Blakstone

A lot of Hobbit action figures hit the clearance bins around me. I think these movies target a younger audience that does not buy their own collectibles.

Mine arrived yesterday. Thanks again Cop Mike.

There are photos from the toy show but I don't see any Hobbit sets in them. Perhaps we will have better luck at New York.

Fellbeast hopefully with a Witch King on it

Only one of my local Targets ever had this series and none of the Walmarts carried it this time around. Series 10 and 11 were carried at all six of these Walmarts and Targets. It seems to be returning to the pre-series 10 days. I did find them at one of my Walgreens though. In my area, it seems to be an issue with people opening the packets in the store. Recently one Target put out an entire endcap display of series 9 but someone had cut tiny slits in the bags to see who was inside. I only discovered when I felt one and the bag tore worse. Another Walmart had a series 11 endcap display stuffed sideways on an unrelated aisle. I made room in the cluttered LEGO aisle and the next week about half were sold. I just go the Emmet one today. I was on the fence since there are so many Emmets in the sets but the unique helmet and printed tile won me over. I had all the minifigs I want (I successfully avoided the mermaid) and the extras too. Now I happily await Series 12.

I think going forward (Series 12 and beyond) each minifig will have a code to unlock the character in the game. They need the series as a continual promotion of the game.

It is a retailers catalog, not the end consumer. Interesting. I did not see mention on the eBay page that there was a page for LotR and three for the Hobbit. But if that is true, that could mean that there are still some existing LotR sets available for retailers to order this year. If there is news in there about new LotR sets, I bet it will leak soon. The auction has already ended.

This is sixth week of Middle-Earth Madness. Lothlórien Wins for a second week in a row but can it withstand an army builder? If you had to pick only one Dream set, which would it be? Lothlórien OR Mordor Battle Pack Just like last week, these are dream sets so there is no hard or fast rule on what has to be included in either. Imagine you had a chance to greenlight just one LEGO Lord of the Rings set based on a simple description. Which one would you want? Summary from previous week(s): Week 5 - Lothlórien defeats Prancing Pony 23 to 13 Week 4 - Lothlórien crashes Mount Doom 35 to 5 Week 3 - Mount Doom defeats the Rohan Battle Pack 14 to 11 Week 2 - Rohan Battle Pack defeats the Watcher in the Water 14 to 7 Week 1 - Rohan Battle Pack defeats The Green Dragon 23 to 4. [Moderators, can you convert this thread into a poll please?]

Lothlórien defeats Prancing Pony 23 to 13.

Exactly so. (I agreed with your entire post but I wanted to highlight this portion specifically. Both sets were kept in stock for a long time. The differences make that much easier than just another large faction "castle".

The 2011 LEGO Stockholders' Report that said that the PotC was exceeding expections. LEGO cancelled it anyway since it lacked movie tie-ins.

This week we found out that Galadriel is comign in a Hobbit set. I have to switch my vote from Lorien to The Prancing Pony. I loved both the MMV and the London Escape with the Captain's Daughter pub. I can see The Prancing Pony being in a simlar vein.

I agree. I think LEGO skimped on the Gandalf design using no new molds for either the Gray or White. But I appreciate the extra detail in Sauramon. I wonder how many of the molds created for the LotR line have to remain exclusive to that line. Some Star Wars stuff in individually copy writed such as the Stormtropper helmet. But the Prince of Persia dagger has found its way as a common elf dagger in The Hobbit line. Would the Uruk helmets, shields, and swords ever show up in a regular Castle line or are they too distinctive for LotR? They already gave then to orcs in the same theme.

The Pirate Ship Ambush was a bit of a random set. Sure, it was designed to bring non Tolkien fans to table. But LEGO does not make new molds for D2C. The molds needed for Orthanc had to be created for other cheaper sets. Sauramon's unique hair was created for The Wizard Battle. the Eagle was created for the Battle at the Black Gate, and the gothic arches were created for The Council of Elrond. If LEGO replaced The Wizard Battle for anything Gondor related, then Sauramon would have had the same hair and beard (albiet in different colors) then Gandalf the White. I agree that the second wave leaves so much undone that LEGO probably planned at least a third wave. However, that might have changed due to sales figures, another hot new license, or production schedule that has really hampered even the latest Star Wars wave. If you want to hold onto a glimmer of hope that LotR is still coming back, remember that the retailers catalog said that The Hobbit was part of an "evergreen" IP. LEGO generally uses that term to mean that they will keep something around for a long time.

If LEGO was going to use the same Smaug mold for both sets, I suspect they would want different printing on each. I had been considering that possibility too but wouldn't that hurt sells of each? Us AFOLs would be impressed and buy both if we were able. But I could see kids getting the cheaper of the two sets with Smaug in it.

The City Artic sets have a new articulated mold for their polar bear. I wonder if that is so it can do double duty as Beorn in full bear mode.

I like the Council of Elrond set. I think LEGO was wise to introduce a new leaf color to the set to encourage general LEGO fans to buy it. The issue with it for me was there was not enough reason to buy multiples. Once you have Elrond and Arwen, you were done. If LEGO had included a generic Rivendale guard or servant instead of another Frodo, then I suspect many of the AFOLs would have bought multiples.

I had not seen DoS yet (probably waiting until a DVD / Blueray with an exclusive minifigure shows). Since I heard that Sauron has a ghostly hint of his First Age armor in it that the Witch King has a ghostly hint of his RotK armor too. Too bad. But if someone wanted to make a twilight version of Frodo and the Ringwaiths on Weathertop MOC, this might help.

From Brick Fanatics: "Collectable minifigures news, Series 12 is due October 2014. Each comes with a code to unlock something. Simpsons will all be unique minifigs in the series and price points staying at £2.49" I am already ready for this series as I got what I needed from The LEGO Movie series and don't want any of The Simpsons.

Actually The Hobbit version of the Witch King is good news. LEGO likes to be able to reuse molds. Hopefully it will make it cheaper to have the RotK Witch King in a future set.

Yes, the new LEGO product is showing up at MSRP in Toys R Us but the sets that were there before December have not come down in price.

I doubt the London Toy Fair this week or the New York Toy Fair next month will bring us any info on Middle-Earth sets. Still there is always good information to be found on other themes. But we is there to talk about? We could rehash older debates if you want. ;-)

New York Toy Fair 2014 will take place February 16-19, 2014.

This is fifth week of Middle-Earth Madness. For the second week in a row, we had a new champion last week: Lothlórien Before we return to Battle Packs next week, there is one last set that is often talked down as being undeserving in a limited schedule: The Inn of the Prancing Pony If you had to pick only one Dream set, which would it be? Lothlórien OR The Prancing Pony Just like last week, these are dream sets so there is no hard or fast rule on what has to be included in either. Imagine you had a chance to greenlight just one LEGO Lord of the Rings set based on a simple description. Which one would you want? Summary from previous week(s): Week 4 - Lothlórien crashes Mount Doom 35 to 5 Week 3 - Mount Doom defeats the Rohan Battle Pack 14 to 11 Week 2 - Rohan Battle Pack defeats the Watcher in the Water 14 to 7 Week 1 - Rohan Battle Pack defeats The Green Dragon 23 to 4. [Moderators, can you convert this thread into a poll please?]

Indeed. The seat of Lord Sauron was smashed 35 to 5 by Lothlórien this week.