Deathleech

I'm not really sure why people are complaining about the lack of swappable parts on the large molded figures. Most of them are large creatures, they aren't minifigure torsos that are easily interchangeable. I couldn't use the Cave Troll head on Hulk, or Hulk's head on the Wampa without it looking really weird (the head and body colors would be WAY off and clash). As for articulation, sure it sucks the legs and heads don't move or turn, but I think their is a reason for this with the legs. Most of the large molded figures are very top heavy and have legs positioned in such a way to optimize balance when not on Lego studs. Even if they could move you probably wouldn't be posing them much anyways. I am not sure why the heads don't turn though, I suppose because some characters might look weird with rotating heads or it's just not possible (Goblin King comes to mind with his hanging chin). Personally I think Lego has done a great job making the big characters into large molded figures when needed. I think if the character is at least double the size of a normal human and a weird creature with an odd shape, it should be a large molded fig. If they are more tall than bulky it's more of a toss up, like Sauron is tall but not really that bulky so Woody legs would probably would better for him.

Yup, it was first released at Lego Discovery Centers though. After it had been out several months it seemed the left over shipments made their way to Five Below stores here in the US. Not exactly the most available polybag ever, at least in terms of US release..

I meant second wave Hobbit sets. Yes, technically Barrel Escape and Mirkwood Spiders are from the second movie but it's from the first Lego wave and has the AUJ packaging so I didn't include them.

So now that the sets from the second Hobbit wave have been out for awhile, which is everyone's favorite and why? Personally I am torn. I think Mirkwood Elf Army has some nice figures but the build's not that impressive. Lake-town Chase has a much better build that is more accurate to the film but the figures aren't as good (but they still are very nice). I like that Dol Guldur Ambush has hair and ears for the orcs and Beorn is a nice minifigure, and of course Dol Guldur Battle has some nice minifigs as well with Azog and Radagast, but neither DG set has a great build imo. I think overall I would have to go with Lake-town Chase as my favorite with MEA in a close second. If MEA would of included an armored elf or two I think that would of hands down been my favorite set. Usually I am a huge army builder fan but as it stands MEA just has too many issues; Thranduil is great if you buy the set once but beyond that is redundant and hard to use, the walls are pathetically short, and 3 elven scouts are too many when they are all the same imo. So, what is your guys' favorite wave 2 Hobbit set?

Yes, option two for sure. You already have Helm's Deep so Uruk-hai Army compliments it nicely. And like Blakstone points out, it's been out for a long time now and is retired so it's going to become harder and harder to find new at a decent price.

This one:

I think Merry in Rohan gear and Pippin in Gondor gear would by far be the best variants we could get. Both figures have only appeared in one set apiece and both have pretty big roles and a lot of screen time in their alternate outfits. I would also love another Boromir and Sam since they also have only appeared once, and that wave has since been discontinued. Other than that I could care less for more Frodo, Gimli, Legolas, and especially Gandalf, figs. If we DID get a Balrog though, and it had to include Gandalf (which it would), maybe they could give him the hair see in the 2013 Hobbit video game advertisement? That would at least make him more accurate and different than the hat and hair versions we have gotten so many of. I think a new Mordor Orc is long past due but I dunno how likely Lego is to make it for one last wave (especially if it was split with the second wave where the Mordor Orcs remained unchanged). I would love a double sided face because it gives more options AND means all the orcs would have to have a helmet or hair and ear piece. That means no ugly bald orcs. Some actual armor printing would also be greatly appreciated, they have used that same friggen Mordor Orc torso in like 5 Hobbit/Lotr sets now.

Well is it like the US where it's a "scheduled" October release date but then the sets always appear a few weeks or even a month early? Here in the US both the LotR waves had a June 1st release date and the first wave started popping up early May and the second wave around mid to late May. The same with the Hobbit sets, they are scheduled for Dec 1st every year but so far they always show up in stores like TRU about 2 weeks early.

If LotR is done, I would still buy tons of Hobbit sets until they end neat year and maybe try to bulk up my existing LotR collection where I can. I am not terribly interested in any of Lego's other offerings so unless they introduced something new and exciting I would probably just hold off buying much else. I might pick up a few super hero sets here and there.

I thought someone said the Denmark price was usually equal to the dollar amount, but I could be wrong. It's hard to keep track with so many countries all having different prices. Regardless I think the prices you quoted make the most sense. That would give us the $9.99-12.99 set with 2 minifigures and a small build, a $29.99 Gondor/Mordor Orc army builder, and a $69.99-99.99 big set. The only thing to consider is what if the 2013 waves really were split up? The price points don't really seem to reflect that got the LotR wave since we got a 13, 30, and 100 dollar set in last year. If it was split would Lege originally of had two sets at $13, $30, and $100 in a single wave? On the other hand, we DIDN'T get a small $10-13 Hobbit set, nor a $100 one in the second Hobbit wave... This makes me still a little worried this might be a Hobbit wave. Obviously it wouldn't be TABA based sets, but maybe Lego is going back to cover all the stuff they missed, what with the movies changing from 2 to 3, character design changes, and stuff being kept under wraps so much like Smaug's appearance. It would make sense to have a summer wave covering all the missed stuff to go along with the game's release and to make up for the small 2013 winter wave. I hope this isn't the case though because I really want to see some Gondor stuff. It doesn't look like we will get a full Minas Tirith based on those prices but a nice sized Osgiliath or part of MT isn't out of the question, and it looks like there is room for an army builder and even a store exclusive Balrog.

Yes, very nice scene. I like the snow especially. The One Ring in the front of the display is a nice touch as well

I highly doubt that considering Orc Forge was a Target exclusive. That means the only places you could find it were Target and the Lego stores. Any on Amazon were from third parties who bought it at one of the two previous mentioned stores and were re-selling it. It's definitely not available at bookstores either unless it was online and through a third part on their marketplace.

Ya, I heard it was just a zip lock with the minifigure and printed card inside. Nothing special at all. I guess it would be nice to get free when you pre-ordered the DoS tickets. We didn't have anything like that in the US that I know of.

I think it depends on which country you live in though? Some like Denmark have the euro to dollar number being equal despite the value being different? Plus that might not even be MSRP, this site might jack up the prices like TRU commonly does. There are lots of unknowns. As for these sets being Hobbit or LotR, did anyone consider it might just be Lego going back and releasing sets for AUJ/TABA that they didn't have a chance to release in the winter waves? With the video game being released a few months earlier, with so many changes to the films, and with some stuff kept under heavy wraps like Smaug's design, maybe Lego wanted to do a summer wave to cover all this stuff? I think the €90 set could easily be a giant brick built Smaug. If they dedicate all the pieces to him and he is the only build I think Lego could do it. While I would tend to think it's a LotR wave, I don't know if it's a grantee just because it's a summer wave. It seems Lego did in fact split their 2013 waves into two smaller waves to compensate the movie being broke into 3. They probably just added 1-2 sets into the waves to better round them out (so each wave is 4 sets minimum instead of 3).

Well DoS was a small wave so I wouldn't use it as a basis for future wave structures. We didn't get a big $100+ set either but I don't think Lego is doing away with those in any theme.

I was just checking Lego's S@H website and noticed almost every LotR and Hobbit set is currently sold out. Even Orthanc. In fact the only sets that are still in production that AREN'T sold out are Wizard Battle and Dol Guldur Ambush. That should be something else positive? That or Lego just had terribly small production runs figuring sales wouldn't be that great. Either way there aren't enough to meet demand? All the Ninjago sets and a bunch of other themes are currently available...

They would most likely get different packaging that doesn't have the piece count and all that on the front?

Ahh, ok. Ya I was thinking about translating it but was too lazy, I guess I probably should of It seems really weird to release these sets in October, but maybe that's just in Hungry and it will be sooner in other places? Like June as we have gotten the last three LotR waves? It does appear to be 4 sets (one must be a store exclusive, hence the number missing as others pointed out). The prices are also pretty interesting.. does this store usually have everything MSRP? I know the euro price has been the same number as the US dollar amount on recent Lego sets despite the euro being worth more. We haven't gotten a sets at any of those price points in either LotR or Hobbit wave as of yet. If they were hiking up the price it would make sense because then the prices would be $9.99, $29.99, and $79.99. That's about what TRU marks their stuff up, usually only a few bucks on small sets and on the bigger ones they really start marking their stuff up, easily passing 10 bucks when you get to the $100+ sets. 79016 is probably in the $19.99-24.99 price range.

At the top it says: LEGO Gyűrűk Ura - Hobbit Aren't these Hobbit sets...?

Well I doubt Lego could get away with just cutting waves in half and pushing sets back. Remember a lot of stuff was added to the movies and a lot changed around like Bolg's design. Lego surely had to come up with at least a few more sets to round out their waves and make some changes to existing ones. I do agree that there probably aren't a ton of sets left for either wave. I dunno if it's only 4 or 5 combined, but I definitely don't think it's more than 7 or 8 total for both. That leaves us with some very small waves next year.

I guess it's possible. If Lego were planning on only 2 LotR waves and had the split the second up to make room for a third when the Hobbit films were split into 3, why did they also release Orthanc? The second wave was suppose to have 7 sets (one of which might have cost even more than Pirate Ship Ambush's $100?) and a big $200 D2C set? That seems very unlikely. I mean maybe Orthanc was suppose to be released later on and they pushed it up, but I just don't know.

I don't think so? The new 2014 City, Friends , and Ninjago themes all seem to have a set in the $9.99-12.99 price range. Ya, I was just throwing out a bunch of different possibilities with the minifigures. I think the only mandatory figures would be Thorin in armor and Bolg (if not in another set). Everything else could be changed around.

I'm having trouble finding them period. Before Christmas Toys R Us were running a few deals where you could get them all 25% off and they were actually marked MSRP. Wal-Mart also had the MEA army for $25, but that's about the only things I saw. I really want to get a few more MEA armies for cheaper.

IF Lego does another Dol Guldur based set, I agree with deskp and would rather just see a small $10-13 dollar set with Galadriel and maybe Sauron or something. No need to give us yet another huge DG piece when we just got 2 based on the location. I would rather see a wave like this: $12.99 - Dol Guldur Rescue - Galadriel and Sauron (NOT as he appears in DGB) with a small ruin piece or the bridge to enter maybe. $29.99 - Five Armies - 3 Gundabad Orcs, preferably with new print and helmets, but at the least the hair/ear piece on 1-2 of them, 1 Iron Hills Dwarf, 1 Lake-town "soldier", 1 armored elf. If Lego absolutely has to include a unique character give us Dain or the Lake-town Guard captain, something that could still be plain looking enough to serve as a regular soldier like Eomer. The build could be something like a piece of Erebor or a wall or something like they have done in the past. No idea what the large molded creature could be, would prefer something besides a Warg since we already got that in an army builder. An eagle might work but a battle boar or stag would be awesome. $129.99 - Battle at the Lonely Mountain - Thorin, Fili and Kili all decked out in armor, Bolg, Bilbo and Gandalf of course, 3 Gundabad Orcs, Azog again (?), an armored elf or dwarf.. some good guy grunt in nice armor. Maybe throw in another eagle? The build could just be the front of the mountains with the big gate between them and part of the hall on the inside. I am not sure where the actual battle takes place.. if it's not as close to the mountains like in the book then I guess some Dale Ruins would be nice. A couple burnt out buildings would make for a nice battlefield andwould have the potential to be easy mods later. The battle pack could have a small ruin or building I am not sure what set(s) should be in the 40-80 dollar price range since that basically covers everything from the movie/book we know about. I would love if they just did 2 $30 battle packs, one for good and one for evil, but I don't think it very likely.

They have been out over a year and a half and only started disappearing a few months ago. Their run was pretty good considering most sets only last on shelves around a year? Because that's not realistic at all? Even for a theme like Star Wars which has been around a decade and a merchandising juggernaut, Lego has only done a few huge sets. The biggest are sets like the Death Star and Super Star Destroyer and they topped out at $400. Why would Lego make a $500 set for a theme obviously not as popular and that has only been out a year and a half? Did Star Wars, even being a break out hit for Lego, get a $400 set after a year and a half? No. A $500 Minas Tirith would appeal mostly to AFOLS (a lot of kids aren't going to be able to afford it or want to even invest that much money when they could buy other things), but when you start getting that high in price you really alienate more and more people adults too. Not everyone is going to want to spend $500 on a single set. That could buy 2-3 entire waves in other Lego product. You keep bringing up the fact that the Cuusoo project only has 2400 hundred votes but maybe that's due to other factors? For instance poor word of mouth? I haven't seen Nuju get the word out much like some people do for their projects. Maybe it's due to price? Like I said before, $500 really limits the market and even at $250 there would be lots of people unable to afford it. Personally I don't think the Cussoo project has a chance to be made into a real set, even if it got the 10,000 supports. I have never seen Lego make a Cuusoo project even half that big. It also wouldn't have any new molds like for the Gondor Soldiers which would severely lessen it's appeal. The most it might have is the Gondor print, which I suppose is better than nothing? I think the project has it's issues such the catapults and trebuchets are too big when the pieces could be used to give the walls more height, and there isn't enough detail on the walls. I still think it is an amazing attempt at a REAL set Lego could actually do. Everything is condensed and small, but you still get a good idea for a more affordable price. If you wanted to bad enough you could buy 2 and just use the pieces from the second to MOC another level or two in the city and make other things like the top bigger with more houses?