Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Official site content

I'm not sure when this went up, but there's new content at the official site lordoftherings.lego.com. It looks like there is only one set included at this point, Gandalf Arrives. I assume that the other sets will be added over the next several days.

At first you see a map of Middle Earth, with a tiny icon of the set.


When you click on the icon you get a cute little animation.


Various clicks give you a description of the scene depicted by the set and mini biographies of the characters.


There's also a video with the lead set designer showing features of the set. Probably not such a big deal with this set, but with the more detailed sets this will be nice, especially to show the different features like the exploding Helm's Deep wall.


I do have one gripe. I know, I know, we're all supposed to be illiterate these days. Everyone watched the movie and no one could be bothered to read the book. But, even though I understand that they take details from the Peter Jackson movie and not from the book, couldn't they at least get the map right? The route they trace has the company turn south at the Hoarwell, skipping the confrontation at the ford of the Bruinen, and no Rivendell whatsoever. Then, after leaving Moria, instead of taking boats from Lorien down to Amon Hen, at which point the company breaks into three different threads, the big red line has them going overland, through Fangorn straight to Isengard (no stopping by Edoras), then down to Helm's Deep, then straight past Minas Tirith to the Pass of Cirith Ungol. Actually, the path from Lorien straight to Fangorn could arguably be Gandalf, but it's hard to give them that much credit. I don't think I'm just being a fanboy here who can't abide them having anything different from the books - I'm not complaining over the lack of Tom Bombadil or the inclusion of Moria orcs at Isengard or something. This just seems like sloppy work by someone who couldn't be bothered to draw the little red line along the proper route.


Now would this have been so tough? I realize that I'm cutting corners here, since Merry and Pippin went through Fangorn to Isengard while Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli turned at the borders of Fangorn and then went down to Edoras, then Helm's Deep. Not to mention Gandalf's journeys from Moria to Fangorn.


Saturday, May 12, 2012

In the forest singing sorrowless

Alright, I'm tired of all of this official product news. Let's get back to MOCs.

The leaves were long, the grass was green,
The hemlock-umbels tall and fair,
And in the glade a light was seen
Of stars in shadow shimmering.
TinĂºviel was dancing there
To music of a pipe unseen,
And light of stars was in her hair,
And in her raiment glimmering.

Lay of Leithian by Bradlee Hall. (BTW, we need more Silmarillion MOCs.)


Friday, May 11, 2012

Set reviews coming up at Brickset, here are the figs

The sets were unveiled this past weekend at AFOLCON in the UK and some were auctioned off. Huw has them and will be posting reviews soon, so watch Brickset for those. In the meantime, he's shared the minifig insert.



Toys R out

I should have emphasized with yesterday's post that the sets are starting to appear. Some people have reported them in Toys R Us stores (but selling out quickly), and they show up as available on the Toys R Us website and with a release date of May 16 on the Target website. Will at Lord of the Brick notes that the German Amazon site gives a release date of June 23. You can pretty much expect that these will be available at a store near you anywhere in the world within the next couple of weeks.


Video game update

FBTB reports a release date of October 10 for the Lord of the Rings video game. Lord of the Brick shares this ad, which I assume will be the cover art for the game.


Thursday, May 10, 2012

Lord of the Rings video game

This is probably no surprise to anyone, but it is nice to get confirmation. Will over at Brick Heroes notes that the back of the Shelob Attacks box confirms an upcoming Lord of the Rings video game by Travelers Tales (the same people who brought us the Star Wars/Batman/Indiana Jones/Harry Potter games). Actually, it was commenter Sub533 who saw this 25 seconds into this video review by DoctorBrikDaddy. BTW, one other cool thing from that video review is that you get three Rings (for Elven kings?) in the set. That's nice to know since that is a cool new piece that I can see being useful for all kinds of different things in addition to Lord of the Rings.


Thursday, May 3, 2012

The Hobbit

Michael Kringe has an ongoing project to illustrate The Hobbit. The first six episodes take Bilbo from his cozy hobbit-hole past the encounter with the trolls.

Here we see the dwarves' tale of how Smaug drove them from the Lonely Mountain:

Here Bilbo goes running from his home without so much as a pocket handkerchief:

Monday, April 30, 2012

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Last from Blake - Amon Hen

One last Tolkien MOC from Blake (until he makes more). This was a collaborative build with Jack Bittner and was first shown last year at Brickfest (I think): Amon Hen.






Saturday, April 28, 2012

More from Blake - Hobbiton

Okay, that rounds out Blake's series of CCC entries, but that's not all of the Tolkien stuff he's done. I've previously blogged his great fell beast, and here let's take a look at his Hobbiton.



The Clouds Burst

Blake made a warg for the 'mythical creature' category of the CCC with The Clouds Burst.


Friday, April 27, 2012

Gathering of the Clouds

For the 'siege weapon' category of the CCC, Blake made a trebuchet in the Gathering of the Clouds.


Fire and Water

The people of Laketown suffer Smaug's wrath in Blake's 'wooden fortress' entry for the CCC: Fire and Water.



Thursday, April 26, 2012

Never laugh at live dragons, Bilbo you fool!

Blake Baer's 'hidden treasure' entry for the CCC takes Bilbo through the back door into Smaug's lair to find some Inside Information.



Warm Welcome

Blake's 'medieval holiday' entry for the CCC was Warm Welcome, where Torin and company arrive at Laketown. His justification for the category was that he said this was at the time of the Yule feast, but Bilbo actually celebrated Yule at Beorn's house on his way home. They arrived at Laketown in late September. BTW, this site does a great job of pulling together all of the suggestions from the Hobbit (which, unlike the Lord of the Rings, does not have an official canon chronology) to give a calendar consistent with the few dates given and other clues.



Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Barrels out of Bond

Blake Baer made Barrels out of Bond as the third piece in his 'knight's quest' CCC entry.


Old Tomnoddy, all big body, Old Tomnoddy can't spy me!

Blake Baer made Flies and Spiders as part of his 'knight's quest' entry for the CCC. This may well have been my favorite build of the whole contest. That spider solution is amazing.


Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Queer Lodgings

For the 'hermit's hovel' category of the CCC, Blake Baer made Beorn's home. Some great details here like the wolf's head over the door and the beehive.