I've hinted at this before, but I wanted to put down a few thoughts on a heretical topic: why I never wanted an official Tolkien line. For many years in various forums, people would always call for LEGO to release an official Tolkien theme. I always argued against it. Some reasons:
Fleshies - Okay, this is probably minor, but I'm not a fan of the flesh-toned figs. I realize that this is a losing battle, but some years ago LEGO decided that all figs from licensed themes would be flesh-toned. I'm old school and prefer yellow figs.
Price point - Licensed themes are always more expensive.
Castle - As we've seen, the introduction of the Lord of the Rings theme seems to have killed for a time the unlicensed Castle line, in much the same way that for many years there was no Space line because of the Star Wars license.
Those are less important, though. The two most important reason are ...
Licenses kill creativity - As soon as LEGO comes up with an official version of a figure or location, everyone seems to fall into line. Back in the day, LEGO was about 'Just imagine ...' Now it is more and more about 'Here, recreate this 30 second scene from a movie.' When there's no official line, kids are encouraged to come up with their own ideas. Back in 2000 I started making my own Lord of the Rings story. After the first movie came out in 2001, you know what the most common comment I got was? 'You messed up, Legolas has long hair.' or 'Aragorn doesn't wear a hat.' The visuals of the movie made it impossible for some people to come up with their own ideas from the book descriptions (heck, I should admit that my own visual images of the characters are very dependent on the 1978 Bakshi animated movie). At least, though, since there were no 'official' fig versions of these characters, people still used their imaginations to come up with their own based on the existing LEGO elements. Just look on Brickshelf and you can find many different versions of these. Now that will all be swept aside.
No need This is closely related. IMO, a licensed theme should give us something that non-licensed themes do not. The Star Wars line, for instance, has introduced many new elements that did not exist before. It was certainly possible to make Star Wars MOCs before this line (for instance, see the masterful work by S. Fujita), but much harder. Super heroes are tough to do if you're not a master customizer, since they are so focused on specific looks for the figures. Tolkien, on the other hand, does not depend on specific new elements. Yes, they have come up with some very nice new figures, but as long as you're not convinced that Legolas has to be equal to Orlando Bloom, you could have already come up with your own Legolas or whoever very easily. Also, we've got some new elements like the orc weaponry, but there were already many different weapon elements, and these did not necessitate a new license. The new horse is awesome, but again not requiring a licensed theme (it's not like the new articulate bear is tied to a license). Otherwise, these sets are all about basic bricks. So why not just continue the fantasy era of Castle sets? That already had castles and orcs and wizards and dwarves, and they could have included the elf that was in the Collectible figs.
Just look through all of the MOCs that I've posted on this blog. Not a single one of them has been based on the licensed sets, which are only just now starting to appear. I think those are proof enough that we had no need of a Tolkien license. Yes, LEGO has done a good job with the license for the most part, and I will continue to cover it and MOCs based on it, but I hope that it doesn't affect the ability of AFOLs to continue to create great work independent of the official line.
BTW, I still have to write something about why I'm not a huge fan of Peter Jackson, but I've got to sit down and watch those movies again first.
Showing posts with label editorial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label editorial. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Hobbit line: rampant set speculation
As we know, LEGO will be introducing a line of sets based on the first Hobbit movie this year, presumably just in time for the movie release and Christmas gift buying. So let's have some rampant speculation on what sets they might build. I should note that I haven't seen any leaks about this, so these are simply my guesses.
In addition to having no information from LEGO, this speculation is further complicated by precious little information about the movie. We've all seen the trailer, and I also highly suggest checking out the Riddles in the Dark podcast, in which the Tolkien Professor Corey Olsen and Dave Kale talk about what might be and some of the rumors. One huge question is where the first movie will even end. I guess there are production photos that suggest that the first movie will at least include the 'Barrels out of Bound' escape from the Elven-King, so many speculate that the movie will end somewhere around there, perhaps as Bilbo emerges from the forest and sees the Lonely Mountain in the distance, or maybe with the entrance into Lake Town with Thorin proclaiming his arrival.
As I did with my consideration of sets from the Lord of the Rings, any speculation should start with an analysis of the key settings of the book:
Shire - The story sets off from Bag End. Given the significance of this scene for setting the stage, and also the fact that LEGO did not include a Bag End in the initial Lord of the Rings sets, I think they'll have to include this here.
Eriador - Travel, travel, travel, TROLLS! From the trailer it looks like Peter Jackson is turning the whole troll episode into an action sequence, which makes it perfect for a LEGO set. They've also already got that troll mold from the Moria set.
Rivendell - Sadly, as with the Fellowship of the Rings, I don't really see the set potential here. What are they going to base this on? Elrond reading a map? Now, from the trailer, we do get the hint that Peter Jackson is building up the tension at Rivendell, and also we see Galadriel there, since he is probably bringing in some of the external material on the White Council at this point. So maybe we'll see a set with cool elf-architecture, and that missing Galadriel fig, but I'm not holding my breath.
Misty Mountains - Okay, here we get conflict, conflict, conflict, so surely the basis for some set designs. Really there are four notes here - initial conflict with the orcs, Bilbo's encounter with Gollum, chased by orcs and wargs, and rescue by the eagles. I think we'll get two sets out of this.
Mirkwood - Four main items here - visit to Beorn, battle with the spiders, capture by the elves, and escape from the elves. Beorn's house would be cool, but LEGO probably wouldn't make a set due to the lack of conflict (unless Peter Jackson has orcs chase them to Beorn's house or something, skipping the eagles altogether). Spider battle is the obvious one here, something along the lines of the Shelob set from the Lord of the Rings, but maybe with two or three smaller spiders rather than the one huge spider. They could (sigh) include Legolas in this set, since there are reports of images of Legolas and web-covered dwarves. It may be that in the movie Legolas will be the one to capture the dwarves right at the conclusion of the spider battle (or, sigh, he'll be the one fighting the spiders) (oh, and Evangeline Lily as well, sigh again). Escape from the elves probably wouldn't make a really exciting set.
Dol Guldur - This is the real wild card. In the book we only get Gandalf's second hand mention that he met Thrain while investigating Dol Guldur, and some further mention in the Lord of the Rings appendixes. From the trailer, and from some clips recently shown to theater owners at a convention, we will definitely see some screen time devoted to this investigation. Apparently in the film version of the history of Middle Earth, after the Last Alliance, the Nazgul were trapped in tombs bound with many spells, but Gandalf finds that these were broken open. He also runs into Radagast during this investigation.
My predictions
Unexpected Party Bag End (at least the front door and the sitting room), Bilbo, Gandalf, a dwarf or two.
Troll Battle - Cave, tree, fire, troll, dwarf.
Orc Encounter - A portion of an orc-cavern, two orcs, dwarf, warg.
Riddles in the Dark - Bilbo, Gollum, Ring, small boat, some rocks.
Spider Attack - Two spiders, tree with webs, Bilbo, dwarf, Legolas.
Gandalf's Investigation - Gandalf, creepy ruins, maybe an orc?
One thing we saw in the first Lord of the Rings sets, you pretty much had to buy almost all of the sets to get the full company of nine walkers. We can expect in a similar way that the different sets will have different dwarves. I don't know if we'll set all twelve, though. Maybe to get them all you'll have to get all of the sets from both lines. I won't even start to speculate on what sets we'll get with the second movie at this point, but expect to see Lake Town, Smaug, and the Battle of Five Armies as the focuses. Also, maybe, the assault of the White Council on Dol Guldur.
In addition to having no information from LEGO, this speculation is further complicated by precious little information about the movie. We've all seen the trailer, and I also highly suggest checking out the Riddles in the Dark podcast, in which the Tolkien Professor Corey Olsen and Dave Kale talk about what might be and some of the rumors. One huge question is where the first movie will even end. I guess there are production photos that suggest that the first movie will at least include the 'Barrels out of Bound' escape from the Elven-King, so many speculate that the movie will end somewhere around there, perhaps as Bilbo emerges from the forest and sees the Lonely Mountain in the distance, or maybe with the entrance into Lake Town with Thorin proclaiming his arrival.
As I did with my consideration of sets from the Lord of the Rings, any speculation should start with an analysis of the key settings of the book:
Shire - The story sets off from Bag End. Given the significance of this scene for setting the stage, and also the fact that LEGO did not include a Bag End in the initial Lord of the Rings sets, I think they'll have to include this here.
Eriador - Travel, travel, travel, TROLLS! From the trailer it looks like Peter Jackson is turning the whole troll episode into an action sequence, which makes it perfect for a LEGO set. They've also already got that troll mold from the Moria set.
Rivendell - Sadly, as with the Fellowship of the Rings, I don't really see the set potential here. What are they going to base this on? Elrond reading a map? Now, from the trailer, we do get the hint that Peter Jackson is building up the tension at Rivendell, and also we see Galadriel there, since he is probably bringing in some of the external material on the White Council at this point. So maybe we'll see a set with cool elf-architecture, and that missing Galadriel fig, but I'm not holding my breath.
Misty Mountains - Okay, here we get conflict, conflict, conflict, so surely the basis for some set designs. Really there are four notes here - initial conflict with the orcs, Bilbo's encounter with Gollum, chased by orcs and wargs, and rescue by the eagles. I think we'll get two sets out of this.
Mirkwood - Four main items here - visit to Beorn, battle with the spiders, capture by the elves, and escape from the elves. Beorn's house would be cool, but LEGO probably wouldn't make a set due to the lack of conflict (unless Peter Jackson has orcs chase them to Beorn's house or something, skipping the eagles altogether). Spider battle is the obvious one here, something along the lines of the Shelob set from the Lord of the Rings, but maybe with two or three smaller spiders rather than the one huge spider. They could (sigh) include Legolas in this set, since there are reports of images of Legolas and web-covered dwarves. It may be that in the movie Legolas will be the one to capture the dwarves right at the conclusion of the spider battle (or, sigh, he'll be the one fighting the spiders) (oh, and Evangeline Lily as well, sigh again). Escape from the elves probably wouldn't make a really exciting set.
Dol Guldur - This is the real wild card. In the book we only get Gandalf's second hand mention that he met Thrain while investigating Dol Guldur, and some further mention in the Lord of the Rings appendixes. From the trailer, and from some clips recently shown to theater owners at a convention, we will definitely see some screen time devoted to this investigation. Apparently in the film version of the history of Middle Earth, after the Last Alliance, the Nazgul were trapped in tombs bound with many spells, but Gandalf finds that these were broken open. He also runs into Radagast during this investigation.
My predictions
Unexpected Party Bag End (at least the front door and the sitting room), Bilbo, Gandalf, a dwarf or two.
Troll Battle - Cave, tree, fire, troll, dwarf.
Orc Encounter - A portion of an orc-cavern, two orcs, dwarf, warg.
Riddles in the Dark - Bilbo, Gollum, Ring, small boat, some rocks.
Spider Attack - Two spiders, tree with webs, Bilbo, dwarf, Legolas.
Gandalf's Investigation - Gandalf, creepy ruins, maybe an orc?
One thing we saw in the first Lord of the Rings sets, you pretty much had to buy almost all of the sets to get the full company of nine walkers. We can expect in a similar way that the different sets will have different dwarves. I don't know if we'll set all twelve, though. Maybe to get them all you'll have to get all of the sets from both lines. I won't even start to speculate on what sets we'll get with the second movie at this point, but expect to see Lake Town, Smaug, and the Battle of Five Armies as the focuses. Also, maybe, the assault of the White Council on Dol Guldur.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Official line: What might have been, and what may yet be
Okay, I've gone through all of the sets now (finally) from wave 1 of the Lord of the Rings sets. While I'm not completely thrilled by the existence of a license at all, I'll leave that for a separate editorial. Given the existence of a license, there are good and bad things about the line as we've seen it.
First off, this first wave of sets goes through the end of the Two Towers, with the battle of Helm's Deep and the pass of Cirith Ungol. That seems like a very odd choice to me. It's like they were following along with the 1978 Ralph Bakshi animated movie, rather than the 2001, 2002, 2003 Peter Jackson films. If I were to design a line for LEGO, I would have released it in three waves, one for each volume. So here are my suggestions for what they should have had for official sets (IMO, of course). While it would be easy to ask for sets of every possible location, will every possible character, I'm trying to keep in mind some of LEGO's requirements for a line - a range of price points, relatively simple construction, emphasis on 'conflict' (sigh on this last one).
One other note of concern with wave 1 is the total lack of female characters. Not that there are many in Tolkien, but Peter Jackson made a point of expanding the role of Arwen to work against just this problem. If wave 1 goes through the Two Towers, we should already have Arwen, Galadriel and Eowyn (surely we'll get an Eowyn in some upcoming Battle of the Pelannor Fields set).
Fellowship of the Ring - Following through the book there are several key locations for action - the Shire, the Old Forest/Barrow Downs (okay, this is obviously out), Bree, the wilderness between Bree and Rivendell, Rivendell, Moria, Lorien, and the River Anduin/Amon Hen.
ShireWe've already got one from the Shire in the Gandalf Arrives set. I do think Bag End would be a nice set, but it might make more sense to have a set for that in the first wave of Hobbit sets, so if I were designing sets I'd put that aside. The only other Shire thing I might expect would be something like "Nazgul Pursuit" - a cheap set with a hobbit or two, some trees (or maybe the Buckleberry Ferry), and a Nazgul with his horse. This would be a pretty popular set - I know I'd buy 9 of these.
Bree - Here I think they missed an opportunity. A good sized set for the Inn of the Prancing Pony would be hugely popular with castle fans - think something like the Medieval Marketplace set. You could limit the figs to keep price down, with a minimum of one of the Hobbits, Strider, maybe Butterbur, and a Nazgul (remember, conflict is key).
Wilderness - They pretty much got it with the Weathertop set. I suppose the flight to the ford might be there, especially to introduce an Arwen fig, but there's no real build potential.
Rivendell - As much as I'd love a big elvish settlement, there's just no action. Rivendell is all about exposition, so would not have the action needed for a set. Of course, if there were a set in Rivendell it would give the opportunity for Elrond and Arwen figs (others as well, but those are the most important missing characters that were there).
Moria - This is the other real missed opportunity I see in LEGO releasing one wave that covers FotR and the TT. There are main actions in Moria, and I think each of them would be a great set- one for the Doors of Durin, one for the Chamber of Mazarbul, and one for the Bridge of Khazad-Dum.
Lorien - Again, I'd love to get something here, including yellow foliage, and also the key Galadriel fig, but there's not much build potential. Yes, you could do a set along the lines of the old Dark Forest Fortress set, but I doubt it. The one thing I could really see as a set is Galadriel's swan boat, which set could also include a canoe with a couple of members of the company of the Ring.
River Anduin/Amon Hen Aside from maybe the set just mentioned, I don't really see any potential here. Yes, a full scale Argonath would be great, but they'd never do it. Also, I don't see much potential in Amon Hen. With the Weathertop set we already get something similar - some ruins, a couple of our heroes, and some enemies. And the Two Towers sets are already going to be Uruk/orc heavy.
My sets Okay, so for wave one I would suggest a run of six sets, with a variety of price points. I'd make Moria the focus, in much the same way that Helm's Deep is the focus of the existing line (3 sets if you count the Orc Forge set):
Gandalf Arrives - pretty much the existing set
Inn of the Prancing Pony - relatively large set with some advanced construction for the inn, Strider, some hobbit (maybe Sam), Butterbur and a Nazgul.
Doors of Durin - The doors in cliff, with some interior, a couple of members of the company, tentacled monster.
Chamber of Mazarbul - Essentially the existing set.
Bridge of Khazad Dum - Gandalf and the Balrog - sort of a mecha construction, maybe with some Bionicle techniques.
Some additional small set - either a Nazgul pursuit set (hobbit, Nazgul, horse, minor setting construction), or Galadriel's boat (Galadriel, 2 members of the company, swan boat, canoe)
The Two Towers - Again, an analysis starts with a walk through the major settings in the book. The action, of course, breaks down between east and west. In the east, Frodo and Sam go through the Emyn Muil, the Dead Marshes, past the Black Gate, down through Ithilien, via Hennuth Annun (Faramir's stronghold), past Minis Ithil, and into the pass of Cirith Ungol. Unfortunately there's not a lot of build potential here. It's mostly a bunch of rocks, or else things that are too massive to make in a realistic set. The Shelob set is a pretty obvious one, as it allows for the construction of a creature, which is always good. The other good possibility along these lines would be an oliphant. In the west the action takes us across a lot of grassy plains, into the forest of Fangorn, down to Meduseld, over to Helm's Deep, and up to Orthanc.
Plains of Rohan - No build potential here, maybe an army builder set for Eomer and his men
Fangorn - A real missed opportunity here so far to make a Treebeard set.
Edoras - It would be cool to have a set of Meduseld, but probably not realistic. If they did have this set it would give the opportunity to include Eowyn in a dress (we'll surely get her in armor later)
Helm's Deep - This is obviously the center point for the line, as they've already made two great sets.
Orthanc - The whole fortress is unrealistic as a set, but I guess the Orc Forge set is supposed to be there. I really think they should have included Saruman.
My sets - Again, I'd suggest six sets, two from the east and four from the west:
Oliphant Ambush - Brick-built creature for the oliphant, Sam, Faramir, 2 Haradrim
Shelob's Lair - Pretty much the existing set
Treebeard - Brick built creature for Treebeard, Merry and Pippin
Helm's Deep - Pretty much the two existing sets
Orthanc - The Orc Forge set, but replace one of the figs with Saruman
Return of the King - In the east we pretty much get a long slog through Mordor and then the Cracks of Doom. In the west all of the action is around Minas Tirith, and then the last stand at the Black Gate.
Mordor - Really the only good point for a set here is the Cracks of Doom. There's just not a lot of build potential for all else. If they wanted to do another brick-built creature, there could be a set for a giant eagle, but I doubt they'd do that.
Minas Tirith - I predict that there will basically be a series of interlocking sets showing different aspects, all centered around the Battle of the Pellanor Fields.
My sets - I'll suggest a run of five sets, but in actuality I predict that there will be an additional set to make an oliphant (and include Legolas), since they didn't do so already for their Two Towers sets.
Cracks of Doom - Frodo, Sam, Gollum, Ring, rocks and fire
Minas Tirith Gate - with Grond
Minas Tirith Siege - section of wall, a catapult
Minas Tirith Battle - section of wall, a ballista
-These three sets would fit together to make a larger overall scene. The various figures of Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Gandalf, Faramir, Pippin, Eomer and a couple of Gondor and Rohan soldiers would be evenly distributed, as would some orcs
Witch King Attack - The build here would be a brick-built monster of the Fell Beast. Figs would be Eowyn, Merry, Theoden and the Witch King.
So those are my suggestions. If the line continued past three runs there are a bunch of other locations, plus other characters to include. The Star Wars line has shown that fans will be excited about all kinds of minor figures, so if the Tolkien line were similarly popular we'd get all of those others. I could also imagine a series of microscale sets like Minas Tirth, Orthanc, Barad Dur, the Black Gate, etc.
First off, this first wave of sets goes through the end of the Two Towers, with the battle of Helm's Deep and the pass of Cirith Ungol. That seems like a very odd choice to me. It's like they were following along with the 1978 Ralph Bakshi animated movie, rather than the 2001, 2002, 2003 Peter Jackson films. If I were to design a line for LEGO, I would have released it in three waves, one for each volume. So here are my suggestions for what they should have had for official sets (IMO, of course). While it would be easy to ask for sets of every possible location, will every possible character, I'm trying to keep in mind some of LEGO's requirements for a line - a range of price points, relatively simple construction, emphasis on 'conflict' (sigh on this last one).
One other note of concern with wave 1 is the total lack of female characters. Not that there are many in Tolkien, but Peter Jackson made a point of expanding the role of Arwen to work against just this problem. If wave 1 goes through the Two Towers, we should already have Arwen, Galadriel and Eowyn (surely we'll get an Eowyn in some upcoming Battle of the Pelannor Fields set).
Fellowship of the Ring - Following through the book there are several key locations for action - the Shire, the Old Forest/Barrow Downs (okay, this is obviously out), Bree, the wilderness between Bree and Rivendell, Rivendell, Moria, Lorien, and the River Anduin/Amon Hen.
ShireWe've already got one from the Shire in the Gandalf Arrives set. I do think Bag End would be a nice set, but it might make more sense to have a set for that in the first wave of Hobbit sets, so if I were designing sets I'd put that aside. The only other Shire thing I might expect would be something like "Nazgul Pursuit" - a cheap set with a hobbit or two, some trees (or maybe the Buckleberry Ferry), and a Nazgul with his horse. This would be a pretty popular set - I know I'd buy 9 of these.
Bree - Here I think they missed an opportunity. A good sized set for the Inn of the Prancing Pony would be hugely popular with castle fans - think something like the Medieval Marketplace set. You could limit the figs to keep price down, with a minimum of one of the Hobbits, Strider, maybe Butterbur, and a Nazgul (remember, conflict is key).
Wilderness - They pretty much got it with the Weathertop set. I suppose the flight to the ford might be there, especially to introduce an Arwen fig, but there's no real build potential.
Rivendell - As much as I'd love a big elvish settlement, there's just no action. Rivendell is all about exposition, so would not have the action needed for a set. Of course, if there were a set in Rivendell it would give the opportunity for Elrond and Arwen figs (others as well, but those are the most important missing characters that were there).
Moria - This is the other real missed opportunity I see in LEGO releasing one wave that covers FotR and the TT. There are main actions in Moria, and I think each of them would be a great set- one for the Doors of Durin, one for the Chamber of Mazarbul, and one for the Bridge of Khazad-Dum.
Lorien - Again, I'd love to get something here, including yellow foliage, and also the key Galadriel fig, but there's not much build potential. Yes, you could do a set along the lines of the old Dark Forest Fortress set, but I doubt it. The one thing I could really see as a set is Galadriel's swan boat, which set could also include a canoe with a couple of members of the company of the Ring.
River Anduin/Amon Hen Aside from maybe the set just mentioned, I don't really see any potential here. Yes, a full scale Argonath would be great, but they'd never do it. Also, I don't see much potential in Amon Hen. With the Weathertop set we already get something similar - some ruins, a couple of our heroes, and some enemies. And the Two Towers sets are already going to be Uruk/orc heavy.
My sets Okay, so for wave one I would suggest a run of six sets, with a variety of price points. I'd make Moria the focus, in much the same way that Helm's Deep is the focus of the existing line (3 sets if you count the Orc Forge set):
Gandalf Arrives - pretty much the existing set
Inn of the Prancing Pony - relatively large set with some advanced construction for the inn, Strider, some hobbit (maybe Sam), Butterbur and a Nazgul.
Doors of Durin - The doors in cliff, with some interior, a couple of members of the company, tentacled monster.
Chamber of Mazarbul - Essentially the existing set.
Bridge of Khazad Dum - Gandalf and the Balrog - sort of a mecha construction, maybe with some Bionicle techniques.
Some additional small set - either a Nazgul pursuit set (hobbit, Nazgul, horse, minor setting construction), or Galadriel's boat (Galadriel, 2 members of the company, swan boat, canoe)
The Two Towers - Again, an analysis starts with a walk through the major settings in the book. The action, of course, breaks down between east and west. In the east, Frodo and Sam go through the Emyn Muil, the Dead Marshes, past the Black Gate, down through Ithilien, via Hennuth Annun (Faramir's stronghold), past Minis Ithil, and into the pass of Cirith Ungol. Unfortunately there's not a lot of build potential here. It's mostly a bunch of rocks, or else things that are too massive to make in a realistic set. The Shelob set is a pretty obvious one, as it allows for the construction of a creature, which is always good. The other good possibility along these lines would be an oliphant. In the west the action takes us across a lot of grassy plains, into the forest of Fangorn, down to Meduseld, over to Helm's Deep, and up to Orthanc.
Plains of Rohan - No build potential here, maybe an army builder set for Eomer and his men
Fangorn - A real missed opportunity here so far to make a Treebeard set.
Edoras - It would be cool to have a set of Meduseld, but probably not realistic. If they did have this set it would give the opportunity to include Eowyn in a dress (we'll surely get her in armor later)
Helm's Deep - This is obviously the center point for the line, as they've already made two great sets.
Orthanc - The whole fortress is unrealistic as a set, but I guess the Orc Forge set is supposed to be there. I really think they should have included Saruman.
My sets - Again, I'd suggest six sets, two from the east and four from the west:
Oliphant Ambush - Brick-built creature for the oliphant, Sam, Faramir, 2 Haradrim
Shelob's Lair - Pretty much the existing set
Treebeard - Brick built creature for Treebeard, Merry and Pippin
Helm's Deep - Pretty much the two existing sets
Orthanc - The Orc Forge set, but replace one of the figs with Saruman
Return of the King - In the east we pretty much get a long slog through Mordor and then the Cracks of Doom. In the west all of the action is around Minas Tirith, and then the last stand at the Black Gate.
Mordor - Really the only good point for a set here is the Cracks of Doom. There's just not a lot of build potential for all else. If they wanted to do another brick-built creature, there could be a set for a giant eagle, but I doubt they'd do that.
Minas Tirith - I predict that there will basically be a series of interlocking sets showing different aspects, all centered around the Battle of the Pellanor Fields.
My sets - I'll suggest a run of five sets, but in actuality I predict that there will be an additional set to make an oliphant (and include Legolas), since they didn't do so already for their Two Towers sets.
Cracks of Doom - Frodo, Sam, Gollum, Ring, rocks and fire
Minas Tirith Gate - with Grond
Minas Tirith Siege - section of wall, a catapult
Minas Tirith Battle - section of wall, a ballista
-These three sets would fit together to make a larger overall scene. The various figures of Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Gandalf, Faramir, Pippin, Eomer and a couple of Gondor and Rohan soldiers would be evenly distributed, as would some orcs
Witch King Attack - The build here would be a brick-built monster of the Fell Beast. Figs would be Eowyn, Merry, Theoden and the Witch King.
So those are my suggestions. If the line continued past three runs there are a bunch of other locations, plus other characters to include. The Star Wars line has shown that fans will be excited about all kinds of minor figures, so if the Tolkien line were similarly popular we'd get all of those others. I could also imagine a series of microscale sets like Minas Tirth, Orthanc, Barad Dur, the Black Gate, etc.
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