Preuss

Me too! It was the first (and only, for many months) LEGO set I bought after my Dark Ages, before I effectively became an AFOL and started buying every Middle Earth set and some more. At the time, it was easy to justify acquiring that "toy". Inexpensive, major characters, a cool enemy and a complete display scene by itself. No other set in the first LOTR wave had all that.

Took me a while to pose them for the picture, but here are my evil armies. If only we had a good army builder for the good guys...

Fantastic review, thank you! I was already planning on getting this set, but now will have to find a way of getting it to Brazil as soon as it's available! Quick question: since the spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP! is so big, I'm anticipating trouble landing it on my CS base. I don't think it fits in the old landing pad baseplates. Should I get a 48 x 48 baseplate just for her?

There's no explicit mention to the number of pages... I'm just supposing that from the page numbers: Hobbit is 138, LotR is 141, and Ultra Agents is 142. Yes, there could be something else in between Hobbit and LotR, but it doesn't seem likely. Only US$ 15... I bet the seller could have made more money just by selling us a scan of page 141. :-)

Have you seen that Lego LotR is mentioned in the summary of this 2014 Retailer Catalog allegedly sold on eBay? If true, there is only one page of LotR info vs three pages of Hobbit. Could it be just about last year's sets that are still in production? Orthanc perhaps? Best, Julio

I've returned from my Dark Age last year and have been buying mostly Middle Earth sets (every single one of them), but loved the modular building concept and decided to get all that I could still find at reasonable prices (which is almost impossible here in Brazil). I was able to find a new GG locally, brought FB, GE and PS from the US, and am in the process of Bricklinking a CC adaptation. I also bought PC to get the LEGO Movie sticker and HH, but they are sitting at a relative's house in NY until I get to go pick them up. I'm traveling to the West Coast next month and should have room in my suitcases for two big sets. Question is: which two? I'm probably getting TH to be sure I don't miss it, but for the second one I'm trying to decide between PR, which would be the obvious choice, and the Ewok Village. I'm not into SW, but was thinking of modding it into Lothlórien and selling the minifigs. My reasoning is that PR should be around long enough for me to get it at a later trip while EV may or may not last as long as other SW exclusives. Thoughts? Thanks!

Not only the King of the Dead, but two other oathbreakers, all with different prints. I still don't get why they would do that for a single set and keep reusing the same mordor orc print throughout the rest of the theme! Sure they look nice, but for me this was the biggest waste of prints ever.

I hate the bald, earless orcs, so all of mine end up with those Uruk-Hai hairpieces (all my Uruks wear helmets) or brown farmer cowls (not very orcish, but the color matches). I also have a few goblin shields from Brickwarriors which I think fit well. I'll try to post a picture when I get home.

No offense taken. Normally I wouldn't be posting my purchase list - even if I wanted to show off, there are lots of people here with way more sets than I have, so there's no point in bragging. I only did it because if TLG does read this forum, I think we should make clear that even though AFOLs may be a small segment of their market, when it comes to LotR there are many of us who spend more than 10 KFOLs combined. By the way... just bought another Moria and 4 additional Lake-Town guards. :-)

Same thing here. At first I decided to get one of each LotR set for when my 2 year old gets old enough, but after a while I admitted I was buying them for myself. Then I started reading AFOL forums such as this one and started getting multiples. I'm currently at 2 Helms Deep, 2 Moria, 4 Weathertop, 10 Uruk-Hai Army, 6 Orc Forge, 2 Black Gate, 2 Council of Elrond and 3 Pirate Ships (plus singles of everything else and everything Hobbit). In the meantime I also bought some current and older Castle sets to expand my medieval universe, a few City sets that were good parts packs and over 30 Bricklink orders of bulk parts. During the past year I've bought at least 10 times as much LEGO as my entire childhood collection (essentially Classic Space), all thanks to LotR. On the bright side, if the theme ends now I will save a lot of money in the future and my wife will be very happy :-)

I've actually done that, just for the extra soldiers of the dead (and orcs, which you can never have too many). Now I'd gladly buy more of the quasi army builders (Uruk Hai Army, Orc Forge) if they were still available at fair prices, but they are not. I'm even considering getting more Black Gates (already have two) just for the extra orcs and eagles, but all of the current sets are really bad for army building. It seems all the reasonable ones were discontinued :-(

And that obviously makes it true, right? :-)

Thanks! I find it interesting that you didn't like the lighting. I've posted the same pictures on another forum and most of the comments were praising the lighting. While the shadows weren't exactly intended, the sideways lighting was done on purpose with a couple of LED lamps and the flash pointed to the side. I wanted to create a sunset atmosphere to match the "Golden Hall" nickname. As for the interior shots, they were lit with the two lamps pointing at the windows, so as to create the darkish look referenced in the book. There is also a light brick within the hearth, but that one ended up not helping at all. Thanks! I got those parts from BL, but had no idea they were supposed to be gold coins. Still have to buy some of these new sets. Best, Preuss

Thanks! I took most of the interior shots throught the door, with LED lamps pointed at the windows. Didn't really expect those reflections from the crown, but they added a nice touch. Thanks. I'm actually thinking of repurposing just the "stone" base for another MOC now. The figs are mostly original, except for the hairpieces / crown. Congrats to TLG! Thanks! I keep thinking of more things do add, but want to finish another project first. Best, Preuss

Thanks. Unfortunately, there isn't. The Watch tower was kind of an afterthought. Or I could just say that the Rohirrim have a very precise catapult to fling the archers up there :-) Thanks. Yeah, I don't love the shape of the roof either. I didn't want it to be flat and needed a high ceiling, so it ended up like that, but it's something I'd certainly want to change if I improve the build. Thanks. I'm glad you liked! Best, Preuss

Meduseld, also known as The Golden Hall, is the center of power in the city of Edoras, the capital of the kingdom of Rohan. Build on a stone plateau on top of the highest hill in the city, the palace can be seen from afar by anyone approaching Edoras. Meduseld is built mostly from wood, but it was its straw roof reflecting sunlight in golden tones that earned the hall its nickname. Equestrian themes carved in wood or represented in tapestries honor the Rohirrim riders and the kingdom's love of horses. During the War of the Ring, Théoden King sat on his throne in the Golden Hall while he was manipulated by Gríma Wormtongue, until Gandalf, The White, came to free him. Gríma was then literally kicked out of the kingdom on the stone steps that lead to Meduseld. The following images were captured right before the Rohan people retreated to Helm's Deep. They portray a refreshed Théoden King between his niece Éowyn and his nephew Éomer, the Third Marshall of the Mark, shielded by archers and Rohirrim. About this MOC: I had been trying to choose a LOTR setting to build as my first post-dark-ages MOC for a while. Meduseld wasn't one of my first choices and I was already planning another Middle Earth landmark when the VII LugBrasil Challenge pushed me towards non-gray/blay subjects. Since I already had a good supply of brown and tan pieces and a dozen Rohirrim, the Golden Hall ended up being a natural choice. In order to keep my MOC within the challenge's 48x48 stud limit (and my own brick supply) I had to adapt a lot from the film trilogy Meduseld. Major changes were the removal of the stone obelisks and side halls, which contributed to the change of the roof profile. Even then, I believe the overall look of the building, inspired by Norman mead halls, was well preserved. The highlights are the wood-carved horses and the green and gold detailing to match the flags over the observation post. The hall's interior was also very simplified, being restricted to the throne room with a lightbrick-lit hearth and some benches. I had to improvise a crown for the King and hairpieces for his niece/nephew because they didn't look good wearing their helms, but those are presented to the sides of the throne with some weapons and the kingdom's treasure. C&C are very welcome and appreciated! Best, Preuss

Hi, everyone, My passion for LEGO started in the early 1980s, when my father brought the Classic Space #891 set from a trip abroad - LEGO wasn't sold in Brazil back then. He kept that amazingly attractive intergalactic spaceship on a very high shelf so that I couldn't reach it and swallow the small pieces. Of course he had no idea I could use the dresser drawers as a ladder to "outer space". As I grew up, I inherited the set - actually just a small space plane - and started asking every family member who traveled out of the country to bring me LEGO - mostly Classic Space, but some City sets as well - as souvenirs. This went on until the dark age also known as puberty started and I had more pressing issues to deal with than playing with silly yellow men. :-) Fast forward to 2012, when two life-altering events resurrected my interest in LEGO: I started getting some DUPLO sets for my 1 year old son and LEGO released the LOTR theme. I immediately decided "he" absolutely needed to have all of the LOTR sets, so I might as well start buying them before they were gone - even if the little one is still years away from reading Tolkien (which I want him to do before watching the movies). Of course I couldn't keep the sets unopened, so I began putting them together, "just to see if there were any missing parts". Even before assembling all of them, I started down the slippery slope of buying multiples to boost my Middle Earthen population: first the Uruk-Hai Army, then Attack on Weathertop, Orc Forge and Mines of Moria. In the meantime, I also got in love with the modular buildings and bought GG, FB and GE, just to start. LEGO is incredibly expensive in Brazil, so I bought all of this during business trips to the US. I also have the entire Hobbit first wave waiting for me at a relative's place in NY and an Amazon.com shopping cart full of 2nd wave sets to be ordered during my next trip. In between trips, I've been feeding the addiction with a couple of BL orders a week and bulk brick orders from a local eBay-like seller just for MOCing LOTR buildings - I'll soon post one in the Historic Themes Forum, which I've been following closely for months now. Thank you for showing me that playing with little yellow men isn't silly after all (although I now prefer the fleshies)!