HawkLord

Actually, I don't doubt the claim, since the TRUs around here can be scalper-central - especially this time of year with the earlier opening times and abundant truck days. Also, with the BOGO 1/2 off, it's too good of a deal for them to pass up. With that said, it does mean there's blood in the water - at least I know they've hit my area. On a side note, I really wish this forum had a regional sightings area where locals could keep other locals up to date.

I can understand this, though I may not like it. I hope that since Disney now owns Star Wars they can re-look at the Hasbro action figure license agreement. Granted, I know Hasbro is locked-in for some time now, it would be nice if Lego could sway Disney into letting them go into more single figures - even if it was just removeable magnet sets. Alternatively, Lego could look at a special order program for army-builders where figures, like Stormtroopers, could be pre-ordered in bulk and once the production run maximum is hit, then Lego would produce that run. That way Lego could continually monitor just how many Stromtroopers they would have to make to meet demand and it could be an ongoing program.

I'm a collect as well as a hobbyist, so I tend to have a few extra sealed sets of ones I really like. Nothing outrageous - I don't have a closet of Death Stars, so I'm not waiting to flip sets. I'd say I might have about 7 or 8 sealed sets and none of them are the kinds that are going to skyrocket in value. I keep them mostly for the extra parts and because they're my favorites.

TRU has BOGO 1/2 off on ALL Legos - though be careful with their jacked-up prices, because it means you don't really save that much. Target has the Marvel Avengers Hulk Escape set for $40 / MSRP $49.99

I'd like to be a completist and get the Gandalf polybag, but that means literally throwing money away. There's no reason to buy it other than to say "Look at me, I have all the LOTR/Hobbit polybags". There comes a point where the redundancy of being a completist over-rides the urge to collect.

Hobbit Mirkwood Elf polybag x5. After checking three TRUs, this is the most I could gather.

I hit three TRUs and managed to find five. The first two TRUs were sold out and one indicated that they sold out this morning claiming that one person came in and bought the whole case of 50. That store lead me to the third TRU that is 20 miles away and there I found five. All stores claim that they don't believe they will be getting more Mirkwood Elves in.

My comments in red. Overall, I have the same impressions as with S10 - this one has strong wants and strong non-wants. I'll have to hit this one quick to get the army-builders I'll be looking for, won't have as much work to do as I will with S10.

My comments in red. All told, I like the list, but I know I'll have to hunt aggressively for the army-builder figures. This is a set that has figures that are either really great or really useless to me, so I'll have to hit them fast to get them finished.

Winter waves usually come out just before Christmas, though there's no guarantee they'll hit all areas before then.

I'd like the armor piece better on the extended scene Boromir. That would make for a nice army-builder set - Boromir with armor and the Gondor flag, three Gondorian soldiers, and a ruined piece of Osgiliath for a nice diorama.

Picked up Jabba's Palace and another 1/2 off SW Advent Calendar at the Lego store, which also netted me the PAB box and promo set. And with that, I think I might be caught up for the year.

As a fan of the movie, I really like this MOC. Very well done!

The pourist in me is just too OCD to go that route.

Not quite, I've seen lots of auctions coming out of China and such that get shut down for releasing various collectibles early. The issue isn't whether the seller got the item illegally, it's whether selling them early breaches a contract that Lego has in place. For example, if Lego told TRU that they'd be the first one to offer a given set and then that set pops-up on Ebay weeks before, then Lego falls thru on their contract with TRU. Yes, proving how the seller acquired the item would be nearly impossible, but proving whether or not the set or item should be out in the first place is not. Then there's the concept of counterfeit items, which Lego has every right to pursue and shut down. Especially, if their own employees at the factory-level are moving the items out. At that point, Lego could start shutting down and moving/changing factories.

Millennium Falcon and the SW Advent Calendar (which was 1/2 off) at the local Lego store during their BF event, plus ended up with a 10% scratch ticket. All told I got the Falcon, Advent Calendar, X-mas promo set, a tote bag, and PAB box.

Hit two TRUs and found none. I was hoping they'd be out as an impulse stocking-stuffer item, but no tags and no Hobbit sets.

Just to clarify - it's 40% off all those Lego in the photo above. Not 40% off all Legos that TRU carries. Plus, the important thing to remember is that TRU inflates their prices and then applies the sale. Hogwarts is shown above, now that's a $50 set marked down to $42 - which if you do the math, is not 40%. The only decent sale in that photo is the Space Center.

My comment was made in jest. I was thinking it'd be nice to have some large cargo ship stuffed full of polybags cross the Atlantic or something.

Both characters are designed to help the movie from a marketing perspective. Legolas gives us a returning character people will recognize from LOTR and Tauriel gives us at least one major female that can help appeal to a wider audience. I'm not crazy about the decisions myself, but I can understand it, given that Peter Jackson wants to connect The Hobbit with LOTR movies even moreso than Tolkien did with the books.

We need some special trade embargo of US Mirkwood Elves for UK Uruk-Hais.

I think Lego should shut down these early Ebay sales. Other companies do when they have items that get leaked out early. Plus, retail stores like TRU have deals in place with Lego to get the sets early and while these Ebay auctions don't really hit TRU that hard in their pocketbooks, there's still the principle of the issue.

Thanks for posting that review. The local Lego store opens at 5:00am on Friday and I have to consider whether or not I'll head down there. These pics are really making it more tempting.

I don't remember if the Unexpected Party box is larger than the Attack of the Wargs box, but that might play into. TRU is always pressed for space and usually just throw everything anywhere when you're talking about the action figures aisle. They could have just been thrown out temporarily until a regular planogram reset can be done. Plus, with BF coming up, there could end up being so many of those larger sets just piled high on the floor in the middle of the aisle, like usual on BF. I think BF is really playing into why we're seeing such a difference in what stores are getting what sets and where. Everyone is jamming shelves as best they can for the chaos.

I know Hasbro is locked into their contract for some time, but afterwards it will be interesting to tell how Disney will handle that aspect of the contract. Maybe Disney will see how much profit there could be in these types of SW single figures and finally allow Lego to go that route. Granted, I know Lego makes sets and not action figures, but at the very least they could bring back the removeable magnet sets.