HawkLord

The short answer is yes. If you look at the set like a glorified battle pack, then the price and amount of product work out pretty good.

A trip down memory lane. Very wise of you to keep those old Legos - I wish I had thought of that with my old stuff.

Even with that being true, I'd hope it wouldn't be that big of a deal to the average person. It's a Lego set; not some high-end, limited edition collectible that was designed off of movie-used props or 3-D renderings of actors. This is a kids toy in the sub-$100 price range (for the most part). I'm thrilled with what I got all things considered. If people start to get upset over the exact shade or color our Orcs are wearing, then we might be going just a bit too far.

Those figure sets did come out before the magnets, but it was during the magnet days that Hasbro supposedly made their big fuss and Lego stopped making the removeable magnets. The way I see it is that during the days of those Lego figure sets, Hasbro was still doing ok with action figures, but once the movies ended and Hasbro saw declining sales then they started trying to eliminate competition and went after Lego later with the magnet figures.

I think alot of people are still slightly confused about a couple topics here. And whereas I'm no special authority, I am a huge fan of LOTR/Hobbit and track a number of other products being offered at this time. I make it my job to be well-informed. Lego received early information on the movies awhile back in order to be able to plan sets and execute them in time for the movie's release. Many companies did this, as well, including Bridge Direct, Gentle Giant, Noble Collection, United Cutlery - all had to prep product for their own big launches. Now given that the Hobbit only changed to three movies a week after SDCC and a number of Hobbit products were released in the US around Oct, there was simply no time to make the adjustment. The most that Lego could have done is exactly what they did - create a small packaging label that indicates some sets are "Previews". With all the other annomolies, Lego simply had no time. That means no time to draw-up a new Azog and swap him with Yazneg. Meanwhile the same issues happened with Bridge Direct - they released action figures of Legolas and Tauriel even though neither appear in AUJ. So, did they mess up, as well? No, they were going off of alot of the same material that everyone was given before the movies split. As for the line failing, that is not the case. Lego's website, Lego's stores, and retail stores still devote alot of shelf space for LOTR/Hobbit and all have just gone through new planogram resets for the year. If they thought it was doing poorly, they would have cut back the space - as it is, they have alot of space for it. All this "I talked to somebody once who said he was..." is just people being mislead or people trying to mislead others. If you want to believe something on the internet, you need alittle bit more proof than you know somebody, that knows somebody, that knows somebody else that said something. Really, next time a rep talks takes out a camera phone, make a video, and post it on Youtube. Otherwise, be prepared for the comment to be systematically dissected. Anyway, Lego rocks. LOTR/Hobbit is awesome. There's no issue with the products - everyone did a great job with what they had to go on and even with errors, they're still selling like hotcakes. And lighten up - the sky ain't fallin'.

The white Vader's helmet looks like a different mold than the red or green Vader's helmet. The general shape looks longer on the white Vader.

In actuality it was the magnet sets with removeable figures that made Hasbro push. Essentially, the removeable figures being sold in that fashion borderlined on action figures, with is why Lego has since had to have the figures glued to the magnets. This is also why we will probably never see a CMF style line for Star Wars - unless Disney can somehow re-negotiate the license issues and give Lego more opportunity. It could also tie into the current Lego battle pack format - Hasbro could view a group of like figures in one set as being too similiar to an action figure army builder.

If it's a golden version of a regularly appearing figure, then that would be great and I would hope to find at least one. If it's a golden blank figure with no details or accessories, then aside from being very easy to find, I would not want one. I think the important thing to remember is that you can still feel the bags if it's just a blank figure with nothing else and you wouldn't even have to open it to know you got one. Meanwhile, if it's a golden version of a regular figure, than the only way to know you have one is to open it. This makes me think that any Series with a golden chase figure might just be over-produced to meet the demand of all the people who will be opening these figures. This could mean that the set might be easier to get if it's over-produced and it might be easier to find certain figures on the secondary market because more figures are being opened. You have to look at it like Magic: The Gathering (or most other past or present collectible games). The rare stuff tends to sell for high amounts, however the only way to get the rare stuff is to open alot of product. This means that rare Magic cards go for alot, while every other card goes for very little, since the market becomes over-saturated. In the end, completists suffer if they choose to go after the rare stuff in order to have complete sets.

I like the idea of a golden figure. It's certainly not something we really need, but it adds to the mix. My only concern is if the figure will be a golden version of another figure in the set (which will make getting a complete set a total nightmare). Or will it be a blank generic figure in gold. And if it's gold, will it be a chromed gold or colored gold?

I don't mind the current battle pack design, so long as they leave out ranked characters. For example, I really liked 2011 Endor battle pack with two Rebel Infantry, a Stormtrooper, and a Scout Trooper. That's a great set. However, the current Clones vs Droidekas set has a Clone Sgt which throws things off for me. Had it been two infantry Clones, a Droideka and maybe a Super Battle Droid, I would be in for a few sets. The set layout of battle-in-a-box doesn't bother me so much as the figures selection.

Seems like I will be in for the Wizard Duel and Elrond Council sets, but out for the Pirate Ship and Black Gate sets. I guess my wallet gets a break...

Realistically, no. I mean it took Disney sometime after they got the Marvel license to really effect the Marvel movies, so at this point given how far Lego plans out, Disney probably won't be anywhere near bothering to put a say into anything until next year. Besides, given how successful Lego is, Disney is probably just fine letting them do their own thing without interferring for the time being. Once Disney starts drumming up the next Star Wars movie, then I'm sure things will be different. And, man this summer is going to be expensive. Seems to be some good vehicle choices that I don't already have and some obviously good figure choices. Trebor, Poggle, Arena Padme, updated AOTC Kenobi (mullet FTW), and updated Dooku. The only downside is the amount of Clones/Droids as filler - I'd rather see another Jedi.

Super impressive Mario in his classic pose. Very well done!

Could just be Amazon has mis-information. I'm not noticing any of the prices on Ebay going above what they normally have in the past - even for the hot/popular figures. As long as Lego still sells them at the $2.99 price, then that just means Amazon will have lost sales to them.

That is very well done. Great idea and nice execution.

Escape from Mirkwood Spiders... and alot of Castle/Kindgoms/fantasy related CMFs.

Granted there's probably more of an interest in Adi Gallia from her CW background, I'm all for Jedi Council members from TPM.

Especially, since the same figures are appearing at Freddies and the Lego store in the same area. Might as well pay retail and get VIP points. Yea, that's why I can't really give Bobakhan my business. They also Ebay/flip retail stuff, which I won't go into since it's off-topic, but does bother me.

I know Bobakhan marks up prices on some of their collectible and retail items - we're the CMF figures marked up, as well? Do they sell any other Lego products there?

True. He might just be overshadowed by other figures in this Series. According to WhiteFang's review of Series 9 in this section, you would recieve two complete sets in a box of 60 - everything else would be extras. Granted those extras could help you form additional sets.

Found one box at Lynnwood Fred Meyers - heavily picked over, unless you want Cops, Waiters, or Roller Girls don't bother. Still nothing here at Walmart or Target.

Alderwood. They had tons out, but at this point, they're picked over for all the hard-to-find figures. I know that the last Chicken Mans and Forest Maidens were gone. I'm in the northend. Let me know if you guys need helping finding anything from S9. I still plan to hunt alittle more for a couple Forest Maidens, so I can keep a lookout for you.

Picked up another round of figures - Heroic Knight x5, Cyclops x3, Forest Maiden x2, and Chicken Man x2 at the Lego store. I also helped a mother and her son pick out the figures they were looking for for their sets and helped out another person get the two they were after. The three of us there were feeling thru bags and calling out the finds in case anyone needed them. It worked out very well, as everyone found what they were looking for. Teamwork, man. I'm still thinking the Forest Maiden is somehow short-packed or just more popular than I realized. Despite the S7 Galaxy Patrol figure being very popular, the S9 Alien Avenger is almost common.

Usually I expect the glass-half-empty attitude from Star Wars fans on other boards I read. Here it almost seems like the Tolkien fans are even more pessimistic. This is a license that has never seen Lego before this year, has always been one of the most demanded licenses, and has been a MOC favorite for years. Personally, I'm thrilled with just about anything Lego decides to do for this license. Granted, it's not like Star Wars where we get multiple versions of the same thing - I'm happy we're just getting one shot.

Highly informative. The graphs really help and it's all presented in a very professional way.