LOTR / Hobbit Sets that Need to Happen

[folmarm]

I'm not sure how long lego is going to keep its liscensing agreement for LOTR / Hobbit, but these are sets that need to happen before it is all over: Balrog / Bridge of Kazad Dum: Brick built balrog and a collapsing bridge would be awesome. This was rumored to be happening in this wave and going to be priced at $30. I would much rather see a more expensive set and include some Moria scenery: maybe some columns and a partially collapsed staircase? The focus needs to be on the bridge. I guess Gandalf is a must in this set, but he's been a little overused. Eowyn vs. the Witch King: the nazgul need to appear in at least one other set and having one plus its beast and Eowyn would make this set highly sought-after. Minas Tirith: Not sure what to do with this one exactly (it is so big, how do you do it justice?) I would love to see something absolutely massive totally 5,000+ pieces and $400+ in price but I'm not getting my hopes up. Maybe the front gate with a couple of towers and a working trebuchet might satisfy me. Treebeard and Friends: A little more detail/size would be nice: ents will be really popular (especially if the price is right) Bree Inn: not enough smaller / non-stone structures in these series (one reason why Bag End was so welcome). The bree Inn provides a nice counter-balance to all of the massive structures in these series and can recreate both the meeting scene with Aragorn and the Nazgul night intrusion (hey, at least this place got a lot more screen time than the pirate ships with the army of the dead). Rivendell: something awesome please. Like Bag End, this place is significant in both LOTR and The Hobbit. The architecture is amazing and a change of pace from the typical castle / fortress look. I would recommend focusing on mainly the palace with the possibility of a tower and smaller building as well (sort of how Jabba's palace works but a bit grander). There needs to be something more than the small Council of Elrond set that is just coming out. Well, just my two cents. I would appreciate your feedback.

[IrishGuy66]

This is a minifig, but it still needs to happen.... Azog the Defiler.

[folmarm]

True battlepacks would also be nice: especially elves, Mordor orcs, Riders/citizens of Rohan.

[IrishGuy66]

An oliphant. Minis Tirith. Dead marshes. Edoras. Bridge of Kazad Doom. Mount doom. Fell beast. Smaug. Radagast and his rabbits. Troll shaws. Did I miss anything?

[TheDarkness]

Gondor battlepack, Fell Beast, Witch King, Eowyn, Faramir, Olyphant and Balrog will be fine to finish off the LOTR sets. Hobbit sets will depend on what they have in the movies, but a decent Smaug will be essential

[folmarm]

Forgot about the Oliphants. Will lego have the guts to include the Islamic-looking soldiers that rode them into battle? In regards to Rivendell/elf structures, I think lego really blew it with making such a small Rivendell scene with the Council of Elrond. They needed to go a lot bigger (hopefully still will) with Rivendell and make a smaller Lothlorien set down the line and include Galadriel with it.

[Alcarin]

I think Rivendell is done for... Since Minas Tirith will be done no justice and we can only expect (most likely) Grond + doors of Minas Tirith with Gandalf, prolly 1 soldier of Gondor and 3 orcs for 80$ (similar to black gates) + Uruk-hai army type of connection of white wall to add to the Gate set with Pippin in Gondor attire and 1 gondor archer and 3-5 Orcs Olifont would be nice... with 2 riders of Rohan and 3 Easterlings for sure, but I somehow doubt they will Mold a piece larger than Dragon from Castle line which means it would SUCK ( I know they made Rancor but SW is more popular) I can fully see they will do Brick built Balrog with Gandalf (another grey sigh) I can also fully see they will give us Fell Beast (in size of the molded Dragon from Castle era) and Eowyn and Merry and maybe even Gothmog commander(allthought that happens in extended) I also think we will get Treebeared encounter. Would not raise my hopes for Prancing Pony, since its just a lame place with no play features.... I know people want civilian stuff but Id rather have the House of Healing then with a nice garden or Edoras or a Rohan Village (attacked by wild men) Sadly I do not think we will get more than 2 weaves of LOTR which means probably around 8-10 sets and if you consider 2-4 of those will be small brick counts to fill the 10-15$ price range it leaves 4-6 sets (the 30$ price range is also just ok, unless it will be Uruk-hai army type of set.)

[scottjs]

Forgot about the Oliphants. Will lego have the guts to include the Islamic-looking soldiers that rode them into battle? In regards to Rivendell/elf structures, I think lego really blew it with making such a small Rivendell scene with the Council of Elrond. They needed to go a lot bigger (hopefully still will) with Rivendell and make a smaller Lothlorien set down the line and include Galadriel with it.

I really hope we see a huge Rivendell set in the future, with the shards of Anduril and the bridge entrance but I'm not getting my hopes up. I just can't see Lego dedicating to that at this time, maybe 8-10 years down the road if LotR is still going (which would be so unbelievable!)

Everything posted seems like good ideas for sets, ones of which I would buy. I really hope we see Minas Tirith in epic proportions, however I'm not sure they would do something that large this early into LotR (I'm talking $400 set large). How long did it take Star Wars before they started to see some of the massive releases? 4 years (i.e. 4th wave) when Ed's favorite set Imperial Star Destroyer 10030 (http://www.brickpicker.com/bpms/set.cfm?set=10030-1) was released and I would say that would be roughly $400 USD if it were released today (looking at current DS and ISS). Myself personally I would hope we don't see Minas Tirith for another 2 waves and then get something on the scale of the ISS/DS. Then again I'll take anything they throw at me.

I will buy at least 1 of every LotR set that is released until they stop production, but the big sets are what really draw me in. Can you imagine a Minas Morgul or Barad-Dur at 4000+ pieces? Honestly the thought of it sends shivers down my spine, I just can't help myself with LotR sets.

What I really really want is for Lego to pursue another license that goes deeper into the world of Middle Earth, i.e. through the Tolkien Group not just New Line Cinema. I think my head is totally in the clouds on that one though.

[Blackjack]

You guys are forgetting the coolest of them all... Minas Morgul!!! Which could be done on grand scale more easily than Minas Tirith. I think that a Gray Havens with a boat would be cool. As far as battle packs, this might get pretty repetitive, but here we go. Mirkwood Elves, Lothlorian Elves, Rivendell Elves, Gondorian Soldiers, Rohan Soldiers, Numinorian Soldiers, Wild Men, Rangers of Ithilian, Dead Mean of Dunharrow, Haradrim, Uruk-Hai, Mordor Orcs, Goblin Soldiers, Moria Orcs. I would certainly prefer these to have four of each army to a set.

[Alcarin]

You guys are forgetting the coolest of them all... Minas Morgul!!! Which could be done on grand scale more easily than Minas Tirith. I think that a Gray Havens with a boat would be cool.

As far as battle packs, this might get pretty repetitive, but here we go. Mirkwood Elves, Lothlorian Elves, Rivendell Elves, Gondorian Soldiers, Rohan Soldiers, Numinorian Soldiers, Wild Men, Rangers of Ithilian, Dead Mean of Dunharrow, Haradrim, Uruk-Hai, Mordor Orcs, Goblin Soldiers, Moria Orcs. I would certainly prefer these to have four of each army to a set.

People need to stop daydreaming about LOTR battle packs...

its obvious now that its the contract problems.

Minas Morgul would be dull especially with a million black bricks... + there is no action around Minas Morgul unless youll make the march of Orcs with Witch King slacking on the top...

Minas Morgul looks so much LESS epic than Minas Tirith... I would rather see Olifant than Morgul...

Yeah good idea above... I can fully see LEGO doing the ship that sails at the end of the movies ... would also be a nice ending to the line lol...

[Blackjack]

The problem with the Oliphant is that they would make it too small, and like the OP said, they would have to take some heat over the Haradrim...

[IrishGuy66]

You know how StarWars has the Old Republic? LOTR could have like a First Age sub theme. With Morgoth, Ungoilant, and some beefy White Numenorians that would be beyond awesome!

[Blackjack]

You know how StarWars has the Old Republic? LOTR could have like a First Age sub theme. With Morgoth, Ungoilant, and some beefy White Numenorians that would be beyond awesome!

Not many people would get that though. :/

[IrishGuy66]

The problem with the Oliphant is that they would make it too small, and like the OP said, they would have to take some heat over the Haradrim...

If they can get away with the hassansins, they can get away with the haradrim.

[stephen_rockefeller]

I'm gonna remind this thread " LOTR geek out fest" :)

[spener90]

If they can get away with the hassansins, they can get away with the haradrim.

You never know what people will get worked up about though? Jabba's Palace was controversial, but never once did anyone complain to Lucas Arts that there is a small clip in the Star Wars film with an actual mosque.

http://ifanboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Jabbas_Palace.jpg

[folmarm]

Not many people would get that though. :/

I don't see LOTR lasting for years like Star Wars. Star Wars has huge appeal to both young and old where LOTR mainly appeals to the young adult / adult. The Hobbit may change this a bit, but I dont see young kids (and their parents) flocking to pretty intense/violent looking sets without having seen the movies themselves. Star Wars appeals to young kids who may not have had any actual Star Wars movie/TV exposure whatsoever (my 4-year old son being one of them). LOTR just doesn't have as many potential customers. I'll will be happy with one last wave (not guaranteed) as long as it fills in a least a couple things on my wish list (and at least one is a large scale $120 plus set).

[Huskers1236]

While I've seen the movies, I'm not a total LotR geek, so bare with me on some of the names. As far as how many waves we will have, it depends on sales somewhat, but once the Hobbit movies are over, what is there to motivate for more LotR sets? We will probably see 2 more waves after this summer. For once, I'm with Alcarin, I don't think we'll see battle packs in the sense that we get them for Star Wars, or we would have seen them already with Rohan soldiers to go with Helm's Deep. Uruk-Hai Army is as close as we'll probably get. However, I don't agree with him that a Minas Tirith is impossible. Is it going to be to scale? Obviously not, and only a fool would expect one. They didn't make the Death Star to scale did they? It turned out just fine. I would like(or expect) to see: Small sets:($10-25) Arwen/Nazgul chase(good way to get more ringwraiths) Treebeard(or more plain Ents, but there's already one in Orthanc) Amon Hen(I believe this is where Boromir dies) Maybe some small stuff to put around Orthanc to create Isengaard Frodo and the Elf Queen that gives him that light thing Medium sets($30-60) Prancing Pony(same as chase scene, get more wraiths, and a pub) Osgiliath(Gondor troops) Balrog Witch King/Eowyn(necessary figures) Oliphant(either Pelennor fields or Faramir ambush in TT, but forget it ever being to scale) Big Sets($80+) Edoras Minas Tirith Rivendell Sauron's eye tower(I never remember the name of that thing, but it would be cool to have both that and Orthanc) That's what I can think of off top of my head. I really doubt Minas Morgul because of it's lack of screen time, but we got the Corsair ship and it's in the movies for about 5 seconds if you don't have the extended version, which I don't. Same with the Elf ship to go to the undying lands. Lego will want to make it because it's a ship, but nobody outside of diehards will know what the heck it is.

[folmarm]

If they can get away with the hassansins, they can get away with the haradrim.

You never know what people will get worked up about though? Jabba's Palace was controversial, but never once did anyone complain to Lucas Arts that there is a small clip in the Star Wars film with an actual mosque.

http://ifanboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Jabbas_Palace.jpg

True: I guess there would be some guaranteed controversy if we were talking camels and horses to go along with the haradrim. A giant elephant will be the focus of the set and not the minifigs (which they can give a bit of an Asian/ninja look if they don't want them looking too Arabic. In regards to the oliphant's size I think that as long as it was brick built and maybe 50% or so proportionally bigger than a real elephant than it will work. Remember: you don't want it to be so big that it minaturizes castles like Helm's Deep or a possible future Minas Tirith. If my memory serves me correct, the film's depiction of the oliphants was much larger than the book's anyway.

[Blackjack]

Not many people would get that though. :/

I don't see LOTR lasting for years like Star Wars. Star Wars has huge appeal to both young and old where LOTR mainly appeals to the young adult / adult. The Hobbit may change this a bit, but I dont see young kids (and their parents) flocking to pretty intense/violent looking sets without having seen the movies themselves. Star Wars appeals to young kids who may not have had any actual Star Wars movie/TV exposure whatsoever (my 4-year old son being one of them). LOTR just doesn't have as many potential customers. I'll will be happy with one last wave (not guaranteed) as long as it fills in a least a couple things on my wish list (and at least one is a large scale $120 plus set).

I know lots of little kids who haven't seen the movies and LOVE the theme.

[IrishGuy66]

Not many people would get that though. :/

I don't see LOTR lasting for years like Star Wars. Star Wars has huge appeal to both young and old where LOTR mainly appeals to the young adult / adult. The Hobbit may change this a bit, but I dont see young kids (and their parents) flocking to pretty intense/violent looking sets without having seen the movies themselves. Star Wars appeals to young kids who may not have had any actual Star Wars movie/TV exposure whatsoever (my 4-year old son being one of them). LOTR just doesn't have as many potential customers. I'll will be happy with one last wave (not guaranteed) as long as it fills in a least a couple things on my wish list (and at least one is a large scale $120 plus set).

I know lots of little kids who haven't seen the movies and LOVE the theme.

Seconded.

[folmarm]

Not many people would get that though. :/

I don't see LOTR lasting for years like Star Wars. Star Wars has huge appeal to both young and old where LOTR mainly appeals to the young adult / adult. The Hobbit may change this a bit, but I dont see young kids (and their parents) flocking to pretty intense/violent looking sets without having seen the movies themselves. Star Wars appeals to young kids who may not have had any actual Star Wars movie/TV exposure whatsoever (my 4-year old son being one of them). LOTR just doesn't have as many potential customers. I'll will be happy with one last wave (not guaranteed) as long as it fills in a least a couple things on my wish list (and at least one is a large scale $120 plus set).

I know lots of little kids who haven't seen the movies and LOVE the theme.

I'm just doubting the numbers are the same. I think that both the adult and kid fans of this theme are less than Star Wars: I would guess somewhere above 50% (but not much more) of star wars levels. Star Wars also has a big advantage in that it has a greater number of unique characters and vehicles (big time) while still having at least as many locations to recreate. LOTR can still go on for a while because it has not even come close to exhausting the possibilities, but I think that the best case scenerio is that it lasts for several years and then goes away like Harry Potter: 10-plus years isn't going to happen -- I will take 3 or 4 years if they will give them to me.

[Quacs]

The major difference between the two franchises, SW and LOTR, is that from the beginning SW has been really well marketed. Because of it's relatively recent start (back in the 70s), it's genesis as a movie, and Lucas' shrewd licensing and massive distribution channels, SW is more widely available in today's culture than LOTR. Heck, until early this decade, there had never been a major film release of LOTR, almost 25 years after Ep. 4 was released. I'm not saying there are more SW fans than LOTR fans, I'm saying SW franchise has more successfully commercialized their product for a lot longer than LOTR. This, more than anything else, is why SW will remain an evergreen theme while LOTR/Hobbit themes will likely retire in the next 1-2 years.

[akohns]

I think a poll on how long (in years or waves?) people think the LOTR theme will last. I mean it's popular enough to justify a UCS set after the first wave!

[IrishGuy66]

The major difference between the two franchises, SW and LOTR, is that from the beginning SW has been really well marketed. Because of it's relatively recent start (back in the 70s), it's genesis as a movie, and Lucas' shrewd licensing and massive distribution channels, SW is more widely available in today's culture than LOTR. Heck, until early this decade, there had never been a major film release of LOTR, almost 25 years after Ep. 4 was released.

I'm not saying there are more SW fans than LOTR fans, I'm saying SW franchise has more successfully commercialized their product for a lot longer than LOTR. This, more than anything else, is why SW will remain an evergreen theme while LOTR/Hobbit themes will likely retire in the next 1-2 years.

You make a valid point. However on the International scale I think LoTR as a franchise is more popular than SW.... because LoTR was written in the 40's, and was accepted by many countries as the greatest fantasy ever written. (Which it is) LoTR is still one of the most read books in the world. It's up there with The Bible, Atlas Shrugged, and Harry Potter, as far as sales of the book go. The Hobbit was greatly recieved in foreign countries as well, and with two movies coming in the next two years, I feel that Tolkein popularity will skyrocket. LoTR as a theme has just reached wave 2, and Lego has barely scratched the surface of all the characters, designs, and locations shown in the films. I believe that at least one more wave of sets is in order, not to mention the next two waves of Hobbit sets.