Deathleech

Exactly my point! I just re-read the Hobbit a month ago and don't even remember exactly when Orcist was used or mentioned, since it was so little. I remember tons of other details, but almost nothing about Orcist or Glamdring other than them being ancient elven blades that glow. I don't remember them being used or mentioned much after that since Thorin didn't even have Orcist throughout most the book and after Gandalf got Glamdring he disappeared for a majority of it. Why then would Lego create unique, new molds for something that plays such a minor role? It would be cool if they could add every little detail, but unreasonably costly so they have to pick and choose. I am glad we got unique molds for almost all the dwarven hair pieces rather than a Glamdring or Orcist mold. Oh Lego easily could of done a work around, they did it with Fili and Kili and just made their hair have a small part where the quiver is. It doesn't look too noticeable without a quiver due to the scraggly hair, and with it looks fantastic. The elves not Not being able to equip a quiver with their hair piece doesn't really bother so much as the fact Lego has used the same hair for EVERY LotR/Hobbit elf so far, just in different colors. At least give us one or two other options?

Neither sword is really mentioned that much in the book, and Thorin barely even uses Orcist other than at the Battle of the Five Armies. After they initially get the weapons I think they are only mentioned maybe 2-3 times total throughout the rest of the book. Unless the films are different, I could understand why Lego wouldn't bother making a special mold for either.

I wish I would of waited and not ordered mine online and instead just got them all in store. TRU was running a $25 off any purchase of $100 or more deal so I could have got the same 21 polybags to reach the 100 dollar limit, saved $10 on shipping, AND got 25 off. That would of made the total each polybag only $3.80 instead of $4.99... dang impatience

Interesting. So it sounds like I was partly right in them not being too concerned with the minifigure/cape as it was a promo/exclusive. I gotta say though, I am surprised they referred you to a website to purchase the piece you want.

What's odd though, is the two TRU stores I have been to with Hobbit sets out only had the Riddles for the Ring, Mirkwood Spiders, and Unexpected Gathering, along with the polybag. Both stores had the exact same selection. A few others have reported the same thing at their local TRU stores. Why don't they have the Goblin King Battle of Attack of the Wargs sets? The Barrel Escape I can see, it might not come in till later or since it's an exclusive may not be ready to put out just yet. But there's not much explanation for the other two sets, especially when K-mart and now reports of Wal-Mart has had both from the start..

Interesting indeed, if not a little odd. I mean all the other Hobbit toys such as the action figures have been on shelves for months now. Also why would K-mart be putting them outa week or two early, but not any other retailer?

I am currently at 21 when my order arrives. I plan on using some as Ithilien Rangers, getting some extra elf ears and hairpieces for a portion of the others, and leaving the rest as is except adding all my Eomer capes laying around. I am not sure if it technically is called a super TRU, I just know its much larger than any of the other couple of TRU stores near me. Coincidentally I did go back to the smaller one I checked yesterday that had nothing and they had the elf polybags out now, as well as some freshly stocked Hobbit sets. Both TRU stores only had the Mirkwood Spider, Riddles, and Gathering sets out, no Warg or Goblin King sets. The bigger TRU had prolly 30 or so elf polybags while the small TRU only had 10 or so. However the smaller one ha tons of Unexpected Gatherings sets while the bigger TRU only had 3.

I just visited the "super" TRU near me and picked up 10 more of the Mirkwood Elf Guard polybag, in addition to the 10 I have coming in the mail. They also had the Riddles for the Ring set, the Mirkwood Spiders, and the Unexpected Gathering. I passed on all three as I refuse to pay the jacked up TRU prices unless there is no other option like with the elf polybag. Plus I am sure I will find them for MSRP or even lower somewhere else soon. I left about ten polybags at the store. I was at another smaller TRU the other day and they didn't have any sets at all, no polybag or anything.

I would assume in Lego's eyes the cape length isn't a huge deal. It's not like they didn't give an advertised part, it's just an altered version (I guess you could argue they didn't give us that half an inch oif fabric though! ). Not only that, the Elrond minifigure is largely a promotional item. For a lot of people it's NOT the main reason you are buying the game, the actual game is. Of course for many of us AFOLs it's different, but many places don't seem to terribly worried about us getting the Elrond figure or the right cape shown on the packaging. Look at Gamestop, they didn't even seem to care if people got the figure at all since it was just a pre-order bonus. I would assume this is at least partly the reason for Lego's indirect, varying response to the issue.

Right, the sets aren't even supposed to be released "officially" till next week. It seems like Lego has been pretty strict with this as some sites have put them up temporarily and then removed the listings almost immediately. Amazon had a couple sets for pre-sale yesterday and they were gone a few hours later. TRU had the Mirkwood Elf Guard and it was taken down within a day. This makes me wonder if K-mart had some special deal with Lego to release the sets early, or they just released em despite being told not to by Lego. It seems weird K-mart of all places would have a deal with Lego as K-mart never even gets exclusive sets like Wal-mart/Target/TRU, and due to the fact K-mart is on the verge of going under.

No, but thank you! I gotta say, that looks really good, better than just the hood alone. And it also finally gives me something to do with all those Eomer capes I have laying around!

Any chance we can see the green hood with Eomer's green cape on?

I got confirmation and tracking number mine has shipped, but nothing comes up when I check the tracking number. I assume this means it's all packaged up and ready to be picked up by the shipper. I can't wait to get them! I am still gonna check TRU regularly to try and snag a few more though, or hope they are put back up online next week when the rest of the hobbit sets are officially released.

Lol, that's what I thought when I first saw it. It looks like a great build, but maybe if he just used some different colors to accent some areas and break up all the brown it might look slightly better? A black roof, some tan, yellow, or black around the doors/windows, etc.

Where abouts are you located? Again, where are you located? And also was there any mark up on the sets like TRU usually does?

I know they offered the Frodo Cooking Corner polybag as a promo for the LotR sets a few different times, but they also had it available for purchase the entire time as well. I am wondering if the same will happen with the Mirkwood Elf Guard? If we don't see it pop back up when the new Hobbit sets are released next week I would guess we weren't suppose to be able to buy it individually. Personally I am not too worried...

Eh, I would imagine the characters themselves are much more desirable than just the hair pieces in those sets, and would easily drive the sales alone. Both of those sets have their entire minifigure range made up of exclusive characters, other than Bilbo in the Barrel Escape and parts of the elf guard. I mean sure people who ONLY want the hair piece might buy the entire $30 or $40 set for it, but I find that hard to believe. They would be more likely to go to Bricklink or eBay if they are that die hard. With the Mirkwood Spider set having 2 exclusive dwarves, exclusive Tauriel, and Legolas in exclusive clothing, and the Barrel Escape having 2 more exclusive dwarves and the exclusive Elf Captain/Butler, it's hard not to buy them, even if they elven hair piece is in a cheap polybag. I do agree this is an amazing polybag though, and dang near perfect. This is what the first LotR wave polybags SHOULD of been like. We get an elf that isn't the exact same as the one in the Barrel Escape set, and there is no other cheap way to get it and army build with. The Uruk-hai polybag was good, but we had just as good an alternative way to army build Uruk-hai with the Uruk-hai Army set. The Frodo polybag was hands down terrible since we had two other extremely cheap options for getting the exact same minifigure. I hope, if there is another polybag, we get something else unique that will be highly desirable and useful while not hurting the bigger sets sales. Personally I would love some goblins from the Goblin King Battle set.

I would be extremely surprised if it didn't go back up next week, probably the 27th when the rest of the sets are suppose to officially be released.

It's a dang good polybag, no doubt. I dunno about the best ever though. If it had both a hood and hair piece, a cape, and some alternate sword weapons I would probably agree and say it's the best ever (maybe have the hood color match the torso color too, they still seem a bit off from the pics...). Right now it's just very, very good in my eyes! Are you sure? I thought it was green gems/emeralds as well. I know at the end it specifically mentions he got most the emeralds when the dwarves are divvying out their loot. I am sure it will be put back up, probably next week on the 27th when they officially release all the Hobbit sets. They did the same thing with the LotR sets, TRU and Target they had em up a short amount of time then quickly removed the listing (I think TRU just listed em all as out of stock and Target removed the listing). A week or two later both retailers had them back up at their online store. As for the elf, I totally agree and that's the exact reason I want a hair piece with ears included with the hood. Without the hair, the figure just doesn't look like an elf at all. It's how you distinguish them in Lego form in my mind. Granted the hood is infinitely more useful, but as is the figure looks more like an Ithilien Ranger to me than a Mirkwood Elf!

I already ordered ten and want to get ten more. I am hoping TRU will have their exclusive Barrel Escape set available next Tuesday on the 27th and I will order the rest then to get free shipping. Hopefully they also have some sod of deal going on for at least 10-20% off.

Interesting, though I have to say some of those sound extremely generic such as Kings Castle.

Did you get them online or locally? I checked my local TRU tonight and they had nothing. When you do post a review, can you also put Eomer's cloak on the elf (if you have one) so we can see how it looks? I ordered mine online and won't be getting them till later this week or early next but am anxious to see how it looks.

The Uruk-hai Army set was still a far better deal though, unless you strictly wanted the fully armored Uruk-hai and nothing else. With the Uruk-hai Army set you are getting 6 minifigures, a new horse, and 257 pieces. That comes out to be around 5 bucks per minifigure and 12 cents per piece. With the Uruk-hai polybag you were getting one minifigure for 5 bucks and 21 pieces which is 24 cents per pieces (at a normal polybag price of $4 it's 4 per minifig and 19 cents per piece.. though I know some people got lucky getting them super cheap through the Sun promotion which is obviously an unbeatable deal at around a buck). That reminds me, speaking of the Uruk-hai polybag was the one given out during the Sun promotion in a much bigger baggy than most poylbags? I ordered one off eBay as I live in the U.S., and apparently the only place to get them was at Discovery Centers. I was just wondering if all the Uruk-hai polybags had the same super huge bags as the one I recieved or if it was just the ones sold there... I do agree, the hood is probably more useful since you can use it with a quiver and it's a more unique color. I also think it will look amazing with Eomer's cape and make for some great modded Ithilien Rangers. I just would of liked to have both options with the hair and ears. I find not having the ears/hair pieces makes them look much less elvish and much more like normal humans since the rest of the Lego body is identicle other than the printing.

If all the other Lego games are available on Mac, I am sure LotR will be too (unless the game totally flops). The real question is just when it will be available...

If it had the elven hair and ears AND the hood I would bought at least double. As is I am at 10, thinking about getting 5-10 more...