DaleDVM

Oops can't believe I missed this announcement. Thank you ISC for all of the hard work you have done. So much time and effort is put into this site that goes unnoticed. I hope life doesn't get to much in the way for leisure activities. Best wishes and hopefully some extra time can be spent with your LEGO bricks!

When I looked at a MOC from an AFOL. And yes TLG is stepping it up. I feel the terrain in the LOTR theme reflects the great scenery of the films, but also gives a nod to castle MOCs. More than any other theme castle seems to lend itself to great terrain.

I agree the prices don't seem too bad to me at all. I did actually expect worse. Gandalf arrives is a little expensive. Weathertop is quite pricey and I'm really not sure why. To be honest I actually find it quite puzzling? At $50 USD it would already be expensive but at $60? Perhaps it has something (easter egg) we have not seen yet that improves its value? Thanks for posting that back side view of the Uruk set. It is so sad that those arrow loops are made with 2 stud wide panels. Why not mold a 1x panel for that use so the back side of the walls don't look so nasty? I'm sure that would be a useful mold for every theme as well.

Yes I think we will be getting a second wave just before Christmas. It should coincide with the release of the movies. Nothing less would make sense marketing wise. Not sure what the licensing agreement is though...

Yes... King Theoden may be one of the best minifigs ever created by TLG. I just love that they got the horse on the ridge of the helmet perfect. As was mentioned previously. Instead of making a new mold for the helm of Theoden, Eomer, and a common rohan soldier they used different colors for the helmet and different printing. All different and yet cohesive as a faction. Genious strategy as the mold is the most expensive part. I am really blown away with all of these sets. The minifigs are beyond incredible and I really like the builds as well. In no other theme have I seen so much detail (and bricks) put into the terrain. Their are so many brick bricks in light bley it makes me drool. The detailed interior of helms deep is inspiring. So many weapons. It looks like we will be getting tons of the new CMF highlander longswords and the CMF spears. The banner is awesome as well. The new horse looks incredible. It appears to me that they will be able to wear the old barding and head pieces. But I would have loved someone to put them on and take a photo to make sure. Can anyone tell if the arrow lops are made out of a new 1x thickness (or width) panel piece? If so that is a brilliant solution without all of the extra brick. Also adds an element that goes well with the other panels thus allowing odd stud number construction with panels. There is so much to take in. So many photos, so many new molds, too much info...

Yes he was in Minas Morgul at this time. The Witch King was making preparations for Saurons return to Mordor. On Topic. I agree there will be plenty of sets for the black riders to show up in. If anyone wants all 9 now they can just bricklink or buy multiple sets.

Even though I am quoting deskp, these comments are not all directed at him. I think being critical of the sets is important. I helps in the process of design to get feedback. However, I think too many AFOLs do not have the foresight to see what effect "their needs" might have on sales in general. I do not want the LEGO company to make sets that are best for my needs. If they did they would probably be bankrupt in a few short years. Then how would my needs be met? AFOL's needs are best served by a healthy company selling tons of LEGO to future generations of fans. The exclusive sets more fully meet AFOL needs. Exclusives along with occasional perks (new molds, parts in wanted colors, minifigs, etc. )in the regular sets should be enough for AFOLs. Complaining about what has not been released yet is useless. Ideas for future sets is fine but complaining that everything did not get released in the first wave is nutty. I couldn't have asked for much more in this first wave of sets. BTappels list is a great example of how good this wave is going to be. Everyone crying about this character or that character not being released is silly. TLG has to leave some characters for the future waves of sets. These are AFOLs who want their own needs fulfilled. They don't seem to care about the sales of the LOTR sets over the next few years? It is this shortsighted thinking that bothers me the most. I am thankful TLG is smart enough to release the sets in a controlled manner. This leads to great sales over the long term. I wholeheartedly agree with those on this thread that say be patient. Lets see what the final release is. Give constructive criticism about the current sets and ideas about future sets. But please don't ask for a set with 4 unique minifigs, 2 horses, 200 bricks, and new molds for every sword, helmet, and armor piece for $10.00. This isn't contructive and doesn't move the discussion forward.

I am glad to see Shelob is black/brown and not red like in the poster. I love the Rohan horse banner! Other than that I don't see things very clearly. The photo is too small. I wish it was at a higher resolution?! I like Theodens helmet, I think... It is not a half carrot. He is putting it into a pot. I don't see any dark tan on helms deep. And yes that horse in Gandalf Arrives looks shorter. This is because its head is posed closer to the ground than the horse next to it. It is an optical illusion. I can't wait for real photos so all of this speculation can end. Then we can talk about the real effects of all the new molds.

I don't blame LEGO in the no photo policy. In the one month time between the London Toy Fair and the New York Toy Fair changes are made in the sets on display. This is because the new molds and colors often aren't ready until then. A lot of stand in parts are used until the final product is made. This often results in us AFOLs ranting on the nasty looking set. It happens on these forums all of the time. Then the final version is released to critical acclaim.

I'm with you Odin's son Fred. I said in an earlier post. No individual characters and no sarcophagus/treasure chests in the battle packs. If TLG hasn't learned that by now then I don't know what will get the point across. Every time they make a battle pack with those flaws they sit on shelves forever. They usually have to sell them on clearance. When they make them like the castle theme. They sell out in less than 6 months. Please LEGO when you make a battle pack keep it exclusively to one faction and generic minifigures.

I think the idea of battlepacks is to make them so you want more than one.

I see your point Gryphon but I do disagree on Gandalf. My beef is with putting a rod in Gandalfs hand and calling it a staff. The rest of the fig is ok. I am hoping the beard has a bit of hair at the back too. I just don't think it is right that the Uruks get 3 new molds that will never get used again on any other fig. Gandalf gets a new beard that will be used over and over. More or less it is like Gandalf rated no new mold at all. He is the main character when you consider all 5 movies or both stories. I find the effort on him to be lacking. I am still hoping for his staff. We will see. I do agree about the Nazgul. I think they look just fine. I am not sure what more could have been done for them either. I immediately recognize them as ringwraiths. That is the pass test for me. I imagine more of these will show up at the prancing pony. I hope they do not make a Ford of Bruinen set. Just include those characters in other sets and make your own. As a battle pack it is a total waste cuz who wants more than one sick Frodo/Arwen, and once you get 9 wraiths you don't want any more of those either. I think the closeup of Gollum is just awesome. His expression is perfect for the Shelob attacks set. He is in the perfect pose. He could be ambling along with the hobbits, trying to catch fish, or even fighting with the hobbits. I think we will get two different heads for him. He will show up in another set with the (Smeagol) poster face.

I imagine his head on the poster (Smeagol) will come in another set. In shelob attacks his head is the Gollum head because at that point in the movies he has turned completely bad. His arms are not skeleton arms. These arms are fuller and squared off as opposed to perfectly round like skelton arms.

I guess a cape is possible. However, I think the cape ends up laying a little funny when it is crushed onto the back of the figure.

Thanks for the photo of the Moria Orc. I hope that print looks good on the torso. I can't really tell from the angle the photo was taken. Again it is a waiting game.

Fellowship: The fellowship looks good and much better than the earlier poster. The use of the highlander sword does not bother me at all. Boromir looks much better now. His shield and cloak really make him stand out. Too bad LEGOlas can't have a quiver or a cape. The hobbits are perfect. Gimli's axe is ginormous! (easily fixed) His helm is incredible. The lack of a staff for Gandalf is nutty. A bar for a staff? Atleast his torso is printed. The beard looks like it may have some hair around the sides? I hope so cuz without some hair in the back it will not look like him. He is the most important character across all 5 movies and he only gets a new beard? I cannot express how disappointing the Gandalf fig is to me. Baddies: I acutally like gollum. I think he will come with two different expressions for his split personality. (the poster shows Smeagol and the minifig Gollum) The Uruk looks great. What is the Uruk's actual skin color? The two orcs are nice but I don't like that they look like they are wearing gloves. I'm not sure about that moria orc torso. I can't tell what that reddish area on the torso is. The ringwraith is great. Overall things are looking pretty good. I don't think that LEGOlas and the orcs have the same hair mold. They appear to be different to me. The orcs hair rides higher on the head and the hairline is shaped differently. LEGOlas ears seem to be smaller as well.

Very nice pillars Elander. I am truly impressed you made them modular like that. I agree that I would like them even more in dark grey. If a pillar was ever going to make up a set this would be the way to do it. However, I agree that these are great for a MOC and lack the playability needed for children to buy them. I personally think that army building sets should be just that, army builders with very few bricks if any at all. Only one faction should ever be in an army building set. Mixing figures of differing factions sets the ratio of one faction vs another. This can force one faction to be larger than the other or force them to be the same size. I like to make up my own ratio for good to bad guys. It also doesn't account for people who only want to collect certain factions and not the others. The castle battle packs from the fantasy era and kingdoms have been almost perfect in my eyes. They had 5 different figures all from the same faction with no extraneous parts. The way those battle packs sold out in a very short period of time should be proof of their success. Hopefully TLG has learned from these and will keep making them like that. On the contrary the POTC, pirates, and pharoahs quest battle packs have suffered from flaws. POTC and pirates battle packs have mixed factions. They also contain individual characters i.e. Pirate Captain/Jack Sparrow. Who wants 20 pirate captains? The Pirates/Pharoahs quest had non army building parts i.e. (sarcophagus,treasure chest) I have seen every one of these battle packs put on clearance at one point because they didn't sell well. If pharoahs quest had a couple of anubite warriors instead of the sarcophagus I would have bought them up. The alien conquest battle pack has a civilian in a suit. The other four figures are pretty good army builders. I wonder how it will sell?

I do agree this wave is short on common soldiers. I am surprised that Helms Deep doesn't come with atleast 1 common rohan soldier. I am not worried, there will be plenty of sets with more common soldiers in future waves. I think battle packs in the SW vein are very likely as well. The Uruk Hai army set is the one I hope we can easily modify. I plan on buying multiples of this set. I hope it is easy to change Eomer to a common soldier/rider of rohan. As long as the torso and helmet aren't too specialized we should be able to do it.

I have 54 elves (a rather small faction in my castle world) but I doubt I have the most either... Someone out there has to have a hundred or more.

I think the ratio in the army building sets is good. If anything there are too few baddies. I don't see how 1 rider charging in on 4 Uruks is any different than 2000 charging in on 10,000. The ratio is very much the same. The orc forge is not going to be an army building set for me. It is way too heavy on bricks. I think Helms Deep is on regular plates as well. If they are baseplates they would be really chopped up and cut to size.

I agree that set is not particularly cost efficient. If it really concerns you I would recomend waiting. Gandalf will certainly be in another set. The Bridge of Khazad dum is one scene that is very likely to be produced. I just hope they have their best designers working on the Balrog! I spend so much on LEGO that one overpriced set is the least of my worries, especially when it is one of the cheapest.

I've got just about every castle set ever made. Yes the older castles are boring and I have the oldest ones disassembled in boxes right now to protect them from light. Currently I am missing 21 sets out of 500 or so castle sets ever made. A few I am missing are copies of previous sets with a new set number. I can't bring myself to spend a lot on the same set released with a different set number. The others are obscure sets sold at gas stations or exclusives to other coutries. These are really hard to find. Not sure I will ever aquire those? Right now I would rather spend money on current LEGO sets where I get more pieces for my money. MOCing changed me from a collector to a mass consumption kinda guy.

Seriously? It is the opening scene from the Fellowship of the Ring. I can't think of a better cheap set to start the theme out with. Should they have made it a rocket cart with lasers so it would be different than previous castle carts? We should remember that people buying LOTR may not have ever bought a single castle set before. Gandalf arrives depicts the scene from the movie and that is exactly what TLG was trying to do. Perfect IMHO. As far as the rest of the sets go. I think they are pretty good recreations. TLG is trying to make playable scenes from the films at a reasonable piece count. I think they depict scenes from the movies pretty well. The prices I have seen are pretty good value for the piece count in the sets. Sure we can MOC these locations much better than this, but they would never sell because they would cost too much. I don't mind people expressing their opinions good and bad. I do it all the time. However, coming onto the forum and complaining that Lothlorien or Rivendell would have been better than Gandalf arrives is nutty! How could TLG do a set like that at a price of about $10 - 15. I wouldn't be worried about getting scenes like that either. TLG is going to do a lot more locations before this line is exhausted.

The articulated legs in the rear help with several poses. You can make the horse bucking like a rodeo horse or running by attaching the front legs to a stud and putting the rear legs out at different angles. Attaching at the rear legs to a stud makes the horse rear up.

Ouch on the price of the orc forge. It is gonna be hard to army build with that set. Too many bricks. Now more than ever I hope we get some sort of battlepack with very few bricks. Especially for the bad guys. I was really hoping to make an army of atleast 1000 orcs and 200 uruks. We will have to wait and see if better army builders become available. However, that doesn't help me when planning my purchases for later this year.