LEGO Toy Fair 2012: Lord of the Rings

[Staff]

The Lord of the Rings sets are in the process uploading as I type this. I have to admit that the printed details on the minifigs, helms, shields, and armors are pretty impressive. The LotR line also introduces an articulated horse that can stand up on its hind legs.

• 9469 Gandalf Arrives


• 9470 Shelob Attacks


• 9471 Uruk-Hai Army


• 9472 Attack on Weathertop


• 9473 The Mines of Moria


• 9474 The Battle of Helm's Deep


• 9476 The Orc Forge

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Permalink: http://www.fbtb.net/2012/02/12/lego-toy-fair-2012-lord-of-the-rings/

[shoggoth666]

Superb. Definitely need nine of the uh... nine. The prints do look splendid, Theodon looks brilliant, well done lego. Thanks for the detailed pics really enjoying them!

[richmaguni]

I think they could have included a couple more moria goblins in the mines set, considering there's no way to get more in a battle pack type set like the uruk hai.

[metalface13]

I'm loving the LOTR sets. My priority will be to get the fellowship, but they all look really good.

Gandalf Arrives: Gandalf looks good with a beard that has some side hair and a cape.

Shelob Attacks: It's only $19.99! That's great! Shelob is cool, and one of her eyes is poked out! Gollum looks great and I love Frodo's stung face.

Uruk Hai Army: The Uruk Hai are looking fierce. Eomer looks really good. I like the ballista build.

Attack on Weathertop: This is a great scene, I really like how they made weathertop. The horses look great. I feel like Aragorn needs a cloak or something. I know he didn't always wear one, but the minifigure doesn't portray his flowing trench coat thing very well. The hobbits look great. And there's a back pack to fit stuff in. That's cool.

Mines of Moria: I love how the cave troll's massive club is brick-built. And the troll has studs on his back so you really can have minifigures climbing on him and fighting him. That's cool. The orcs look good. Lego did a good job making them look distinct from the Uruk Hai. All the minifigures look good. Nice assortment of bonus weapons.

Helm's Deep: Theodin looks sooooo amazing. Haldir looks awesome too. The castle looks like a fun build and the perfect set to stage a massive battle against all those orcs from the other sets. Inside the keep looks great. Love the Rohan flag and Theodin's chair. This set is expensive, but tempting.

Orc forge: $40? Really? This is the only set with Mordor orcs however. The naked Uruk Hai is pretty cool and fierce looking. Really the whole point of this set is to get the orcs. But $40?

[majortom]

Wow, thank you for the photos FBTB, I am so stoked for these new sets. The minifigures look absolutely terrific.!

Is anyone else puzzled by what looks like flick fire missiles on the Attack at Weathertop set? Also the new 'brick patterned bricks seem a bit unnecessary when used in the context of these pics. But otherwise, I think LEGO have done a pretty good job.

[Jabba the Taff]

Really impressed with these sets. A great job straight out of the gate. On the whole they look nicely priced as well. I'll definitely be buying them all. Great coverage as well, as every year. Thank you.

[shoggoth666]

I hope they offer some army building battle paks.

[RancorRider8]

YES! I am so getting most of these! I wish that Helm's Deep wasn't so expen$ive though...

[Blue Squadron]

I wonder if the Gandalf beard sculpt will work with the Dumbledore long hair piece?
Still think Gandalf's hat should have been sand blue. Oh well - will just have to raid Bricklink for that...

[Solo]

As much as I like the color, he wasn't "Gandalf the Sand Blue" now was he?

[Crusader]

As excited as I was by the news of this license, I thought some of the preliminary fig pictures a little dull. However seeing the sets has certainly changed my mind. The prices are decent and the sets look like they have a fair amount of detail in them. The Shelob set exceeds expectations. I was thinking of a cheap Aragog knockoff, not this Hellbeast. Moria, Helms deep and even Weathertop all look very unique, and not just recycled standard Lego castle.

As for the figs looking dull, they look faithful to the source material. And some of them like Theoden and Gimil look great. I'm actually glad that Lego didn't go overboard and make some of them too realistic. As we can see with the ghastly Ironman helmet, too much detail can be a very bad thing. Some of the new figs in Star Wars are looking less and less like Lego in my opinion.

And the horses look amazing. I am very glad that they still look like Lego horses though,so my old ones won't look obsolete.

[spud405]

I remember being excited when I first heard they were making LOTR sets, but I was on the fence about actually getting them. It'd be more money to spend over sets that might not be all that great.

But after these images, I'm sold. These are by far the most impressive sets they had at the show. I can't wait for that Helm's Deep!

[bruce n h]

Hey guys,

Two questions for those of you who were at Toy Fair. As part of the display there is what I assume is a Hobbit board game. Were there any details forthcoming about this game?


Also, I'm not finding this in your Flickr stream (though I have to admit I haven't yet gone through all of the many pictures you took), but elsewhere I've seen this notice that was part of the display:

The text says "LEGO - The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey - Coming Winter 2012". I assumed this was a hint at the next wave of sets, but others online have speculated that this was the announcement of an upcoming video game. Or maybe both. Did they say anything about this announcement?

Thanks!
Bruce

[MrCRskater]

As part of the display there is what I assume is a Hobbit board game.

Interesting find. I was just thinking about this the other day - since we've seen board games for both Harry Potter and now Star Wars, I figured it was only a matter of time before an LotR game showed up.

Hopefully the franchise games will really take off. I really like the Harry Potter game, and by all accounts it sounds like the Star Wars game will be more strategic, as well. It would be awesome to have a game from each of the movies, a Death Star Trench Run game and Battle of Endor game to go along with the Hoth Battle. LotR fans would surely enjoy a game for each book in the trilogy.

[Solo]

That board game card was the only thing shown regarding the board game itself that I saw or heard of.

The video game was not confirmed, but we're pretty sure it's only a matter of time. I'm certain that second image is just a teaser for the Hobbit based sets.

[Blue Squadron]

As much as I like the color, he wasn't "Gandalf the Sand Blue" now was he?

Ha...! True, but go back and read the descriptions in the books and also take another look at Ian McKellen's costume from the trilogy: Gandalf's hat is *blue* not grey.

Granted, Jackson gave it a realistic worn, faded and grubby look (so in some scenes it does appear to be nothing but grey) but it is, in fact, blue - that's why I figured sand blue wouldn't have been a bad option.

Just a few examples:

http://www.theargonath.cc/characters/gandalf/pictures/gandalf23.jpg

http://www.theargonath.cc/characters/gandalf/pictures/gandalf26.jpg

http://www.theargonath.cc/characters/gandalf/pictures/gfotrshire16.jpg

http://www.theargonath.cc/characters/gandalf/pictures/gandalf29.jpg


In fact, sand blue is SO close to the colour of the movie hat that I'm amazed they opted NOT to use it. It would also have made the Gandalf minifig look a little less bland than the all-grey version we appear to be getting. The only other thing obviously missing is his long grey hair.

Bricklink it is then...

[Solo]

Even after those photos, the difference between sad blue and dark grey is way more noticeable than his costume hat and clothes. It's hard to compress the nuance of real world colors into Lego's limited color pallet. If you fudge half one way and half the other, it looks odd. But like you said, Bricklink to the rescue.

[Blue Squadron]

Fair enough! I agree - this is just like the Star Wars line; there are plenty of occasions where there are compromises to be made in terms of what constitutes a "best fit" or a "closest approximation", both in terms of colour and shape of brick used. Sometimes there will be debate about which option is better - but what the heck, this is primarily a kids' toy and it's easier than ever to get alternative parts online these days!

I think it's mainly 'cos I'm primarily a fan of the books so, for me, Gandalf's hat should definitely be blue - and therefore I tend to be more aware of the movie version as blue too.

I may therefore have to buy a hat in sand blue from Bricklink ahead of time!

[Brickmythic]

As much as I like the color, he wasn't "Gandalf the Sand Blue" now was he?

lol qft.

I'm liking the line overall except for the lack of any female minifigures. I can grab a Tasmina head and put it on a rider of rohan (with helm), I guess
I think they need to add Arwen to weathertop set asap. HOT FIX ARWEN in! that way the $60 pricetag is a little more manageable and to keep Lego getting sued from feminine groups...lol

I like all the sets except for the forge and the price of weathertop.

and Im pretty picky.

[bruce n h]

Hey,

Just to add a line to "Gandalf the sand blue", this is the original description of Gandalf when he is first introduced in Fellowship:

An old man was driving it all alone. He wore a tall pointed blue hat, a long grey cloak, and a silver scarf. He had a long white beard and bushy eyebrows that stuck out beyond the brim of his hat.

Bruce