Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit - general discussion

[dcdfan]

And the award for best website goes to...

 

[2x4]

So maybe I mentioned this somewhere else, but when my daughter received some LEGO for her 4th birthday, I started poking around, I found LOTR sets, and although I had missed almost all the really good ones (I did manage to pick up a TLM and TOO) this more than anything else is what I owe my return to LEGO to. The first real book my father read to me as a kid was The Hobbit, and I've pretty much been a lifer. It's actually sad to me to see the last two iconic sets drop off, although, at least I got one of each.

[mudcatsfan]

5 minutes ago, 2x4 said:

So maybe I mentioned this somewhere else, but when my daughter received some LEGO for her 4th birthday, I started poking around, I found LOTR sets, and although I had missed almost all the really good ones (I did manage to pick up a TLM and TOO) this more than anything else is what I owe my return to LEGO to. The first real book my father read to me as a kid was The Hobbit, and I've pretty much been a lifer. It's actually sad to me to see the last two iconic sets drop off, although, at least I got one of each.

Very cool to hear, and very cool to hear there are still people coming back to lego (out of their dark ages) to discover sets they missed out on. Though for your sake I'm glad you didnt miss out.

Now if you had,,,,which sets would you have been most willing to pay a premium on?

TOO, TLMountain, Unex Gathering, Helm's Deep, any of the army builder sets?

Just curious, as a non LOTR devotee.

[conceptmachine]

Sad and happy to see them go... Bitter sweet...

The good thing about investing in these sets is that they won't pull star wars or creator remakes on them and the movies were just popular enough.  Even if they didn't make movies the books would have put these sets into the  collectable catagory.   20 years down the road they may remake the movies...but doubtful and even more doubtful they would make the same sets.  These are solid investments for all of you.  Smaug is happily guarding his gold!!

Edited November 16, 2015 by conceptmachine

[2x4]

If I had missed Smaug, I would have paid the most for that. Easily. Not everyone has read all lotr books, and silmarillion is too abstract (although if there were a set with a balrog...) but many people have read the hobbit in one form or another. I think before Harry Potter, it was probably the fantasy novel with the highest volume count out there. Smaug practically is the essential fantasy quest. I'm being a little nostalgic, but that's easily what I'd pay the most for. I also missed mirkwood spiders and was really irritated. Also never picked up Helms Deep, which would have been deeply satisfying.

It doesn't sell that well apparently, but the weather top set would be great too... Uh, yeah, obviously I wish I had them all.

[zskid00]

Interesting that the Hobbit theme is now gone from Shop at Home.  I'm glad to see these sets didn't hang around very long at the end.  Other than Lake-Town Attack and Witch-King Battle (though very briefly) they weren't available at all at the discounted prices.  I was able to get what I wanted from this last wave earlier in the year and some on clearance at Target last month.  Now we will see if there is strong demand for LOTR/Hobbit in the secondary market.

[GiliusThunderhead]

How was the demand for this theme over x-mas?  I'm assuming compared to starwars it would be minimal but wondering if people who had stashed these were seeing some good sales?
Yet another theme I missed out on at retail and now considering getting a helms deep.  In the UK this can be gotten new at "only" 50% above MRSP.  I know a lot of people would have got these at a heavy discount but I'm surprised at the performance on this one.

Maybe now my expectations are tainted by reading all the who-ha about early batman, UCS SW and the earlier modulars.  I know these sets take up a lot of space but if you can get a 50% return over a couple of years...not to be sniffed at.
I would have expected LOTR to do much better in Europe (then the states) and Helms deep looks like quite a good display model so I would have thought AFOLS would be all over it. 

[The Leveller]

I was looking at LOTR/ Hobbit theme on Bricklink yesterday. There was a slight increase in sales in December. But overall it wasn't spectacular.

[Alcarin]

1 hour ago, Lego_Yoda said:

How was the demand for this theme over x-mas?  I'm assuming compared to starwars it would be minimal but wondering if people who had stashed these were seeing some good sales?
Yet another theme I missed out on at retail and now considering getting a helms deep.  In the UK this can be gotten new at "only" 50% above MRSP.  I know a lot of people would have got these at a heavy discount but I'm surprised at the performance on this one.

Maybe now my expectations are tainted by reading all the who-ha about early batman, UCS SW and the earlier modulars.  I know these sets take up a lot of space but if you can get a 50% return over a couple of years...not to be sniffed at.
I would have expected LOTR to do much better in Europe (then the states) and Helms deep looks like quite a good display model so I would have thought AFOLS would be all over it. 

 

If all goes well I will sell my last combo of Helm's Deep and Uruk Hai Army in the next 7 days locally for 230€ or in other words for 80€ net profit. Currently I made about 600€ profit with all LOTR sets i bought (mainly Helm's Deep + UHA) or in other words 1 monthly minimal payment by law in Slovenia

 

If i knew better I would buy additional 3 combos atleast, but did not want to get them due to low diversity...

 

[fossilrock]

1 hour ago, Lego_Yoda said:

How was the demand for this theme over x-mas?  I'm assuming compared to starwars it would be minimal but wondering if people who had stashed these were seeing some good sales?
Yet another theme I missed out on at retail and now considering getting a helms deep.  In the UK this can be gotten new at "only" 50% above MRSP.  I know a lot of people would have got these at a heavy discount but I'm surprised at the performance on this one.

Maybe now my expectations are tainted by reading all the who-ha about early batman, UCS SW and the earlier modulars.  I know these sets take up a lot of space but if you can get a 50% return over a couple of years...not to be sniffed at.
I would have expected LOTR to do much better in Europe (then the states) and Helms deep looks like quite a good display model so I would have thought AFOLS would be all over it. 

The biggest problem with Helms Deep is it's not exactly kid friendly.  It's split out into mulitple segments, and so you need to buy 2 extra grey baseplates and then mount those together with the set, but it's hard for them to move this set when they are done with it..  The TOO, Mine of Moria, and Lonely Mountain are much easier for them to play with.  I personally think Helms Deep is ok, but other sets in the theme are better.  Black Gate for example is going upwards in value, and for good reason - it's a nice looking set, and easy to store.  I also see Dol Guldur doing better long term in terms of %.  But, Helms Deep is a pain, IMO.

[Mathew]

The problem with Helm's Deep is that it's a fortress built into the side of a mountain.  And the overall design isn't terribly interesting.  So I think the Lego set is a pretty fair representation.  But I agree, it's a difficult set to display and overall it's not overly interesting aside from the nice gateway and rock greebleing.  I actually really like this mash-up of Helm's Deep and the Vampyre Castle:

 

 

It's kind of a shame that Lego hasn't given us a 3,500 piece castle of some sort.  

[jaisonline]

49 minutes ago, fossilrock said:

The biggest problem with Helms Deep is it's not exactly kid friendly.  It's split out into mulitple segments, and so you need to buy 2 extra grey baseplates and then mount those together with the set, but it's hard for them to move this set when they are done with it..  The TOO, Mine of Moria, and Lonely Mountain are much easier for them to play with.  I personally think Helms Deep is ok, but other sets in the theme are better.  Black Gate for example is going upwards in value, and for good reason - it's a nice looking set, and easy to store.  I also see Dol Guldur doing better long term in terms of %.  But, Helms Deep is a pain, IMO.

I haven't built HD yet.  I do have a used one ready.  Lego prob thought HD owners would but it and add 1+ 9471 Uruk-Hai Army sets.

Sometimes I do think Lego purposely design some of LOTR sets for older kids / adults despite not having an advanced tag  like most of the exclusives.   Of all the Lego LOTR sets I've sold so far, not a single one was purchased for kids ( I indirectly ask since I offer the box Lego box postage option to save $). 

It appears kids love the last Lego themed King's Castle and Chi Lion Temple because they were far more kid family.  Maybe this is part of the reason HD has lower demand than other non-LOTR sets.

[fossilrock]

13 minutes ago, jaisonline said:

I haven't built HD yet.  I do have a used one ready.  Lego prob thought HD owners would but it and add 1+ 9471 Uruk-Hai Army sets.

Sometimes I do think Lego purposely design some of LOTR sets for older kids / adults despite not having an advanced tag  like most of the exclusives.   Of all the Lego LOTR sets I've sold so far, not a single one was purchased for kids ( I indirectly ask since I offer the box Lego box postage option to save $). 

It appears kids love the last Lego themed King's Castle and Chi Lion Temple because they were far more kid family.  Maybe this is part of the reason HD has lower demand than other non-LOTR sets.

Helms Deep with Uruk Hai Army extension is about 25 inches wide.  Built in full, there's 5 segments to it that use the black pins to connect them together. When my son is done with it he just wants to toss it in his closet, and it just breaks apart when he attempts to carry it.  So, I bought the baseplates to try and remedy that situation, but now its' too awkward for a 5 year old to carry.  Basically Helms Deep is more of a display set, IMO. It's just very awkward as a playset for kids, and there are many better options for kids, like you said, IMO.  He can play with the Tower of Orthanc, Mines of Moria, and Lonely Mountain with no real problems.   Helms Deep is just a very awkward set.   I think they would have down a better service making this one a UCS set and adding in about 1000 more pieces.  It should have came with bigger baseplates too.  They probably should have built it like the Indiana Jones Crystal Skull set with that large single baseplate, but i'm sure that would have cost them more to manufacture.  

Add in that only Theoden and Haldir are exclusive it makes the set less desirable IMO.  Because all the main characters like Gimli, and Aragorn can be found in other sets.

[inversion]

LEGO should have given LotR the Simpsons treatment.

CMF and exclusive once a year. 

[GiliusThunderhead]

Does anyone think they'll be a long term demand for eagles/wargs from the LOTR & Hobbit series?  Even though the films are done i could see the minifigs continuing to do well and most times the best value to get these is in the sets so they should do well too but wondering about the animals.

Am i right in thinking that the Eagles and Wargs were part of the LOTR & Hobbit license so wouldn't be released as the same mold but under a different name?

[justapilgrim]

I see them like the ostrich and camel of the POP sets. There will always be a certain demand for animal figures, they might get rare, but who knows

[GiliusThunderhead]

Thanks. Wondering if anyone can help me (and maybe this is going too deep for an investment standpoint but I'm interested to know).  Why is there such a price discrepancy between the diff Wargs.  From most to least expensive:
Grey
Brown
White

Ok the discrepancy is not great in cash terms but from what I've seen %age terms its pretty big.  Grey and white were both in the same set so i don't get why one is almost 20% more then the other (even from the same seller) - I would have thought that the popularity of them were pretty equal.  Or do I just have too much time on my hands to come up with these questions

Any parter outters able to explain this to me?

[justapilgrim]

I do know the brown one was in the elf army set. That set was heavily discounted and considered an army builder set, plenty of brown wargs floating around. The white one is for the orc captain guy (sorry, name escapes me) so it's a must have for creating him

[chinothegeeko]

2 hours ago, Lego_Yoda said:

Thanks. Wondering if anyone can help me (and maybe this is going too deep for an investment standpoint but I'm interested to know).  Why is there such a price discrepancy between the diff Wargs.  From most to least expensive:
Grey
Brown
White

Ok the discrepancy is not great in cash terms but from what I've seen %age terms its pretty big.  Grey and white were both in the same set so i don't get why one is almost 20% more then the other (even from the same seller) - I would have thought that the popularity of them were pretty equal.  Or do I just have too much time on my hands to come up with these questions

Any parter outters able to explain this to me?

 

I think the gray is the most common wanted based on movie scenes since the brown one was so easily available. The white one while limited also was only used to my knowledge by Azog and maybe when creating army builders or scenes, people are only using the 1 white one for Azog

[Alcarin]

I miss LOTR theme, since it left marketplace my interest in LEGO halved.... 

[Copterman]

I'll admit I'm biased as a huge LOTR fan, but I believe these sets will eventually be gold and will only pick up steam. LEGO will never remake this theme, yet there is a dedicated fan base who missed the boat. Seems to me like the Orc battle pack sets and TLM are the big winners going forward.

[fossilrock]

8 minutes ago, Copterman said:

I'll admit I'm biased as a huge LOTR fan, but I believe these sets will eventually be gold and will only pick up steam. LEGO will never remake this theme, yet there is a dedicated fan base who missed the boat. Seems to me like the Orc battle pack sets and TLM are the big winners going forward.

I agree.  One thing i've noticed on amazon, especially is that the amount of resellers are thinning quite a bit over the last year.  Many have already cashed out and moved on.  So, as the years go by, these will become more scarce, although there are a lot of used sets on ebay that people can pick up. 

I have yet to move any of my LOTR/Hobbit stock and I think i'm going to keep them for a while.  I think we have one more year of sellers thinning out their stock before things really bounce up, and I think it will be a decent bounce up.  Once someone cracks open a set and only gets part of the fellowship, they'll want the rest.  Same with the Dwarves from the hobbit line. 

 

[HappyHawkeye]

Last summer when I first got into lego collecting/investing I slowly acquired one of every set from the LOTR and Hobbit themes. I secretly want these to stagnate so I have an excuse to open & build all of them 

[zskid00]

I just love this line and really miss it.  I have been selling from my stash over the last year, but I still have quite a few left.  For reselling purposes I'm hoping that the Tower of Orthanc picks up some steam.  It has definitely had a slow start out of the gate, but it was readily available and had a predictable retirement with the license finishing up last year.  It is such a unique and inspired set unlike some of the recent exclusives coming from LEGO.

[nolanfan34]

I have reset my expectations a bit, as I thought this would jump like Harry Potter sets once the license was poofed. Maybe they still get there, but going to take a while. Some of the smaller sets like Mirkwood Spiders, Shalob, etc, are performing quite well - the bigger sets seem to be slower.