Barad-dûr

I think that pretty much everyone who looked at pictures of the new set 79005, Wizard Battle saw that orange fig-head with printed Sauron's eye had the same idea - make this the top element in an appropriately micro-scaled Barad-dûr. Rgeiger even anticipated the set release by building a Barad-dûr, promising to replace the blank orange head with the new piece once he gets it.



The first person I've seen actually use this piece, though I'm sure we'll see others, is Thaler1978's micro version. BTW, he's also done a nano version.

Don't follow the lights!

Matthew Hurt reminds us to not follow the lights.

Into Mordor

General Magma built Sam and Frodo in disguise, traveling into Mordor.

Barad-dûr II

You probably recall Kevin Walter's amazing Barad-dûr from a couple of years ago. Well, the rebels blew it up, so he's been working on a second version. I usually don't feature WIPs here, but, well, many Bothans died to bring us these photos, so we shouldn't let their sacrifice go to waste. I can't wait to see the final tower.

He's got his eye on the prize

The Middle Earth LEGO Olympics is over, and Jacob Nion takes home the win with his Sauron.

MELO round 1 selected MOCs - TT and RotK

Here are some more selected MOCs from the qualifying round of the Middle Earth LEGO Olympics focused on the Two Towers and Return of the King.

Jackson Williams made a great rendition of Meduseld. Be sure to follow the link, as there is no one photo that shows all of the great details of this MOC.


If you're going to do a Rohan MOC, almost everyone is going to go with the Battle of Helm's Deep, or if not that the hall of Meduseld. I really appreciate that Josh Walters went for the non-obvious with Simbelmynë. Ever has it grown on the tombs of my forebearers.


Martin Geistefeldt went for the obscure, with Haleth, Son Of Háma, a boy created by Jackson at Helm's Deep.


Grant Davis gives us a Jacksonian scene, Lighting the Beacons.


Chris Stone's Do you remember, Mister Frodo? is quite evocative.


Lee Muzzy showed us the climactic confrontation in Mount Doom.

MELO octafinals - Orthanc bracket

Now let's look back at the Orthanc bracket of the MELO octafinals.

Kyle Ransom was paired off against Jackson Williams with the category Gollum and Smeagol. Kyle advanced.



LukeClarenceVan The Revanchist was paired off against Toa Infernum with the category Wraiths on Wings. IMO this was the toughest pairing to judge in this bracket, as both fell beasts were amazing, but LukeClarenceVan The Revanchist advanced.



Grant Davis was paired off against Matthew Oh with the category King of the Golden Hall. Matthew Oh advanced.



I was paired off against Jacob Nion with the category March of the Ents. Sadly, Jacob advanced, though as I noted previously, I can't disagree with the judges here. The fact that Jacob has gone on to the finals makes me feel that at least if I had to lose, I lost to one of the best.

MELO octafinals - Barad Dur bracket

Let's look back at the octafinals in the Middle Earth LEGO Olympics.

Buurli Burri squared off against Poggle 55 with the category "They're taking the hobbits to Isengard!". Buurli Burri advanced, but for some reason I can't find his entry. Maybe he deleted it?


Disco 86 squared off agaisnt Kenton Lanier with the category Passage of the Marshes. Disco 86 advanced



Justin Knelsen squared off agaisnt Martin Geistefeldt with the category Warg Riders. IMO this was the hardest decision of this round, as both entries are amazing and I don't know which way I would have voted, but Martin Geistefeldt advanced.br>


Dodge squared off agaisnt Derrick Rose with the category Helms Deep. Dodge advanced

MELO - quarterfinals - Orthanc bracket

And here are the entries from the quarterfinals in the Orthanc bracket.

Kyle Ransom was paired against LukeClarenceVan The Revanchist to build in the category 'Paths of the Dead'. Kyle advanced.



Matthew Oh was paired against Jacob Nion to build in the category 'Mount Doom'. Jacob advanced.

MELO - quarterfinals - Barad Dur bracket

So the category has been announced for the MELO finals - One Ring to Rule them all and in the darkness bind them! It will be interesting to see where Jacob and Martin take this - maybe the forging of the Ring, maybe the battle on the slopes of Mount Doom at the end of the Last Alliance, maybe Isildur considering the Ring in Gondor, or dying at the Gladden Fields? How about the finding of the Ring by Deagol? Or the Riddle Game? Or Bilbo hiding from Lobelia Sackville-Baggins? Or, of course, just about any event between Bag End and Mount Doom on Frodo (and Sam's) journey with the Ring. I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with.

In the meantime, as long promised, let's go back and look at how we got here. I'll go in reverse order. Yesterday I looked at the semifinals, so here I'll look at the Barad Dur bracket of the quarterfinals.

Buurli Burri (aka Simon S) paired off against Disco86 with the category 'We could take them to her...', focused on the events in Cirith Ungol. Disco86 advanced to the semifinals.



Martin Geitstefeldt paired off against Dodge with the category 'The Siege of Gondor' (actually, I had thought that this might be the category for the finals). Martin advanced with his entry that essentially combined four different scenes from the retaking of Osgiliath the the arrival of Aragorn.

Two Towers

One of the MOCathalon category is 'bookends', and TMM was inspired to build the Two Towers.

Smeagol, the cover model

Klimography has started project | The Lord Of The Rings, with only two photos so far, but these are so cool I hope this project continues.

Barad-Dur

Caylin won this great trophy in a building competition at the Kansas City Legoland Discovery Center.

The Black Gate is Shut

Zaberca built the Black Gate of Mordor.

Dead Marshes

General Magma built the Dead Marshes.

Do you remember the Shire, Mr Frodo?

Do you remember the Shire, Mr Frodo? by JackJonespaw.

Sam Fights Shelob

Sam Fights Shelob by JustinR.

Mount Doom

Soccersnyderi built Mount Doom.

Shelob

YU built this great (and terrifying) Shelob. BTW, the solution for the Ring is great.

Oliphant

I don't think I ever featured this great oliphant that Legohaulic built for MOCathalon a couple of months ago.