DaleDVM

Good call on the beard deskp. Kinda convenient that with the beard and a helm it will make the dwarves slightly taller than the hobbits with no new pieces necessary. I was just about to type that in. We are getting replies so fast that I can't keep up. A hot topic to be sure!

And what a brilliant strategy that is. It also makes me happy so I am not getting tons of repeat figures. How many of the old Harry Potters did people have after collecting all of those sets! I think this series may outsell SW next year. I can't tell you how many of my non-LEGO friends and family are going to buy these sets! To fives: It is wrong of any of us to make MOCing assumptions. I suppose since this is an AFOL site where a lot of people do MOC we tend to assume too much. I am hoping everyone likes the final products that come out!

I put in my post earlier that IMHO Merry is in weathertop and Pippin is in the mines. My reply was just too long for some to read fully. I am quite verbose. I certainly don't hate on those who hate these sets... However, I do wonder what sets exactly those people do like? I don't get much pleasure out of replies like these sets are great either. I like a little more detail if possible when having an intelligent debate on the sets merits. I personally think that the Medieval Market Village, Diagon Alley, and the Modular Buildings have raised some peoples expectations very high for sets. Remember the LOTR sets are aimed at a younger crowd than those previously mentioned sets. They are meant to be representative builds and playable scenes from a movie. They are not meant to be accurate or scale recreations. Everyone is entitled to their opinions but without a frame of reference sometimes it looks to others like some people are trolling and others are just cheerleaders. I really agree with Derfel. This may be setting the bar kinda low but a set could almost be just a pile of parts to me. If they are very good useful parts I could care less how they look when TLG designed them. I am going to put them together however I like anyway. Getting the minifigs, weapons, shields, heraldry, creatures, for the LOTR is ultimately all I really need from these sets since the rest we can MOC anyway.

I will note this. It appears the mockup for Helms deep was done before the others. The brick pieces on helms deep are tan while the uruk hai army set got light bley ones. Also Theoden's horse is an old horse tilted back and the real rearing horse is included on the uruk hai set. It suggests theoden's horse will be with the new mold as well. I do hope they make it white which is accurate and we get another color horse with the new mold.

Now I know these are just preliminary... but... Wow, a new horse mold was my first impression! My second was of great enthusiasm. The new horse mold has a bigger impact on us all since it will change many historic themes forever. LOTR is with us for just a few years after all. I would have preferred the horse to be posable in some way. Being able to change the angle at which it is rearing up would have been nice. However, I am happy that I can bring some life to my very stale looking cavalry units. I am also very happy about the tan horse. Sweet! Now you have to make the old horse in tan as well. Thank you LEGO. Gandalf Arrives: Cute little set. Nice plain cart which is exactly what it was in the movie. Nice use of the Ninjago snake as the dragon firework. Shelob Attacks: Pleasantly surprised. They did a nice job on Shelob. Gollum gets his own mold which is awesome. Attack on Weathertop: Very well done. Two levels of the hill, stairs, ruins, and those cute microfigs in solid grey for statues is awesome! I will buy multiples to get the two horses, the wraiths, and again those microfigs make great castle decorations! The extra hobbit in this set is Merry not Sam. Uruk-Hai Army: Literally perfection! I can't think of a better battle pack than this. All of the soldiers good and bad are generic. A nice piece of wall and a siege weapon (meh...) A new horse in tan! And is that chaffron (horses headgear) and saddle in brown or dark tan? The rohirrim helmet is just pure awesomesauce! Light bley brick pieces OMG! The mines of Moria: Thank the baker! They only tackled one scene with this set. I was worried they would try to fit the balrog in here too and do everything half a__ed. The rock walls and the door look good and mostly brick built. The well and tomb also look very nice. I for one am glad the cave troll is a molded piece. Brick built creatures, especially humanoid ones, tend to look like robots once you articulate the limbs. They are especially hard to build at smaller scale. I am all for animals and smaller creatures getting their own mold. Also the goblins have their own head mold. I am very happy about that. I think they look great! However, I can't tell what color they are? Anyone have a guess? My only complaint, I agree that one less skeleton and an extra goblin would have been the right move on this set. However, do not dispair I think these goblins are likely to show up again in an army builder type of set later. The hobbit in this set appears to be Pippin not Frodo. The Battle of Helms Deep: Although not at scale this set really has impressed me. I can't believe all of the features they were able to portray in a reasonably priced set. The gate, keep, hornburg, and culvert don't look bad at all. With several of these sets you could get a much better depicition if you would like. There are a good number of baddies in this set as well. I agree that the weathered (sand green bricks) look to the structure adds a ton of charm. Not so sure about the tan touches of brickwork added to it though. Would they look better in grey? The new molds for the LOTR will forever change the landscape of the castle theme so I thought I would comment on what I have seen. In general from the box art. The new helms for the uruks, gimli, and riders of rohan look like they are going to be great. I also like the uruk shield, I hope the Rider of rohan shield is not the same as the old viking decorative discs. Those were much too big for minifig shields. I dont see a stud in the middle either... wait a sec... is that a new piece? The Uruks appear to be a medium dark flesh color, the goblins color I am not sure of at all. The cave troll looks like he will be grey on the box art. The new weapons are hard to make out... pointy longswords is all that I see. LEGOlas has the collectors elf bow as expected and so far has collector elf hair as well but anything can change at this point. All in all I am mighty happy!

I would hope the Balrog and the Bridge of Khazad-Dum would b e a seperate set altogether. The Balrog is one of the best movie monsters of all time. It needs a seperate set to do it justice. But it is only a hope. Not sure TLG is going to take this license as seriously as the fans take it. We shall see.

Yes, I guess I should have said luckiest bricklink order. I got two sets that cost 120 and 30 for the condition they are in for 60 dollars. I consider myself very lucky indeed. Good to hear from you Nathan. I know I am not deserving as these are copies of sets I already own. But I am still very happy. Merry Christmas to you all!

Ok, so I am ordering a christmas set from Brandon's AZ Bricks on bricklink. I see he has a castle set for sale so I checked it out. After all shipping is better when spread out over more LEGO. He had a Knights challege 1584 for sale for $60.00. It said in great condition with all parts and instructions but no box. However, that was less than half of the price of the next competitor. I was a bit worried at that price there might be a problem with it. Well I wanted the holiday set anyway so I took the plunge and ordered both. I opened the ziploc bag and everything looked in perfect condition. Even the white princess fig still looks white. All printing is perfect and clips on the barding. But one thing seemed funny. It looked like too many parts. Then I noticed a third piece of barding and another smaller set of instructions. So I started putting things together and sure enough there was another complete set included in my order! A twin-arm launcher 6039 was included as well. It also was in perfect condition. The instructions for both sets have some wrinkles and a small tear but otherwise the pieces are literally perfect. I would guess these were never even played with or allowed to sit in sunlight. I don't really ever expect to be so positively surprised by anyone, but I thank Brandon for the best Christmas gift I have gotten in years. Here is hoping the holidays treat my fellow LEGO fans as well this season!

Finally a confirmation. Kingdoms coming to an end is pretty darn certain. I am a huge fan of Tolkein but I am still going to be cautious in my expectations. I am looking forward to the weapons armor and some of the prints (i.e. flags, shields, torsos) I am not looking forward to the fleshies. Please LEGO keep the flesh off of the torsos. I say that again. No flesh on the torsos PLEASE. These sets are going to be very expensive on a part by part basis. Replacing the heads and hands is going to be expensive enough. I don't want a buch of unusable torsos along with the expensive sets. All of you looking forward to elves are going to have to keep them fleshie or do some piece modification (because) those ears on the hair are going to be fleshie color. Atleast they will have an elf hairpiece that has longer hair than the current one. I suppose I can paint the ears with yellow. Worst yet is that the collector elf and the new ones will not look good together. I suppose I am going to have to decide which color to make them in the long run. Perhaps fleshie elves would give a place for all of my fleshie parts. The dwarves will have the same fleshie problem. The dwarves will be easier to change with just heads and hands to replace. The good thing is we should get a host of new beards for the dwarves, especially for the individuals for the hobbit movie. The dwarves are all main characters in those two films and have a variety of beard types. Articulating dwarf legs would be the greatest addition if it ever came true. I am hoping! I also hope the orcs, goblins, and trolls mesh well with the already exhisting ones. Although a darker green skin might be acceptable for mixing together, I am hoping for the same color just to get new heads for mixing into the troll armies I already have. This could be a very impressive run of LEGO product. I imagine set design will be pretty good (LEGO seems to have great designers these days) and these will sell very well. I do not expect the sets to stand up to AFOLs MOCs. We are not the target audience kids are. I would guess sales will only come in second to star wars. Like it or not there will be no regular castle released for 2-3 years.

Indeed that was a long list of sites. I haven't heard of over half of them...

I think it is supposed to be a sleepy faced yawn...

I agree that they could have replaced the soldiers and made squires for the set. I also agree about another civilian instead of the merchant/noble guy. However, the set would have been too good then; what would we have to discuss... Looks like grapes to me or perhaps an artichoke.

I have no desire getting any of the old factions done again in any way at all. First of all I have large collections of the old figs and sets. I don't want them to lose value because the classics are released again. The old heraldry and torsos look dated when compared with the modern designs being released right now. If anyone really wants the classics it is expensive but not impossible to aquire them. As far as the target audience is aware of the old black falcons never even existed. Heck I've had kids ask where I got the crownies, trolls, and skellies. I am a castle collector and I want new stuff to collect. By the time I am an old man I want to have as many castle factions as possible. So bring me some new material LEGO. I don't consider the new lions or dragons to have anything to do with the old crusaders or old dragon masters. They have different colors and different designs. I just figure they have similar symbols for their heraldry. They don't really look very good mixed in the same armies. Although the lions don't clash as badly due to a similar color scheme. There are hundreds of new animals or fictional ones they could use along with designs etc. to make new factions. There are colors that haven't been used frequently in the past and could be used as well. Keep coming out with new factions and I will be very happy.

Wow wow wow... I will collect all of these as usual and they all look so good. TLG is making me crazy with all of these great designs! The new flower stem is great! So many great hairstyles. The basket and the red hood are pure win. Bagpipes and a new historic hat. The crown made out of shells is a nice touch. The space marine is going to be the figure in highest demand. Being the first true space warrior fig LEGO has ever made will make army builders go nutso... Unfortunately with his bulky accessories they won't likely put more than 3 in each case. Lucky for me I will be army building the historic figs. The female viking, mayan/aztec, and red riding hood will be bought in 5-10 quantities. I will need atleast 50 of the new knight. I just love the spiky look of his armor and shield. I agree that the logo appears to be a boar. Great to have a new faction with a brand new logo. Why he has red eyes is beyond me?

That piece of meat is incredible... my medieval butchers shop needs it in quantities! I love the accessories in this wave. The bedhead hair is awesome. The sleepy guys face is great too. TLC is just incredible. I will get them all and army build several. The Roman is to die for and will be the toughest to get. I will try for a hundred of them. Unfortunately with two accessories (one which is printed) he will likely come 3 to a case. I will grab 25 - 50 minotaurs and 25 - 50 highlanders as well. Have to start planning weekly visits to each of the LEGO stores in Chicago.

Thank goodness several people pointed out MMV did not mark the end of the Fantasy Era sets. Reading those posts and the conclusions based on non-factual info was making me crazy. As was previously mentioned, we will not know about next summers sets until the toy fairs this winter. It may be possible that TLG leaks some news before then. As for the Hobbit/LOTR license. The first movie will not be released until december of 2012. The second movie in december 2013. I would expect the sets to show up on shelves as a late fall release just in time for the movies and the holidays. If a Hobbit based licensed theme is released and they stick to "The Hobbit" and not "The LOTR" sets, there will be little to no crossover appeal to Kingdoms. The book "The Hobbit" doesn't really have much in the way of castles at all. The adventure takes place in the wilderness between Hobbiton and The Lonely Mountain. Humans are barely included in the book except at Dale and the battle of the three armies. Humans won't have a significant part in the first movie at all. That being said no castles and no humans doesn't sound like it will interfere with Kingdoms sales very much. I do know this isn't proof of anything by the way... If a Hobbit/LOTR license is truly fleshed out, I would imagine the sets next year would correspond mostly to "The Hobbit". This would be taking the most advantage of the movie release. I imagine LOTR sets would be released moreso in further waves similar to what they are doing with POTC.

Personally I like all of the speculation, discussion, and especially the griping. I am a true castle fan and collector. I don't follow other themes nearly as much. These releases only happen a couple of times a year. This is the place to let our voices be heard and enter into discussion about the new sets. I find the official anouncement of sets as exciting as getting the sets when they come out. I wouldn't want to come read these forums if every response was "Wow great set". That would be dull. As for all of the speculation. I think LEGO will continue with this theme if it is selling well. If not another castle theme will be along in no time at all. IMHO I would hope for more "Kingdoms" in my Kingdoms line. I think they will introduce more and this is not the end of the line, but it is just a feeling with no evidence to back it up. As for the Black Falcon discussion. I don't think just fetching out a white plume will fix the look of the set. The tent and flags also decrease the appeal of the set for me. I could but I won't replace them since once I build this set I will part it out for MOCs anyway. It still seems to me that the set was designed for the dragon faction and then they went with the Black Falcon. Perhaps the Falcon is a Dragon Knight in disguise?... but alas with all of the green it is a pretty crappy disguise. Other than the green details, I love everything else about the set!

My impressions are WOW what a great design! and then hmmm what could have been... First may I say that the build of the gate is absolutely beautiful. It has so many great little details (stained glass, furniture, decorative bricks) inside and out. The frogs as legs on the table is fantastic as are the reddish brown flower accents on the furniture. It looks like an AFOL built it. With two sets back to back it looks even better. The side walls and buildings are nicely done and the tie in with MMV is nice. I don't think these walls will blend in with the Castle at all because the style and size is totally different. The tents leave a bit to be desired. Having a tent that only holds a weapon is kinda weak in my opinion. The jousting railing is nicely made and long enough to be useful. The grandstand is nicley done and two put together may give enough room for the Royals to even sit down during the tourny. The new princess appears to be a princess for the dragon faction. The prince fig is nice and we now have several options for Lion torsos on the royals. Both figs are fantastic. I love the new black falcon, although I do wish he had his own torso and or legs. With 3 new shields, a new black helmet, armor, and horse barding I think it will be possible, although expensive... to build out a new faction or splinter faction of the black falcons. Some sort of new BF torso would put the icing on the cake. I can always hope! Perhaps I know too much about the LEGO castle factions and it has jaded my impression of the set... Though the old Black Falcon sets had some green flags as a Classic Castle member pointed out. With the tent, flags, and plume, I am very disappointed that the secondary color of the black falcon is dark green? I know that this can be easily modified. However, it feels like they designed the set to include the dragon knight and then switched out the helmet, armor, shields, and barding at the last second to make a new faction? This really detracts from the overall complete look that I would hope for from an exclusive set. If the tent was black/white, with black/white flags and a white plume it would have been much better. It just looks like two factions have been blended together is some obviously perverse way. As far as pieces go, this set has a lot of very useful parts. As was noted it is all brick built with no wall panels. The lt bley 1x3 arches are very nice to see. This is a very rare element and yet so needed by castle builders. The set has a lot of 1x1 rounds in lt and dark bley and although not uncommon do not typically come in great numbers in castle sets. I count atleast 5 lt bley mudguards; they make beautiful arches. I also spotted atleast 24 lt bley 1x1 bricks with stud on one side. I can't get enough of this part and they don't come cheap on BL. In sets it hasn't come in quatities like this in anything except the tower bridge set. The red 1x2x2 65 degree slopes in red are rare. The dark green 1x3 33 degree inverted slopes are a new piece. The flower plates are nice and we get them is many colors including a bunch of reddish brown. Overall I would say this is a fantastic set and deserves a 9.5 out of 10. After a wonderful review like that what more can I say... As well designed as this set is, I would have much preferred a different take on this set. Even though the gate is great, I could have done without this feature at all in this set. After all I could build a simalar gate with the parts from the Kings Castle set. I would have preferred the set to have had 4 factions of jousting knights with four proper tents and each with a page or soldier to accompany him. Instead of the walls with the 1/2 buildings on it perhaps one well built structure in the vein of MMV. Lastly a small seating area with a couple of peasants watching. By removing the gate and walls I think this could have easily been achieved for the same total cost. I think a set like that would have sold even better. Kids love the knights and more different ones to compete would give a real tournament flavor. It also would have sold like hotcakes to army building types and resellers trying to get in on the figures. This would especially be true if after the lions and dragons two new factions were introduced. The black falcon is great and then add a new purple or yellow faction to the mix. Even if I was hoping for something else, it is truly a great set. No doubt the number and type of parts are great for the price. As a castle collector and large scale builder, I will obtain a half dozen of these around the time of the next brickworld event. Congrats to the LEGO designers on a job well done.

Thanks to everyone for posting their armies. I love looking at this stuff. I am certainly glad I am not collecting old factions any more. It looks like there are too many bidders out there right now. At around 4000 plus figs I will just keep adding the new factions as they come out. I do plan on taking photos some time soon. However, some of each faction are on my giant layout right now and therefore the units are not complete. @Magnus: I think I should have you come over and do photos of my figs. I love how you can make the smallest unit look like artwork. Great units of soldiers. @Ziljin: I love the idea of videos as you can get some notes from the creator. Well done. @beefbanana: Love the skele army. I really like the undead wizard. I can't see the leader well since he blends into the blackness around him. @dgherko: That is an insane number of figures. I know it is a lot of work but I hope to see all of them in units, with leaders, and armed to the teeth some day. @Edmond Dantes: I love the mixture of dragon knight and spartan. Makes for a nice elite unit. @Donut: Holy moly that is a lot of figs with red in them. It reminds me of a wheres waldo picture. Particularly like the bunny in the midst of all of that. @Ogre: If it is the Lion knights vs the apple trees... I've gotta go with the trees. Great army! and also that is a lot of target practice polybags!

I am looking forward to the Joust exclusive set. As a reply to beefbanana I am sure it will come with barding. The problem is the set will not be cheap. Hence not a way to get cheap barding. More like expensive barding. If Kingdoms does end here it will be fine with me. I have hundreds of figures from both factions and I am ready for the next product to come out. As a final aside the fantasy sets sold much better than kingdoms. Adults may like human factions better but kids like the fantasy elements better.

What am I doing up at 5:45? Damn thunderstorm! Atleast I went to bed at 1. ISC Brickworld will not be the same without you. Glad to see everyone else made it into town. This is going to be a great event. I am going to the Orland store this morning muahaha. There are very few hardcore LEGO fans down this way. I will hit up the other stores this weekend, so I can buy many multiples of what I want. I'm sure the kingdoms sets won't sell out. Stash it is raining hard again and I fear for your basement and the excuse it gives you to not build!

Please for the love of all that is LEGO change that bottom out. It looks like a place where a gong farmer would live. On a positive note... I am almost positive I will get no sleep for the next couple of nights. So much to build...

I've barely got 3 days to build and the pressure is truly on. Thank goodness I don't have water in my house. Sorry Stash that sucks. I'm sure whatever you guys build it will turn out great! Safe travels to everyone. We will see you in a couple of days! Dale

Great Stash... Saturday night it is. Yes, a lot of late walk ins came along last year. Perhaps we should move down to the end of the hallway where the traffic is less. Should we have people sign up here on the thread? It doesn't seem like too many people are browsing this forum. Didn't know people were left hungry last year. Norro is rooming at the event with Adam Meyers and myself so he won't go hungry again. I will bring a cooler of pepsi, coke, sprite, diet, etc. again for everyone. Alcohol I will leave up to you guys.

Only 6 days until we start setting up. My nephews have been helping with the building and I think I can get it all done.