Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit - general discussion

[trekgate502]

For those that haven't seen and like to think positive about the remaining sets coming out in the line for Hobbit and the Video Game, Brick Blogger had a good article today -

 

http://thebrickblogger.com/2014/07/lego-the-hobbit-revelation-of-smaug/

 

 

I think LOTR & Hobbit are nearing the end, but I think it will go out with class.

[Mrcress]

With a major part if the next film being the destruction of the town, could be prove popular. Anybody else had the same thought?

[BRICKC]

 Also, the Hobbit announcement about 3 movies was made in July 2012 so it gave LEGO plenty of time to develop additional sets for LOTR to be released in 2014 if they wanted to.

 

The point here is not that they did not necessarily have LOTR sets planned for 2014, but that having three waves of Hobbit sets coinciding with the Hobbit movies means that if there were LOTR sets in 2014, then they would be competing against Hobbit sets (wave 3) in the last half of 2014 too.

[spener90]

I believe that there are some impressive sets in this line, orthanc; An Unexpected Gathering; Helms Deep, but as a whole it seems the theme has underwhelmed.  There was a lot of talk about Harry Potter potential in the theme, that if done right, it could be extremely successful.  Given the obvious change in the amount of investors and that prices are remaining lower longer into retirement, could many of these sets struggle to break into higher gains then expected?  Heck, Attack on Weathertop has been gone for a year, and is barely selling for above retail, if at all... And compared to a lot of the newer sets, it's actually pretty good.

 

Anyone have thoughts on this?

[Alcarin]

Its sad that they gave up so much potential (TLG) it could be an amazing line if they would've decided to produce 8 sets a year and focus a bit more on AFOLs, because thats what LOTR was..... Most of kids below 14 dont even know what LOTR is or maybe did not even watched it so ye.....

 

I think the sets wil lrise in value but slowly.

[M4x18]

I believe that there are some impressive sets in this line, orthanc; An Unexpected Gathering; Helms Deep, but as a whole it seems the theme has underwhelmed.  There was a lot of talk about Harry Potter potential in the theme, that if done right, it could be extremely successful.  Given the obvious change in the amount of investors and that prices are remaining lower longer into retirement, could many of these sets struggle to break into higher gains then expected?  Heck, Attack on Weathertop has been gone for a year, and is barely selling for above retail, if at all... And compared to a lot of the newer sets, it's actually pretty good.

 

Anyone have thoughts on this?

 

Not all sets will go and sell over retail. Personally Attack on Weathertop was not a first choice for me as it didn't have minifigs that drew my attention. I bought one only because I found a great deal and had to ****** it.

 

Not counting Orthanac as IIRC it is an exclusive, Battle of Helm's Deep is expected to be among the best performers of the line. And so far, based on BP data, it's living to expectations.

 

Also, the Orc Forge and Uruk Hai Army are doing a good job going up the ranks.

[c666187]

Not all sets will go and sell over retail. Personally Attack on Weathertop was not a first choice for me as it didn't have minifigs that drew my attention. I bought one only because I found a great deal and had to ****** it.

 

It is the only place to get ringwraiths. This set will do fine. 

[Ensche]

Hmm half a year and the sets haven't already tripled in value... weak theme, isn't it...

 

IMO the theme needs more time and not all sets will rise that much. But it is LOTR!!!! There will be AFOLS paying a premium for LOTR I'm sure, but that just needs more time! I'm prepared (and already was, when the sets were widely available) to store them for a couple of years.

[zskid00]

I'm in this theme for the long haul.  I haven't been picking up much of anything from the Hobbit for investment, but have a decent amount of LOTR from the first wave.  The last wave of Hobbit sets could be short lived.  I really don't know how long LEGO has the license for, but I could see them hitting clearance early next year at retailers and maybe LEGO dumping them for good before the end of 2015.

[M4x18]

It is the only place to get ringwraiths. This set will do fine.

 

As I stated above, personally I did not find the minifigures enough for me. Not even the ringwraiths. If not for Merry - exclusive as well -, this would be even harder to sell.

 

This set is along with Mines of Moria in the bottom 2 of the CAGR for the first wave of LOTR.

[chinothegeeko]

I believe that there are some impressive sets in this line, orthanc; An Unexpected Gathering; Helms Deep, but as a whole it seems the theme has underwhelmed.  There was a lot of talk about Harry Potter potential in the theme, that if done right, it could be extremely successful.  Given the obvious change in the amount of investors and that prices are remaining lower longer into retirement, could many of these sets struggle to break into higher gains then expected?  Heck, Attack on Weathertop has been gone for a year, and is barely selling for above retail, if at all... And compared to a lot of the newer sets, it's actually pretty good.

 

Anyone have thoughts on this?

Personally this is the major line that brought me back into LEGO and it's become a huge disappointment.  

 

Lego only has so much it can do with the sets and keeping them affordable but at least some exclusive polybags of Morgul Lord, Sauron, or even Faramir would be nice. I would have loved some battle packs like the Armies of Middle Earth line. 

 

I have lost hope in any further sets of LOTR. 

 

As for the Hobbit, total junk sets, great minifigs.  

[glenbart]

I agree about the use of battle packs making this theme better, the witches set being released soon is by far the bet small set I've seen from the hobbit/LOTR theme.

[jeff_14]

I bought almost all of my sets at 50% off, so even selling at MSRP gets me a 100% return in less than a year. Beats the stock market pretty handily which averages 6-8% a year. 

[Huskers1236]

After seeing how Lego mailed it in with the 3rd Hobbit wave, I have very little hope in any more LotR.  I had hoped for a small 4th wave or even a single D2C, but they pretty obviously spent as little time with this wave as possible and are ready to cut ties.  After the reveal of Unexpected Gathering, who would have thought that was the apex of the Hobbit line?

[glenbart]

I think LOTR hobbit merchandise in general needs to gather a bit of dust before its worth anything, I also have everything around the 50% off mark, only helms deep where the best I could do was 25% off but it is the best performer.

[legodelorean]

I never got into getting any of these sets.  I don't really know too much about them like I do Super Heroes.  Those sets are easier for me to understand and deal with.  The LOTR/Hobbit ones are confusing to me.  I don't know what will be worth anything.  I do know the bigger the set the better, but I'm still uneasy dropping $100+ on sets I don't have much knowledge on.

[bricketycricket]

Most of the LotR and especially the Hobbit sets seem to be kid focused because they rely too much on 'imagination' to recreate the scenes that weren't feasible to build entirely from Lego. Most of them are lousy display pieces which is a big problem IMO. I only buy sets that interest me (so if they don't pan out as investments I can just open and build them) and for that reason I've only bought Pirate Ship Ambush.

 

Bottom line, especially with the Hobbit, the sets are just incomplete. They don't have the entire scene (understandable) and most don't have a complete set of figs to recreate the scene either. Tough to justify paying Lego cost + the license premium on sets like that.

[jeff_14]

I don't agree. There are a lot of good playsets and army building sets in the series. Attaching Helms Deep to Uruk-hai army, or the 2 Dol Guldur sets was inspired. I've bought 4 of the Mirkwood Elf army sets so that I can make a giant fort, and even bought 4 discounted Attack of the Wargs so that I can (1) have a Warg hunting pack, and (2) attach the trees to some megablock Halo green baseplates to make a forest to separate my Ewok village from my Endor bunker.

 

The Mines of Moria, Pirate ship, Unexpected Gathering, and Orthanc are all fantastic sets on their own. Even Weathertop is pretty good and has some exclusive sets. I like the variety myself. This has been a fun theme for me to build as well as a profitable one to sell. Once it's done I'll need a new theme to complete my trifecta with Star Wars and Super-heroes. That will probably be when I get into modular sets.

[marcandre]

The only set I have multiples of is Helms. The pirate ship is very drab compared to the potc ships, I think they dropped the ball on that one. The tower should do well but not crazy about the rest. 

 

These do need a lot more time though. I could be two years before selling makes sense. 

[jeff_14]

All depends on what you bought them for. I sold 2 Helms, 2 Orc Forges, and a Shelob Attacks in the past week for twice what I paid. I'm still kicking myself for missing the severely discounted Black Gate and Pirate Ships last month. 

[belljohn]

I definitely agree that this just needs more time.  The selling prices are deceptive because most people bought these at a big discount, so most sellers only need to get to 25% over retail to double their money.  For the majority of investment sets, it takes 2 years after retirement for a set to sell for twice retail.

 

Everyone's feeling on investing has been skewed by the huge returns on a few high profile sets.  Be patient, and every set in the LoTR line will do just fine, especially if you are comparing it to average returns in the stock market.

[glenbart]

Most of the LotR and especially the Hobbit sets seem to be kid focused because they rely too much on 'imagination' to recreate the scenes that weren't feasible to build entirely from Lego. Most of them are lousy display pieces which is a big problem IMO. I only buy sets that interest me (so if they don't pan out as investments I can just open and build them) and for that reason I've only bought Pirate Ship Ambush.

 

Bottom line, especially with the Hobbit, the sets are just incomplete. They don't have the entire scene (understandable) and most don't have a complete set of figs to recreate the scene either. Tough to justify paying Lego cost + the license premium on sets like that.

Lego is like that though, no pop-up green light sabre for R2-D2 yet, what are they playing at...."?".

[Ed Mack]

The LOTR and Hobbit sets have an inherent weakness...lack of vehicles and box like structures that enable LEGO bricks to take full advantage of their "square" qualities.  Many of the LOTR and Hobbit scenes are based on grand and expansive structures and landscapes that cannot be reproduced in small scale accurately, so many sets seem inaccurate, incomplete or cheesy.  There is one iconic set of the bunch...The Tower of Orthanc and the rest range from above average(Helms Deep, Unexpected Gathering) to underwhelming(most of the rest IMO).  None are really bad, but many do not stand out either.  The mini and maxifigures are the true value of these sets and there are some cool ones.  

 

Overall, I see a solid future for the themes, but they will not be in the same league as the top sets from STAR WARS or Harry Potter...

[exciter1]

The LOTR and Hobbit sets have an inherent weakness...lack of vehicles and box like structures that enable LEGO bricks to take full advantage of their "square" qualities.  Many of the LOTR and Hobbit scenes are based on grand and expansive structures and landscapes that cannot be reproduced in small scale accurately, so many sets seem inaccurate, incomplete or cheesy.  There is one iconic set of the bunch...The Tower of Orthanc and the rest range from above average(Helms Deep, Unexpected Gathering) to underwhelming(most of the rest IMO).  None are really bad, but many do not stand out either.  The mini and maxifures are the true value of these sets and there are some cool ones.  

 

Overall, I see a solid future for the themes, but they will not be in the same league as the top sets from STAR WARS or Harry Potter...

 

I think Mines of Moria is a solid set if you put 2 or 3 of them together.  The crypt just wasn't big enough, or maybe it should have been a $120 set.

[bricketycricket]

I think Mines of Moria is a solid set if you put 2 or 3 of them together.  The crypt just wasn't big enough, or maybe it should have been a $120 set.

 

Personally, I want to like the set but just can't stomach it. In Canada it was a $100 set for a wall, a gate, an incomplete fellowship and the other figs/fixtures comprising 700 odd pieces. I won't speak of the investment potential because I'm sure there are enough hardcore LotR fans who will buy the sets because there isn't another option in terms of LotR building blocks. I don't expect a full recreation of Moria, or the entire fellowship to be in the set, that's just reality but the value proposition in these sets compares poorly (IMO) to other licensed sets and is naturally incomparable to a non licensed set. In my case, I'd rather buy a modular, HH, etc. over 2 Mines of Moria. I'm not an LotR diehard though