DragonKnights

I bricklink'd four or five moria orcs and two more skeletons. It really filled in the scene well. I also found that the elements for Riddles for the Ring and Gandalf at Dol Goldur fit nicely with the Mines of Moria.

I dug back into the 2012 thread and the LOTR first wave started appearing in the U.S. around May11th or so. It seems most got their early purchases from Target or Toys R Us, some online. I checked both websites today and none of the new sets are yet listed. I know that the official date for the second wave is June 1st. Was this the case with the first wave too? Still waiting...

I'm headed to the Lego store next week and I sure hope these sets make an early arrival. If not, they are finally opening a Lego store in my hometown on May 24th. Life is good!

can't wait to hear when these sets start popping up in stores!

I've found it pretty easy to build my evil armies of uruk-hai, goblins, moria orcs, and ring wraiths through bricklink for about $5 per minifigure (ring wraiths more like $10). Same goes for Rohan soldiers. It's a good solution to the problem, and helps fill in some of the larger sets. I do fear that the army of dead minifigures will be costly because they come in an expensive set. Any lego elf also seems to demand a high price on the secondary market. Wargs are also a bit expensive for my taste.

When will these new LOTR sets start showing up? I know the release date is June, any chance they show up in mid-May? Will they first be available at Lego stores, or will they appear at other retailers or online outfits first?

here are my thoughts from the other thread yesterday: "I'm very excited about the upcoming Orthanc, LOTR summer sets, and Hobbit sets in the fall. Any speculation on what we will see out the second wave of the Hobbit? I'm guessing Smaug either in a pile of gold, or more likely with a town scene that I hope will pair nicely with MMV and the Blacksmith Shop. Probably a big Dol Guldur set along the lines of Weathertop in style. Hopefully Beorn's house with a bear. Perhaps a re-release of the Mirkwood Spiders and the Barrel Escape. Any thoughts on the coming sets in the fall? It's been awhile since I've read the book and i'm not sure what will be covered. I'd also like to see some new polybags for LOTR this summer and for Hobbit this fall. I can't wait to pick up the LOTR sets...time to get more shelves for the apartment!"

I think that the Wizard Duel will be first set that I pass on from LOTR, simply because it is covered in the Orthanc set. Can always bricklink a palantir with the eye of Sauron down the line...shouldn't be too pricey with that cheap of a set floating around.

I'm very excited about the upcoming Orthanc, LOTR summer sets, and Hobbit sets in the fall. Any speculation on what we will see out the second wave of the Hobbit? I'm guessing Smaug either in a pile of gold, or more likely with a town scene that I hope will pair nicely with MMV and the Blacksmith Shop. Probably a big Dol Guldur set along the lines of Weathertop in style. Hopefully Beorn's house with a bear. Perhaps a re-release of the Mirkwood Spiders and the Barrel Escape. Any thoughts on the coming sets in the fall? It's been awhile since I've read the book and i'm not sure what will be covered. I'd also like to see some new polybags for LOTR this summer and for Hobbit this fall. I can't wait to pick up the LOTR sets...time to get more shelves for the apartment!

Long time lurker, first time poster. I've loved checking this thread often to check for news and speculation about the 2013 LOTR and Hobbit Lego sets. These sets combined my favorite childhood toy and my favorite books, so it turned out enough to bring me out of my dark ages. I now have the complete set. A few thoughts about this year's line and future ones after re-watching the Hobbit movie tonight: I sure wish that the Attack of the Wargs set included an eagle like the Black Gate set. It would have been appropriate, and just one would have been fine. I think that the Three Trolls set is do-able in the second or third Hobbit wave. Because of the figures, it would have to include very few brick-built elements, but it could be three Moria troll or Goblin King size minifigures built from the same body with different head molds. It would also have to include Bilbo and some dwarves and horses. For this reason, the only other features might be the cooking pot and the horse stable, consisting of a small fence. I hope that they try to make this a reality as this was a good scene. Otherwise, I feel like all of the first movie's critical scenes are covered, save Radagast's house and the meeting at Rivendale. I'll be interested to see, because of the extension of the third movie after the sets were already decided for wave one, whether they ever reach back to the first movie for set pieces, or if they expand their plans and just produce more sets from the second and third movie. I think that Smaug will have to be brick-built and not molded because of his size in the movies. He appears blue, and would be big enough to be an entire brick-built set all his own. Would be nice to have the gold horde along with him with some columns, but i'm not sure how they will do this. Regardless, the Smaug set should be coming with wave two at Christmas. To make him a molded size using the pre-existing Castle series dragons would be too small and disappointing, but they may try it in order to make a set with more pieces in the gold horde chamber or when the village is attacked. I'm interested in determining what minifigs are needed to recreate each scene (fully) from the LOTR and Hobbit Lego sets. Obviously, the Rivendale scene coming out in May would need the entire Fellowship, and the Mines of Moria and Weathertop could use some more hobbits and fellowship characters. How many Black Riders actually appear at Weathertop in the Fellowship movie? The Goblin King set would need all of the dwarves along with a host of goblins. I've already modded Helms Deep to include many more armored orcs and Rohan soldiers. Anyone interested in coming up with a comprehensive list? I can't speak with regard to future wishes on Hobbit sets as they are still following along with the movies. With regard to LOTR, I'd like to see one or two more Rivendale sets to attach to the coming model, such as the shards of Isildur's sword and perhaps the meeting from the first Hobbit movie. I do think that they will do the Ents, maybe just Treebeard, next summer in a LOTR wave. Of course Minas Tirith, although that will be a huge set and might depend upon the sales of Orthanc this year. I'd love to see a set of Tom Bombadil's house, but that would be purely book-based. Also the tavern at Bree, the Golden Hall, and Mount Doom.