sand green and light bley!) and even the ballista was cool. Now I just wish I'd have been able to buy multiples...I had budgeted myself $80 that day, and the set was only $20, so I could've gotten 4. Alas, there was only 1 in stock, so I go the Vampyre Hearse for $25. I really hope Lego does something like the Uruk-Hai Army for the Hobbit/the next wave of LoTR sets. ~Dwarf

What Deathleech said is 100% spot-on, especially as regards to the idea of having battlepacks complement and even encourage the buying of bigger sets. Additionally, think of all of the times you see a kid dragging his parents through the Lego aisle, begging for a new set. As it is now, if the kid wants a LoTR set, they'll end up getting one of the $10 sets. BUT, as these sets contain unique characters - Frodo, Gandalf, Gollum, and the like - that kid won't be getting that set again. But if battlepacks were available, is parents could easily be convinced to buy him multiples. TLGs silence on battlepacks really is mystifying. ~Bravey

I see what you're trying to say, BUT, here is where I disagree: if you look at the situation from the perspective of an AFoL, you'd expect people to buy multiple big sets if they want multiple figures. This isn't unreasonable; most AFoLs are employed, and many have high-paying jobs. However, AFoLs are a small fraction of the total Lego audience. The majority of Lego buyers are adults who give Lego as gifts to the children in their lives. I have a hard time seeing Grandma buying Timmy mutiple Corsair sets just because he wants more Dead. Non-AFoL adults find Lego overpriced as-is. I can easily however, see Grandma buying Timmy the Corsair set and a couple of Army of The Dead battlepacks, which equals more $$$ for TLG. Just spend some time hanging out and listening to the adults in the Lego aisle of any major store such as Target or Wal-Mart and you'll see what I mean. Also, not all AFoLs can afford to buy multiple big sets just for a coupla' extra minifigs. Those minifigs will make it on to the second-hand market, but at grossely inflated prices. The Uruk-Hai Berserker, for example, usually carries a price tag of $10-$15 on Bricklink, which is an insane price for most people, AFoL and non-AFoL alike. ~Dwarf

Oh look, Knight's Kingdom III! ~Dwarf

Ah, but most people cannot afford multiple big sets. Think about it: if the Corsair set has 3 Dead in it and costs around $80, it'd take almost $200 just to get 6 Dead, and then you'd also have extra characters. Most people don't have a real use for more than one Aragorn, and it's a lotta hassle to sell off extra figs. Now, if Lego released a Dead Army BP with 4 Dead and some scenery in it, and charged $10-$12, people would be able to build up a good army without redundancy. Really, I think by releasing lower-priced BPs, Lego would conquer sticker-shock and probably end up making more than they would if they didn't do BPs. Most people are much more likely to buy 4-5 $10 sets than they are to buy multiple $80-$100 sets. I'm pretty sure there have been well-recieved psychological studies documenting this effect before. ~Dwarf

Nah, I wasn't saying the the Superhero sets are lame and dissapointing, quite the opposite: the Superhero storoes are all about the superheroes, and as such it wouldn't make sense if you got tons of S.H.I.E.L.D grunts and Chitauri in the sets and very few superheroes. Likewise, as so much of LoTR centers on epic battles, the lack of readily available ways to get large amounts of troops doesn't make much sense. ~Dwarf

Yeah, TLG is really missing a huge opportunity by not releasing battle packs. It makes no sense: the most memorable scenes, IMO, in LOTR are the massive battle scenes, with waves of troops crashing into each other. But with the current direction, Lego is creating something like the Superheros line but with magic. It's pretty lame and very disappointing. Maybe if we all flood the official TLG Facebook page with questions about LOTR battlepacks we'll could manage to wrangle an answer out of them? ~Dwarf

Ebay Lego prices are insane. I've seen single Kingdoms Chess Sets Pawns going for $8 each when you can get 'em on BL for $2. Completely insane. Also: If the "Riddles of the Ring" set is 17 Euros, that means it'll cost us in the states >$20, if the info I found on Euro to USD conversions was up to date. That's really high.

Maybe we have a new non-licensed Castle theme coming up? One can only hope! Also, a question to the OP: could you take a look at the Ovoid Dragon shields in the chess set? You mentioned that the print quality was much better, so I'm hoping that Lego might have corrected the color issues. Thanks! ~Dwarf

I got 5x CMF Black Knights and 1x CMF Viking Woman in the mail yesterday! The boars head motif on the Black Knights is an obvious TLG shout-out to Monty Python fans. The Viking Woman would make an excellent Brunehilda, especially with her magnificent hairpiece.

I'm really annoyed with the discoloration of the ovoid Dragon shields as well. What's worse is that with the influx of discolored shields on Bricklink, it is going to be impossible to tell if a seller is selling discolored shields or correctly colored shields. I recently wasted $10 on ovoid shields, only to get them and find that the Dragon ones are unusable. The discoloration of the figs doesn't bother me. Sure, the gold is a bit duller on the Chess set figures, but in an army of 30+ minifigures the differences disappear. ~Dwarf

Yes, you are over-reacting. This book is meant to be a humorous, tongue-in-cheek read, not a serious self-help book. However, I totally get your point about the loose way people use the word addiction. But as this is a silly book about goody adults who play with Lego, I don't think we have anything to worry about. ~Dwarf

And all the dust...

I really like the village and farm builds. They are simple and bold and not childish, and could make good starting points for more complex builds. Heck, I might even stop armybuilding and start using the extra cash to build a peasant village. ~Dwarf

Nice! The only thing it really needs is some windows on the back wall, which is feeling a little bare at the moment. If you ever feel like giving it an interior, you should modify the house so that it can be taken apart w/out having to deconstruct it. Some technic pins would work for that! ~Dwarf

I'm waiting for the polybags to come out. As of now, if I wanted to collect an army of roughly 30 Uruk Hai via Bricklink, I would be shelling out $114, just for the figures, and the Uruk swords are about $1 each on BL, so that brings the total to $154...If I just bought Uruk-Hai army sets, I would end up spending $300 ! Just too much money. Of course, the problem with Lego is that you can never have enough. ~Dwarf

Hopefully once people start getting their hands on more Uruk Hai the average price per model on Bricklink ($7 USD) will go down a good bit. ~Dwarf