HawkLord

That's a great start, man. I'll be keeping my eye on this thread.

Hall of Armor is a great idea. I hope Lego comes out with something similiar maybe for the third film - then we could be looking at a possible eight different suits.

I still need to get Hogwarts Castle and Diagon Alley before I can officially consider my HP collection complete. I just keep getting side-tracked by other lines...

For me, those arms would be great for any figure that comes with a sword or for any figure with a frightened head printing. Though honestly I don't expect to see them. Arms are a bit hard to remove and swap out and I'd think over time there could be damage or breakage. Still, they do look really good, but until Lego finds a way to make arms more accessible, than I'd say this would not happen often.

I went with Gollum because I really like the look. Sure, he's not as detailed or printed as Haldir or Theoden, but the figure captures the character pretty well. My second choice pick would be any of the Hobbits.

Are you sure? Because you definitely had alot to say about Star Wars... Try to be less condescending next time. Just because I've only been logged here for a month doesn't mean I know nothing about Lego. These are opinions. In the end, LOTR is one of my favorite hobbies, but even I'm smart enough to know it's limitations.

Granted, I see your point to some degree, but I think Star Wars is just more expansive than LOTR and it's hard to compare the two. Star Wars has seven movies (I know I don't count the Clone Wars movie as being a real Star Wars movie but it is there) and the current cartoon. With that said, Star Wars has encompassed alot of repetitive Lego sets over the years that have perpetuated it's continued longevity. Jedi Starfighters, X-Wings, TIE Fighters are just a few of the sets that have all seen revisions over the years. Meanwhile, LOTR is just three movie - we can add The Hobbit, but then we should just call the line Tolkien Works and call it done. Mostly, I see these sets as being "one and done". For example, there's no real way to improve on the current Weathertop set - it's done and it's great. The same will hold true for most of the other LOTR sets that were just released. Fact is, Lego can't just re-color Balin's Tomb and call it a new set, but they can re-color a Jedi Starfighter and call it new. I agree that LOTR has legs, but just not the same legs as Star Wars. Which is a shame, because I like LOTR a bit more than Star Wars.

Nicely done - it's so much better than just a generic wishlist thread. I like most of the sets. The only ones I'd really pass on would be the Watcher and Balrog sets. Never did care for the Watcher and the Balrog is such an epic creature that lego would really have to get it exactly right - the expectations are almost too high for me. The game winner is the Witch King on Fell Beast with Theoden and Eowyn (disguised as Dernhelm).

Realistically, LOTR is finite. Since, Lego only has the license for the movies and there's only three of those, they could technically get to a point where they run out of sets and ideas to work with. Meanwhile, Friends is so generic that it could continue by merely intigrating any and all girl related trends in fashion, style, etc for years to come. With that said, some people (like myself) have waited years for a LOTR Lego line. Back when I was a kid collecting the Castle line in the early '90s I thought about how cool it would be to have Elves, Orcs, and Hobbits. And then later considering how much money I spent on LOTR products when the movies were out, I certainly would have jumped onto a Lego line back then. Meanwhile, I don't think anyone (including girls) were ever really hoping for a girl related Lego product. I doubt that was ever really on anyone's "what if" list. I guess my simple answer is that Friends could have the longevity, but certainly LOTR has the stronger popularity.

That is amazingly good. I agree, aside from making an all new flaming headpiece, the collar section idea is the next best thing.

Well, fortunately I scored on the Grand Opening minifigures today. Got to the mall at 6:00am I drove around twice, but the place looked deserted. I thought that maybe because the mall was opening later (at 11:00 instead of 10:00) that maybe the registration table was going to be later, so I ran some errands and came back at 7:05. At that time there were a few people moving towards the one mall entrance where the registration table was. I headed in, got my ticket (Group 3), and asked how many people were in each group - the attendent stated 50. At that point I knew I was pretty much guaranteed a set. The attendent also told me that Group 3 was probably going in at 11:30. I go home, check Facebook periodically and find that Group 3 is due to line up at 11:05. I raced down there and got in the Group 3 line. Funny thing is, there were not 50 in the Group 3 line, more like 20-30. Slowly, we all pour in and the place is packed - there's barely any room to move about. Initially, I was going to spend $40, just enough to get the set. I end up buying the LOTR Mines of Moria ($80) - yea, my self-control just vanished. Then I got in line, bought my item, and got the minifigure set with the large Yoda brick. Overall, I was in and out of the mall in 25 minutes. In closing, it was a pretty good event, with some cool people dressed in Star Wars costumes - Vader, Leia, Scout Trooper, Jedi, and Stormtrooper Commander. There was alittle chaos with how to plan everything with the mall and making it a big enough event to attract an audience, but not overwhelming the mall proper. The brick is pretty basic, but it's Yoda and as a huge Star wars fan, I'm happy with it. The minifigure set is the one I wanted the most and features a chef with black lettering on the back, a girl with red lettering on the back, and a knight with black lettering on the back. They all state "2012 The Lego Store Lynnwood, WA" and mine is #183/500. The only funny thing is that the girl has a hair brush in her hand, but the hairpiece is loose in the blister in order to show the lettering on the back - so from some angles, she's bald with a hairbrush. Sure, the set opens - it's not sealed in anyway, but I'll probably leave it how it is. Oh, and the cardback has a nice scene of the Seattle skyline with the Space Needle.

The kicker is that there's two set on Ebay right now from my area that just had the event. One was posted in the past few hours.

I know it's a very over-used word, but this is epic. It fully realizes the scope and depth of Moria.

Yea, I have to admit I wasn't too happy with the ticket concept. The registration table opened at 6:00am and handed out tickets for a few hours, but at some point you had to do the math and find you weren't getting one of the Exclusive sets. Since I had other things to do today, as well, I couldn't just hang-out in the mall area and wait for a ticket group to be called. That was the funny thing about the advertisement - "please enjoy the local shops while you wait". In any case, I'm fine without the set, since it's not like it's as relevent to Seattle as the shirt or minifigures. I now just have to decide if I want to bother with tomorrow. Might just skip it at this point.

Without knowing for certain, I just assumed the "Skygate" concept was alot like "Stargate", which is pretty cool. The scenes themselves look really great. I especially like the mech bodyguard (reminds me of Skyrim) from the Steampunk Gate (though it might do with a better name) and the fire dragon/bird from the Ashen Gate. Very nicely done, hope to see more.

This is probably going to sound like a bit more generalizing than I'd like, but here goes. I think as the world economy has fallen lately, people have become more and more decerning about everything. They want the best product at the cheapest price in alot of different items that they purchase. When those items disappoint to any degree, people tend to think the company is trying to save money and is indirectly hurting them. I've been into collectibles of various types for 15+ years and I've only seen alot of these style articles in the past two years or so. Now, of course, some of the types of complaints I've seen about different companies are true in that they are trying to save money and thus go with cheaper parts, packaging, etc. However, that's usually identified after a large amount of investigating and after a number of complaints from enough source to distinguish it from just a one-shot instance. Right now, I've not had any problems with any of my Legos, so for me, the trend doesn't exist. As for the concerns of others, I really think it's too early to tell if the sky is falling. What would take me out of Lego? A huge, definable drop in quality. Something where every other set I'd buy is missing bricks, has damaged pieces, or is otherwise incomplete. It would have to happen often enough that I could no longer attribute the issue to the fallings of a mass-market toy. Even then I wouldn't get out of Lego completely - there's still lots of older sets I could go after, but I'd avoid the new stuff for a time. Surely, Lego doesn't want to lose it's reputation of making a quality product and an issues that people were to find would be handled pretty quickly. Lego is already on top as far as successful toy companies go, there's no reason why they would want to hurt themselves now over saving some money.

Great review - very nice pictures. This was before my time collecting HP sets and it's really amazing how far the line has come. It's alot like looking at the old Star Wars sets. Ron is almost unrecognizable and Snape just barely, Peeves almost looks like an angry statue.

I build every set I open at least once. Then usually they go on display and after awhile or after I get something new, the old displays rotate out into ziploc bags and into storage. Most of the times there's no real theme to the displays, since I collect different things at the same time. Occasionally, during slow periods (which is not often), I might put older sets back out on display.

FF is still owned by another company, so they really can't touch it at the moment. Right now, I'd think it would be way too confusing to audiences to have Evans play Cap and then go back to play Torch. Plus, he'd have to drop maybe 30lbs to get back to Torch build. Besides, I heard they were rebooting FF anyway.

Like many here, I miss these old sets. Very simplistic when compared to today's sets, but they're just gorgeous in that simplicity. I didn't have this set myself, but I had the River Crossing one and it was superb. Thanks for posting this great review. Look forward to your other ones.

Agreed, that Castle has some great coloring to it. Very creative find.

Are there any good meet-ups or anything for the Alderwood Mall Grand Opening?

Ancient Thespis - with the Roman and Spartan, I can see this being a useful "advisor" style figure Pirate Captain - the pic is very likeable, not I need it yet Conquistador - a foil to the Pirate to some degree Enemy Robot - this one I'll be actively looking for - it may even prompt me to buy more of the Series 6 robot since it was so good Evil Female Alien - can I hope for a female Grey Alien to help the gender balance of all my Series 6 Greys? Diver - I have no use for one, but I'm sure City/Sports fans can appreciate this figure Vampire - a Vampire Bride would be great, another regular Vampire would just be bought to complete the set with little interest Fairy - I can find a use for this in LOTR... Football Player - see Diver Trader - see Diver Skier - see Diver Red Cheerleader - works because there are so many Sports figures out, kind of a no-brainer Santa Claus - yes, definitely a good idea with the City Holiday sets Boy in Bavarian costume - not the worst idea, though I don't really have a need for one; might be a big hit like the Bagpiper DJ - did not care for the Rapper figure, so I may pass on this completely (or just get one to complete the set) Cowgirl - this one really depends on the look

I have to work Friday, so otherwise I would go all three days. As it is, I'll go Saturday and Sunday. I've heard as long as you get there in a reasonable time, you should be able to get one. I'll be aiming for around 9:00-9:30.

Well, if Avengers 2 goes the way some people think, we might yet have a Vision minifigure. Personally, I'm not one for the Guardians of the Galaxy - but I like the Black Panther idea. As for Ant-Man, I think I'd just use a red or blue stud on a clear 1x1 round brick.