Lotr Project: The Fellowship Of The Ring Sets

[Nuju Metru]

I. THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING

Howdy guys. This is the project topic for my custom-made sets of The Fellowship of the Ring. I realize that LEGO is making official products of the LOTR movies, too, but this project has been my brainchild since this past summer; having already poured lots of time and money into it by the time LEGO made their announcement, I decided I might as well keep going on mine. The creations below are built to be like sets that TLG themselves would make (ironic, huh?). Each one thus has specific minifigures, and even an imagined price point. My sets are built for stability, detail, playability, and differentiation of sizes. So, without further ado, let's get started!Newest Content is at the Top!6) Ambush at Amon HenThe Fellowship makes camp near the ruins at Amon Hen, and the One Ring exerts its inexorable pull upon Boromir. Frodo makes his escape with the arrival of an Uruk-Hai troop. The Fellowship is broken.Imagined price point: $40Features include: Launching padIncludes 5 minifigures: Frodo Baggins, Aragorn, Boromir, Lurtz, Uruk-Hai5) The Mines of MoriaThe Fellowship has been forced to take the dangerous route through the Mines of Moria. Gandalf must lead his companions to safety and defeat the evil Balrog!Imagined price point: $65Features include: Collapsing Stairs, Breaking BridgeIncludes 6 minifigures: Peregrin Took, Gimli, Legolas, Gandalf the Grey, Moria Orcs (2x)4) Weathertop AmbushFrodo and his companions have made camp at the abandoned watchtower of Amon-Sul, on Weathertop hill. But they are attacked by the Nazgul... Aragorn must save Frodo in time.Imagined price point: $25Features include: modularity, Nazgul launcherIncludes 4 minifigures: Frodo Baggins, Aragorn, Nazgul (2x)3) The Black RiderFrodo and Merry are making their way along the road to Bree, but a dark force pursues them. The Nazgul will stop at nothing to get the Ring.Imagined price point: $10Includes 3 minifigures: Frodo Baggins, Meriadoc Brandybuck, Nazgul2) Wizard DuelGandalf has arrived at Orthanc, only to discover that his superior, Saruman the White, has turned to the side of evil! Can Gandalf escape?Imagined price point: $7Includes 2 minifigures: Gandalf the Gray, Saruman the White1) Bag EndThe wizard Gandalf has arrived in Hobbiton, and as always he brings adventure. The One Ring is destined to draw Frodo into the quest of a lifetime!Imagined price point: $15Includes 3 minifigures: Frodo Baggins, Gandalf the Gray, Samwise GamgeeSee the Fellowship Flickr Set for more in-depth pictures of everything, plus other preview shots. Thanks for viewing! More sets will be posted soon! Nuju Edited February 25, 2012 by Nuju Metru

[Axilus Prime]

Wow. How'd you get all these pieces?

[xccj]

Dude, that is awesome. It certainly has the feel of standard cheapo Lego sets, in that it implies the setting without building all of it. Of course, it would've been cooler to see a completely designed Bag End, but since you're going for the set feel, I understand where you're coming from.The exterior is very well designed, from the door to the gate to the window. The interior is also nice. What would been really cool is if the arch in the house was big enough for the hobbits but too short for Gandalf... and thus recreate the scenes where he's hitting his head on the roof. The table and coat rack are a little meh, but I do like the fireplace, especially with the sword on display. Overall, it's a delightful little set, although it does lack some of the actiony stuff that other playsets could have. (Since, to be fair, there was never much fighting going on at Bag End, although I guess Gandalf could face off against Sam the spying gardener. :PAnyway, Aaron, this is a delightful set you've got. The designs are great for a set in that price range, and as mentioned before the minifigs are awesome. Can't wait to see more of your scenes... if this is the cheapest, then I'm sure your more expensive sets will be amazing too.Edit: Oh, you're slowly uploading more sets into this topic. I'll review em later then

Edited February 10, 2012 by xccj

[BULiK]

oh wow, This is great. what I especially like is that I decided to get up, stop procrastinating, and read the LotR trilogy and the hobbit because lego was making the sets. So then I read the hobbit in a schoolweek and them the fellowship of the ring in early january, then I watched the movie (My Grandpa has the Platinum Series uncut special edition Dvd Edition for all the movies), and now I just cant stop. I have finally found the two towers at my local library the day before yesterday, and am halfway though it. I really like this better than your other medieval series; it just feels more set-like. The Bag End set really feels like a good conservation of parts; so little parts, but alot of set playability potential. the small details you put in there, like the sword, the coat hanger (Amazing use of that wheel part on the coat hanger top BTW) and the hobbit-size table.I hope to see more of this soon

[Nuju Metru]

New sets added! See the first post.

[BULiK]

The new sets look great, and I was wondering: are you going to update this every given amount of time (once a week for example) or just whenever you feel like it?

[Nuju Metru]

The new sets look great, and I was wondering: are you going to update this every given amount of time (once a week for example) or just whenever you feel like it?

Once I finish taking and editing the photos of the next set. There are two to go.

[BULiK]

Lol, I'm caught in between wanting you to post the sets faster, and wanting them to slow down until I finish the third book.and are you making hobbit sets based off the book, or will wait until the movie?

[Nuju Metru]

Lol, I'm caught in between wanting you to post the sets faster, and wanting them to slow down until I finish the third book.and are you making hobbit sets based off the book, or will wait until the movie?

I can assure you that the 3rd movie sets won't be ready for a while. As for the Hobbit, it isn't in my plans at all.

[xccj]

Woo! Aaron, you finally posted all your sets! Okay, now we want to see the ones from Two Towers. :PReally, I think Amon Hen is your best one here. The temple has a lovely design, and the trees and everything just make it feel so complete. The action feature looks cool too. I am impressed at the size you made the trees; they’re far more substantial that most of the ones I’ve found in official sets. And then the role play features for this set are awesome. (Shame it doesn’t include a full fellowship [to be broken] and orc army… what was that, you were trying to keep this realistically priced?) I’d buy this set. ;)I love all the detail you put into the Moria set. The little details of the door and tomb are great, but I really love the collapsing bridge and the tilting stairs. Like, that is indeed an epic play feature. I hate to say it, but I’m a little less impressed by the Balrog. It’s a decent design, but it isn’t immediately recognizable as the monster from the movie. Granted, it is probably really hard to capture the organic shape and flames at the scale you’re trying, and it is decent (I love the wing designs.) But… yeah, just not the best. (Now the detail you put into the minifigs for this set… that’s another story entirely. So great!)I’m also gonna complain about your Weathertop model. While it captures the battle scene epically (love all the little features) it doesn’t show off the cool overall feel of Weathertop like the official set does. However, for that trade off, you still increase playability, stay true to the close up movie scenes, and keep the price at a more reasonable level than the official set.The bridge set is also a lovely design at a good price. I do like the way you sloped the bridge. However, it seems Frodo and Merry don’t have a good place to hide. (Seriously, in that one shot I can just see the Nazgul going “Hey, I can still see your feet.”) But for the size of the set, it captures the scene very well. (I also like the addition of the spider. )Finally, the wizard duel set. Well, this one is clearly about the minifigs. It would’ve been cool to have an entire model of the Orthanc for them to fight around, but that would probably be too large a model to make a set out of. The door, thrown, and orb do add to the scene, which is mostly just the two wizards telekinetically throwing each other around, so it works. (In fact, reminds me quite a bit of the Captains Cabin PotC set.)As for Bag End… well, I already commented on that one, but I think it does one of the best jobs at showing the location, with the inside and outside of the house.Overall, you have a really good selection of sets here. It’s clear that you put a lot of practical design into this, to make them cool looking, fun to play with, and affordable. (In fact, I’m impressed that you made decent mid-priced sets whereas most of the official sets get pricy real fast.) The minifigs are great, and if I could, I would steal a bunch of them from you. (Aren’t you glad we’re not going to be at the same conventions this year?) Excellent job, and I hope to see what you have in store for the next two movies.