Alcarin

Exactly.... i already have Helm's Deep + 2x Wall extension which for me is enough..... but i do want as many uruk-hais as possible.... and its cheaper to only buy uruks from BL than it is to buy the set..... i get far more uruks from BL for retail price of the set. Anyway on to the topic. It seems this will be a dead topic for a while now. It is 99.9% sure no sets are LOTR this year so we can go lurk in the dark and pray to Middle Earth Manwe or ask Tulkas to ''beat'' up TLG and get them to sense the need for LOTR :P

look i wont argue this anymore..... go back and read what the guy to whom I responded wrote.... he said about him wanting more diverse bricks from 10x 20$ sets instead of ''all black'' from 200$ Orthanc.... Because its random..... I found a fig for 0.25$ on Bricklink also.... No offical LEGO fig ever cost as little..... see what I did? I also found a Planet Series 4 Snowspeeder at 90% off at a closing toy shop..... but that doesnt mean everyone finds the fig (from Bricklink) or a set (from local Toy shop) as cheap as I did.... Ofcourse.... But if you want a beautiful set to display(and you are not a MOCer which alot of people are not) Eowyn on the Pelennor Fields or in the Golden hall in Edoras, you would prefer if she comes in a nice 150$ or even 200$ set.... because it will have more detail etc. than a 50$ set.... For a fig collector it would be the best if every fig is sold separately on LEGO.com.... This had nothing to do about that really... minas Tirith was set as an example... and to be true it was a 1000$ not 900$ train :P Agreed.... Did anyone find what is that missing number between polybags supposed to be? no news huh?

Yes you are BUT that was not my point of the argument: My point was: A MOCer can always MOC what they like and build what they ''want'' (limited only by the budget, time and creativity) while the guy who only displays ''official'' sets has another factor limiting him (which I know is his/my own fault) and from such point of view there is nothing logical about wanting smaller sets since MOCer can buy parts while the non-MOCer can only buy sets that are display worthy. thats all. And you can always bricklink exclusive figs... sure youd pay more per fig ratio but still alot alot less than 400$ .....

If such logic would be thought by TLG we would only get 9.99, 12.99 and 14.99 sets :) ''everyone'' could afford those.... You are mixing the argument here now though.... a guy said he does not want to purchase LARGE sets because he wants variety in parts and as parts I assume he means mostly on Bricks 8as he is a MOCer ... And quite honestly noone forces you to save 500 or even 1000$ but if you want to have Death Star you have to save 400$.... now its up to you do you want it or not..... same goes for modulars/orthanc etc. There are already hundreds of small fig/brick packs/sets but only handful of Castle era display worthy sets (Joust, MMV, MVR, Orthanc, potentially helm's Deep etc.)

a MOCer can use different figs as substitutes and figs do not represent the 100%.... in 99.9% (yes its a made up number but lets look around) a MOCer focus is the build itself..... figs supplement the build to a degree. If a MOCer wants parts check how much cost all parts (excluding figs + weapons) on bricklink and how much is the retail of a set. it is cheaper in 99% of the time. And that is also what the person was talking about he wants variety of parts(bricks) and those are pretty much always cheaper bought separately. in such comparisons you cannot really argue with discounts in mind.... not everyone in the world gets same discounts..... and that is why retail price should be taken as the main price point (entry) and today I just bought 10 uruk-hais(armor+helmet) with 5 shields/swords and 5 halbeards for 37€ on Bricklink and retail for uruk-hai army inside EU = 39.99€ and thats 6 vs 10 figs.... since to me bricks hold 0 value as I have nothing to do with them. I never said there is only 1 way to participate or have a hobby in LEGO, but if there are (for the sake of the argument) 2 LEGO lovers out there and 1 is a MOCer the other is NOT. If there is a beautiful 500$ set the MOCer can still MOC it while the guy who does not MOC can display it, so potentially both get their way (because bricks can be rebuild) but if there is only a 50$ set that looks average the MOCer can still MOC a ''beautiful'' creatin worth 500$ but the guy who does not MOC is left out. And thanks to Ebay/Bricklink the MOCer can buy parts of that 500$ set. Sure you can argue the non-MOCer can buy the MOCer work but how many times did that happen versus how many orders happened through Bricklink for parts :P

Yeah ofcourse there are alot of ways of having a LEGO Hobby but I just feel that wishing for a smaller set just cos you want to obtain more variety is pretty weird logic considering you have Bricklink for that... Sure you can also say I can MOC a ''bigger'' Minas Tirith for example..... but its alot harder to do that than buy variety if you already are a ''good'' MOCer... For example I dont really MOC ..... sure i did a few ''vignettes'' but none of my MOCs surpassed 200 pieces... I have alot of LEGO displayed though (MMV, MVR, Helm's Deep) and pretty much all I add to those beautiful sets are 1. figs 2. fig accessories (food, weapons etc.) 3. random accessories like barrels, horses, foilage To make the display look great. So you can still buy 10 20$ sets (for example) and MOC pieces from the 200$ set that you need (or figs) but people like me we cannot go from 0 bricks to MOCing 100k pieces Minas Tirith (for example)

It is entirely logical... for everything else.. there is Ebay/Bricklink.... asking for a smaller set just because ''you'' cannot afford it is very egoistical... I want more Orthancs even if I will not buy them all... because they look great and are much more true to the source they are made out .... Heck if a 500$ or 1000$ Minas Tirith came out with 60 - 100 figs id save my money for a whole year just to buy it..... i would simply skip everything else and I would not feel bad, and i know that is just me but I am sure others might to the same.... If your priorities are different than buying LARGE LEGO sets then I personally believe asking for worse/smaller sets is pretty lame.... But I am just 1 guy.... :)

I am no authority... But if someone here says a 200$ or 300% set is out of his ''budget'' he should look at his LEGO collection if its over 200 or 300$ it means he could've bought that set instead.... it depends how much he/she/we want such set..... plain logic. Well to be honest... you can mix orc Hunters, mordor orcs, and Gundabad orcs if you trully want diverse mordor army..... + add armors .... But ye i understand your point!

I was talking about a person writing on forum... he is obviously far older possibly older AFOL.... and if a person who is 18, 25, 30, 40 cannot save money for 2-3 months to buy 1 big set instead of 3-4 smaller ones then that is no excuse to call it out of his budget.... its only out of his discipline to save money. I remember I saved money for 4,5 months to buy myself Black Seas Baraccuda back when I was a kid!!!! Everything is possible, but only if you desire something high enough.

i dont need mordor orcs in it really.

Thats such a popular lie really... i mean if you can buy 5 x 40$ set over 2 or 3 months you can simply SAVE MONEY and buy 200$ set after 3 months..... its just an illusion of ''cannot afford'' its more being lazy to save money! Tell me how much LEGO you have in $$$ I bet its alot more than 200$.

Thank GOD! i would dislike such Dain..... He seemed so ''young'' and powerful in the book :D

yeh :)

Its exactly my ''vision'' except I would remove the beacon part and prolong the wall a few studs on each side....

This is exactly what i had in mind..... except i would remove the Beacon, make the gates dark bluish gray (as in movie) and change 1 Gondorian Soldier into Archer accessories (but keep the shield in armory!)

You truly are being cautious I bought 1 Elrond's Council for nearly 40% discount.... if a battle pack as you spoke of would be released id buy 20 times as much probably.... Basically all my cash would go into that.... I would even stay home and not go to any parties to buy more lol Well I will definetly buy atleast Pirate Ship Ambush.... probably x2 if the price ever drops below 85€ shipped from amazon.uk (7€ shipping)

Well as long as you had the option to get Orc Forges for less than 37€ a piece (Germany amazon) you could part the set out and kept the 2 Orcs inside the set for free.... + potentially made a little cash. Now that those are gone I would say Gundabad orcs might be cheapest because of DGA set. I really dislike the look of Hunter orcs though and Moria orcs are quite expensive.

Well its entirely possible they have X sets already ready for production (see that designer room from some time ago with Balrog/lothlorien sets lurking on shelves) and all they have to decide is... if they put the sets in production or not.... If my theory is correct they have time to take such decision shortly before 2015 retailer catalog is sent out/designed

Yeah I decided to buy Pirate Ship as soon as it hits below 78€ on amazon.uk ...... I just dont value it above 78€ + 7€ shipping..... Black Gates I just cannot get myself to buy.... such a disappointing set .... would rather buy more Elrond's Councils then..... From the 1st wave of LOTR I also had all sets.... but i parted out Orc Forge, Weathertop, Mines of Moria, Gandalf Arrives and only really kept Fellowship + Helm's Deep and 2x uruk-hai army on display..... And still buying more uruks every month....

not really ... but thats just my opinion ofcourse.

Well the biggest pro on Lake Town + Smaug is that we already have a part of Lake Town and it would fit nicely together to make the City on Lake..... It would also promote buying Lake Town Chase must say those fig choices would look awfully weird.... Even if your reasoning is good it would just totally destroy any movie resemblance with Bolg being there. The biggest problem with Smaug + Lake Town vs Smaug + Erebor is the figure choices..... A 130$ set will have minim 7 likely 8 or possibly even 9 figs right..... and getting even usual 8 figs is currently extremely hard even with including Braga and Alfred (or is it Alfred?) I would assume LEGO wants to keep atleast 1 exclusive fig from Lake Town chase and Bard has to be in Lake Town vs Smaug set so that possibly eliminates Mayor.... So we are: Bard Alfred Braga and then who stayed in Lake Town? Kili, Fili Bofur and 1 more right? And we have possibilitiy of Tauriel so that would bring us to 8 figs..... But those choices are for me very unappealing .... of all those figs I would want Braga and potentially Tauriel in new torso printing the most..... rest I could easily pass. its also quite impossible to see a 95€ priced set.... its either 99.99 or 119.99 or 139.99 I am yet to see set retailing for 94.99....

If Castle 2013 is done I am glad actually.... did not like the sets... I got the Dragon Mountain set for X-mas from my cousin etc. but parted it and sold all but Dragon and Wizard.... Bring Back Kingdoms and new sets like MVR and joust!

As others said, yes there are multiple pros and cons of ending or keeping the line, but if we look on HP/POTC its done...... I was truly expecting a 4 set wave to finish and atleast give us Balrog + Gondor stuff but unfortunately it seems like its gone. Its kinda funny that a Pirate Ship Ambush is here though lol.... now I might buy it to keep it MINT for ages to come.

Yeah but it would perfectly fit together.... thats why it might not be out of the question.... Now imagine a tower with Black Crossbow/ballista on it and another small fishing hut with Smaug Bard, Kili, Bofur maybe Tauriel and 2 Lake Town Guards.... problem is there are not enough distinctive figs to put in unless we get Alfred and another Mayor of Lake Town.... Cant see them giving us 4 Lake Town guards in 1 set..... Only landscape of outer Erebor would be a huge waste imo..... 2 identical Dwarven Statues and burned landscape is little to be desired.... Can sooner see a Golden Statue with break functions representing Dwarven attempt of killing Smaug than anything else.

Lothlorien!