LOTR Merchandise Review - Xoanon @ 22:11 PST
Ringer Spy Scorpio sends along 2 reviews, the LOTR Intelli-Blox set and the Sting sword from United Cutlery!

I recently purchased the LOTR Playmates Intelli-Blox : Buckleberry Ferry Escape set. It's basically a little Lego set. This toy, like all toys, has its pros and cons. It is a very easy set to put together and should take less than 10 minutes. The box makes it sound like the figures included talk and make noises...they do, but the catch is, you must buy the Deluxe (super expensive) Mines of Moria environment for them to say something. Frodo, for example, says "We've got to get out of here." Something that has just struck me is the fact that the Nazgul has a sound chip...but if only activated in Moria...how much sense would that make. I don't remember the Nazgul in Moria. The Fellowship had their hands full as it was.

Anyway, I can't tell you the quality of the sound, but it can't be too great. This is not a toy to play with or act out scenes from the movie...unless that is, you want the set to fall apart and have to put it back together. It's very fragile and sometimes blocks disconnect from each other, which causes a chain reaction. But if you want to build it, and set it on your desk or computer, it's great. Another major downside of this set is its price. I bought mine at a TRU and it was around $20. And I'm not even sure if I wanna tell you the price of Moria...oh alright, it's around $80. I don't know about you, but I don't really need to hear the characters talk. These are the sets in this wave of Intelli-Blox LOTR sets and the characters included:

Buckleberry Ferry Attack (Frodo and Ringwraith)

Orc Attack at Amon Hen (Boromir and Lurtz)

Battle at Weathertop (Aragorn and Sam)

Encounter at the Prancing Pony Inn (Frodo, Pippin, and Aragorn)

Isengard Caverns (Saruman, Gandalf, and Newborn Lurtz

The Mines of Moria Electronic Set (Frodo, Gimli, Gandalf, and an Orc)

I recently went to a mall out of town and promptly went into a collector's knife/cutlery shop. I doubted they'd *actually* have what I was looking for but I figured I'd look anyway. So I glanced around the room at all the shining metal from Gladiator helmets to a sword from the movie Blade. But no Lord of the Rings swords could be seen. As I was walking out of the store a magazine caught my eye. It had our own Frodo/Elijah Wood on the front holding Sting. The article was entitled "Lord of the Swords." I picked the magazine up and thought "what the heck, I'll ask someone." So I went to the counter and asked the woman who worked there, "Do you have any of these swords?" She promptly shifted to the right and then I saw them...I probably stood there for about 15 seconds without saying anything and then I muttered "Can I hold the Sting sword?" And then I was hooked by United Cutlery's superior quality and had to buy the weapon.

While I was leaving the mall, I was very tempted to open the box and draw out the small sword, but then I remembered that it could indeed be concidered a weapon. When I got home, I marveled once again at the quality. From the runes on the blade, to the aged look on the hilt, it made me want to go "hunt some orc!" I looked at it just waiting for it to glow at any moment...but I guess there aren't many orcs in my city. And if you do happen to buy one of these amazing replicas, don't be like Boromir and feel the blade...it's sharp.

-Scorpio