Deathleech

I still have at least 7-10 Lake-town Guard polybags left and a couple Thranduil. I am willing to sell them at cost to anyone is interested ($5 for either Lake-town Guard polybag or loose Thranduil +actual shippig cost), though I would prefer trades for Uruk-hai minifigures or any of the 13 dwarves (except Thorin, Fili, Kili, and Bifur). I am willing to do 1 Lake-town Guard or Thranduil for 1 Uruk-hai polybag. If just a loose Uruk-hai please send me a PM so we can discuss details. I woukd prefer larger trades (at least a few figures each) to save on shipping costs.

Won't stores like Amazon and Wal-mart eventually get the D2C sets and they can be bought there if there is no Lego S@H store in your country (or they won't ship to you)?

...I understand that. Without the blades the hobbits would of died. I never said otherwise. What I DID say was Tom Bombadil was indirectly responsible because he simply supplied the blades. Beorn on the other hand was directly responsible for Bolg's death because HE HIMSELF killed Bolg and turned the tides of the Bo5A. How much further will his role be expanded though? PJ expanded a TON in the Hobbit to make it into three films so this really shouldn't come as a surprise. Just look at the barrel escape scene, in the book they float down the river and end up at Lake-town in a few pages but in the movie it's a 45 minute long sequence with orcs and elves chasing the dwarves, doing acrobatics, and Bard finding them and smuggling them to Lake-town. As for the part about no man killing the Witch King, I DID say that part would have to be removed if Eowyn was taken out (or have another female character kill the Witch King...). I brought up Saruman because I was pointing out how a lot of secondary characters only have one or two big scenes and could easily be removed or replaced with other main characters. Grima could of been removed. I thought that point was pretty clear. And yes if Isildur had thrown the ring in the lava when he had the chance there would of been no LotR. THAT IS MY POINT! You keep saying Bolg could of been killed by anyone besides Beorn and I am saying that same stance holds true for a NUMBER of characters and sequences in the film/book. It's not a stupid mistake, it's pointing out how ridiculous your logic is. I am making this point because you are dwelling on Beorn being in the film with an expanded role, how he could be replaced with someone else killing Bolg, and keep comparing him to Tom who was removed. Beorn's role is arguably bigger because he is directly engaging the enemy and killing their leader. Tom isn't, he is just giving the hobbits weapons (which are a big part, yes). More importantly though, as I have said numerous times, Tom was cut because the LotR was condensed while Beorn may have more screen time because the Hobbit is being expanded. A lot of Hobbit scenes were expanded while LotR ones were cut. That's what happens when you turn a 300 page book into three movies and a 1200 page book into three movies. You seem to be confused. Bo5A and the Dol Guldur are COMPLETELY separate fights in different areas. Dol Guldur happens at Dol Guldur. Battle of Five Armies (Bo5A) happens in and around Erebor near the ruins of Dale. Beorn will almost certainly be at the Bo5A since he plays a huge role there in the books, what with killing Bolg. I am not sure if he will be in DG though since that material is mostly coming from PJ's imagination. Just because the films are longer than the book doesn't mean every last aspect is going to be expanded. Bilbo leaving the Shire was cut much shorter than the book, the Mirkwood Spiders encounter was shortened, etc. I don't know what Beorn's role will be since I haven't seen TABA, I am just saying if his role is expanded like you seem to believe, that is probably why and also why Tom Bombadil was cut in LotR. It's due to the length of the films and all the material needing to be expanded or cut. I just don't understand why you are so hell bent on this Beorn change out of all the ones in the film though. Why aren't you complaining about Galadriel being in the Hobbit film when she was literally not even in the book? Or what about Radagasts' expanded role (he was only mentioned in a single sentence in the book). Why not complain about the Necromancer? Or Azog who is dead before the book even starts yet in the film he is pretty much there until the end?! There are so many changes PJ has made it's not even funny. This is generally what happens in movie adaptations though. I just don't understand why you are harping on the Beorn change when there are at least half a dozen other characters in the film that PJ expanded their role FAR more.

This is pretty much how I feel about the BrickShow. To add to it, they are usually not very knowledgeable about the source material on licensed sets either, they get off on tangents too much, and they can have really poor reasons for their ratings. For example on the Mines of Moria review Jason bashes the set because he claims it's a "bait and switch scam" since the set doesn't include the full Fellowship. It's not a bait and switch at all though, and to include 9 Fellowship minifigures, a troll, and 2 orcs in an $80 set would be absurd. I don't want the full Fellowship in one or even two sets anyways, I want orcs and other minor characters. The bigger sets are usually around 20 minute long reviews but I feel like they could EASILY be cut in half. Just give us the bullet points about the sets without all the fluff and pointless info no one cares about.

I'm not really sure why you keep saying Beorn's role has been expanded so much. As far as I know, Beorn has actually had his role reduced (at least in DoS where he does less with the dwarves when they visit his house). If he is in Dol Guldur so what? DG is literally one sentence in the entire Hobbit book. If PJ made Beorn's role bigger only in a scene he added entirely himself I see no problem? He expanded Galadriel's role too. She wasn't even in the Hobbit. Expanding Beorn's role in an expanded scene is fine? We don't even know this for sure though? I don't think Beorn will appear at DG, it sounds like the cut scene was just him exploring the area (much like Radagast) before everything in the DoS went down. He was ambushed by orcs and escaped. I see no reason or indication he will appear there again in TABA. Do you have ANY evidence he will? As for Tom, he GAVE the hobbits there weapons, he didn't kill the Witch King himself or do anything with the blades. Beorn actually killed Bolg. Surely you can see the difference here? Yes someone else could of killed Bolg, but someone else could of killed the Witch King, cut the ring off Sauron's finger, killed Saruman, etc. All these things were done by secondary characters. Heck, why even make the Witch King immune to normal blades in the first place or add Tom at all? It seems like you are arguing just to argue points in the books/films. If you are going to complain about Beorn being added and killing Bolg then why not complain about ALL the secondary characters who have only one or two major parts in the films/book? Why aren't you complaining about Eowyn? Faramir? Eowyn could of been removed, the line about no man killing the Witch King removed, and the Witch King killed by someone else. Why did Frodo have to walk to ring all the way to Mt. Doom instead of taking an eagle? Why didn't Isildur throw the ring in the lava when he had the chance and end it there? Things could of been written way differently for a LOT of stuff but they weren't. Maybe Bolg has some heavy armor on preventing him from simply being shot down by an arrow? We already saw Legolas fight him and he wasn't able to kill him there so...? Regardless if LotR is three books or one, it is still MUCH longer than the Hobbit. My version of LotR (which coincidentally is one book) is around 1120 pages long. The Hobbit? Not even 320. If you add the 120 pages or so from the LotR appendices to the Hobbit it is still WELL under half the total length of the LotR. How does a book half as long have the same number of movies and almost the same run time? Plus I doubt all the appendix material will be in the Hobbit so really it's under 400 pages, almost 1/3 the length of LotR. Beorn's role has been expanded because the movies were expanded, Tom was cut because the LotR films were condensed. It's as simple as that.

Yup, I was just agreeing with you and pointing out that if they didn't live near a store they could buy online. The people buying it have to be clueless or have some extreme circumstance. It's kind of ironic really.. they randomly find it online on eBay and rather than do a quick and simple search (from the INTERNET they are ALREADY USING to get on eBay!) to see when and where it will be available they jump on the auction and pay WAY more than it's worth. How do they even know it's up on eBay if they are so unaware you can buy it yourself? Seems almost like a contradiction.

I agree. There were some nice sets on the list, but if we only are getting one more wave I don't really wanna see Mirror of Galadriel or Amon Hen taking up valuable set slots.

Also note the LotR was condensed quite a bit to make it fit three films where as the Hobbit is being expanded. Obviously PJ isn't going to cut a secondary with a pretty big role and who is really cool when he is trying to ADD material to fit three films...

Not proven, but they had VERY little credibility so at this point it's pretty much assumed they were a hoax. The guy who posted the list left shortly after and has never came back and posted anything else.

Brickset and BrickLink are pretty good ways to view a set's inventory.

The LotR and Hobbit lines have the Wargs and Eagles both in separate plastic bags. Does this mean they are from China or does this only apply to small pieces usually mixed with a big bag of parts like helms, hair, etc?

What? They could just re-use Fili, Kili, and Thorin as the dwarves

Giving the Hobbits weapons is one thing, participating in a battle completely turning the tides are another. Spoilers ahead... Beorn is pretty much the whole reason the good peoples win the Bo5A. They are actually losing the battle until Beorn comes. Why doesn't Bard or someone else kill Bolg? The book specifically mentions no one else being able to get close to Bolg because of his guards, but Beorn in bear form is powerful enough to break their ranks and kill Bolg. I believe it even mentions Thorin trying to get to Bolg but that's how he gets heavily wounded (and ends up dying) before he can kill him. It's at this point, where Beorn kills Bolg, that the entire battle shifts and the goblins are leaderless and without direction. They start scrambling and fleeing and the elves, dwarves, and men are able to win the battle. You act like Beorn had a minor role in the book and only killed a few unimportant goblins or something but he literally won the battle. Without him being there it's quite possible everyone would of died. Who does that include? Well Gandalf for one, and also Bilbo. Gandalf was important enough in the destruction of Sauron but what was Bilbo carrying? Oh right, the one ring. If they all died the evil forces would of taken the ring to Sauron and that would of been it. Sauron would rule without question once more. Gandalf was also injured at the battle so it's not like he could of just killed everyone uncontested himself. Sure if PJ really wanted to remove Beorn he could of. It seems he already down played his role in DoS though. In the book the dwarves are at his house for several days recovering and getting supplies. In the movie (the theatrical version at least), the dwarves are only at Beorn's what appears to be one night. We don't see the feast or animals as they are described in the book. How is this much different than the part with Tom Bombadil supplying the hobbits with their blades being cut? Tom didn't actually use the blades to hurt the Nazgul at Weathertop. I am sure if Beorn only gave the dwarves supplies there is a good chance he would of completely been cut from the film too. Really I am not sure why you are harping on this though? Beorn is a cool shape changer that turns into a bear and people seem to love. Tom Bombadil on the other hand is viewed more as weird, annoying, or his presence doesn't make sense. Really ANY secondary character could be replaced so I dunno what your point is? PJ could of easily removed Faramir from his films and it wouldn't of changed much. Denethor would of still been depressed about Boromir dying, would of still let the city get sacked, and still killed himself. Faramir literally does nothing in the movies that another character couldn't of done. Catching Sam, Frodo, and Gollum? Madril could of done all of this. The whole love scene between Eowyn and Faramir could of been cut. It's easy to remove or replace secondary characters and that doesn't just go for Beorn and Tom. Heck, even look at the 13 dwarves in Thorin's company. Over half of them have little to no role in the book and could of easily been removed. They are mentioned even less than Beorn and have a smaller role. Some are barely ever even mentioned again beyond their introduction at the beginning of the book.

I wouldn't think so as long as it's the EXACT same brick (e.i. from same mold/design with no changes whatsoever). I mean what does it matter if it's a yellow 1x2 brick from 1980 vs 2010 if they look the exact same and have the same design? Now if it were a changed piece or color and Lego updated the design, or a custom piece that's another story...

Right, but they can still get VIP access for free and free shipping on all orders of $75 or more at Lego S@H so there really is no reason to pay almost $100 more than MSRP for this. These people obviously have no idea it's available to VIP members right now on the Lego S@H site...

Ya, it looks like they only had em available a couple days. At the bottom it had this disclaimer: "Note: VERY limited quantities of these were produced. Once we run out, they're gone forever."

I know it's suppose to look blocky because it's made from Lego bricks, but I think the hard edges and jutting squares just make it look a little off. It almost looks like a pixelated video game from the 80s, or like Minecraft.

Maybe a December 2014 releases is unlikely, but what about January 2015? Or even early 2015 like Feb-Apr? If the summer Middle-Earth wave is being pushed back 4 months to October (from the usual June release), Lego obviously would push the winter wave back as well. They aren't going to release two Middle Earth waves within 2 months of each other.

That's exactly it! Now that I think about it, I am not sure why I have them both shown though. I have two Yazneg's, two Saruman's, etc. but I left them out of the pictures yet I put in the Mouth of Sauron and White Warg twins

Lothlorien for me yet again. The Prancing Pony would be nice to get more Nazgul and could look really cool like MMV, but I just don't see any new minifigure offerings and it wouldn't have a ton of play features.

I meant I agree that buying the full set is usually more beneficial and cost efficient than buying the figures separately on BL. The only time it's not is when you have absolutely no use for the bricks and some or most of the figs in a set. It's true that many of the cheapest only have 1 minifigure so you often have to spend a little more if you want to buy multiples. For instance the cheapest Uruk-hai with full armor is $3.38, but there is only 1 available. If I want 10 I need to get them from the guy with the right quantity which is going to cost me $4.25 a pop. It's more expensive but beats buying the cheapest from several sellers and then paying $2 in shipping to each. For the Uruk-hai with armor though, even the average price is 5.70, almost a buck and a quarter more than the cheapest seller that has a large quantity available.

Very nice! Any other angles, or close ups of the door? It looks very interesting!

I totally agree with you but just want to point out that the average price on BL isn't a great way to look at prices. There are people that put figures up for double, triple, quadruple or even more what the lowest price is knowing full well they probably won't sell the figures (or not for a very, VERY long time). If you look at the minimum, which anyone who is sane would pay, the prices are more like $4 for Eomer, 5 for the Rohan soldier, 2x armored Uruk-hai are $4 each, UH with just helm is 3, and UH with hair is $2.50. That's $22.50 for all the minifigures. Obviously if that's all you care about that is the way to go. If you want the bricks too, buying the Uruk-hai Set is a MUCH better deal (8 bucks for a few hundred bricks, all the weapons which are another few dollars alone, and a horse? YES PLEASE!). Sure you can find the sets on clearance but it's really a crap shot. I never see any of the LotR or Hobbit sets on clearance around me because they all sell out and are never re-stocked for MONTHS before they would go on clearance. Most of the time the Targets and Wal-marts around me don't even have most of the LotR/Hobbit sets out even when they are newrt and marked at full MSRP. Obviously buying the official Lego sets is a cheaper overall route to go most the time. The only time it's not is when you ONLY want the minifigures, or you ONLY want certain ones. For instance if I only want more Uruk-hai and no more Rohan Soldiers or Eomer's that drives the price down from 22.50 to 13.50, less than half the retail price of Uruk-hai Army. Of course you could also buy the set for $30, sell Eomer, the Rohan soldier, and all the bricks and probably have it cost you even less but that';s a fair bit of work.

It looks like the figure is retired and no longer available...?

For me, I like the variety and also the minifigures smaller sets offer. Orthanc was $200 for 5 minifigures.. Uruk-hai and Mirkwood Elf Army were $30 for 6 figs. Of course that isn't typical, but larger sets do seem to offer less minifigures for the price. I do like some of the big impressive sets like Helm's Deep and ultimately would probably prefer a standard mixed wave with some a low priced set, a high, and a bunch in between.