http://www.amazon.com/LEGO-Battle-Black-Interlocking-Building/dp/B00C9X59UM/ref=sr_1_15?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1369151591&sr=1-15&keywords=lego+lotr Whats with them calling it a toy "interlocking" building set?

Is anyone even thinking of buying them at full retail?

Is anyone even thinking of buying them at full retail?

Yeah definitely not a smart investment decision.

Yeah definitely not a smart investment decision.

The builder in me really wants the pirate ship though...

The Father in me already bought my kid the pirate ship at TRU...luckily I managed to save a few bucks (not a whole lot) by buying during the BOGO, getting the free 10 dollar gift card, and I was able to talk them down on a Helms deep with a damaged box. My kid doesn't get to open the ship until this weekend, but it does look pretty cool. The dead minifigs are pretty sweet looking.

Is anyone even thinking of buying them at full retail?

I might. For my collection, not to invest. The sets won't be released in my country for quite a while and when they do the price will be well above the US retail price. I may even import a couple of extra sets and flip them locally before they are released here.

Lego pricing is so weird. So the Black Gate will have a $59.99 retail price, same as Weathertop did. Only it has about 200 more pieces, with 5 minifigs and two animals. Seems like a much better deal/accurate pricing.

Too bad the black gates are so small. Would have preferred twice + the size and twice the price. Helm's Deep is a 130 dollar set and I was hoping that this would replace it size and pricewise. Maybe they didn't want another expensive set with Orthanc coming out or maybe the next hobbit releases are going to have something epic: Is it even possible to do the Lonely Mountain justice? A Rivendell palace & tower? (not likely with the council of Elrond just coming out).

I'm gonna buy the ship for myself!

I'm gonna buy the ship for myself!

Already excited for the prospect of that ship on clearance at Walmart for $69 like Vampyre Castle. :-) Very cool set, seems like a no brainer investment one.

Too bad the black gates are so small. Would have preferred twice + the size and twice the price. Helm's Deep is a 130 dollar set and I was hoping that this would replace it size and pricewise. Maybe they didn't want another expensive set with Orthanc coming out or maybe the next hobbit releases are going to have something epic: Is it even possible to do the Lonely Mountain justice? A Rivendell palace & tower? (not likely with the council of Elrond just coming out).

They had better not ATTEMPT the Lonely Mountain!

They had better not ATTEMPT the Lonely Mountain!

I think that the most likely set would be something like "Smaug's Lair" where they show part of the inside, the secret opening into the mountain and maybe part of the main dwarve entrance. The problem with these sets that are supposed to recreate massive spaces is that they end up falling comically short and emphazie play elements over display quality (don't get me wrong, I like the play, but can't we have both instead of either/or?). Having an interior scene that is only part of much larger structure usually doesn't equate to the best lego set. I would much rather they skip some scenes instead of putting out sets that are only part of a whole and dramatically reduced in scale/proportions.

I think that the most likely set would be something like "Smaug's Lair" where they show part of the inside, the secret opening into the mountain and maybe part of the main dwarve entrance. The problem with these sets that are supposed to recreate massive spaces is that they end up falling comically short and emphazie play elements over display quality (don't get me wrong, I like the play, but can't we have both instead of either/or?). Having an interior scene that is only part of much larger structure usually doesn't equate to the best lego set. I would much rather they skip some scenes instead of putting out sets that are only part of a whole and dramatically reduced in scale/proportions.

I agree with your thoughts on this. I don't like play driven sets that much. What your describing I think applies to something like the Mines of Moria set, I can see them doing something like that again, though I don't really like it.

Is anyone even thinking of buying them at full retail?

Whenever it comes to a brand spanking new set, I wait a good while before picking one up because usually I'm still picking up other older sets off of shelves that I originally planned to get here & there (spacing out purchases and whatnot) anyway and hopefully later on the newer stuff will have some kind of discount by then. To collect or invest, this would be my mindset honestly.

Whenever it comes to a brand spanking new set, I wait a good while before picking one up because usually I'm still picking up other older sets off of shelves that I originally planned to get here & there (spacing out purchases and whatnot) anyway and hopefully later on the newer stuff will have some kind of discount by then. To collect or invest, this would be my mindset honestly.

Same here. As much as I would like to get the ship and gate ASAP, there are still a couple others I planned to get first, so I'll wait and hopefully get them at a discount later.

Whenever it comes to a brand spanking new set, I wait a good while before picking one up because usually I'm still picking up other older sets off of shelves that I originally planned to get here & there (spacing out purchases and whatnot) anyway and hopefully later on the newer stuff will have some kind of discount by then. To collect or invest, this would be my mindset honestly.

Same here. As much as I would like to get the ship and gate ASAP, there are still a couple others I planned to get first, so I'll wait and hopefully get them at a discount later.

The others being? Orthanc perhaps?

Whenever it comes to a brand spanking new set, I wait a good while before picking one up because usually I'm still picking up other older sets off of shelves that I originally planned to get here & there (spacing out purchases and whatnot) anyway and hopefully later on the newer stuff will have some kind of discount by then. To collect or invest, this would be my mindset honestly.

Same here. As much as I would like to get the ship and gate ASAP, there are still a couple others I planned to get first, so I'll wait and hopefully get them at a discount later.

The others being? Orthanc perhaps?

That's one of them, but mostly I want to get all Hobbit sets first , and then start collecting the LoTR second wave.

The ship I feel is going to do amazingly well as an investment. All the ships in recent memory have been winners: Destiny's Bounty, Black Prearl, Queen Anne's Revenge, etc. On top of being a ship, it's got army builder potential with the superb ghost warrior minifigs. I just can't see how this set would perform poorly.

preordering now is great but not for investors. in 5-7 months (Oct, Nov, Dec), some of the new LOTR sets will be had for at least 20% off MSRP in-time for the holidays.

Does anyone know retail prices for new wave of LOTR in Germany/EU ?

Does anyone know retail prices for new wave of LOTR in Germany/EU ?

I am not 100% sure on these being actual retail in Euro dollar since all I could find were the prices in British pounds and had to convert the currency over, but I am hoping they can give you some kind of fairly accurate estimate. Now the Tower of Orthanc is the correct value as far as I know from different sources.

 

The Wizard Battle - 13.99