10237 - Tower of Orthanc

[ediebrickette]

I am between this one and Batman Arkham - I don

[Guest TabbyBoy]

Even though this is an impressive set, I think growth will plateau soon after EOL as this theme is nowhere near as timeless as StarWars and may soon be forgotten once the final Hobbit movie is done. I'm shifting my boxed ones within a year of EOL. It's all in the timing as much as the waiting these days.

[Alfiepops]

Boths sets have cool exclusive figures. This dosen't make it any easier. I'm having both so that I don't regret it after EOL.

[Mos_Eisley]

I am between this one and Batman Arkham - I don

[Val-E]

Seems I am not alone in having doubts. LOTR would appear to have more appeal to AFOLs whereas Batman has more mainstream appeal and is a Little cheaper. Buying all the modulars and HH was the easy bit - now it is getting harder to close in on other targets.

[ediebrickette]

Seems I am not alone in having doubts. LOTR would appear to have more appeal to AFOLs whereas Batman has more mainstream appeal and is a Little cheaper. Buying all the modulars and HH was the easy bit - now it is getting harder to close in on other targets.

My feeling is that AFOLs have enough black pieces stashed away to make a much cooler Orthanc, meanwhile their kids are asking santa for this awesome baddie-heavy batman kit

Edited November 18, 2014 by ediebrickette

[Mathew]

My feeling is that AFOLs have enough black pieces stashed away to make a much cooler Orthanc, meanwhile their kids are asking santa for this awesome baddie-heavy batman kit

[Ed Mack]

Not necessarily. I agree that Orthanc won't be a reseller's wet dream, but I'm not getting the hate. It's a lot more interesting than say a modular building as far as aesthetics. I'm not a status quo kind of Lego collector. I don't require owning all of the modulars and I'm not a Superhero fan. I like stuff that appeals to me and Orthanc appeals to me.

It is a good thing some people dislike or question the set. That means they are not buying it. It's an impressive set and box in my opinion. Either you like the set or you don't. There are plenty of people who do like the set, enough to produce strong returns. I have yet to see a large exclusive set like this do poorly. I think this set will be less hoarded than most.

[GhostDad]

The box does look very nice.  And Lego seals it with three seals on each side instead of the standard two.  Seems a bit random, but makes it less likely to pop open in shipment when a bunch of 'em are packed together in one big box.  Plus it comes with a light brick.  Can't have too many of those.

[cvail8]

Even though this is an impressive set, I think growth will plateau soon after EOL as this theme is nowhere near as timeless as StarWars and may soon be forgotten once the final Hobbit movie is done. I'm shifting my boxed ones within a year of EOL. It's all in the timing as much as the waiting these days.

 

Nowhere near as timeless as Star Wars?

 

The Hobbit was published in 1937, Fellowship of the Ring in 1954. I doubt anyone is forgetting Lord of the Rings ever.

[emazers]

Any Wise Investor would get a few of these, as it will shoot over $300 pretty fast once the word comes its done, and should be a $400-600 set.   Ed

[tonysbricks]

Even though this is an impressive set, I think growth will plateau soon after EOL as this theme is nowhere near as timeless as StarWars and may soon be forgotten once the final Hobbit movie is done. I'm shifting my boxed ones within a year of EOL. It's all in the timing as much as the waiting these days.

 

cough

 

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars

 

Lucas has often cited The Lord of the Rings series as a major influence on Star Wars. Lucas learned from Tolkien how to handle the delicate stuff of myth. Tolkien wrote that myth and fairytale seem to be the best way to communicate morality - hints for choosing between right and wrong - and in fact that may be their primary purpose. Lucas has also acknowledged in interviews that the Gandalf and the Witch-king characters in the Lord of the Rings influenced the Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader characters respectively.

[No More Monkeys]

cough

 

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars

I can totally see Gandalf trick-or-treating as Obi-Wan. And vice versa

[biniou]

My feeling is that AFOLs have enough black pieces stashed away to make a much cooler Orthanc

 

The ToO has a great PPP (8.48) for a licensed set. If you remove the ent I think it's about 9.00 so it's still ok.

 

It would be wiser IMO and less expensive to buy this set for $250/300, than MOC it entirely for about the same result (it's even more wise when you consider Grima... exclusive to this set).

And seriously, no offense but "much cooler" ? What do you want to improve ?

 

 

 

If you want to have a bigger top (so more space to gandalf and saruman to fight) you will have to make a tower twice higher to respect the ratio.

And if you want to close the back of the tower (I understand that well), it's still a better idea ($$$-ly speaking) to have the original one, and then add some black bricks on the back.

 

Note:

The ToO can also be used to be changed into Sauron's tower by changing some details (just removing 2 of the 4 "spines" of the top) and adding some orange and black bricks to MOC sauron's eye. Week one the ToO with sauruman and gandalf, Week two Barad-d

[Ed Mack]

Honestly, this set is a better investment than about 99% of the other current sets out there available at LEGO S@H. A person might not like it personally, but don't let that cloud your judgement of a wonderful set.

As for STAR WARS vs LOTR argument...there is no winner, just two winners. They are the two of the coolest and classic franchises of all time. No need to diss either.

[Ciglione]

I think this set is marvelous. I have seen it build and it looks so cool! Makes me want to build mine as well. Just a shame LOTR is not my cup of tea. I prefer to build the modulars to add to my city setup. Cannot have them all.

[speedsausage]

I think this set is marvelous. I have seen it build and it looks so cool! Makes me want to build mine as well. Just a shame LOTR is not my cup of tea. I prefer to build the modulars to add to my city setup. Cannot have them all.

You can try though!

[Flemdog33]

I'm hoping the set is still available at SAH during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday long weekend. If they are doing 2X or 3X pts then I'm buying multiples.

Eventually I will sell and include the free poster as a bonus. At almost 2 1/2 feet tall any LOTR/Hobbit fan will certainly need this if making a display. I'm a huge fan (of the general theme) and not having this set at the top of the LOTR sets just doesn't make sense to me.

LOTR has a massive following, even long before any of the movies arrived and will have a massive following long after the movies end.

[Alcarin]

Still need to buy one of those for personal collection but I dont want it ordered so ill guess ill have to go to Austria LEGO shop again

[fondkick]

On Brickset.com

 

• 2803 people own this set
• 2709 want this set

 

This ratio is better than a large amount of  Exclusive set...no brainer

[ediebrickette]

On Brickset.com

 

• 2803 people own this set
• 2709 want this set

This adds to the good recent dilemma discussion. Here's AA, almost exactly the same:

• 2848 people own this set
• 2689 want this set

[JRandall]

 

This adds to the good recent dilemma discussion. Here's AA, almost exactly the same:

• 2848 people own this set
• 2689 want this set

 

 

I personally don't believe any of those numbers are a good reflection of demand.  Many who fill out the brickset information could own multiples of the set and put that they want it simply because they like the set.  I would do that myself.

[ediebrickette]

I personally don't believe any of those numbers are a good reflection of demand.  Many who fill out the brickset information could own multiples of the set and put that they want it simply because they like the set.  I would do that myself.

Not to mention the sampling error of all the 8-year-olds not posting on Brickset.

[inversion]

Most people who are dishing out large cash for LEGO don't really care/ have time for MOC-ing exclusives. Those are the same ones who go to restaurants instead of cooking themselves.

Edited November 19, 2014 by inversion

[No More Monkeys]

Most people who are dishing out large cash for LEGO don't really care/ have time for MOC-ing exclusives. Those are the same ones who go to restaurants instead of cooking themselves.

Or the same people who paid ~$400 last year for a pile of white bricks, also known as Architecture Studio (yeah, yeah, there was a fancy book... pdf of which was freely available)