Ok, we all wanted a Smaug, and we all wanted him to be big, I am not sure if the model they had at comic con is the final version or not but I assume it is. Has anyone else noticed that he is larger than any previous dragon from Lego?

 

I was playing around with my Nephew a few months back and he has the 2013 Dragon mountain as well as one of the Dino T Rex's and I noticed that the T Rex body was a LOT bigger than the dragons. I thought, "if they wanted to make Smaug right, they need to use the T Rex body piece instead of the tiny dragon one" it looks like Smaug not only has a modified T Rex body piece but larger, flexible wings as well, something else I thought would make Smaug work.

 

Even though we never got a fell beast from Lego, or the citadel guards or the million other things that they could have done that would have been great that they didn't, at least they chose not mess up Smaug, and I am thrilled about that!

 

For another thing, these large, rare animals tend to go up in value down the road, pretty substantially sometimes as we saw with the HP horntail. 

For those that stated this set has no demand... well, ebay is painting a different picture.  Just take a glance at these sold listings.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1&_nkw=the+lonely+mountain+lego&_sop=16

I'm currently a few shy from where i'd like to be with my target, but think at this point ill wait it out a little bit..  I went to a lego store a few weekends ago, and they weren't on discount at that one.. but still picked up two more and took the VIP points. 

Edited March 27, 201510 yr by fossilrock

so i went to my BM and they got a fresh batch. 5 left, was only allowed to buy 1. has anyone tried price matching TRU to Lego BM before? it is in stock, for now, so no ghosts.

Edited March 27, 201510 yr by jerryherb

so i went to my BM and they got a fresh batch. 5 left, was only allowed to buy 1. has anyone tried price matching TRU to Lego BM before? it is in stock, for now, so no ghosts.

 

How do they know it's in-stock?

How do they know it's in-stock?

phone call. they had done this before with walmart.

 

the question was however, has anyone had experience price-matching to a local store as opposed to exclusively online.

Edited March 27, 201510 yr by jerryherb

to follow up i was able to price match TRU BM to LEGO BM. they made a phone call per my request to the local store a few miles up the road and confirmed in-stock and price. however, no freebies, no double VIP, and its a friday, though for price match the 10% TRUTH rarely applies as its not automatic (YMMV). according to TRU policy they can price match up to 4 of the same item, sadly they only had two, but in pristine condition.

I picked it up. For a set of this size, the box is stunningly light. Had to do some comparisons at TRU to make sure it wasn't half emptied.

I picked it up. For a set of this size, the box is stunningly light. Had to do some comparisons at TRU to make sure it wasn't half emptied.

I haven't opened mine yet but the box is very light compared to Helm's Deep or even Benny's Spaceship.  Makes you wonder if the price point wasn't originally closer to $100 and Lego bumped it up at the last minute because they knew it would be a niche set.

Just built this set so I will post a quick review:

 

Enjoyed the build.  Lots of detail and good ol' fashioned brick stacking mixed in.  Smaug looks great but not quite $50 great (my estimation of what Lego is building into the price).  I was a little disappointed at first after reading all of the raves for him.  He's reasonably sized for the rest of the set, but not as big as I expected.  There is a mild color variation between the rest of his body and rear tail section.  Wings seem a bit fragile too.  Hopefully they will hold up to some wear and tear as he is fun to pose.  Overall I think Smaug perfectly blends in with the rest of the set.  I would of liked to see a few more details like brick build gold piles or maybe an outside cliff section featuring the magical key hole. 

 

There is so much controversy about The Lonely Mountain, mostly concerning it's price point.  To be fair all licensed sets carry a premium.  Sets in the $100-200 range you're looking at something like $10-20 additional for the licensing fees.  Subtract Smaug and you have an $80 set.  Still most of us are picking up this set at 20% off or more.  At $100 or less I think it's a great set.  An easy 8 out of 10.   

 

As far as how high it will go:  I don't see it hitting $200 for awhile.  Maybe six months to a year post retirement.  The films are done and by the time retail stock is depleted most of the average public will be onto the new Star Wars or whatever.  

Edited March 29, 201510 yr by Mathew

Respectfully, I'm not sure how much larger you would want Smaug to be. Most thought he is bigger than expected.  Next to a mini figure I think he's perfect. Any bigger and ya might have a hard time doing anything with him or display him.  I'm still a big fan of this set regardless.  It's got a little of everything from the Hobbit Trilogy.  It's a bit overpriced but that just forces Smaug to always be desired.  

Actually I wouldn't want him much larger.  Based on the price of the set and the hype behind the figure I was initially expecting something a little more.  

 

Put it this way:  The dragon from the last castle set isn't that much smaller or less detailed.  Aside from Smaug's wings which I agree are quite good.  The Dragon Mountain set retailed for $50.  At 350 pieces, the dragon in that set probably accounted for about $15 of the cost.  Not bad.  Smaug on the other hand accounts for about $50 of the cost of The Lonely Mountain.  That's a reason this set hasn't sold well and Lego is discounting it.  

Edited March 29, 201510 yr by Mathew

I am sure I will regret that, but I've just order 4x 79018 The Lonely Montain at 108.5

Actually I wouldn't want him much larger.  Based on the price of the set and the hype behind the figure I was initially expecting something a little more.  

 

Put it this way:  The dragon from the last castle set isn't that much smaller or less detailed.  Aside from Smaug's wings which I agree are quite good.  The Dragon Mountain set retailed for $50.  At 350 pieces, the dragon in that set probably accounted for about $15 of the cost.  Not bad.  Smaug on the other hand accounts for about $50 of the cost of The Lonely Mountain.  That's a reason this set hasn't sold well and Lego is discounting it.  

I think this set is more than Price Per Piece.  It has a lot of things going for it...Largest Hobbit set, some exclusive minifigures, beautiful box, sand green bricks and maybe the baddest LEGO maxifigure of all time and one that will never be remade.  This all adds up to a quality set IMO.  

I'll bite if TRU has 20% off on it. The price right now is ridiculous.

 

I think this set is more than Price Per Piece.  It has a lot of things going for it...Largest Hobbit set, some exclusive minifigures, beautiful box, sand green bricks and maybe the baddest LEGO maxifigure of all time and one that will never be remade.  This all adds up to a quality set IMO.  

 

I agree.  The posable Smaug is what distinguishes it from the other Lego Castle Dragons.  The sand green and pearl elements also add value.  My review takes these things into account.  

 

 

I like this one better:

 

Looks like Lego hasnt restocked this set for a while according to brickset.com. Do u guys think once they sell out this batch?it will hit the end?

Looks like Lego hasnt restocked this set for a while according to brickset.com. Do u guys think once they sell out this batch?it will hit the end?

Yep. I think what is out there is it, and then the hobbit/lotr series sets off into the sunset.  Sure, some of the characters might appear in a Lego movie, but this wave of hobbit sets is more than likely done. 

It's still available at S@H and Toysrus.com has it discounted (barely) down to $125.99.  It wouldn't be bad if you could get this price in-store, w/ 10% TRUTH, and 10% gift card.

 

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=41814176&cp=&parentPage=search

Quite odd how it went to 20% off in Lego stores, and now back to full price. 

 

I thought maybe that sale was to free up shelf space on larger box items, but at least the lonely mtn is still on my local lego shelves at full price.

Quite odd how it went to 20% off in Lego stores, and now back to full price. 

 

I thought maybe that sale was to free up shelf space on larger box items, but at least the lonely mtn is still on my local lego shelves at full price.

Yeah the sale didn't seem to free up any shelf space in my store either.

YoYo.com also has Lonely Mountain listed on their site, so we might be able to catch a discount there.

Retiring a set that large after 6 months? How do they even recoup the research, development, tooling, manufacturing, shipping, warehousing and employee costs, let alone make any profit?

Retiring a set that large after 6 months? How do they even recoup the research, development, tooling, manufacturing, shipping, warehousing and employee costs, let alone make any profit?

Who cares? ;)

Retiring a set that large after 6 months? How do they even recoup the research, development, tooling, manufacturing, shipping, warehousing and employee costs, let alone make any profit?

This is incredible for us. This is a gift. I predict these will be gold.