Video of the new Hobbit sets!

[just2good]

I'll try getting some pictures up later.

[hatcher]

Oh my poor wallet! Wargs, Spiders and Goblins, oh my!

[Hodgeman]

Wow, those look amazing!

[lego the hutt]

wow, this is what I've been waiting to see. The attack of the wargs set looks the best imo. The tree looks pretty sweet. The goblin king set looks nice to. The Riddles for the Ring set looks pretty poor...but they can't all be winners.

The first thing I notice is that most of them are similar to the mines of moria in that they don't have one main build. It is a few smaller builds that combine to make the set. With sets like these I will have to add baseplates to tie them together better for display.

I wonder what the spider web sacks are made out of?

[Marcus70]

Nice two sets with elves ( and even a female elf). I really like the mini-figs in the first wave of hobbit sets. The sets themselves I'm surprised how similar they are to the LOTR set designs.

[ninjagoyo]

I have to thank LEGO for helping my wallet by making these Hobbit sets... I'm a huge Middle Earth fan but these sets leave me cold and I'd only be interested in them on clearance... they're all just a random jumble of pieces, other than Bag End, which looks great. Its like the LOTR sets which were already "flattened" and "deconstructed" in design, taken to a new level of suckitude. I can't imagine anyone other than minifig collectors actually being interested in these as LEGO sets per se.

[SpaceNinjaDino]

I'm excited. I think the "Goblin King" looks a lot like the Mountain Troll (from the LOTR game). Maybe I will see a better difference with static images. I want multiple of each (except the Riddle of the Ring).

[Brick & Blue]

I like the one with the big tree and the wolves. It's really nicely done.

How many sets with spiders in them do we need?

[wklanier]

Awesome! I've been waiting (rather impatiently) to see these. The video is rather hard to watch because of the camera constantly moving, but it's worth it. I like that there are several elves in these sets, and the wargs and spiders are great, too. I will definitely be getting them all!

[natelite]

Nice two sets with elves ( and even a female elf). I really like the mini-figs in the first wave of hobbit sets. The sets themselves I'm surprised how similar they are to the LOTR set designs.

Probably the same designers working on them.

[just2good]

I scanned the sets on the poster!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48476231@N05/sets/72157631715272154/

[bea]

I only like the last two: unexpected gathering and the wargs. I'm a fan of Tolkien's work but I just feel like these sets don't do it justice.

[brickarmor]

My stepson (17) accompanied me to TRU recently. He likes LotR (the movies, anyway...) but is pretty indifferent to LEGO. When he saw Shelob Attacks, he literally shuddered, flinched, and recoiled from the box. I've never seen the films but that must be some serious voodoo.

[dilbert12]

Good to see some lukewarm reactions. All the better for me to get these sets on clearance or great sales. :)

[Deathleech]

I have to thank LEGO for helping my wallet by making these Hobbit sets... I'm a huge Middle Earth fan but these sets leave me cold and I'd only be interested in them on clearance... they're all just a random jumble of pieces, other than Bag End, which looks great. Its like the LOTR sets which were already "flattened" and "deconstructed" in design, taken to a new level of suckitude. I can't imagine anyone other than minifig collectors actually being interested in these as LEGO sets per se.

I don't really understand people who say these kinds of things. Did you not read The Hobbit at all? Most of it takes place in huge forests, caves, or valleys. How exactly do you expect Lego to make sets based off these scenes, while still keeping the price reasonable for their core consumer which is kids? Obviously Lego isn't going to make an entire forest for the Mirkwood Spider or Warg sets as that would cost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars (and then people like you would undoubtedly complain Lego costs too much). An entire keep for the Barrel Escape set would be silly considering most of the action takes place in the cellar and prisons. The same is true for most the Hobbit scenes such as the Goblin Town battle, where most of it is spent fleeing through hundreds and hundreds of feet of tunnel.

Not only that, it's no different with other Lego themes. Look at the new Arkham Asylum. It's basically a single wall of the asylum with a tiny gate and van for 160 bucks. Not that most of the Castle themed sets were any better. Most were just a catapult, a horse pulled carriage, or a small tower set, and then you had the one or two big castle playsets.

[Brickmythic]

wow, this is what I've been waiting to see. The attack of the wargs set looks the best imo. The tree looks pretty sweet.

I agree 100%.

Attack of the Wargs set has a brilliant array of new elements and parts, including the wargs themselves. absolutely fantastic.

I enjoy the uruk hai/rohan army builder as a parts kit but the new tan tree and mushroom elements with the wargs really takes the cake for me.

green tree limb elements are .25 cents each and the brown sloped elements used to make good trees such as tree in Mideval market village are also pricey and are tough to find (not available at pick a brick).

Attack of the Wargs appears to have roughly $8 -10 worth of premium foliage elements making it a must have in multiples.




With that said, i think the parts offered in these new Hobbit sets are top notch for fantasy MOC's.

At the same time, they have great playability for children with a few unique and refreshing building techniques.

The sets may appear a bit lackluster at first but I urge everyone to give them all a second look.

The parts lists are fantastic and they are all made in a way where we can make some modifications of our own.

Bag End and Attack of the Wargs are a must have for most everyone, I'd imagine.

And finally a FEMALE character!

[prozac]

I saw at TRU today a sign that said "free hobbit poster with purchase of $20 or more on lego board games"...or something to that effect. So thats probably where it came from .

[Legobrandon]

Prices hinted on a LEGO Games contest:

“Riddles for the Ring” : 79000/$9.99; “Escape from Mirkwood Spiders”: 79001/$29.99; “Attack of the Wargs”: 79002/$49.99; “An Unexpected Gathering”: 79003/$69.99; “The Goblin King Battle”: 79010/$99.99

[Deathleech]

Hmm, I thought An Unexpected Gathering was already announced to be $59.99? And Mirkwood Spiders seems a little pricey at $29.99, I was expecting $19.99, or $24.99 at most. I mean with the Uruk-hai Army set you got 2 more minifigures, a horse, and a cataput and wall. 2 smallish trees and spiders seem like they are about the same size as the wall and catapult, so what makes up for the other 2 minifigures and the horse...?

The rest of the sets seem to be priced fairly well. $9.99 for Riddles for the Ring is much more reasonable than the $12.99 we had to pay for Gandalf Arrives. $49.99 for Attack of the Wargs when it could of easily been $59.99, and $99.99 for the Gobling King Battle when it easily could of been $119.99 or even $129.99 are also excellent prices.


EDIT: Btw, where or what is this contest for? I did a quick search but couldn't find anything.

[NiceMarmot]

I think these look pretty good. The minfigs certainly are nice.

Escape from Mirkwood -- Good spiders (although I think the eyes are lame), the tree designs are kinda meh, but the parts are probably good, nice webbing sacs, nice mushrooms, good minifigs. $29.99 seems a bit much, but there's a fair number of parts plus four minifigs.

Riddles for the Ring -- Gollum and Bilbo are nice, but everything else is just OK. I suppose they had to do this set to get Gollum in, and what are you going to do with a dark cave? At least the price is right.

Attack of the Wargs -- Minifigs and wargs look good. The tree looks a bit weird to me. Perhaps the trunk is too wide given the short height of the tree? Something's out of proportion there. I'm liking the parts however. Maybe buy it and redo that tree. $50 for five minifigs, two wargs, and a bunch of parts is probably OK.

Goblin King Battle -- This one is working for me. Lots going on. Design looks good. Looks like lots of nice parts too.

Barrel Escape -- I like this one too. Good design, really nice parts (stairs, barrels, barred doors, bottles, tan tiles...), nice minfigs.

An Unexpected Gathering -- Liking this one too -- again, good design (actually looks like Bag End), nice minifigs.