LOTR: Mines of Moria

This is one of the larger Lord of the Rings sets from the initial release. How can one translate the grandeur of Moria into a Lego set? According to this set, it means the chamber where Balin is buried and the Fellowship battles orcs and a troll. Considering that an earlier dwarf mine already existed in Lego, it shouldn't have been too much effort to add a little more of Moria to, well, Moria!

But let's talk about the set itself. I do honestly like what there is. The walls, gate, pillars, tomb... They are pleasant to look at when set on a shelf. No, my problem is not with what's in this set, but what is not in the set. It is fair enough that the designers opted to have a mid-sized set based on one room, but couldn't it be a complete room? I hate the fact that this set is just a couple of unconnected walls. A few large base plates would have helped substantially to keep things together (I have in fact ordered a few on BrickLink for that purpose).  There's no reason to not go a step further and make additional walls with hinges to open the room up if you feel so inclined.

So overall the Mines of Moria looks like a nice set, but it is ultimately underwhelming and in real need of sprucing up. But this is a movie license set, so maybe I should tone down my expectations. However, the Hobbit's Unexpected Gathering from last November (79003) and the LOTR's Tower of Orthanc (10237) which comes out this summer both look like steps in the right direction. I might pick those two up in the future.

With baseboards added. Added some random pieces for stability.

LOTR: Weathertop

This is my favourite LOTR set so far. It is rather small, but nicely self-contained... except for the side piece on the right. It looks the way it should and is not a disjointed bunch of walls like the Moria set.

The set swings open to reveal small interior sections.

Sometimes the simple stuff is so much better. This may be small, but it is very aesthetically pleasing to me. Maybe it could have been a little bit taller? In any case, this will be a fixture on my desk for a long time I suspect.

LOTR: Uruk-Hai

 

More LOTR stuff. I bought this for the minifigs, honestly :P


This set consists of a wall section (which connects to the much larger Hornburg fortress) and a ballistae-like weapon. There's not much to say really. It certainly gets its job done...

Currently this set serves as part of a larger purpose, being a back wall of my Kingdoms-Black Knight castle combo.

Gandalf Arrives (LOTR)

The first Lord of the Rings set that I bought. It's a simple yet attractively designed set. In addition to the minifigs, it includes a bunch of things to carry, including Gandalf's fireworks.

I wish the wagon was a tad bigger. It's a little cramped with everything in the back.