Hypernova888

I know he won't.

That's a good call. I thought maybe they were waiting to make a treebeard set, so they didn't give the ent a name. ...yikes.

I think we all would hope that.

We could even get Bolg.

Beorn's house would be perfect.

I can't think of anything that would make a good D2C set. The only Tolkien D2C I feel should be made is Minas Tirith, but LotR already got a D2C. I also think that it would be very difficult to make a good brick-built Smaug set.

I'd say 20%.

Honestly, I think 79018 is a really good set. The only thing about the build I don't like is th BURP on the forge area. But LEGO did do a pretty good job of covering it up. The price is a tad frustrating, but I think the set-having Smaug-would have been alright at $120. So I'm not that annoyed at spending $10 more than I would like.

For the way I display it, the seperate sections in The Mines of Moria let me show them off in a way that I think is better than if they had been connected.

Right?

Ehh, I woukd have liked a lot of coins, but I think a pearl gold baseplay like many are suggesting would have made the set look sloppy. Also, I got my September-October Club magazine, and right before a great page with thr picture we saw yesterday, I saw something awesome. It's a shot of Smaug buried in gold with Bilbo searching the chamber behind. It looks simply beautiful! Also, there's a better shot of the throne itself in the pic, and it looks really cool. Lots of 1x2x2 brackets.

Exactly. And why doesn't it need to be? Because SMAUG! I honestly cannot argue with that.

Er...I hope it comes to the American website, because I have the disposition of being NOT French. No kidding.

As great as that would be, I think that's being a wee bit optimistic. The film is released in three months, and 79018 which'll apparently debut 15/10 is the only officially announced set to date. I'm thinking we'll see them around 1/10. Ditto.

Yeah, I thought of that too.

I love the Dale set, thanks Carlos! And as for the reused printings, I do wish that Dain had something new, but Galadriel's head IS NOT Arwen's. Their facial features are similar enough that their figures would look similar, but if you look at Carlos' pics, she's sporting an entirely new head.

(?)

Exactly. For the record, I actually ENJOY play features most of the time. I like it when the set has a lot of playibility. I love minifigures, and when the models look beautiful AND have some good play features that's what makes a set good in my opinion. I think LEGO's sets (especially licensed themes) Do this well. They strike up a balance between the three, and you know what? Even though AFOLs are NOT LEGO's target demographic, I think they do their best to market their products to children like they should, but they also try to please us at the same time. They have to find a way to make both audiences happy, but when they slip up slightly with the figures, or put something little in to please their main customers ( For example, a tiny catapult) they always get torn apart by our communities. And honestly, I'm not entirely sure I like the AFOL community around these sets. With the normal LotR community, the fanbase is split between those who like the films and those who think they are terrible. Then the film fanbase is split between those who like both franchises and those who hate The Hobbit. But even with LEGO LotR and The Hobbit, which I thought had excellent sets and figures, people still get frustrated by LEGO because they do what probably makes the most sense from the business standpoint. When I wad younger, I fell in love with LEGO. NOT just the system or the toys, but the company itself. I never really minded the mistakes they made, because I knew there was always a reason behind them. I hate how many people are saying LEGO put extremely little time into their sets, or that the designers were "high", or even that the sets were done by their "accounting firm". That just...I can't stand it. It is my life's dream to become a set designer, and I hate thinking that however well I think I'll have balanced my set's figures, play features, build and appeal to both AFOLs and children alike, there are going to be AFOLs cursing my name because I didn't include one certain minifigure in the set. Yes, 79018 seems "overpriced", but I think it looks worth it. Yes, 79016 and 79017 should have had Bolg and Beorn, but most kids won't already have Azog and will want to recreate Thorin's final battle and I'm sure LEGO wanted to include each major faction from PJ's Battle of five armies and sacrificed the bear for an eagle. And yes, generic soldiers would have been nice to have, but frankly, these films are about the named characters. If I were still a kid, I'd rather have Bard than a generic man or whatever. And if I were about nine, then I most likely WOULDN'T own the Lake-town set. I'd probably be saving all my hard-earned money for the eventual Smaug set. (Sorry for the extra-long post. I just had a lot that I really wanted to say.)

Aw, that's a shame. I think thelordofthebricks1 on YouTube has a video with them in it. Do you guys think Galadriel's hair looks dark because it's pearl gold?

I'm sorry, but Darth Caedus? I care about another ballista. I think this one looks amazing and I can't wait to pick up the set. I also wish that, Azog replacing a slot for Bolg aside, LEGO had given him a new face print. Just to make him exclusive like they did for Bard.

Is it just me, or does the crossbow look like it has a brick-built launcher? I could be wrong, but I REALLY hope I'm not. You know, while I don't think LEGO put their best effort into these sets, I do think that they did a good job. I think they did put care into selecting what to insert into each one, and I expect they have a reason for most-if not all- of their "Mistakes". Also, I believe Bard's the first Tolkien figure to have battle-damage! (Though I kind of wish that would happen to Gandalf too...)

Yeah, I guess I'll have to rebuild my custom one... I have to say, I don't mind the exclusions of the iron hill dwarves. We got a cool Dain with a new helmet, and Thorin gets a newly moulded crown. ...but I guess I'll have to pick up a City bear now... (Oh, and I think the BotFA crossbow is awesome. Way better than any of the Helm's Deep ones.) (Oh, and I think the BotFA crossbow is awesome. Way better than any of the Helm's Deep ones.)

When I saw the pictures, this first thing I thought was "Well, there goes the set speculation." I like these sets. I wish there were some things changed (Bain's hair, not another Legolas (I have two, soon to be three), a better windlance, Bolg and bear Beorn.) But I'll pick up most if not all. I like the figures that are new, especially Tauriel, and while the builds could be better, I think Dol Guldur is made up for by its figures, we haven't seen all of BotFA anf Lake-town will look good next to its brother.

I'm not sure I'll ever understand why people don't like The Mines of Moria...

Perhaps it would... This. Just...all of this.