Deathleech

I agree. If Lego is going to do a Golden Hall, they should do it right. I would guess they could easily do a slightly scaled down version for around $80-100. It could be similar to Bag End except slightly bigger. All they really need is the main throne room/hall as that's where a majority of the action takes place. I really like Nuju's MOC, if Lego did it exactly like that except made the hall slightly bigger and did away with the small house (would rather they focus solely on the hall) I think it would make a perfect set.

While I generally like the 2008 Fantasy Era orcs, I think the LotR/Hobbit ones are much more detailed and better overall. The troll is especially dated and blocky looking from the 2008 line. My only problem with the LotR/Hobbit line so far is the total lack of variety. We have 1 set of armor (dark gray pearl helm and chest piece) and then 1 torso for the three different types of LotR orcs/goblins. The Hobbit goblins at least had 2 different torsos... which is kind of odd. Why did Lego do 2 different prints for goblins only appearing in 1 set (so far), but the Moria Orcs have all had the same one torso print despite being used in 5 different sets? That makes no sense. Why not do new prints where you will get the most bang for your buck?? A new head or two would be nice as well...

If the rumored second wave Hobbit list is true, it looks like Lego IS releasing an army builder set with more Mirkwood Elves in it. Personally I would rather have those versions anyways if they are in the cool armor seen in the DoS trailer. The Mirkwood Elf polybag, while nice for parts, kinda sucks for the minifigure looking back. The only reason it was so sought after was because it was the only cheap way to get a Middle Earth elf soldier back then. The hood doesn't even match the olive green torso and there are no elf ears or a special helmet to indicate this is even an elf at all. It just has a normal dark green hooded figure.

Plus they JUST released a big Hogwarts set the year before. Heck, even in the description it says "The Dementors have the Hogwarts™ School of Witchcraft and Wizardry surrounded, and an epic battle between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort is looming!". Making ANOTHER Hogwarts Castle when the actual battle starts would be a huge waste of a set spot since hardly anything would be different in it except maybe the minifigs (which you can get in other sets).

I seriously doubt it came with either, and if it did I am sure it wasn't the same stuff that will be released with the sets when they are officially released in November/December. If by the off chance they did get them, I bet they had to sign some non-disclosure agreement.

Did the Helm's Deep game actually get cancelled? I know it's currently available in Europe, but I haven't heard anything about it (or the Batman game) still being released elsewhere...

Here are some more comparisons: 2013 King's Castle - 70404 Piece Count - 996 Minifigure Count - 8 Average Price - $99.99 New Horse 2010 King's Castle - 7946 Piece Count - 933 Minifigure Count - 7 Average Price - $110-150 (opened), $180-250 (MIB) Old Horse Personally, the new King's Castle seems like a no brainer. It's way cheaper, has more pieces, a new horse, and has an extra minifigure. I think the design of 7946 might be SLIGHTLY better, and the red may be more attractive, but you can easily replace all the blue slopes on 70404 with red ones for under $10 shipped on BL. That's still way less than buying 7946, unless you have some way of getting it cheaper than the current eBay prices. The only real issue seems to be the minifigures, which the chess ones obviously would go better with 70404 since they are the same red Lion's. This seems like a small compromise though, especially if you aren't going to use them all that much and just want a nice castle for your town.

I am pretty confident we will get at least one more Hobbit set this wave, either as a retailer exclusive or a D2C set. A D2C set would make the most sense with the absence of Smaug and a set over $60 (if the prices were right), but since we just got one with Orthanc it doesn't seem as likely.

That's what I was thinking, plus Lego kind of has been botching some of their movie related sets lately. The Warg Attack set and the Iron Man 3 sets come to mind specifically. I am sure Smaug's reveal will be a big surprise so Lego probably doesn't want to release a set with him in it a month before the movie hits theaters and spoil it for everyone, especially if they aren't even exactly sure how he looks. Howevere, with that said, why would they have so much Dol Guldur related stuff in their sets if this was the case? It seems weird not to have Smaug, who we KNOW is in the film but then have Dol Guldur which we know next to nothing about.

Well there still is the possibility of a fifth retailer exclusive or D2C set, isn't there? A D2C is probably unlikely considering we just got Orthanc, but I wouldn't count out a retailer exclusive. We have had one or the other every LotR/Hobbit wave thus far. People keep saying the LotR/Hobbit waves are getting smaller, but the second LotR wave was actually bigger price and piece wise than the first wave if you include Orthanc in it, it just didn't have as many sets.

Shrine of the Blessed by Etzel Temple of Ennoc by Fianat

Oh, I totally agree, but that's only because I am a die hard LotR AND Lego fan so I will pick them all up regardless of what they look like, even if I don't think the set is particularly amazing. But others are picking and choosing sets they want before even seeing them... lol.

Heh, I like how people are claiming they will pick up all the sets before they even know anything about them besides possible names and rough price points!

That's why I would like to see it made into a set, it pretty much has every main character from the book involved. Thranduil, Beorn, Dain, Bard, all 13 dwarves, Gandalf, Bilbo, Bolg, wargs, eagles, goblins, dwarves, humans, and elves. There's a lot of room to add unique characters and cool creatures/factions. It's also the only really big battle in the book other than Laketown fending off Smaug, but the Bo5A actually has armies clashing so it would make a good action set too. Compared to some of the LotR battles it is fairly short and wrapped up quickly, but that's pretty much how everything happens in the Hobbit book.

I feel the same. None of the first Hobbit Lego sets really impressed me other than an Unexpected Gathering, and that could of easily been a LotR set if it had different minifigs. Other than a Smaug set and a Bo5A/Erebor one, I would MUCH rather get more LotR sets. Maybe its just the nostalgia speaking but I feel the LotR books were significantly better than the Hobbit and so far the films seem to be the same.

That's true, but the Castle set is made up of figures you can get in the other cheaper sets if you are wanting to army build. Only the King is unique. While that may make the King's Castle more appealing all around for multiple purchases (parts pack AND army builder), keep in mind the minifigures from Helm's Deep still are selling extremely well. You can get $7-8 each for King Theoden, Haldir, and Legolas alone. That's over $25 just for those three minifigs, or 1/4 the cost back of the set. Then add in the Uruk-hai Berzerker and Aragorn, each fetching almost $4, Gimli and the other 3 Uruk-hai at roughly $2.50 a piece and you are up to over $40 from selling all the minifigures. If you get the set on sale for 80-100 that's almost half the price recouped. In contrast the only minifigure from the King's Castle fetching over $3 is the King at $8, all the rest of the minifigures are under $3 with many even being under $2 each now.

Ya, I am sure it will have at least 2-3 figures, my point was other than Elrond we have absolutely no idea what the other figs in the set will be. I dunno how likely an elf soldier is considering the Mirkwood Elf Army/Elven Outpost set.

Ya, these four sets have the same set numbers as the ones in the list leaked before: 79011 Dol Guldur Ambush 79012 Mirkwood Elf Army 79013 Lake Town Chase 79014 Dol Guldur Battle 79011 Elrond Battle 79012 Elven Outpost 79013 Market Escape with Boat 79014 Dol Guldur Everything seems to match up, except Elrond Battle which sounds significantly different than what everyone thought the Dol Guldur Ambush would have (Elrond and an orc instead of Gandalf/Radaghast/Thrain).

Star Wars has extremely distinct, recognizable vehicles though. This helps to make them seem really "iconic". It's pretty easy for Lego to recreate an X-Wing or Tie Fighter and everyone is going to recognize where its from. Not so much because Lego did a superb job, but because how many other sci-fi movies or tv shows have a ship that looks similar? None. In contrast medieval fantasy stuff has been done tons and while Helm's Deep or Mines or Moria has some distinct aspects to their design, it's much more generic in nature. How many round ruined towers like Weathertop, or castles against a mountain with a long wall like Helm's Deep have you seen in other media? I am guessing a lot more than you have seen say Millenium Falcon style ships. Plus they are vehicles which are much easier to recreate than entire castles or landscapes. Personally I think some LotR/Hobbit sets are better representations than others, but they all still do a fairly good job of conveying the source material. Especially for the limited pieces and price points they need to be. Helm's Deep pretty much hits all the major features.. it has the deepening wall that can be expanded on with the stream and blow away section, the front stairway curving up to the main gate, the tower with the horn, and the overall shape and color of Helm's Deep. Obviously some stuff was excluded like the Glimmering Caves and the mountain, and some was scaled down, but this was necessary to keep the price reasonable.

I dunno if he was disliked due to the fact he was a weaker part of the movie, or moreso the fact that PJ pretty much created the whole character since... At any rate, I agree, I think Lego Azog is only popular due to his rarity. Maybe it's a mixture of that and so far he is the only main antagonist in the first film?

There aren't a ton that I have seen, but I thought this Smaug interpretation was pretty good! http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=73088&view=&hl=&fromsearch=1

Smaug will be included to some extent, there is absolutely no doubt about that. The question is just if he will die or not in the second film. I could see PJ going either way, he could have the dwarves trying to figure out how to get into the secret entrance in the mountain and Bilbos interactions with Smaug and end it there OR he could include all that plus the big Lake Town battle with Smaug. It's really hard to say what PJ will do. The only thing for certain is PJ probably added a LOT of extra Smaug content not from the book.

A pure battle pack with no named characters would be ideal, but if Lego feels they MUST include at least one like they did in the Uruk-hai Army set then I would be fine with something that looks pretty generic. Faramir in his Gondor garb with a helmet could easily look and serve as a second Gondor soldier if we only got one "real" soldier in the set.

I'm sure there will be a lot of build up and action for the BO5A too, minimum an hour, if not much longer

Well he is only (seemingly) important in the movies with the added plot. In the Hobbit book he is barely mentioned more than a few times and doesn't have a huge role really. Minas Tirith on the other hand is the central location for most of the Return of the King film. Of course a Thranduil minifig is significantly easier to make than a Minas Tirith set I imagine