San Diego Comic Con returns next week with tons of The Lord of the Rings related fun! TheOneRing.net will be holding court at Booth 1934 near door C.
All the Tolkien related Panels
Amazon Prime Studios is bringing Season 3 of Rings of Power to Hall H on Friday, with a few other fun LOTR related panels from the fan community. Add them to your favorites on the official SDCC app.
Bringing Licensing to Tabletop Games w/ Asmodee – Thursday 11:00am LINK
Bear McCreary, Musical Worldbuilding – Thursday 11:45am LINK
Building Worlds: Creatures & Ecosystems w/ Weta Workshop – Thursday 1:00pm LINK
Building Worlds like Tolkien w/ Don Marshall – Thursday 4:00pm LINK
The Rings of Power Season 3 in Hall H – Friday, 10:00am LINK
Women Powering Pop Culture w/ Helen Shang – Friday 3:00pm LINK
Psychological Journey of The Lord of the Rings w/ Todd Stashwick – Friday 8:30pm LINK
Designing Games in Middle-earth w/ Asmodee – Saturday, 2:45pm LINK
TORN presents LOTR: New Age of Adaptations – Sunday, 2:15pm LINK
We are excited to bring a “State of The Rings” panel on Sunday with fan reactions from the Rings of Power SDCC reveal, updates from The Hunt for Gollum currently filming in NZ, previews of The Hobbit MTG cards, and who know what special guests may join!
Getting into Hall H is always a fun romp, and many fans are already organizing line ups & camp outs Thursday afternoon to be first in line for The Rings of Power Season 3 Hall H preview. It’s all happening in the TORN Discord channel for conventions – check the pinned comments for links.
Signings
TheOneRing.net Booth 1934 is hosting a few signings! First up is a small detour to the Weta Workshop booth 3613 where author Kellie Rice (aka TORn staffer and Happy Hobbit Kili) will be joined by Sir Richard Taylor to sign copies of the hardcover Middle-earth Script to Screen book, Wednesday Preview Night at 8pm.
ALL WEEKEND – Artist & founder of Kings Wild cards, Jackson Robinson, will be at the TORN booth with an EXCLUSIVE Tom Bombadil art print he will sign upon request. Details to get free poster below.
We’re very excited that Bear McCrearywill be joining us on Friday, to sign some recordings! He won’t be at the booth for very long – so if you want to be SURE to have a chance to meet him, here’s what you need to do:
Come to our booth any time before Friday 12.30 and purchase one of Bear’s recordings (The Singularity and/or Rings of Power soundtrack). We’ll give the first 50 purchasers a special ticket; then on Friday those 50 folks – with their tickets in hand! – will make one line to meet Bear. Anyone who doesn’t have a ticket will get in another line, and will meet Bear (time permitting) after the first 50 have gone through. So to GUARANTEE you’ll get to meet Bear, come and purchase some vinyl (or a CD) from us! (Also pro-tip: once you’ve bought it, leave the contents safely in the cool of your hotel room, and just bring the cover to the signing!) Maximum three items per person to be signed.
Signings
Richard Taylor & K.M. Rice – Wednesday 8pm – Weta booth 3613 – Script to Screen books available (highly limited)
Bear McCreary – Friday, 12:30pm – TORN booth 1934 – Rings of Power S2 soundtrack vinyls + CDs and Singularity vinyls available for purchase
Richard Taylor & K.M. Rice – Sunday 9am – Weta booth 3613 – Script to Screen books (if not already sold out)
Tea with Tolkien – Sunday 11am – TORN booth 1934 – Into the Heart of Middle-earth book available + free goodies
Other LOTR related signings we aren’t affiliated with but sound fun:
Unlike recent years, Jed Brophy will not be attending SDCC this year (does this mean he’s busy being a working actor on a certain new movie…?)
Offsites & Parties
There are currently no Rings of Power or The Lord of the Rings events open to the public which have been announced – of course we’ll let you know if we hear of any! But Guillermo del Toro is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Pan’s Labyrinth with a Friday night party that requires completion of a scavenger hunt to get in.
Comic Con 2026 EXCLUSIVE Limited Edition Prancing Pony Mug
It comes in pints! TheOneRing.net is proud to offer the official Prancing Pony wooden tankard & shot glass bundle. Designed & manufactured by Burgschneider and Lumengrave with full licensed support from Middle-earth Enterprises, these were the most requested items from last year’s incredible Prancing Pony booth experience.
These food safe drinking cups are hobbit-scaled – large enought to make you feel like a halfling. Made from mango wood, natural food safe polish, genuine leather bands, with a pure jute bag for storage, the tankard measures 6″ tall, capable of holding 27 oz of libations. It pairs with an oversized 7oz shot glass, featuring laser etched dwarves runes encircling the Prancing Pony logo -which was designed by Daniel Falconer. Did we mention these are officially licensed?
SDCC 2026 Exclusive Mug & Glass Set
Due to the very limited run of only 500 units, and to give all attendees the opportunity to get it, the Tankard & Glass combo is up for pre-order online. FOR PICKUP ONLY AT SDCC. We are not shipping these. Select the day you’ll be at SDCC, and we will hold one set guaranteed for you at Booth 1934. AND if you pre-order, you get an exclusive pin, only available as part of the pre-order, at no extra cost! LINK
Exclusive LOTR Merch
We have some incredible new merch available at booth 1934 this year! Following up on the love & support fans gave our Prancing Pony Club shirt last year (nominated for best merch 2025!) we are happy to announce that shirt is coming back this year, complete with glitter ink, women’s cuts, and the same dance hall attitude.
SDCC Unofficial Blog got the scoop on our brand new shirt inspired by one of the greatest albums in rock history – introducing Merry Dol, River-daughter! These artist designed & hand silkscreened shirts will be available in both unisex Bella Canvas premium cotton/poly blend and in Women’s dolman scoop neck. The RUMORS are true: there will be an 🚨 EXCLUSIVE 🚨 Preview Night limited edition variant, only available Wednesday night, featuring the classic tan-colored album artwork in black & white.
Jackson Robinson and Kings Wild are joining us IN PERSON in the booth for the first time, bringing their successful $2 million kickstarter LOTR playing cards with lots of extra goodies. Available EXCLUSIVELY at TORn booth 1934 are these letterpress gold foil original art prints of the Tom Bombadil playing card artwork. Jackson is at the booth all weekend to sign these free prints – available by simply signing up to his anticipated Hobbit playing card deck preview list. Details on site at the booth.
… and more The Lord of the Rings stuff we love at SDCC
Middle-earth Enterprises is bringing the oversized hobbit-scaled Prancing Pony experience back to the convention floor at Dark Horse booth 2615 – don’t miss it!
Acclaimed artist SHAG is offering a LOTR inspired SDCC exclusive art print at his booth 3920
Weta Workshop return to the show floor, right in front of Hall E at booth 3613
There also seems to be a scavenger hunt involved with the cryptic LOTR.com... What could it be, precioussss…?
Can’t wait to see folks there! Now for a merry meeting!
Where was Gondor? Well, it’s finally here (after we speculated about it some years ago)!
Minas Tirth, LEGO’s epic addition to its Lord of the Rings line has been available for the past month, and the reviews have been as welcoming as ringing silver trumpets from the White Tower of Ecthelion as they call her denizens homeward. Even with a price point that leans more toward high-end collectors, this first Gondorian offering has received accolades for balancing a grand scale with memorable micro scenes; exclusive mini-figures like Faramir, Denethor, and Shadowfax; and for the mathematically minded, even a price per its 8,278 pieces that is remarkably good for a licensed set at this scale.
Plus some of us had to wait a month to receive this masterwork as our birthday present, my precious. No murder was involved. We also received the gift of some deeper insight into how the Tower of the Guard moved from concept to our ever more crowded shelves. Read on to find out more, in our interview with LEGO designer François Zapf.
The OneRing.net had the opportunity to celebrate the arrival of the White City in a conversation with its designer, François Zapf.
Decision making
TheOneRing: What were some of your more difficult creative choices that you had to make as you designed the Minas Tirith set? Were there things that you wished you could have incorporated, but that got left on the ‘cutting room floor’? Were there features that you fought for and were able to get included?
François Zapf: The hardest calls were always about scale versus story. Every interior location we included meant real estate that couldn’t go elsewhere, and Minas Tirith has so many spaces that matter to people. Our focus was on including the locations that best captured the story we wanted to tell within the model.
A key design priority for me was preserving the details of the upper city. There was a point where it would have been easier to simplify the microscale sections to keep the piece count manageable, but I felt strongly that if you’re going create the Minas Tirith, you have to do the silhouette justice. The layering of those walls, the way the city climbs the rock – that’s the whole point of it.
Preserving the silhouette
Working within LEGO constraints
OneRing: Given any LEGO design has to work within a set colour palette and collection of piece shapes, are there particularly creative ways that you were able to apply the standard LEGO collection to the Minas Tirith design? Are there any custom shapes or colours that you were able to integrate into this set? If so, what’s the process like to get approval for customised pieces and shapes?
FZ: Working within the existing palette is one of the most creatively stimulating constraints while designing at the LEGO Group. Minas Tirith is essentially white stone, but “white” in LEGO brick terms is more nuanced than it sounds. We used combinations of light grey, white, and tan LEGO bricks to suggest age, weathering and depth, giving the city that sense of having stood for thousands of years rather than looking freshly painted.
To achieve a structure as complex as Minas Tirith, we had to get creative with a wide variety of existing LEGO elements. One of my favourite techniques was using the D-SNOT [studs not on top] element to create the city’s arches and windows and repurposing a cockpit canopy piece to form part of the upper wall. Finding unexpected uses for familiar elements is one of the most enjoyable parts of the design process. Where new elements or colours are introduced, they’re carefully considered to ensure they meaningfully enhance the final model. We always look for opportunities to achieve the desired result with existing elements in creative ways, introducing new moulds or colours only where they add genuine value to the build experience or final model.
Capturing Minas Tirith’s upper wall
OneRing: The Minas Tirith set echoes the design approach we’ve seen in other LEGO sets like Barad-dûr and Orthanc — a smaller scale exterior and a larger scale interior on the opposite side of the model. What’s your approach for deciding what to include in that larger scale set of interior features? And were there particular figures that you left out, given those design choices?
FZ: The LEGO Icons line has refined this hybrid approach across several models, and Minas Tirith is one of the most ambitious examples we’ve created. The interior spaces were chosen based on a combination of their significance to the story and how well they translate into a three-dimensional LEGO build. The throne room was a natural choice, as it delivers both an iconic moment from the films and a rewarding building experience. When it came to the LEGO Minifigures, our goal was to include the characters that best complement the key locations and scenes represented in the model. As with any LEGO set, there are more characters and moments from the story than can fit into a single build, so we focused on creating a cohesive experience that balances display, storytelling and the building journey.
A maxi array of noble mini figures
Secrets to be found…
OneRing: To the extent you can tell us about them, are there any Easter eggs that you’ve hidden within this set that you think will bring particular joy to Middle-earth LEGO set collectors?
FZ: There are a few, and I’ll be deliberately vague because I want people to find them. What I’ll say is that we were very conscious of the broader Lord of the Rings fan community. Fans who know not just the films but the books, and who will appreciate references that go beyond what’s on screen. There’s at least one detail in the set that I expect to generate some great discussion online when someone spots it.
Is there an Easter egg in the library?
OneRing: To what degree did either Warner Bros./New Line or the Tolkien Estate have an influence on the design? Did you have to go through any particular hurdles or hoops to create what you sought to deliver in this Minas Tirith set?
FZ: The IP Partner relationship is genuinely collaborative rather than restrictive. The Warner Bros. Discovery team are deeply knowledgeable about this IP and they care about it. The review process was collaborative throughout. Both teams shared a commitment to faithfully capturing the look and feel of Minas Tirith, and those discussions helped refine the final model.
Collaborating in the throne room over chicken and tomatoes…
Part of the fandom
OneRing: What has been your own experience with the writings of JRR Tolkien and the world of Middle-earth? How did your familiarity with The Lord of the Rings books or films influence your design process and the ultimate Minas Tirith end product?
FZ: As a fan myself, I wanted the model to capture the same sense of awe I felt the first time I saw Minas Tirith on screen. Throughout the design process, our goal was to stay as faithful as possible to the film reference and recreate the iconic look of the city in LEGO form. For this set, our primary visual reference was the film trilogy, so the model reflects that interpretation of Minas Tirith. For example, that’s why the outer walls are light in colour instead of black. Ultimately, I hope the model gives fans the same feeling of wonder and excitement they experienced when they first saw Minas Tirith in The Lord of the Rings films.
Plenty of wonder and excitement…
OneRing: If budget and set size were not a constraint, what would you have created in comparison to the Minas Tirith set that is being released?
FZ: One of the fun things about questions like this is imagining what’s possible without real-world constraints. A full Siege of Minas Tirith diorama would certainly be an incredible display, but the released model captures the story and build experience we most wanted to bring to fans.
At least early orders got a Grond!
What might be next?
OneRing: We’ve seen a large number of Middle-earth LEGO creations over the years. Do you have a personal favourite (besides Minas Tirith, obviously)? Is there a new Middle-earth design still out there that you’d like to take on?
FZ: The LEGO Lord of the Rings: The Tower of Orthanc holds a special place for me. It was one of the sets that showed what was possible with LEGO bricks at that scale, and it’s aged remarkably well.
Middle-earth offers an incredible variety of locations and architectural styles, making it a particularly inspiring world to design within. As a fan, there are many memorable locations whose architecture is fascinating to imagine recreating in LEGO bricks.
Orthanc — a LEGO classic!
OneRing: What have been some of the other LEGO sets that you’ve designed that are your personal favourites? How long have you been designing such sets?
FZ: One of my personal favourite sets is the Modular Tudor Corner. It was the second set I worked on, and I have a lot of fond memories of that project. I particularly enjoyed translating the unique Tudor-style architecture into LEGO building techniques. I’ve been designing LEGO sets for more than three years now, and one thing that always surprises people is how long these projects take. Large display models like Minas Tirith can take many months to design, with a lot of iteration and fine-tuning to get both the look and the building experience just right.
Tudor Corner with LEGO designers Ashwin Visser and François Zapf.
OneRing: Given the growth of third-party lighting kits for LEGO models, do you end up including design features that will play to those possible lighting sets? Is that the case with this Minas Tirith set?
FZ: At the LEGO Group, we design first and foremost around the building experience – how the model comes together. How each section of the set reveals itself, how the finished structure feels in your hands whilst you’re building and how it looks on display. We wanted the spaces to feel rich and dimensional, not just visually from the outside, but as places you enjoy constructing and exploring throughout the build. While we don’t design around third-party products, those choices naturally create areas that builders may choose to personalise their own may. I’m excited to see how LEGO builders make it their own.
Excited about making it my own!
Many thanks to François Zapf for taking the time to field our questions – even enigmatically! We look forward to whatever you may be designing next.
One of the most iconic moments in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King takes center stage in our latest review here on TheOneRing.net! In this review we take an in-depth look at Wētā Workshop’s incredible King Théoden on Snowmane statue. This breathtaking collectible captures the King of Rohan at the very moment he leads his legendary charge across the Pelennor Fields. Inspired by Bernard Hill’s unforgettable performance and one of the greatest battle sequences ever put to film, this statue perfectly embodies the courage, determination, and nobility of Théoden as he rallies the Rohirrim with the unforgettable cry, “Death!”
Wētā Workshop Brings Middle-earth Magic Back to San Diego Comic-Con 2026
San Diego Comic-Con is nearly here, and Wētā Workshop is once again preparing to make Booth #3613 a must-visit destination for Tolkien fans and collectors alike. Returning to SDCC from July 23–26, the award-winning New Zealand studio has assembled an impressive lineup of special guests, exclusive reveals, live demonstrations, and one major surprise that The Lord of the Rings collectors won’t want to miss.
Weta Workshop has returned to one of the most iconic locations in Middle-earth with the reveal of an all-new Weathertop Environment, and it is an incredible evolution of a fan-favorite collectible. While longtime collectors will remember the original Sideshow/Weta environment, this brand-new edition takes everything to the next level with a larger scale, dramatically enhanced sculpting, and an impressive level of detail that truly captures the ruined watchtower of Amon Sûl. Whether displayed on its own or paired with your favorite Weta figures, this environment is designed to bring one of The Lord of the Rings‘ most unforgettable locations to life.
