9472 Attack on Weathertop

Next up for examination is set 9472 Attack on Weathertop. This is a pretty good choice for a scene to make a set of, as a very important moment in the first Volume of the Lord of the Rings. Along with the confrontation at the Ford of Bruinen, this is probably the key confrontation during the trip to Rivendell. This passage in the book has all of the key characters who are introduced before the Council of Elrond except for Gandalf (and Bilbo, though he isn't really key to any of the action of the book) (okay, and Tom, but he's so self contained both geographically and in the action of the book that it's hard to call him 'key').



The set leaves out Sam, Pippin, and three Nazgul, but at US$60 it's already a little pricey. As it is, though, you get Frodo, Merry, Strider, two Nazgul and two of the new horses.



As someone pointed out on Classic-Castle, the horses have red eyes. This is a little disappointing, as they will be less universally useful. Here in this image you can see the horse in both poses.



The ruin is pretty nice. It includes a good selection of bricks and slopes in light and dark gray, dark green and a little dark tan (including a smattering of the new brick bricks).



It was a nice surprise to see that the ruin opens up so you can access the interior.



Those microfigs from the games make a nice little architectural detail.



I was a little confused as to the purpose of this structure, but a couple of Flickr comments noted that this is presumably a pedestal for the Palantir that once resided on Amon Sul (and is now at the bottom of the Bay of Forochel). That's a pretty cool little obscure detail to give to Tolkien fans. I'm glad someone in Denmark actually reads.




I can't find any Toy Fair photos that specifically focus on the figs from this set. All of the ones I've seen include them in this action pose. Maybe the displayers were unwilling to allow people to handle the figs since they wanted to keep it in this action scene? Anyway, here we see Frodo, Strider and a Nazgul. Note that this set includes the Ring. We can also see the new tattered cape the Nazgul are wearing. Nothing seems to distinguish the Witch King from the other Nazgul.



Ah, Merry, why are you so obsessed with carrots? And what does Peter Jackson have against mushrooms?/