Summer wave of LEGO Lord of the Rings sets now available

The summer line of LEGO products is coming out fast and furious, with the latest releases including a fresh wave of Lord of the Rings sets. I have to admit, I sat out for The Hobbit sets. Most of them were cool and Bag End is still very much on my want list, but I only recently got around to watching the movie and the dwarves just did not excite me very much. For some reason, the LotR sets feel a little different in my eyes. I don't know if it's just fond memories of the trilogy, or if it's that there are far more characters and environments to work with right now. I really feel like there's plenty they can do with the line.


With that said, I'm very excited about the latest wave that's hitting store shelves now. We are getting a good mix of items at fairly reasonable price points. There's also the first female fig of the LotR line with Arwen, which I'm sure many people are excited about. As is usual when a new line of a theme I enjoy hits the shelves, I like to take a few minutes to jot down my thoughts on them.

LEGO reveals Tower of Orthanc set

Rumors have been swirling for some time about a large LEGO Lord of the Rings set based on the Tower of Orthanc, one of the many iconic locations featured in the books and the movies. A glimpse of the set showed up in the background of a single picture, fueling speculation of just how large the set could be. Now we know. I think the video pretty much speaks for itself here.

Because everybody needs another Bilbo minifigure

Totally off the radar here, but apparently the "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" is rapidly approaching its retail release date. I must admit that I missed this one in the theaters, mainly because I just can't seem to sit in a movie theater for three hours anymore. I always feel like I'm wasting money when I have to get up and leave for even just a few minutes.*

Anywho, the Target version of the Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack will come packaged with an exclusive Bilbo Baggins minifgure. Behold, bask in his tiny glory.

LEGO builds life-sized Bag End

I was going through a backlog of facebook posts tonight (should have been building instead) when I came across this awesome post from LEGO earlier this week. It was just too cool not to share. LEGO designers have apparently constructed a life-size version of The Hobbit "An Unexpected Gathering" set.

This massive display of LEGO Bag End engineering is apparently made up of over two million bricks and took at least 3,000 hours to assemble. It's so detailed it apparently even has the ability to produce real smoke from the chimney!

I wonder where this little wonder will pop up on display to the public. I would love to get a closer look.

UPDATE: LEGO has posted a video on the lengthy construction process for Bag End.

LEGO Hobbit sets now available

The second wave of Lord of the Rings LEGO sets is starting to show up in stores. They went on sale through LEGO.com earlier this week and now they are also up on Amazon.com. There are reports of them showing up in major retailers as well. I want to take a few minutes to go over the new additions to the line and offer some of my thoughts on them.

An Unexpected Gathering - I'm going to start off with the set that's probably going to be the best seller of this wave and the one that's probably the most anticipated. For $70 you get a 652 piece set that includes six minifigures. Not an amazing deal, but decent enough for a licensed set. It's of course based on Bag End and it does a fairly good job at capturing what a hobbit hole might look like in brick form. There are some impressive MOCs out there already, but I find it hard to imagine LEGO doing a better job than this with a retail-friendly release. It will probably be the first set from this wave that I pick up. I might even be tempted to not wait for a sale.

Is GameStop cheating LEGO Lord of the Rings buyers?

I'm beginning to see reports online of people who pre-ordered the Nintendo DS version of the new LEGO Lord of the Rings game from GameStop, but did not receive a copy of the exclusive Elrond minifigure that was supposed to come with the game. If this is true, I imagine there are going to be some seriously upset fans out there. I will be one of them.

The Elrond minifigure was the only reason I bothered to pre-order this game. It was advertised on the GameStop site as being available with all versions and for every platform. When I ordered on September 1st, it was clearly listed on the product page for the DS version as a pre-order bonus.

Uruk-hai Army 9471 - Review

Thanks to the short window where TRU actually had this available for regular price during the recent buy two get one free event, I managed to pick up a copy of the Uruk-Hai Army set to go with my Helm's Deep. I actually picked up three, but I will talk about that a little later.

Uruk-hai Army is a 257 piece set with a US RRP of $29.99. It includes a whopping SIX minifigures, which makes it an excellent army builder for the LEGO Lord of the Rings line.

LEGO The Hobbit sets revealed in promo poster

Brickset member just2good has posted a video detailing a promo poster of the new LEGO Lord of the Rings sets tied to the upcoming movie of the The Hobbit.



The video is a little shaky (If quality photos show up, I'll try to link to them), but it provides a good first glimpse of what we can expect on store shelves during the upcoming holiday season. They look great and it certainly appears there will be some fun and interesting parts coming out with these. I'm particularly interested in the wargs (wolves), which should be a fun animal to add to my collection.

I guess this means I should hurry up and finish up my collection from the first wave. I still need to pick up the Mines of Moira, Orc Forge, and Attack on Weathertop.

UPDATE: Pictures posted here

The Battle of Helm's Deep 9474 - Review

"You said that this fortress will never fall while your men defend it. They still defend, that have died defending it"

-Aragorn to King Théoden

I have to admit that my first impression of LEGO's rendition of Helm's Deep was that the set was overpriced and too small to truly capture this impressive fortress. Much like most of the sets in the Lord of the Rings line, it did not seem capable of showing the grand majesty of the building described in the books and seen in the movies. While I still think the price is a bit high, I have changed my mind about the quality of the set itself.

Thanks to a rather steep discount on Amazon, which dropped the price under $100, I went ahead and ordered a copy of The Battle of Helm's Deep. I have not built a castle in quite some time and the banner set of the Lord of the Rings line seemed like a good way to revisit this type of building.

LEGO Elrond Minifigure confirmed for US preorders

LEGO fans in the US will have a shot at getting their own copy of an Elrond minifigure when they buy the upcoming Lord of the Rings game. Retailer GameStop/EB Games have added the figure to to product listing as an exclusive pre-order bonus for US buyers.

Sadly, the rumors of a Gandalf the White minifigure as a pre-order bonus have not panned out so far. I have yet to see any photos of him posted and he has not been mentioned in quite some time. I guess it was just wishful thinking. I'm sure that figure will show up eventually. We might just have to wait awhile.

New LEGO "The Lord of the Rings" game trailer

This trailer debuted recently at Gamescom 2012, a European game convention. I don't think any of this is gameplay footage. Rather, we're just getting a mashup of different cinematics. Still, it looks great and I have to admit I'm actually a little excited for this to be released in the fall.

LEGO Lord of the Rings pre-order bonuses

UPDATE: Elrond has been confirmed for US pre-orders at Game Stop.

UPDATE 2: Some shady things are afoot.

Information is starting to come out about the bonuses for the upcoming LEGO Lord of the Rings game, due out later this fall.


The first tidbit comes from the pre-order page at Amazon.de, which apparently indicates that a Elrond minifigure will be packaged with the collector's edition version of the game. A photo of the fig has been circulating on various forums and blogs. That's pretty sweet and a great reason to pick up the game. I only have a few of the LotR sets so far, but I do plan on getting most of the line eventually. I'm sure these bonus figs will make a great addition to that collection.

Gandalf Arrives 9469 - Review

My birthday was earlier this month and my wife surprised me with the gift of LEGO. She bought me the two smallest sets from the Lord of the Rings line, which I had been holding off on buying any of until they start going on sale. I'm not one to complain if someone else is buying the bricks though.

LEGO set 9469 Gandalf Arrives is the smallest entry in the first wave of LotR sets. Inside the box you'll find two bags, a loose brown horse, and the instruction book. My book was creased, which seems to be pretty common with other copies out there. It's not a "hard" crease, but it still kind of stinks to open up the box and automatically find some damage to the instructions. I guess I'm just getting spoiled by larger sets that have started putting a piece of bagged cardboard in there to keep in the instructions fresh and clean looking.

Bag End and Rancor Pit revealed

San Diego Comic Con is in full swing, and LEGO looks like it will be using the opportunity to give us a glimpse at what 2013 holds in store. First up is a set that I'm pretty sure many people have been looking forward to ever since the Lord of the Rings/Hobbit line was introduced. It's Bag End, the home of Bilbo and (later on) Frodo Baggins.

I love it. You get a range of great figures and a very awesome looking little hobbit hole. I'll be curious to see what the interior looks like, but it better include a kitchen!