Earlier tonight I attended the the one-night-only An Unexpected Art Show with my family. The Tower of Orthanc was there in all its imposing glory. But that wasn’t all. The members of OneLUG debuted new art pieces at the show, a series of three builds depicting different symbols from the Lord of the Rings. In order from left to right in the picture above: The White Tree of Gondor by Brandon Griffith, The Horse of Rohan by Remi Gagné, and The White Hand of Saruman by Bruce Lowell.
It’s time for Toy Fair! The LEGO Collector Event at the International Toy Fair is happening this Sunday from 7am to 9am EST. We’ll be starting our coverage a little bit after that. The badges that you see above, feature the Movie Starlet minifig from the Collectible Minifig Series 9, most likely hinting at all of the licensed properties that are sure to dominate the show floor. The Lone Ranger, The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Superman, Iron Man, and who knows what else. Oh, and of course, Star Wars. With more active licenses under LEGO’s belt than before, this year’s show is sure to be packed full of goodies. We’ll do our best to bring you the most complete coverage as possible so come back on Sunday to check it out.
I’m not much of a Lord of the Rings fan, and the Hobbit isn’t exactly high up on my list of things to do in my spare time. I can, though, appreciate the art direction of the films and the world that is created. Those Hobbits, as much as they try and not get involved with whatever else is going on in Middle Earth, they seem to be in the thick of it like all the time. Anyways, Brick Vader created a really nice diorama of a Hobbit’s home-in-a-hillside in a circular format. On the hillside edge, you can peek inside to view the living quarters. I thought that was a nice touch. More pictures on Imperium der Steine.
Sorry, I couldn’t think of a better title than the cheesy one I put up for this post, but this Rivendell MOC is truly a masterpiece in size, scope, and detail. The MOC made its debut at Birmingham, AL’s Brickfair event and is a product of the collaboration between Blake Baer (Blake Baericks) and Jack Bittner (Bitts and Pieces). The duo was also responsible for last year’s Amon Hen scene. Someday, all of the great LOTR mocs will come together to form one giant movie scene… someday…
I received this email earlier today and posting it here in case you didn’t. In a nutshell, you can participate in a LOTR-themed scavenger hunt inside your local LEGO store with a wide range of activities. The link to print your own map of Middle-earth seems to be broken, but hopefully it will be up soon. Other than the hunt, you have a chance to win a free LOTR set. It may not be the Build-a-Bilbo scavenger hunt at ComicCondor, but it’s probably worth checking out if you have kids and need something to do. The promotion lasts through August 5th.
Wired Magazine’s Geekdad had an opportunity to play the upcoming LEGO Lord of the Rings game while attending E3. He was only able to play a small portion of the game, when the fellowship entered the Mines of Moria to be exact. The gameplay is a little different from TT Games previous offerings from other franchises. For starters, it’s a little more linear than the usual hub-centric approach due to the fact that it is following a storyline. There is also dialog in this game, with audio lifted straight out of the films. And finally, there will be a local multiplayer aspect for Nintendo 3DS owners (and presumably Playstation Vita) assuming each player has a copy of the game.
LEGO Lord of the Rings will be available for all current systems starting on October 1, 2012. Pre-order from Amazon
This tidbit is making the rounds: apparently, someone may or may not have seen a picture on a Lord of the Rings LEGO set box that indicated a Lord of the Rings game is in the works. Is this really news? It would be news if there was no game.
Anyways, in the midst of all the hubbub, a retailer, Shopto, posted a pre-order page (which has since been pulled) for the game pegging its release date for October 10 of this year, which is a few weeks ahead of the Hobbit movie (slated for December 13).
As usual, LEGO’s giving the AFOL sites sloppy seconds. You may have noticed this on other sites like collider earlier today, but I finally received our assets to share with you. Gollum looks FANTASTIC. That’s one minifig I look forward to getting my grubby little paws on.
