Blakstone

Sandmirror, I think that works for Cat C. It includes all of the Hobbit book and movies. If you want to go beyond that, you can if you include Bilbo.

Understood, Sheepeater. My inspiration for the build was Elrond's speech which makes it appear that she would live a very long time and spend the entirety of that time mourning. I liked the beauty in the scene but I decided to change her fate in the MOC.

We don't even have even blurry, pixelated images with stand-in minifigures.

Most hair pieces are not so iconic that they cannot be used elsewhere. But reusing a Stormtrooper helmet or a Batman cowl could jeopardize a relationship for the licensee. Some things are more vague like how the Prince of Persia Dagger of Time was reused in the Hobbit sets. I found that surprising myself.

I would love for Minas Tirith to make it to 10,000 supporters. It is unlikely that LEGO would make this set via Ideas or even make another LotR set. However, it would require internal discussions on LotR. That by itself would be a major victory. Who knows, there may even be such a set later. The UCS Tumbler and UCS Sandcrawler were both rejected by CUUSOO / Ideas but very similar sets were made.

Good point. I will retake those shots and better position the statue. The bier is actually the right size but I did not position the statue correctly after moving the builds outside. I did not realize that Arwen was half elven, but the movies at least muddled her choosing mortality since Elrond would spend her very long life doing nothing but mourning her husband. This challenge let us rewrite the fate of the characters after the fell of Sauron. So I figured it was silly to say that she would haunt the world in mourning. Gimli got to go to the undying lands because Legolas built a boat. I figured that Arwen could too. The movie said that Arwen gave her place for Frodo but who gave their place for Bilbo or Gimli?

MEC Category B: Arwen's Fate Elrond once predicted Arwen's Fate should she forsake Valinor in order to remain with Aragorn. "If Aragorn survives this war, you will still be parted. If Sauron is defeated and Aragorn is made king and all that you hope for comes true, you will still have to taste the bitterness of mortality. Whether by the sword or slow decay of time, Aragorn will die. And there will be no comfort for you. No comfort to ease of his passing. He will come to death an image of the slender of kings of men, in glory undimmed before the breaking of the world. But you, my daughter, you will linger on in darknesss and doubt as night following winter comes without a star. Here you will dwell bound to your grief under the fading trees until all the world is changed and the long years of your life are utterly spent. Arwen, there is nothing for you here... only death." And so it came to pass, Arwen remained and married Aragorn, now Elessar King of Gondor. Eventually Aragorn finally succumbed to the slow decay of time. He was immortalized in the fashion of the kings of old. Arwen mourned the death of her husband for many years... Though the fullness of an elf's life last much longer than grief. The sagas tell us of another scion of an elf lord who missed the last boat from the Gray Havens to the West. Legalos son of Thranduil fashioned his own ship to take both him and Gimli to the undying lands. When her grief was finaly spent Arwen built her own vessel. Arwen built and painted the ship and soon joined her father, brothers, Bilbo, Frodo, Gimli, and the rest of her elven friends in the undying lands to the West.

Have you considered awarding any tags to participants of the contest? I would really like a Middle Earth tag.

It is obvious if you dig back to the original link, which I just did. http://www.panabook.gr/product_info.php?cPath=10_270&products_id=18891 It is a Greek page that posted it but that list is in English. So it was translated before it was posted.

It is a very build but I think you misunderstood the Mod. It has to be an adventure of Bilbo's. It is a shame though as this doesn't lend itself to a set (too dense a build) and cannot be set after The Lord of the Rings. ='ZCerberus It has to be a chapter from Bilbo's book, but as you can see, you can ADD one. So if you wanted Bilbos adventures post ring, then you are adding a chapter to his book and you are indeed within the rules. --- I couldn't copy the quote text from the rules thread on my iPhone properly. Sorry.

Cullmancreations, it is hard to say whether it would make a good investment. I think we are in a bubble for LEGO investing personally. That said, I have one set, Battle of Helm's Deep, that I bought on clearance as an investment. My reasoning is that if I don't or cannot sell it, I can use it. It is all great brick and a second copy of Theoden would be welcome. He is my favorite Tolkien character. So buy the Mines of Moria set as an investment if you are willing to risk not being able to sell it. After all, unlike stock investments, you can always have the minifigures and brick if you cannot sell at a profit.

I think as long as the design on the set who is paying the change cost, it is not an issue. After all, The Simpson's D2C house was on the market a month before the CMFs. However, it was the CMFs that paid for all the new molds in the D2C set. I do not believe that the Hobbit wave three sets were finalized whenever the Orthanc was. Instead, LEGO found it beneficial to reuse an existing mold that the Black Gate paid for. There is not a lot known on these things, but I came across a designer interview on Classic Castle where they discussed the change budget and its impact on the 2007 Castle line.

The Orthanc came out in July 2013 while the Battle of the Five Armies set came out in October of 2014. I don't think they got the mold for free for a year and change. The Black Gate set came out one month before the Orthanc.

New prints are very unlikely to happen in these sets. For years, LEGO used a very poor Santa with no printing a plain red hat and beard. It was only once they had a CMF Santa that we have switched to that design for the Winter Village, holiday decorations, and advent calendar sets. This years Winter Village has a new Mrs Claus skirt print, but they did not spring for a new torso piece at all. That was for a flagship set no less. This looks like a new promo set. If I can, I will start an online order for Black Friday as I expect triple VIP points as well as this set. I would have preferred the molded hockey sticks but I like the two sets of ice skates and that black lamp post. I bricklinked a bunch of those lamp posts as the white lamp posts look off to me.

I have to switch my Cat C entry to a Cat B entry after I take new photos. Do I just delete the link to my entry in the other thread or do I have to change the title of my existing thread? I had built the barrow before the contest and just realized that I am two studs over the limit for the Hobbit category.

Direct to Consumer sets do not get new molds. They did not include the eagle in the Black Gate set in order to use it again. They did it so they could have the eagle in the Orthanc.

That pirate ship was a fun set to build and it looks great. My only nitpick is that they included Gimli in it. We could have used a random orc or pirate instead. But that is really the point of it. I think most of the complaints are about what we didn't get. I don't begrudge the wave 2 sets... just that there is not a wave 3.

If you don't see the set on the shelf, ask. The OKC LEGO store had the Pet Shop in the back room since they only had two copies.

I think they did Black Gate so they could have the eagle for the Orthanc. They were trying to please the fans by adding the Mouth of Sauron. Assuming the rubber head piece mold costs the same as a ABS mold, they could have given us a new orc helm and print. Even if they did that, many would decry the set for not having Gondor soldiers. The Hobbit sets showed me that LEGO believes that kids don't want to army build unnamed good guys. We might have got a Faramir that might have been repurposed if there was a third wave. But I think that was it.

I would like to. I just couldn't figure out how to without sacrificing light. Maybe someday I will get a small photography studio like Just2good's.

MEC Category B: Pippin and the Barrow Downs Once Pippin got back from Gondor, it was too late. He had a taste for adventure and had to seek it out further. He decided to turn to the Barrow Downs that he, Frodo, Merry, and Sam wondered into on the way to Bree. After wandering around one barrow, he came across the entrance. After he moved the boulder aside, Pippin peered inside. He spied the riches of a long ago lord or king. Pippin grabbed one of the gold chalices lining the barrow to prove his tale to all the Brandbucks and Proudfoots in Hobbiton. Pippin would have us to believe that the long dead king sprung to life and chase him with an enchanted blade, but any sensible hobbit would not believe a word of it. I don't know where he and his young friends went off to for so long but I am too wise to believe in returning kings, cave trolls, or even long dead kings guarding their goblets. EDIT: I had started this MOC before the contest was announced. I released after I submitted it that it is 18 studs square, which is two studs too long each way. There was no easy way to slim it down so I decided to switch Bilbo for Pippin.

Thank you, Brotherhood.

Smart move. I recommend Battle Goddess, Hun Warrior, and Pizza Delivery Guy for future trades.

Except it would likely be a sticker.

Haunt the clearance aisles at Walmart and Target. You can likely find Attack of the Wargs reduced by $5-10. I did not need three of them but when prices are cut, it is hard to pass up on them. In a year, we won't be able to find any Middle Earth or even Castle sets anymore.