Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit - general discussion

[seapotato]

That looks really cool, but over $1000? Crazy!

[trekgate502]

It said over 200 people watching on an email update I got and $1,000 was my limit.

I'm guessing it goes for $2,500.

Glad for the kids.

[sadowsk1]

I would bid that high if it was something I enjoyed from the LOTR and went to charity.

[Thumper]

$1117.51    with 20 bidders involved.

[yannick29]

Hello,

I was pretty glad with my investments in LOTR 2012 sets. All did good at reselling after a year.

 

I did not invest much on 2013 sets as I found it less interesting.

 

Which one would you advise me to get ( I already have a few of the boad, black Gate and house of Bilvo).

 

Thanks !

 

Yannick

 

 

[mudcatsfan]

Most folks seem to feel the Unexpected Gathering (house of Bilbo) is the sweet spot. Not too expensive where it will price most people out, but substantial enough and iconic enough to be your centerpiece.

 

It HAS been on the market for longer than most sets, but it really seems to be the best bet to be the set everyone will want once they can no longer purchase it at retail.

[Thumper]

Agreed, the Unexpected Gathering set has allot of potential, it's CDN list price is $85 but it can easily be found pretty much anywhere on clearance for $35-$45 so it's jump-in point isn't high, it's an iconic part of the series, fairly good selection and number of parts, high fig count etc.  it's also a strong parter-outer & thus should always have a stable turn around base market even if it doesn't become an investment level set.  a safe bet so to speak...

[mudcatsfan]

I also like the Pirate Ship Ambush because it's got the LOTR fanbase, it's a pirate ship, and it has a TON of key figures AND exclusive figures

 

I especially like it at the bargain basement prices i found it on clearance and at Amazon during the last bogo 40% event.

[Izendel]

Hello! Please support my project on LEGO Ideas

[meowsmeowsmeows]

To revive a topic that's been discussed a bit... 

 

Now that the Pirate Ship is sold out at Lego and presumably on its way to retirement, and one would assume the other 2013 LOTR sets are on that path when they sell out, what are people's thoughts about the LOTR (not Hobbit) Lego line?  It sounds like LOTR been a disappointment to some, but to me, if the license is done and Lego doesn't produce any more in the next few years, then some of these sets will be highly sought after. 

 

Tower of Orthanc is an obvious winner because it's an exclusive, expensive, and limited, but any other sets that are of interest to people?

 

Edit:  perhaps this should have gone in the Lord of the Rings 2014 discussion. 

Edited December 6, 2014 by meowsmeowsmeows

[tonysbricks]

Don't listen to the hipster critics on the new hobbit movie, it r0x0rs b0x0rs.

 

They found the "multiple storylines" confusing. I would image they also find tic-tac-toe a strategic quagmire, as the movie only had 2 major locations: lake town and the mountain. Almost no unnecessary dialog and loose ends were tied. Did a nice job foreshadowing what was coming in LotR. I loved the cameo of a LotR protagonist in his good form during the witch king battle.

 

I couldn't turn off the lego investor as I watched. All I kept saying was "YES YES YES". May be too little too late, but hopefully the older sets get a nice bump from the closing of the series. I for one can't wait to finish my collection now and will enjoy a LotR / Hobbit marathon during Christmas break

[zskid00]

As a fan of the entire series of books and movies I have let it cloud my judgement a bit with the LEGO sets.  I still think there is hope for future performance and think that once the theme is gone for good people will realize they missed out on it.  It's a theme that will likely never be revisited.  As a fan, I just wish there was one more wave of LOTR sets to round out the Two Towers and Return of the King characters and locations that they never got to.

[Huskers1236]

Without Gondor, the theme will always feel incomplete, and it will hurt it because a new collector will find out that they can't collect basically then entire last movie outside of the Black Gate, and that's frustrating.  I thought Lego failed by not having the Grail scene in Indiana Jones sets but this oversight or just plain giving up on the theme is really painful. 

[zskid00]

I'm betting another wave of LOTR with a Gondor set or two was planned but just never got that far along when the sales numbers weren't up to par.  That's speculation on my part as I have no inside information on sales numbers, but I can't imagine LEGO would have stalled the theme if it was selling well enough.

[mscheaf]

I can't believe they didn't do Barad Dur, the most iconic and recognizable and pop culture referenced building from all three movies. Clearly Lego had the B-Team doing this series.

[Huskers1236]

I'm betting another wave of LOTR with a Gondor set or two was planned but just never got that far along when the sales numbers weren't up to par.  That's speculation on my part as I have no inside information on sales numbers, but I can't imagine LEGO would have stalled the theme if it was selling well enough.

The popular picture of the Lego studio pretty clearly shows the Lothlorien from the game, so there were definitely other models made.  Whether any of them were meant to be produced is another story.  Amazing how they didn't make Minas Tirith, Balrog, Fell Beast, as well as many very popular characters.  But at least we got Gandalf in every single set.

 

I can't believe they didn't do Barad Dur, the most iconic and recognizable and pop culture referenced building from all three movies. Clearly Lego had the B-Team doing this series.

I'm surprised they chose Orthanc over Barad Dur.  If they were going to make one of the towers, surely BD would be the one chosen as it is way more iconic.  Would have fit in with Black Gate as well.

[mscheaf]

Did they even make a Sauron?

[Huskers1236]

Did they even make a Sauron?

No.  Some could argue that Necromancer from Hobbit is Sauron, but obviously the one that everybody wants which would be from the opening of the LotR movies.

[mscheaf]

No.  Some could argue that Necromancer from Hobbit is Sauron, but obviously the one that everybody wants which would be from the opening of the LotR movies.

 

Man, what a fail.

[justapilgrim]

Black gate has mouth of sauron

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[Huskers1236]

Black gate has mouth of sauron

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Not nearly the same as having the actual Sauron since dude was like 10 foot tall or something like that.  Lego could have gone to the Nth degree with it and given it hand printing on the one side to signify the ring.  Mind Blown.

[beatpoppa]

 No Gondor is unforgivable.

[mscheaf]

An actual Rivendell would have been nice too.

[MillerTime]

There are so many great options Lego could have made with the LOTR series. Unfortunately like others have said in the past, it seems like they took sets from a theme that many adults would be interested in, and made sets geared towards kids who aren't interested in it. This resulted in many of the sets being disliked by both groups. I'm happy for what they did as I've been waiting for LOTR legos for the past 10 years, but it is sad that this was their one opportunity and they left so much left on the table. :/

[beatpoppa]

I had very few Harry Potter as i began dabbling right as it was being clearances discounted at Target & Kmart.

I agree LOTR was late to the party and missed the kids. Harry Potter was a natural fit released with perfect timing.

That said, if it walks iconic & quacks iconic, am I smart enough to disagree and be right? No way this is a forgotten series long-term. There are huge winners lurking here. IMO I'm under-represented.