Deathleech

That's not how it works. Since they live in NZ where the films were shot, that makes the sets even MORE appealing which in turn means higher prices!

It would make sense. Cost of all wave 1 LotR sets = $373 Cost of all wave 1 Hobbit sets = $300 Cost of all wave 2 LotR sets = $403 This is MSRP in the U.S., and wave 2 obviously includes Orthanc, but this shows wave 2 is actually the most expensive wave yet. I wonder if that is any indication the line is doing well? I don't see Lego investing the resources into Orthanc and making it such a big expensive set, having three designers work on it if the LotR line is doing horrible. Then again who knows, the Hobbit wave was by far the smallest which makes no sense considering it was released near Christmas and right before the film came out.

Not unless its Star Wars usually. The best you could hope for is spend 50 or $75 and get a LotR/Hobbit themed polybag. They usually offer a bundle with all the waves sets in it for $10-20 off MSRP, or double VIB points, but your still better off getting it at Amazon when they have the inevitable mark downs for 20-30% off.

I wasn't a fan of these Castle sets when they were first unveiled and nothing has changed since then. I think its hard for people to look at sets like Helm's Deep and Orthanc, which have an amazing amount of detail, then look at these sets and be impressed. As others have pointed out they really appeal to two totally different groups. These Castle sets have bright colors and little detail, they are fairly simplistic and it's obvious they are aimed at young kids with all their play features. LotR uses a darker palette with more nuetral colors and a lot more detailing to appeal to older children and adults. I will say this Caste line seems aimed at even younger children than The Fantasy or Kingdoms lines were. I was actually interested in both those lines but unfortunately got back into Lego after they had already passed. They seemed a little more original and detailed in their designs than the current Castle theme. I was slightly interested in this Castle theme when it looked like the dragon soldiers had white skin color like some kind of counts, vampires, or undead but they turned out to be just normal humans. The Forest Ambush set looks kind of fun because of the good amount of minifigures and dog for cheap, but the good pieces not even being plated is a turn off. Lastly I agree with others, LotR isn't a long term license since it has nothing to help it sell to masses of children like SW does with constant new movies, cartoons, video games, etc. I could see LotR being a niche line produced in limited quantities aimed solely at hardcore Tolkien AFOLS and it could run for several years. there definetly are enough possible sets and battle packs that could be made. But, without the kids support it will never be as big as SW or last as long. Not that I think Game of Thrones could either. It's big right now but after the last book/tv season is over I think it's popularity will really die down (if not sooner). Plus, besides the dark content Lego would never do, I imagine it would be really hard to make sets for, even more so than LotR. I mean most of the scenes take place in huge cities or in the wild with character talking, how do you make those into sets? What do you build besides a huge Kings Landing or Winterfell?

Actually it is 200(Orthanc) + 100(Corsair Ship) + 60(Black Gates) + 30(Rivendell) + 13(Wizard Duel) = $403 in the U.S. then add in roughly 9% tax and that brings the total to $440... Personal I think I am gonna wait till Amazon gets the sets and drops the price 25% like they usually do a few weeks after getting everything in. That way the entire second wave will only be around 150 and no taxes or shipping and Orthanc I will buy in October during double VIP for $20 back. That will bring the total to a much nicer $370 or so.

And what's your point? Ents aren't terribly wide, they are tall. Look at the picture of the Ent next to Orthanc in the designer video, the Ent is almost 1/3 as tall as Orthanc (it's 9 inches compared to Orthanc's 28). The Eagle has a decent wing span but the body is ridiculously small. It's smaller than a horse or a Cave Troll, which in the films Eagles dwarf. I don't think anyone wants a to minifigure scale Eagle, but something slightly bigger would of been nice. They could of even doubled the body size, kept the wings as is and it would of looked terrific with minifigures on it AND next to Orthanc. I mean, can you honestly look at this picture and tell me it doesn't look silly at all EDIT: Here is a super quick photoshop job I did to show how much better the Eagle could of looked, while still being good minifigure AND Orthanc scale. Wings were increased by roughly 20% and body 80%:

Very nice looking castle! I have to ask though, what pictures and sources did you use from around the internet? Was a large inspiration taken from the book (I haven't read it yet, only seen the tv series)? I only ask because your Winterfell looks quite a bit different than how it appears in the show. In the show the main gate is much more centered, there are a lot more round structures, and there is actually a completely separate area on the side with the tree.

I agree, that hair looks significantly better on Gandalf than the one we are getting (which doesn't look like his hair at all). I have no idea why Lego didn't originally mold his beard to fit it. It seems that is how they are with lots of things though. They could EASILY change things to make it look better, but don't. Is it an oversight by them, or just laziness? I mean why did the Hobbit Goblins have their faces show through the bottoms of their skull caps? Why haven't we gotten any different Orcs yet? I am not talking about new prints, just re-using old parts from the Castle/Hobbit waves that look similar to the stuff in the films to create "new" looking orc minfigs. And, speaking of which... Exactly! It's cool Lego is marketing the set as being able to be combined with another to create a bigger, better gate for those who wish to spend the money. It's NOT cool over half the minifigures are ones we would only want one of. Why not at least do the set like Orc Forge or Uruk-hai Army where you only include one, maybe two main characters and the rest army builders? I would of loved to see Aragorn in Gondor attire, a Gondor soldier, the Mouth of Sauron, and then 2 Mordor Orcs. That way Gandalf the White could be an exclusive and appear in a later set (Minas Tirith? ). It would also be easier to buy two Black Gate sets instead of buying one and seriously thinking about BrickLinking the parts for the other since I really don't want anymore Gandalfs, Aragorns, Mouths, or even those mundane orcs.

I think the current eagle would be fine if it were slightly bigger or a really good mold. Unfortunately it's neither. Lego doesn't have to make the Eagle to minifigure scale as that would be huge indeed, but they could of at least made the body bigger than a horse? I think the body should have been roughly the same size as a Cave Troll (not the same shape obviously), or even slightly smaller athan that would have been fine. As is it just comically small with a minifigure on it. Also, ANY articulation besides the wings would have been great. In the legs, the neck, or even just allowing the beak to open and close? As is the Eagle has an awkward pose and other than it's wing's there is nothing you can do about it. Heck, Lego didn't even bother painting it's feet which just looks bad.

Hmm, brick separators even in the sets under $40? I hope those arn't adding to the cost too much, I already have like a dozen from last years LotR and Hobbit waves alone!

Definitely not a "full" sled, but I could see them making a Radagast minifigure, a brick built sled, and including 3 rabbits or so. Lego would probably need new molds for the rabbits, so that is the only real issue I foresee. I don't think it's very likely Lego would make new molds for a small set that will only be used once.

A Radagast bunny sled would make an excellent $9.99-12.99 set if it's features at all in DoS.

True, they might give us some barrels (which adults would know what is in, kids not so much), but I dunno about pipes. I think smoking is frowned upon a little more than drinking wine since it causes cancer.

I don't think it is very likely Lego will make a set that include pipes and tobacco since these are still children's' toys after all. I would guess a Treebeard set will either be set in Fangorn Forest with Merry, Pippin, and Grishnakh, or at Orthanc with some Mordor Orcs and Merry/Pippin. What the build will be, I have no idea.. probably just Treebeard himself (like Shelob was)?

Lol! Very nice! I agree with pathas though, I am not a fan of them as yellow, it just looks odd (probably since I am so use to seeing them in flesh color).

Lego has the license to the movies and not the books so it's much easier to guess what sets may be made for LotR since we have already seen all three films. With the Hobbit, we have no idea what Peter Jackson is adding or taking away from the book to make it into a film. With that said, I think the only safe bet is a Smaug set. Wether the setting be Laketown or Lonely Mountain is anyone's guess though. Personally I would like to see Beorn's House at the $50-60 price point, Laketown as a big 100-130 dollar set with a good chunk of Laketown and brick built Smaug, the Dol Guldur battle (if it's even in the second movie) as the $80 set, Thranduil's throne room or something as the $30 set and then some random little set with probably 2 main characters and a totally boring build (which is to be expected at such a cheap price).

Oh, I know they have different aspects like their price points. I was just saying I don't think Lego usually does a retailer exclusive AND a S@H exclusive in the same wave, or so close to one another? Ya, I dunno why they would do that. On larger sets it makes sense they would have more mark up ($5 more on a $13 dollar set vs 5 dollars more on a 100 dollar set is a big difference, that's only a 5% increase on the $100 but almost a 50% increase on the $13). I dunno why a mid price set like the Stage Coach would be way more expensive than any of the other Lone Ranger sets though.

Does Lego usually do that? I thought the S@H set kind of was the equivalent of a retailer exclusive?

Canadian population = 34 million U.K. population = 62 million U.S. population = 311 million The U.S. has almost ten times the Canadian population and five times that of the U.K. I have touched on this several times before in this very thread when people complain about price differences. It's pretty simple. The U.S. not only has WAY more people to buy product, they also, on average, spend more on materialistic goods. Add in the fact there is more toy competition and it's pretty easy to see why Lego has lower prices in the U.S. compared to other parts of the world. For anyone who has shopped at Costco it's similar to that.. they sell bulk product there and it's cheaper than if you buy smaller amounts at other stores. The sheer volume makes up for selling it for less (though there are other factors as well). EDIT: Here is an explanation from Lego corporate: Our selling costs in Europe and Asia are higher than in the US because of the size of US market and retailers (economies of scale). Furthermore, the US market is by far the most price competitive in the world. These factors combined mean that we have for years priced our products higher in eg Europe than the US. In recent years, the difference has been increased due to the weakening US dollar – but we have consciously decided not to let this (hopefully short term) weakening of the dollar hurt the US consumer. And in order to stay profitable as a company, we cannot decrease our European prices – especially seen in the light of increasing cost pressure on oil, labor etc. Finally, final pricing in the market place is obviously determined by retailers, which is something we cannot and will not influence.

Lacking compared to what exactly? You do realize he tried to make this resemble an actual Lego set, right? Not some MOC that cost thousands upon thousands of dollars? Lots of people, myself included, feel this set looks amazing and would love to own an official Lego set like it. Heck, just look at all the people offering to buy it off of him. I realize this is your opinion and everyone is entitled to one, but in the future you might want to try and be a little more constructive in your criticism and a little less abrasive. Point out what you think could be improved and what you like and don't like. The catapult size you brought up was a good start, and I agree they are a little large for the set. I also think the walls could use some more detail (detail bricks in white would be perfect for this).

TRU does price match, but I don't think it applies to sales. When TRU has a sale they usually jack up the original price of the set even more than normal so a 25% off sale is really only like 5-10% off real MSRP. I don't think they will honor the MSRP value before the sale price since they are already giving it at a (very) slight discount. Sets like Helm's Deep are $130 MSRP but TRU has it for 150-160 depending if a sale is going on or not. Any other time they will price match, but why bother buying a set for MSRP from TRU when you can go just about anywhere else and get it for the same price without the hassle? Plus most other stores don't inflate MSRP prices or mark their sets up even more during sales to make the deal look much better than it actually is. Because of this I would never shop at TRU if I could get a set elsewhere for the same price or cheaper.

The all gray gives it a very artistic sort of feel. What is the scene suppose to be depicting though (besides the obvious duel between a knight and... )?

Ya, it most definitely won't be in store, but probably will show up online at places like Walmart.com and Amazon after it has been available at Lego S@H for awhile.

I think the Ent looks fine. Sure he looks a little dopey, but considering all the Lego minifigures are ridiculously cute (even the ones who have grotesque film counter parts), I'm fine with that. Plus not all the Ents exactly looks serious. Case in point:

My least favorite feature of the set is the Eagle. I know it's the same one as in the Black Gate set, but I didn't realize how puny and pathetic it was until I saw the pics of Gandalf riding it's back. It is literally like a third or fourth the size it should be as seen in the film. At the very least Lego should have made it double it's current size. As is it looks ridiculous. So far the molded creatures like the Cave Troll, Goblin King, and Wargs have been pretty darn good so it's a bit disappointing to see this Eagle. Sure the Wargs were a little fat compared to their Hobbit counter parts, but they still looked good. Besides the inadequate size, the Eagle also has next to no pose-ability. Sure the wings flap.. but that's it. Why not make it's legs move, or at the very least it's neck move and it's beak open and close? I am glad we are getting another Eagle because I plan on getting 2 Black Gate sets and Orthanc which will be 3 Eagles total and all I wanted, I just wish it would of been a little more imposing and majestic like the Eagles are in the films.