It hasn’t been ten years since TORn last caught up with Stephen Hunter, but it has – astonishingly – been ten years since the first of the three Hobbit movies premiered. Where has the time flown to?? We’ve been remembering press events, red carpets and theatre viewings; so we were delighted to have a chance to chat with Bombur himself, from his sunny home in Sydney, Australia.

Hunter has been very busy lately, with roles in projects such as Ruby’s Choice, Heartbreak High, and The Tourist, as well as his full work load as an acting coach. But that didn’t stop him taking the time to tell us when he last had a chance to catch up with Hobbit cast mates, show us some goodies he has from set, and share his thoughts on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Second breakfast with fellow dwarves in London, pub crawls with Sylvester McCoy, and Dwarvish lightsabers?! All will be revealed:

Well, we’re back – with Episode 2 of our collectibles themed podcast. (If you missed it, you can find Episode 1 here.) In this episode, we talk about the importance of having a clear concept of what you want your collection to be, what you want in that collection, and being open to when a special piece crosses your path. We think this topic is important when collecting, because it’s very easy to feel the need to have everything, and thus get overwhelmed and burned out. We hope you enjoy the podcast – and we’re already working on episode 3!

Continue reading “Collecting The Precious Podcast Episode 2: A Focused Collection”

Minas Tirith update Main Image 2 copyCalling all LEGO fans!  Would you like to see the Battle of Minas Tirith as a LEGO Set? Well here’s your chance to let LEGO know.  JediPippin has sent us his concept images that he has submitted to LEGO for the Minas Tirith Battle LEGO set to share with you.  To get it looked at seriously by LEGO he just needs a minimum of 10,000 votes.  So if you think this set looks as cool as we do, cast your vote here to have this concept set for the Battle of Minas Tirith designed by JediPippin put into production.

Continue reading “Minas Tirith Battle LEGO Set Concept”

LEGO Rivendell_16125000049_l A little while back, we featured a story on a 120,000 piece Lego replica of Weta’s rendition of Peter Jackson’s Rivendell from The Hobbit.

Here, the designer and builder — Ben Pitchford — chats with us about his enormous creation, and how Lego has since asked him to submit a smaller, potentially commerciable, version to their Lego Ideas site. (If you’d like to see it become a reality — it needs 10,000 supporters to move to the next stage and is already almost halfway there — then head over to Ben’s page on Lego Ideas and add your backing.) Continue reading “Meet Ben Pitchford, builder of the 120,000-piece Lego Rivendell”

If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.

The final Lego sets for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies have been out for a little while now, so I thought it might be a good time to put them all in one place for folks to look over. Plus I wanted to indulge in a little speculation.

 

Lego Battle of the Five Armies set

Lego Battle of the Five Armies set
Pieces: 472 | Minifigs: 7 | Packaging: Box | Instructions: Yes
Included minifigs: Dain II Ironfoot, Azog the Defiler, Thorin Oakenshield, 2 x Gundabad Orcs, Bard the Bowman, Gwaihir the Windlord, Legolas Greenleaf.
Order on Amazon.com

Spoiler analysis (highlight below to read)


Two stand-outs in this set, I think. The first is, of course, the Dain mini-fig, which TORn staffer MrCere discussed just the other week. The second is the actual location: it’s the titular battle, yet it’s sited firmly within Dale in this playset.

Yet, Peter Jackson’s draft battlemap depicts a much more widespread conflict that encompasses not just Dale, but the entire mountain of Erebor and its surrounds, with forces approaching from all directions. I continue to wonder whether the ruins of Dale will form some early, yet significant, skirmish, with a larger, climactic battle involving Beorn and Bolg on the plains in front of the front gate of Erebor itself. Also, despite the inclusion of the ballista, it doesn’t contain any of the large troll-like monsters we’ve seen in recent artwork.

Lego The Lonely Mountain set

Lego The Lonely Mountain set
Pieces: 866 | Minifigs 5 | Packaging: Box | Instructions: Yes
Included minifigs: Smaug the Dragon, Dwalin, Balin, Bilbo Baggins, Kili, Fili.
Order on Amazon.com

Spoiler analysis (highlight below to read)


This is a strange one: it really feels like a leftover from The Desolation of Smaug. I mean, Smaug is there and it features the mine/rail car set that was a big set-piece toward the climax of the film. Yet Fili and Kili — who stayed in Lake-town — are there. Maybe the Fili and Kili plotline came after Lego locked in this set? I dunno, it seems to defy logic that Smaug would re-enter Erebor in the final film: he’s off to a hot date with Bard and the Black Arrow (ballista bolt?)

Lego Witch-king Battle set

Lego Witch-king Battle
Pieces: 101 | Minifigs: 3 | Packaging: Box | Instructions: Yes
Included minifigs: Elrond, Galadriel, The Witch-king of Angmar.
Order on Amazon.com

Spoiler analysis (highlight below to read)


Official artwork has thus far paired Galadriel and Gandalf, and Elrond and Saruman. This set suggests something different.

I wonder whether this playset is an indication that there’s going to be a confrontation between Galadriel, Elrond and the Witch-king as a prelude to freeing Gandalf. Will the two elves arrive first, and take care of the Witch-king and free Gandalf before running into trouble against Sauron? Will Saruman then catch up with the trio and save the day?

The other thing to note is Galadriel’s possession of the Phial — also absent from the official artwork. Its light (that of the Silmaril the Earendil carries) could be potent in repelling the Witch-king.

Lego Attack on Lake-town set

Lego Attack on Lake-town set
Pieces: 313 | Minifigs: 5 | Packaging: Box | Instructions: Yes
Included minifigs: Bard the Bowman, Bain son of Bard, Tauriel, 2 x Gundabad Orcs.
Order on Amazon.com

Spoiler analysis (highlight below to read)


Finally, there’s the Attack on Lake-town playset. This features a couple of Gundabad Orcs as the antagonists. In the film, Bolg lead the previous attack on Lake-town, searching specifically for Thorin Oakenshield. He called the infiltration off when the orcs discovered he had gone. So, why would they attack it again? What, or whom, do they seek?

Does it have some relevance to Thrain’s revelation in the DOS: EE that “They are in league — the dragon and the one!”? If so, will Bolg’s underlings act at Smaug’s behest to attack Lake-town in tandem with his own assault? That could be why we see the Windlance in this set. Definitely raises lots of questions.

End spoiler analysis!

minas tirith 1 Ringer Peter writes to tell us of a push on the website Lego Ideas to get the toymaker to develop and produce an LOTR Minas Tirith set.

Lego Ideas is an initiative by the Lego company that allows fans and collectors to propose ideas for sets, and if they gather sufficient support, have them evaluated by a review board for their commercial potential. Continue reading “Support for this Lego Minas Tirith proposal is snowballing”