General Magma

Gandalf Arrives, Weathertop, Moria and Orc Forge (which we haven't seen in HD yet) are currently the only FOTR sets. As for the release date - it is possible that the sets show up late May already, but these were really scheduled for June, whereas the POTC sets were actually scheduled for a release date in May, as far as I can remember. Might be wrong though.. Also, I just looked at those HD pictures a bit more... and I noticed that both Gimli figures (HD and Moria) have differently colored beards. Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed it too? In Helm's Deep, he seems to have a dark orange beard, but in the Mines of Moria set, they gave him brown... I wonder if they're going with dark orange in the end or if they'll keep using this, and if so I'd wonder why... ~ General Magma

Lord of the Rings all the way. Castle, you either stay away or move in closely and keep your hands off my new favorite theme. I prefer LOTR because... 1) It is an amazing trilogy and to me, they're the best stories and movies to have ever been made. Now finally, we can accurately recreate the scenes with the great figures while collecting the sets in general. (As for me) 2) Flesh minifigs... I can't think of any time I didn't prefer flesh over yellow, the color just seems far better looking to me and I don't want to send soldiers who suffer from jaundice into battle. Well, only in original themes or those that I made up, they can... 3) The fantastic details we're getting on both the figures and the sets. Previously, most sets were 'meh' or 'ok' (or good after all), but this time they nailed the sets perfectly. They easily top all other castle sets imo. 4) No more of those lame, rounded swords... really, you're not going to kill many orcs with a blunt sword! 5) Great new pieces (molds) and printings on the figures. The LOTR figures all feature amazing details, something I couldn't see happening for most normal castle figures. 6) As for LEGO, I prefer to recreate things from movies or already existing 'universes'... especially things from my favorite movies and such. Just some of my opinions, and all of this was thought of along with the fact that I grew up with the old castle themes. Regardless of that, I still prefer LOTR for 100%... Where are you seeing a clone army in the LOTR theme other than the generic figures? The only main characters that appear in multiple LOTR sets in exactly the same outfits are Gimli and Aragorn... ~ General Magma

No Bricklink account! You don't have a Bricklink account?! I think I'm going to cry! Seriously though, we've had enough of those things. I for one am glad with all the changes being made, but if you really want the old stuff back, then use Bricklink to order figures and/or pieces that are 'classic' enough. Perhaps you could stack 2 light grey bricks onto each other with a dark grey one on top of them and call it a classic castle knight. ~ General Magma

Don't you ever dare to say such things again! Either way... I don't believe we got many new space sets when Star Wars was released, and original space themes were gone for several years shortly after that. They're either done with castle for years to come until there's nothing to interfere with it anymore, or might just have another theme while LOTR is still running. I'm sure it's not gone for good, that's just a very long time, you know, but I feel that they've done most that they could do for original castle themes. So I honestly don't think that we're going to see it come back anytime soon, and I know for certain that LOTR is going to sell very well, which also heavily decreases the chances of us seeing original castle themes again while LOTR still runs furthermore. While I couldn't care less about castle being gone now that the best theme in LEGO history (in my opinion - don't kill me if you disagree ) will be replacing it, I'm still thinking about the original castle fans around here as well - regardless of the fact that I can do nothing to make it come back, and wouldn't want it to if it affected the LOTR theme - but castle's done for, and for a long time to come too, I'm quite sure. For the people who aren't interested in LOTR but only wish to have regular LEGO castle stuff - I would suggest to at least take the LOTR sets into consideration for parts, such as the new horses, helmets, etc. and combining them with the other things we already have, since you could also just make your own MOCs and perhaps add some (back)stories here and there while still getting new elements for them. There are more than enough parts up for usage for the non-LOTR (or non-fantasy) castle people. So just get your rear-bricks over to Bricklink now and stop throwing yer tomatoes at LOTR! ~ General Magma

Of course he will. I heard that salted Togruta tastes delicious. It's a commonly-served meal in Zabrak households.

He stated first looks, so I guess we'll have to wait until August... Which is pretty strange, since we got the first season 4 preview a few days after season 3's finale. Perhaps we'll see a teaser/trailer soon, but more in-depth footage during Celebration VI.. ~ General Magma

Feels like LEGO wants me dead or something. How am I supposed to get enough money for both this and the LOTR sets?! Either way.. it looks like a great figure and certainly something I'll have to consider getting, unless there's a way I can make a deal with someone, somehow, so I won't have to buy all those sets just for the figure. Too much great stuff this year to afford. ~ General Magma

Well, I hope they'll cover that up soon too then. Grievous attempted to capture both Eeth Koth and Adi Gallia in previous episodes, yet both managed to get away. I wonder if this was done to build up towards some kind of rematch, where both could be killed at once or just separately... they're altering the EU anyways. But hey, perhaps we'll see Boz Pity in the series, the planet where Adi Gallia originally dies. ~ General Magma

Sounds more like Borat. Anyways, while I would've liked to see Grievous being more powerful in the series, I have to agree that the way he was in the old CW was a fair bit too much. However, Grievous should at least be shown killing a Jedi Knight/Master, or perhaps a more important clone commander on-screen, without cheating and the likes. That way he could at least have done something... But okay, his attitude as a coward in fights won't change and it shouldn't, it has to fit in with ROTS as it does now - but he should just at least get the honor of killing some more important characters, aside from General Tarpals in S4 and the generic soldiers 'n all. He's still capable of holding himself against Jedi well enough, though. ~ General Magma

Woah, another amazing creation of yours indeed.. You never cease to amaze us, do you? Fantastic work all around here, gotta love all the details you put into your MOCs. May I suggest that you start making some Middle-earth MOCs sometime soon? (Not sure if it was you, but I recall someone saying he would (around November/December) and it might've been you after all.) ~ General Magma

This looks great. The facial expression you used on the figure works great here. The floor was done nicely as well - I just can't figure out what the yellow piece on the bedside is, so... what is it? And suddenly I start remembering everything about this from long, long ago... ~ General Magma

Hmm, I think I'd rather see Faramir in an Osgiliath set, I can imagine him being put in there. Faramir didn't play much of a role in the later parts of the Battle of Minas Tirith, so best have him in Osgiliath, and another generic soldier in his place in a Minas Tirith set. And yes - the figures of the official sets weren't all fully known when I wrote it back then, so I made some assumptions. Been changing a few things here and there on the list, lately. ~ General Magma Wanky-wanky Winky EDIT: Uhh... who changed part of my post on page 2 to "wanky-wanky winky set ideas" on the top? I missed it after editing the post.

1. S.W.A.T. Cop (with a larger fire-weapon and a shield) 2. Reggae Artist (dark skinned figure with dreadlocks and a microphone, like Bob Marley) 3. Medieval Knight (either with a black falcon emblem, or something along the lines of a hawk in brown/dark brown) 4. Goblin (small figure with green (or sand green) skin color, with molded and bald head OR hairpiece with long ears) 5. Nomad (in somewhat of a Mongolian style) 6. Pirate (just a generic pirate with a cutlass and maybe a bottle of rum or a telescope) 7. Scarecrow (could just be a standing figure with a face, like something you'd see in a cartoon, or an actual scarecrow with a stand to be held up, but the first would work (either cartoony or scary then)) 8. British Soldier (1700s era - this figure would have a special wig piece with a tricorner hat on it, new printing and also printed legs (like a renewed redcoat)) 9. Man in Dog Costume (much like the gorilla and others, but this time a dog with long, hanging ears and a big nose) 10. Hunter (old-style, a little bit like the guy from Looney Tunes - rifle and dark tan clothing, maybe dark brown boots printed on the legs) 11. Basketball Player (with basketball and printed legs as well) 12. Sea Captain (figure with beard in yellow clothes OR a more modern version with white hat, dark blue clothes, etc.) 13. Underground Miner (perhaps a bit futuristic in a way that serves as a nod to Rock Raiders (a bit like the Axel figure?), perhaps he could have the RR logo printed somewhere) 14. Old Grandpa (figure with a beard, glasses, a walking stick and something typical that aged men would wear as clothing these days - maybe a bingo card as another accessory) 15. Space Gangster (new alien figure with bag of money, perhaps some sort of a hat, a coat (preferably black clothing) and a laser gun) 16. Acrobat (something that would fit in with the other circus figures) ~ General Magma

Thanks again. I think these are fair prices when you look at the piece counts and the amount of figures. Now I'll just need to gather enough money.. Do you have any news on the 'The Orc Forge' set? Perhaps you have an idea of how much later the pics of exclusive/limited edition/etc. sets arrive? ~ General Magma

Now that the topic is being used again, I've been wondering about the future LOTR sets again as well. For example, I wonder if they're going to add more Rohirrim soldiers to sets, but in different variants. Most Rohirrim soldiers, except for the identical Royal Guards, had different armory. I wonder if TLC is going to take this detail into note to make a few more prints for Rohirrim figures, preferably with different arm colors for a few. Other than that I wonder why the Rohirrim soldier we're getting doesn't have a cape, since all Rohirrim soldiers used green capes. (Mostly different tints of dark or olive-ish green) Might be why Eomer has a cape there, though - so let's just put that off.. I'm also hoping for more orc variants in some different colors, since they all looked different and now we're just getting too many identical heads on them. Only the Moria orcs should stay this way, but the Mordor orcs need some differences. Still waiting to see the Orc Forge box art, especially to know if the orcs have reversible heads.. It would be great to see Ithilien rangers (with Faramir), Gondorian soldiers and different orcs in the next wave as well. (Snaga and/or Grisnhakh for a Fangorn set anyone?) Perhaps (or rather hopefully) we will see Denethor, Saruman, Gandalf the White, Arwen, Éowyn and the Witch-king of Angmar by then. I'm sure we're going to see Gandalf the White, Saruman and at least one of the females, but I hope that the theme will live long enough to have all possible figures made. Let's put up a list of ideas for LOTR minifigs they could (should!) make: - Gandalf the White - Saruman - Grima Wormtongue - Samwise Gamgee with coat ..Samwise Gamgee with tired & angry expression, dirt marks on face and torso, no coat (Mt. Doom) - Frodo without coat (tan clothing) ..Frodo with tired & angry expression, dirt marks on face and torso, no coat (Mt. Doom) - Pippin with Gondorian outfit - Merry with Rohirrim armor - Bilbo with coat ..Bilbo without coat (Rivendell) - Gollum with new facial expressions - Éowyn in dress ..Éowyn with Rohirrim armor - Arwen - Elrond - Galadriel - Lothlorien elf - Aragorn with new outfit (Black Gate) - Faramir - Ranger of Ithilien - Denethor (Steward of Gondor) - Gondorian soldier (regular with new helmet and shield) ..Gondorian Tower Guard (black cape and new wing-helmet) - Barliman Butterbur (Prancing Pony set) - Gamling (Man of Rohan) - New Rohirrim soldier variants (dark green capes) ..Rohan Royal Guard - Gothmog (orc lieutenant/commander) - Snaga (orc, in Fangorn/orc camp set) - Grisnhakh (orc, in Fangorn/orc camp set) - Gorbag (orc, in Cirith Ungol set) - Sharku (warg rider) ..Warg Rider - Úgluk (uruk-hai) - Lurtz in armor (uruk-hai) - New orc variants ..Moria orc (armored) - Amon-hen Uruk-hai (only needs a new helmet) - Armored trolls (Minas Tirith, Black Gate) - Witch-king of Angmar - Mouth of Sauron - Dunlending (different variations) - Easterling (armored) - Shane Rangi (Haradrim Chief) ..Haradrim Soldier ..Haradrim Archer - King of the Dead ..Dead Men of Dunharrow - Corsairs of Umbar As you can see, there are heaps of possibilities for new minifigs, and thus also for sets. I hope we'll get to see all of these eventually, although it's really loads of figures... but let's hope for the best! ~ General Magma

I didn't think it was possible, but these pictures made the sets look even better, and I already thought they were fantastic, along with the figures. (Which are amazing) Thanks for the pics, Grogall! Can't wait to buy these. ~ General Magma

I don't think I want to see that in a show that airs on CN...

People seem to like the more classic approach of the yellow skin-tones, not just because of compatibility issues, but also because of the LEGO feel and tradition, or so they would think about it. I myself prefer the flesh figures by far. To me the flesh color makes figures look far better and makes them seem realer. Of course, flesh should stay with licensed products and yellow with the normal themes, but I can honestly say I wouldn't mind if they made it all-flesh for more variety along with what we have from licensed sets so far, but many people would hate that idea. ~ General Magma

I would like to remind the people who still think Darth Maul should be dead (and that his survival was unrealistic) of this. ~ General Magma

Hooray! Well, I have to say that these figures look fantastic, just as they did before. So, I suppose that was all of them then? Now all I need to know about is the torso print under Theoden's armor and the figure's second expressions... Other than that, I think we should be ready to start seeing the next wave's sets - unfortunately, that's probably gonna take another few months. ~ General Magma

Farewell, and good luck with your new job. (I hope you are able to force them into making some great new sets... with Jawas, tusken raiders, Greedo... a Rancor? Perhaps!... ) Either way, you have done great work around here and you will be missed. May the Force be with you! ~ General Magma

You judge him without even having seen the episodes? You should watch them before commenting on the character like that. He goes back to Dathomir so Mother Talzin can restore his memory, give him new legs and make him return to sanity, more or less. He still wants revenge though. People are complaining that he talks too much although he's no longer as crazy, but I can't really see a silent back-from-the-dead Maul in the series... ~ General Magma

A character who barely ever talked before of whom we saw nothing other than his combat skills is ruined? Why? Because he decided to speak more now? How do you people think you can reveal someone's entire personality with a few minutes of screen-time? Not trying to sound rude, but I'm kind of tired of people complaining about everything. We barely knew anything about Maul, and you would change too if you sat hopelessly on a junk planet for an entire decade after losing everything you stood for, while eating garbage to survive and being filled with torment. Even if he got his memory back it doesn't mean he has to go back to being the "old Maul". A few minutes of screen-time won't do him justice, nor will it show what he's actually like. (TPM) Maul barely did anything in that movie and was gotten rid of at the end of it already. I have to agree with Basil here - it's not fair to say that TCW ruined him, and there was barely anything about him before that. ~ General Magma

In TPM, I believe he had more of an English accent - but he's been eating garbage for the past decade so that altered his voice like this. ~ General Magma