Algernon

Sort of reminds me of the aesthetics of the Diagon Alley set. Definitely in a good way. Chances are, we'll see a press release about this sometime in the summer.

imo the Gollum figure just lacks personality. He just kind of looks ugly, whereas in the movies, he was ugly in an endearing kind of way.

Army building with this theme is going to be so expensive.

I am also confused about this.

Whoa, I missed this! I really hope this is real. A LEGO haunted house would be fantastic... It doesn't look like a MF tie-in to me, though, since I don't see any Fighters vehicles. All the better.

Your sarcasm is very well worded. I hope LEGO sees this.

Oh god lets not start this discussion again. I'm pretty sure we've had it at least twenty times.

That might also explain the higher price points and attention to minifig detail. I hope this theme sells well enough for LEGO to go this direction more often in the future.

It's not a bad set by any means, but the price is grossly inflated compared to what you're actually getting. I think people are used to seeing a lot more bang for their buck. I like the set too, but I'm more than likely going to pass on it because of the price.

I'm actually gonna have to agree, but only to a point. I think there is a tiny bit of missed potential here. A lot of the small-to-mid-ranged sets are pretty lackluster, and with the entire universe of Universal monsters, a lot more could have been done. But I think there's a lot to love here, too. I'm still going to pick up a handful of these.

Holy cow, these sets are expensive. Although the price-to-piece ratio isn't even all that bad, they're just huge models and the parts often quite small I don't have the kind of budget where I can spend $400 on one theme, so I'm going to have to skip an unfortunate number of these sets... which is a shame, because I like them ALL. Gandalf Arrives - My first thought: $12.99 for 83 pieces?! I suppose you're really just paying for the minifigures, which I'll not deny are well worth the asking price. I believe this is the only way to get Gandalf, so I'll definitely be adding this little set to my collection. I appreciate that they're using a different torso for Frodo, as well. It really adds to the collectability. Shelob Attacks - Without a doubt, the best brick-build spider LEGO's ever come up with. Nice price-to-piece ratio, especially for a licensed theme. This set is tempting, but I think I'll ultimately wind up passing it over, mostly because I'm less interested in the minifigures included here than I am in the more expensive sets. And besides, even if Shelob is nicely done, did anyone really want another LEGO spider? Uruk-Hai Army - To me, this set looks like a glorified battle pack. Once again, it looks like you're paying for the minifigures, and the actual "set" is a total throwaway. Since I'm not really interested in army building, this is an easy pass. (which is good - I need the money for the other sets!) Attack on Weathertop - At a lower price, this set would be a must-have for me. I loved this scene from the movies, it's probably one of my all-time favorite LotR moments (besides YOU SHALL NOT PASS). But $59.99 for a medium-sized lump of rocks and foliage!? The minifigures, yet again, appear to be the only selling point here. It is a nice lineup though, since you get two Dark Riders with the heroes. The interior details are also a nice touch. Alas, I wish I could pick this up, but that price... The Mines of Moria - I actually like this set better than many people seem to. You get a lot of attractive minifigures, a cave troll ( ) and the design of the mines is actually quite attractive and notably movie-accurate. I really love how the atmosphere of the movie is embodied here. LEGO is definitely marketing this theme towards older LEGO fans, so naturally I'm appreciative of their efforts. However, for $79.99, this set is a REALLY tough sell. The price-to-piece ratio seems fair at first, especially with a cave troll, but it's basically all small elemetns and stickers. Still, it just might be worth it for those figs. The Battle of Helm's Deep - HELL YES!! This is my absolute favorite set of the line. I'm not a castle fan, so I've never been this excited for a LEGO castle before (I'm primarily a Space guy) but as a fan of the LotR movies this set is a must have. So much to love - the incredibly movie-accurate detailing and little details like an awesome interior and the suicidal orc guy. It's expensive, but worth every penny.

Definitely a fair guess, since the largest set of most themes is usually in this range. Looks like you get a lot of bang for your buck, though.

I guess that minifig isn't too interesting to me, she looks like a cavewoman

This logic doesn't work, and NinjaGo is a great example as to why. You could easily say: The Ninjas win against the Skeleton army. Case closed. Except it didn't. Now there's a snake army to fight, and apparently, that's a big enough plot point to go on another TWO waves. LEGO themes have nothing to do with the story. I promise, if a theme sells well enough, LEGO will be more than happy to write another chapter onto a theme that could have easily ended satisfactorily after one wave. The difference is NinjaGo has a ton of kid appeal (what kid doesn't like Ninjas and Dragons?) whereas several of the other themes mentioned just didn't do as well. LEGO is a company. If it sells, they'll make more of it. Remember Bionicle? That went on for nearly ten years past it's prime.

Am I the only one who finds these sets a little disappointing? The only one that interests me at all is the helicarrier. Oh well, more money for Lord of the Rings and Monster Fighters.

The Mines of Moria set has improved a LOT I was going to skip that one, but now it looks like my wallet will have to take another blow. OH THE PAIN! This scene is just so epic. I wasn't all that impressed with the Ringwraiths at first, but now they look great. Looks like the orc forge is just a glorified battle pack with a light brick. I'll be happy to skip that one. Helm's Deep just looks jaw-dropping. LEGO definitely went the extra mile with these sets, I absolutely can't wait.

It's a beautiful Sunday morning, so I'll spend some time to go through the Toyfair pics and analyze them... This is a good picture of the mad scientist set. I have to admit, the Fighters car it comes with is an abomination. It has tumorous flick-fire missiles all over it, and appears to be missing the back half. I have to conclude that the designer had a seizure while he was adding the flick-fire functions. That said, I quite like the evil laboratory. Both minifigures look great, and it has a similar atmosphere as Dracula's castle. Will I be getting it? Probably not at full price The vampire hearse appears to include a slightly different Dracula. At the very least, he has no cape. He still looks great. I don't have the CMF version, so I'm more than happy to pick him up in this set. Even better, it seems to include the bowler hat guy on a throwaway LEGO bike, and retails at $34.99! This set is an absolute must-buy for me. However... the mummy set has to be one of the worst sets I've ever seen. He appears to be riding a skeleton-horse-drawn carriage. The set appears to include the least remarkable minifigures of the line, and there's nothing compelling about the model itself. I'll be happy to save my money on this one. We've already got a good look at the Ghost Train, but here is a nice clear pic. As much as I like this set, I will probably wind up skipping it in favor of Dracula's castle. The train looks very expensive, and although the model looks great I feel like the play value will be limited compared to the castle. Maybe if it goes on sale... The smallest set, it appears, will be the swamp creature set. I imagine this will be a big seller. Great minifigs and a neat little swamp speeder to boot. If it's under $9.99 I will be very happy to snatch it up. Here's a real good pic of the printed moon piece on the castle. I'm still absolutely in love with the vibe of this set. Just looking at it wants me to go play Symphony of the Night (+1 if you know what that is). There's a nice clear shot of the man-bat here, and the set appears to include two of them. As a bonus, it includes my personal favorite of the Fighters vehicles. It looks the most solidly build of all the designs, which I have to admit a little lackluster. Last but not least, the most epic scene in non-licensed LEGO history...

Looks to me like $79.99.

I think the Fury looks awesome, and it's probably the only set I'll be getting from this wave. I don't even know what movie it's from, I don't recognize it.

This theme and Lord of the Rings will be my focus this summer. That Vampire Hearse will be mine. That bowler hat guy is sword fighting with Dracula... this is officially the most BA theme in years.

Wow!! LEGO is doing a REALLY good job of evoking the Lord of the Rings atmosphere. These all look a million times better than the prelims we saw a few months back. This is going to take a huge chunk out of my LEGO budget this summer.

Am I the only one who thinks the fury-class interceptor looks fantastic

Definitely the new Diagon Alley - it's the only Harry Potter set I own, and even as a diehard Harry Potter fan, it completely satisfies my collection. You get Harry, Ron, Hermione and Hagrid all in their most recent designs, and three exclusive figures (the Weasley twins and Olivander) as well as two Goblins and two death eaters. It's a fantastic display piece, and tons of detail that Harry Potter fans will appreciate (such as a printed brick of the Daily Prophet). I didn't feel the need to buy any of the other Harry Potter sets after picking this beast. It's still my favorite in my entire LEGO collection. That said, it is more aduilt-oriented, since it's more of a display piece than anything else. Plus, it's expensive (though well worth it). Happy hunting!

Gosh, that quadruple-headed dragon is the ugliest set I've ever seen. I still don't quite get this theme. I can definitely see the appeal to kids, but it's such an oddball in every respect. I DO like that tank coming out in the summer, though. It's nice and sleek looking, and the design is attractive. Even though I'm sure Lord of the Rings and Monster Fighters will keep me from ever touching it.

Looking at the video again I think I like the castle even more. It does have a healthy amount of traps and nifty play features (I could even spot a few that the speaker forgot to mention) and the minifigs alone make it arguably worth buying. Just lovely. I've been hoping for this theme since LEGO Studios played with the idea back in the early 2000's. Of course, this will probably be more interesting to people once we start nearing October. It's clearly a Halloween cash-in, which means we can probably be sure this is another single-wave theme (a la Pharaoh's Quest). I hope that it will be longer lived than that, but for something this seasonal, I doubt it. That's okay though, at least I can focus on stocking up on this wave.