Sunday, March 4, 2012
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Mines of Moria MOCs
Alright, we've seen LEGO's take on the Mines of Moria, let's see what AFOLs have done. Here I'll focus on MOCs of the Chamber of Mazarbul. As I noted before, LEGO could have easily gotten additional set designs based on the Doors of Durin and on the Bridge of Khazad Dum. There are great MOCs out there based on both of those scenes and I'll come to those at another time. Anyway, let's start off with Lee Jones' amazing Moria built for BrickWorld 2011.
I like how Brian Graham's version starts out with Gandalf reading. "We cannot get out ... drums, drums in the deep ... they are coming ...", but he also has some great action scenes.
I really like the statues in Marcin Kitala's version.
If we simply must go with Peter Jackson's misinterpretation of the text (grumble grumble grumble), YU built an amazing cave troll.
I like the low light in Brickman101's scene.
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Brickaholic Productions has a huge gallery.
BirdBoyJohan has a series of Tolkien MOCs that I'll have to dig into, including his Chamber of Mazarbul.
There are lots of others, but I'll just finish out with my own effort. I was quite happy with the lighting effect here. Note that Boromir is watching in the hall, which has a blue lighting, but there's a shaft of sunlight from above falling on Balin's tomb.
I like how Brian Graham's version starts out with Gandalf reading. "We cannot get out ... drums, drums in the deep ... they are coming ...", but he also has some great action scenes.
I really like the statues in Marcin Kitala's version.
If we simply must go with Peter Jackson's misinterpretation of the text (grumble grumble grumble), YU built an amazing cave troll.
I like the low light in Brickman101's scene.
Brickaholic Productions has a huge gallery.
BirdBoyJohan has a series of Tolkien MOCs that I'll have to dig into, including his Chamber of Mazarbul.
There are lots of others, but I'll just finish out with my own effort. I was quite happy with the lighting effect here. Note that Boromir is watching in the hall, which has a blue lighting, but there's a shaft of sunlight from above falling on Balin's tomb.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Black and gold
The LEGO dragons contest over on Flickr has inspired a ton of great builds. Let's take a look at a couple of Tolkien entries. Glory Forever built Smaug.
And Blego7 (Blake's Baericks) built a fell beast.
And Blego7 (Blake's Baericks) built a fell beast.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
9473 The Mines of Moria
Moving on after a delay with my examination of the upcoming sets. Next up is 9473 The Mines of Moria. The folks over at the Brick Time posted a cleaned up photo of the box art:
My first impression is that this really should have been called the Chamber of Mazarbul, but I suppose that would have left a huge portion of the buying public scratching their heads. I do see a bit of a missed opportunity here, since they could have easily gotten three sets out of Moria: this scene, a scene at the west door that would include the pool and the Watcher in the Water, and of course the Bridge of Khazad Dum with Gandalf and a Balrog. After I get through reviewing all of the sets I'll do a few posts on what might have been and may speculate more on this. Of course, they could always come back in a future round of sets to give us those other two scenes. Anyway, back to the set we actually have. At US$80 this is a pretty expensive set, but it seems worth it. We get a good rendition of pieces of Moria, lots of figs (about half of the company, plus enemies), plus good accessories and printed pieces (I do hope those are printed - in some photos they look like stickers, but that may be because this is a prototype).
A video shows some of the 'action' features: the sections are modular so they can be taken apart, pillars fall down in the battle, a treasure slides out, etc. Here, for instance, we see the skeleton that Pippin knocks down the well (grr, I'm holding back an anti-Peter Jackson rant right now).
Perhaps most disturbing, we get a pop-up Balin's corpse. Nice attention to detail that they got the runes right (I checked versus the runes recreated in the book).
On principle I object to the cave troll. Yes, I know, Gandalf does say "A great cave-troll, I think, or more than one," but the impression in the book is that he is wrong at that point. It's when he looks out and sees a hoard of orcs and 'something else' that is making them hang back. Later, after they escape from the room, Gandalf tries to hold the door, but he 'met my match'. This 'something dark as a cloud' that he 'felt it through the door' was more powerful than Gandalf had ever encountered. Then at the bridge he finally understands, it was a Balrog all along. So Peter Jackson was just plain wrong. Did this guy even read the book? More likely he just saw a hook to bring in a big CGI monster for an extended action sequence. Okay, that out of my system, I do think that LEGO did a great job of interpreting Peter Jackson's total fabrication.
Let me pause here for a moment to praise the orc design. I want an army of these guys.
As with Legolas (and the Collectible Elf before him), orc ears are built into the hairpiece.
There are a ton of weapons in this set, including the Heroica weapons (also found in Blacksmith Attack), the Collectible Highlander sword, the Collectible Elf bow, the Collectible Roman gladius, the flail, axe heads, old spear, new shields for the orcs. This is just impressive, as it draws weapons from all different castle lines.
Let's check out the hero figs. Boromir:
Pippin
Legolas (and foes)
Legolas is printed on both sides. Not sure about the other figs. Note that the book is printed on one side.
Gimli (hmm, I'm not sure if I've seen a photo of Gimil's torso print when you take away his beard)
My first impression is that this really should have been called the Chamber of Mazarbul, but I suppose that would have left a huge portion of the buying public scratching their heads. I do see a bit of a missed opportunity here, since they could have easily gotten three sets out of Moria: this scene, a scene at the west door that would include the pool and the Watcher in the Water, and of course the Bridge of Khazad Dum with Gandalf and a Balrog. After I get through reviewing all of the sets I'll do a few posts on what might have been and may speculate more on this. Of course, they could always come back in a future round of sets to give us those other two scenes. Anyway, back to the set we actually have. At US$80 this is a pretty expensive set, but it seems worth it. We get a good rendition of pieces of Moria, lots of figs (about half of the company, plus enemies), plus good accessories and printed pieces (I do hope those are printed - in some photos they look like stickers, but that may be because this is a prototype).
A video shows some of the 'action' features: the sections are modular so they can be taken apart, pillars fall down in the battle, a treasure slides out, etc. Here, for instance, we see the skeleton that Pippin knocks down the well (grr, I'm holding back an anti-Peter Jackson rant right now).
Perhaps most disturbing, we get a pop-up Balin's corpse. Nice attention to detail that they got the runes right (I checked versus the runes recreated in the book).
On principle I object to the cave troll. Yes, I know, Gandalf does say "A great cave-troll, I think, or more than one," but the impression in the book is that he is wrong at that point. It's when he looks out and sees a hoard of orcs and 'something else' that is making them hang back. Later, after they escape from the room, Gandalf tries to hold the door, but he 'met my match'. This 'something dark as a cloud' that he 'felt it through the door' was more powerful than Gandalf had ever encountered. Then at the bridge he finally understands, it was a Balrog all along. So Peter Jackson was just plain wrong. Did this guy even read the book? More likely he just saw a hook to bring in a big CGI monster for an extended action sequence. Okay, that out of my system, I do think that LEGO did a great job of interpreting Peter Jackson's total fabrication.
Let me pause here for a moment to praise the orc design. I want an army of these guys.
As with Legolas (and the Collectible Elf before him), orc ears are built into the hairpiece.
There are a ton of weapons in this set, including the Heroica weapons (also found in Blacksmith Attack), the Collectible Highlander sword, the Collectible Elf bow, the Collectible Roman gladius, the flail, axe heads, old spear, new shields for the orcs. This is just impressive, as it draws weapons from all different castle lines.
Let's check out the hero figs. Boromir:
Pippin
Legolas (and foes)
Legolas is printed on both sides. Not sure about the other figs. Note that the book is printed on one side.
Gimli (hmm, I'm not sure if I've seen a photo of Gimil's torso print when you take away his beard)
Monday, February 20, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Attack on Weathertop MOCs
As with Gandalf Arrives, the Attack on Weathertop has been depicted by several builders in recent years. Here are a few selections:
Here by Leaz
I like how Nathan included Gandalf's battle on Weathertop before Strider and the hobbits arrived.
Lord Amras includes a great detail - views of the Witch King both with the Ring off and the Ring on.
Caleb Cutlass
NightHawk
My own feeble effort (one of my first post-dark-ages MOCs).
I did include a view by Frodo while wearing the Ring. I was happy with this effect.
Here by Leaz
I like how Nathan included Gandalf's battle on Weathertop before Strider and the hobbits arrived.
Lord Amras includes a great detail - views of the Witch King both with the Ring off and the Ring on.
Caleb Cutlass
NightHawk
My own feeble effort (one of my first post-dark-ages MOCs).
I did include a view by Frodo while wearing the Ring. I was happy with this effect.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
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?/
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?/
Friday, February 17, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Gandalf Arrives MOCs
Let's compare official set 9469 with MOCs that have been built over the years with the same theme. Here are just a few variants of Gandalf's cart (click each to find the original source). I like how Nathan Wells did the fireworks. If you look close you'll see that one of them is topped with a dragon plume. He also made Frodo look shorter in the seat, which was a neat trick.
Cyin's variant is also nice. He includes the fact that (from "A Long-Expected Party") "When the old man, helped by Bilbo and some dwarves, finished unloading..."
I found several other variants that were all quite similar. Wookie Bounty Hunter uses door elements to get a nice shape to the cart.
Both Skalldyr and Gandalf the Grey (Wow! I didn't know he was an AFOL!) put the cart in a large context, including details like a hobbit hole (Bag End?), children chasing after the cart, and fireworks going off (which, btw, is the opposite of the book, but oh well, it made a nice note in the movie).
Cyin's variant is also nice. He includes the fact that (from "A Long-Expected Party") "When the old man, helped by Bilbo and some dwarves, finished unloading..."
I found several other variants that were all quite similar. Wookie Bounty Hunter uses door elements to get a nice shape to the cart.
Both Skalldyr and Gandalf the Grey (Wow! I didn't know he was an AFOL!) put the cart in a large context, including details like a hobbit hole (Bag End?), children chasing after the cart, and fireworks going off (which, btw, is the opposite of the book, but oh well, it made a nice note in the movie).
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