LOTR and the hobbit lego

Discussion of official LEGO Castle Theme sets and products
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Azaghal
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Re: LOTR and the hobbit lego

Post by Azaghal »

tiberium_blue wrote:Set list from Eurobricks:
Interesting, if true. Assuming it is:
tiberium_blue wrote:9469 Gandalf Arrives
Likely refers to the opening of "Fellowship", will probably include Frodo, Gandalf, a cart (vehicle!), and maybe a tree. This is the set in the $12 -15 rangeish, is my guess.
tiberium_blue wrote:9470 Shelob Attacks
ROTK, Minifigs are Frodo, Sam, and (maybe) Gollum. A giant spider is a pretty good idea for a mid-range set, as the Harry Potter line showed. It also has the advantage of tying in closely with The Hobbit.
tiberium_blue wrote:9471 Uruk-hai Army
This could be a couple different things from the end of Fellowship through Two Towers, but my guess is either the Breaking of the Fellowship (Minifigs are Uruks, Aragorn, and/or Boromir), or the flight towards Fangorn (Fellowship minifigs are captive Merry and Pippin.)
tiberium_blue wrote:9472 Attack on Weathertop
Another decent choice for transferring Lord of the Rings scenes to playsets, as the Weathertop ruins are self-contained and easily suggested with few bricks. Minifigs will be Frodo and a Ringwraith for sure, and depending on the size of the set, may also include (in decreasing likelihood) Aragorn, another Wraith, Sam, more Wraiths, and Merry & Pippen.
tiberium_blue wrote:9473 The Mines of Moria
One contender for the "flagship" set. Will probably include whatever members of the Fellowship aren't in any other set.
tiberium_blue wrote:9474 The Battle of Helm's Deep
Basically the same, though we'll likely get a Theoden fig, and maybe a Haldir, too.
tiberium_blue wrote:9476 The Orc Forge
OK, this I have no real idea, though it sounds like something out of Orthanc - maybe we'll see a Saruman minifig? If so, id be nice if this was on the smaller side.

Overall, I'm seeing a heavy emphasis on scenes from Fellowship, as well as scenes with either Frodo or Aragorn, if not both. Not surprising, perhaps, given previous license lines. I think I am starting to warm up to the idea, though - lots of these sound like they could turn out quite well.
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Re: LOTR and the hobbit lego

Post by wallgorn »

This is interesting and surprising news. Though I have to admit, I'm not really that surprised with all the pervious licensed themes that LEGO has released. LEGO versions of Middle Earth should be interesting. I'll defintely collect the sets that I like.
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Re: LOTR and the hobbit lego

Post by jens »

JoshWedin wrote: I've been a LOTR fan since I learned to read...I've been a LEGO fan for longer than that...a marriage of the two is cool.
Me too, Josh.

I've two hearts in my breast. I love the licence. And I never thought they will buy them, so I decided to get my own Orc-Army out of Frankensteins and later with the Lego-Orcs. I really hope the match to the new Minifigs. When I look at the PotC Figs... The are so detailed, I like them really, but the don't really match to the other Pirates. I hope it will fit better with the LotR-Figs to the Knights.

And Lego has a hard job, there are so many outstanding mocs out there. I hope they try to hold the level.

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Re: LOTR and the hobbit lego

Post by DaleDVM »

Finally a confirmation. Kingdoms coming to an end is pretty darn certain.

I am a huge fan of Tolkein but I am still going to be cautious in my expectations. I am looking forward to the weapons armor and some of the prints (i.e. flags, shields, torsos)

I am not looking forward to the fleshies. Please LEGO keep the flesh off of the torsos. I say that again. No flesh on the torsos PLEASE. These sets are going to be very expensive on a part by part basis. Replacing the heads and hands is going to be expensive enough. I don't want a buch of unusable torsos along with the expensive sets.

All of you looking forward to elves are going to have to keep them fleshie or do some piece modification (because) those ears on the hair are going to be fleshie color. Atleast they will have an elf hairpiece that has longer hair than the current one. I suppose I can paint the ears with yellow. Worst yet is that the collector elf and the new ones will not look good together. I suppose I am going to have to decide which color to make them in the long run. Perhaps fleshie elves would give a place for all of my fleshie parts.

The dwarves will have the same fleshie problem. The dwarves will be easier to change with just heads and hands to replace. The good thing is we should get a host of new beards for the dwarves, especially for the individuals for the hobbit movie. The dwarves are all main characters in those two films and have a variety of beard types. Articulating dwarf legs would be the greatest addition if it ever came true. I am hoping!

I also hope the orcs, goblins, and trolls mesh well with the already exhisting ones. Although a darker green skin might be acceptable for mixing together, I am hoping for the same color just to get new heads for mixing into the troll armies I already have.

This could be a very impressive run of LEGO product. I imagine set design will be pretty good (LEGO seems to have great designers these days) and these will sell very well. I do not expect the sets to stand up to AFOLs MOCs. We are not the target audience kids are. I would guess sales will only come in second to star wars.

Like it or not there will be no regular castle released for 2-3 years. :cry:
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Re: LOTR and the hobbit lego

Post by dyntar »

ok.. so we are getting LOTR... The movies were way too long and books I barely got through.
but we might get some interesting parts. :D

But I can't really see the lotr theme lasting more than a few years. There's very few vehicles and once they have done all the main large creatures Smaug, Shelob, Balrog etc. Whats left to do after those? Most of the movies take place outside and the buildings are too massive to fit into sets.
I don't think theres enough scenes that can be realistically converted into sets to keep the line running more than a year or 2.
Recently vehicles seem to be the main selling points for sets. eg Ninjago Starwars.
Lotr is mainly a character driven movie and just doesn't have the exciting vehicles to keep kids interested.

Harry Potter did well because the movies kept coming out, Starwars has the Clone wars and endless remakes of older vehicles to keep it going.. Indy lasted 3 years, Potc lasted 1... even with the stretched out Hobbit movies it still going to disapear after the movies end in 2013.

I'm predicting by 2014 we will have a new castle series and that Lego will bring out at least one regular castle set each year until then to keep the theme running. [It could happen] :D
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Re: LOTR and the hobbit lego

Post by Bluesecrets »

I am a fan of LOTR. I enjoy it very much. But I, unlike a lot of you, do not want or need this license. Fantasy isn't my realm of castle. I'm completely and 100% meh about the idea. I am not especially not excited if it means we lose castle until this license is over. For me LOTR is NOT castle, it is fantasy.

But for those who wanted this, and those of you who just can not ever stop talking about the existence of elves. Happy for you..and for the rest of us who just really are sick and tired of hearing nonstop discussion of "we want elves", well then this means there is a bit of peace and quiet on the horizon...and for that my ears and eyes are eternally grateful. Enjoy it, do a happy dance, party until you fall over and faint, then get up and party some more.

Parts are parts and that remains true. Licensed sets are good for resale...very much true. Fleshies? Meh its a fact of life, get over it. Yellow sharpie and you have a normal fig.

My main concern is: Why do as megablok does? Why go after 3948170349813049861409187 licenses? Everyone knows megablok is crap.

License sets have issues:
1) they cost too freaking much
2) they have less parts
3) their designs are for the most part very very very meh (with the exception to the bigger sets like the last Hogwarts and Diagon Alley)
3) they can completely flop (see avatar, space racer...)
4) we are in a recession...parents do not have the money to go out and buy these really expensive sets (I know many who come up and tell me they can't afford to buy LEGO because it is just too expensive..ESPECIALLY the Star Wars sets)
5) is there REALLY a market for LOTR sets in their typical age range? seriously?
6) flood the lines with all this licensed stuff and you lose a lot of amazing lines that people just adored...like power miners, altantis, space police, agents, etc.

I remain skeptical and full of meh. But as I have said...if you are happy about this...then be happy.
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Re: LOTR and the hobbit lego

Post by Sir Prog »

rapsmocs wrote:I second everyone on the new parts and molds. Alot of new potential. The downside is that some of these newer detailed minifigs make the older ones look, well...really old. They just do not blend well (if you plan to merge them into existing factions or casts). Oh well.

The LOR is so epic though that I am afraid, from what I saw with PotC, the Lego sets will be a let down. I loved the books and read them all many many times as a kid. I enjoy the movies also and watch them once a year around the holiday season. Can't wait to see the Hobbit next fall.

But, Lego has done a very decent job with another great line - Star Wars. Hopefully they can pull it off with the LOR! At least we get a few new Castle sets early next year and then something to look forward to in the summer.
I couldn't agree more with each of these statements. Its fascinating how LEGO "progress" is awe-inspiring with new-detailed spectacle yet it ages older sets and molds. Its an interesting irony and commentary about the history of the form.

Regarding the mind-nostalgia "letdown" factor, this is two-for-two. I couldn't tell you all how much I yearned as a child for one day the mergence of Star Wars or Indiana Jones with my all-time favorite childhood toy, LEGOs. Yet after the first wave of SW, I stopped buying. Mostly because they were too expensive and I was a broke college student.

However, when Indiana Jones launched I thought for sure I'd collect them all...yet I don't own a single one. (A lot of it may have to do with the Crystal Skull letdown factor-timing though). Then I swore I'd buy anything resembling the awesomeness of the severely underrated 'Temple of Doom'. But when that large set finally came out, I was excited to view it online, then in stores months later...but nothing. No purchase. Same with all the movie sets, except for Toy Story 3. Something about those worked for me, and I think it has more to do with the way animation functions (as well Mr. Ham was just too incredible to pass over).

That said, I'm jazzed about this idea initially. I think I will buy, but I hadn't even considered the "fleshie" aspect til I read these comments...now I feel that slight hesitation again. :?
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Re: LOTR and the hobbit lego

Post by Kayne_ »

Personally, I am a huge LOTR fan, and a huge Lego fan so this is fantastic news to me. I came out of my dark age just a year ago, so I missed out on the Fantasy Castle line and this should help my collection head inthe direction I want to go. The thought that Kingdoms will go away is disappointing to me but, as dyntar says...
dyntar wrote: I'm predicting Lego will bring out at least one regular castle set each year until then to keep the theme running. [It could happen] :D
This is very possible. Star Wars sets did not totally replace the Space theme. Throughout that run we had Mars Mission, Space Police, Alien Conquest to name a few.

Honestly, I would hope this would open up the possibility to have Kingdoms take a new direction(civilian life, Roman, Greek, etc..), while LOTR takes Fantasy.
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Re: LOTR and the hobbit lego

Post by Karalora »

I have a confession to make here...I don't really care about LOTR as a title. I've never seen the movies, and every time I try to read the books, the prose style puts me off. I'm a walking paradox: love fantasy, completely indifferent to the one fantasy work considered absolutely essential. But I digress. (From what? She hasn't said anything else yet!)

So for me, the interest of this line is going to be almost purely in the parts that are produced. I'm guessing we can expect a color palette that emphasizes dark shades, so maybe some of the sets will be good for bulking out those colors in my collection, but the real benefit will be in the new hair pieces, accessories, and heraldry, plus poseable short legs if we're lucky.
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Re: LOTR and the hobbit lego

Post by CAI »

Ha! Sweet. I haven't build or purchased any LEGO in years now. This is joining two very cool things. Surprised to see so many on the fence about this, 5 or 6 years ago everyone would be pooping themselves. Hopefully a lot of time and thought goes into planning these sets. Just hoping they turn out good and are worth buying.

I guess old Tom Bombadil will get the back burner again, since they will be based on the movies.
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Re: LOTR and the hobbit lego

Post by Forestboy »

I think it's safe to say across the board of this topic, people are split.

I'm think I'm in the same place. I think it was about in 2008 when Lego Hobbit set rumors surfaced because some news came about of Ttgames (the makers of the Lego video games) were working on a video game for the Peter Jackson Hobbit movie(s). I was excited then, but I'm a little skeptical now. Here's why:

- Any kind of FOL throughout the past decade ('00-Present), has figured out to recreate LOTR in their own way. The Balrog, elves, hobbits, hobbiton, etc. I've even created my own fellowship once. Lego has arlready provided us enough elements to make it ourselves. Bruce recreated LOTR in visual form, Blake has/is re-creating scenes like Amon Hen + others, a group of MOCpage users made an entire LOTR display at Brickworld 2011 (plus there was another builder there, unaffiliated with the group of MOCpage users, who still brought some awesome LOTR stuff), Brickforge has produced several LOTR items (and prints too, I think), The One Lug creating The Last of March of the Ents, etc. the list goes on for forever. Now we just have sets that kids can buy. Umm...ok. :? I guess all of this activity would evoke a response of Liscensed sets, but to me it seems a bit backwards. With Star Wars, I used to feel like, "Woah! Check out that minifigure, I got to have that Kit Fisto!", etc. With LOTR, I don't feel that way. I'm hoping that the sets will be innovative designs, going over what's already been done with a new style.

- If the Eurobricks set list is true, virtually none of the sets seem to be There and Back Again related. Even with the LOTR liscense, and everything pretty much being done already in the LOTR realm, I was hoping for some really interesting Hobbit sets, but it looks like I'll have to wait for those. 2013 for Hobbit? Yes? No? Maybe?

- Kingdoms is pretty imminent of a hiatus or complete wipe. I was so pleased that TLG was putting out 7189 Mill Village Raid, but when I saw 10223 Kingdoms Joust, I got really excited. :D It reminded me the first time I saw the Medieval Market Village, bright, colorful, filled with great, reasonably priced elements. There's certainly the possibility that we may not see a regular Castle line for quite some time, which means we're stuck with the same Kingdom sets 'till they're completely gone in late 2012. I was pretty indifferent when the Kingdoms line came out, but I think it's been picking up more steam lately, but who knows.
DaleDVM wrote:I am not looking forward to the fleshies. Please LEGO keep the flesh off of the torsos. I say that again. No flesh on the torsos PLEASE. These sets are going to be very expensive on a part by part basis. Replacing the heads and hands is going to be expensive enough. I don't want a buch of unusable torsos along with the expensive sets.
- From someone who actually likes fleshies (DON'T KILL ME! :halo: ), I don't mind them, but I completely agree with the torsos. The Indiana Jones "soldiers" (Nazis) had the patch of flesh on the chest, some of the PoP sets had some flesh on them, PotC is doing the same thing. I get where you're coming from. Give us the fleshies, but not the torsos. Please. :halo: (Oh, by the way, if you ever want to donate your fleshies, my doors are open. :lol: )
Bluesecrets wrote:4) we are in a recession...parents do not have the money to go out and buy these really expensive sets (I know many who come up and tell me they can't afford to buy LEGO because it is just too expensive..ESPECIALLY the Star Wars sets)
- I've completely given up on Star Wars altogether in 2008 with the...'intersting'...Clone Wars design except for the few purchases here and there. In fact, the City sets this year have been pretty ridiculous as well. $50 for 300 pieces. I thought that was insane, even with the large piece of plastic boat that came with it. Can't know what the set pieces will be until we see them, I guess.

With that said, only time will tell. Who am I to judge something I haven't seen yet. Hopes are the my expectations are far beyond what I think and I get some pretty exciting, and interesting sets with good Castle elements.

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Re: LOTR and the hobbit lego

Post by DaleDVM »

dyntar wrote:Harry Potter did well because the movies kept coming out, Starwars has the Clone wars and endless remakes of older vehicles to keep it going.. Indy lasted 3 years, Potc lasted 1... even with the stretched out Hobbit movies it still going to disapear after the movies end in 2013.

I'm predicting by 2014 we will have a new castle series and that Lego will bring out at least one regular castle set each year until then to keep the theme running. [It could happen] :D
I would guess that since the last movie is not coming out until december of 2013 they will continue with this theme through 2014 until the dvd's are released that summer. I would guess that we will be waiting until 2015 for a new castle line to come out.

I hope that I am wrong on this and we get castle sooner rather than later. But I am also trying to be realistic. This theme is going to sell like hotcakes. There is so much pent up demand out there for LOTR LEGO product. I personally know of a half dozen adults who collect no LEGO at all that are chomping at the bit to just build and display these sets!

However, if we do look at this realistically there is a positive for purists. Since the LOTR is so heavily fantasy based, I would imagine a "Kingdoms like" release with very little fantasy to follow it directly afterward. So a bit of good news for those that love classic castle. You just have to wait 3 years to get it... :(
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Re: LOTR and the hobbit lego

Post by Kev »

I'm very excited about! Should be really cool, and produce a lot of nice fodder to fill out our medieval castle worlds.
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Re: LOTR and the hobbit lego

Post by Tower of Iron Will »

Sorry people but I think this is horrible news. I have always loved LOTR books and movies. But having to pay more for Castle doesn't make sense just to give Tolkien's heirs more money. Unique parts, while nice and wanted, do not warrant this.

Not only do we most likely lose Kingdoms for a few years there is this deep rooted fear that I cannot get out of my mind that Fleashies will take over Castle after the reboot. LEGO has been trying to push fleashies into the mainstream figures for a while now. Even Fleashie elves are bad. As previous posters have said FOL's have been recreating LOTR with existing Castle minifigs for years, using creativity and imagination. Now LEGO is saying that's not needed now, here are the LOTR minifigs, right out of the box, no imagination or creative customizing required. :(

I was thrilled when the Castle 2007 line came out with skeletons, orcs, and dwarves. Those "fantasy" elements hinted of greater things ahead and I was all for it. Now its turning into a nightmare like at the end of KK1. Did Kingdoms sell so bad enough to cause this or was LEGO kicking themselves for never getting into LOTR when the first 3 movies came out in 2000's? :o

I like fantasy elements but this is not the way to get elves and dwarven sized hobbits(same legs). LEGO does not need more licenses. Is LEGO not making enough from Star Wars and POTC? Soon enough we will only have Star Wars for Space, LOTR for Castle, POTC for Pirates, and Comic heros for Town. Not just meh, bleh!
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Re: LOTR and the hobbit lego

Post by Bluesecrets »

Not only do we most likely lose Kingdoms for a few years there is this deep rooted fear that I cannot get out of my mind that Fleashies will take over Castle after the reboot. LEGO has been trying to push fleashies into the mainstream figures for a while now. Even Fleashie elves are bad.
Can I put you at ease about this? ONLY license figs have flesh tones and will only ever have flesh tones. This includes the african tone and the several different shades of darker flesh. They have only ever been in license and will only ever be.
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