If you're into Lego at all, you've been looking forward to the LotR sets. If you're into Lego, and a huge fantasy geek (like moi), then you've REALLY been looking forward to these.
Local toy stores have started putting the sets out of the shelves (our local lego store says they'll have them next week), so I'm going to be picking them all up (of course) and doing short reviews of them. I'm doing the review thing a little different: I'll review them as lego toys, and then as their use as DnD/Pathfinder/etc minis.
The first set I picked up was Gandalf Arrives. It's the least expensive set (I picked it up for about 12 bucks), but it's quite a bit of bang for the buck.
 |
| Boxed |
 |
| The unboxing, with the reveal of the awesome new horse. |
 |
| The set, built. I love the mass of stuff overflowing the cart. |
 |
| All the accessories laid out. |
Okay, review time. As a lego set, it's great. Two minifigs, a new poseable horse, and a ton of random little accessories is all great. The cart thing has been done before of course (I think I have at least 3, and I'm missing at least 1), but this cart has a unique build, with some great custom touches. (I love how Gandalf sits off to the side of his bench, and how it all overflows.) I think it would have been pretty easy to get away with making a generic cart that was good enough (in the movie the cart isn't particularly unique or exciting), but Lego did a nice job making it exciting and interesting, but still accurate. I was worried that Gandalf wouldn't be able to sit on his cart without removing his cloak, but it seems more flexible than most, so he sits beautifully without removing it.
As for using it as minis: 12 bucks for a horse, wizard, halfling, and cart, seems pretty awesome. I'm also a big fan of backpacks (It makes me want to make one of those "treasure goblins" from Diablo 3 and run it through my pc's... any tips on making that work in a fun way?). I have tons of barrels (they occasionally show up on the wall at Lego stores), but they're great flavor for dungeons, so the more the merrier I guess. Another Asp is useful, it's basically another monster miniature, but can also be used as a weapon or staff topper. I'm a big fan of books, and they're fairly rare (mostly just from the Harry Potter series, as far as I know) so I'm pretty happy to have another. I'd love a few hundred of them so I can build a library dungeon set up. I've yet to find a good use for carrots, and I'm no sure about the fireworks, but I'm sure they'll come in useful for flavor somewhere.
 |
| This has nothing to do with DnD or LoTR, I just love my little comic book motorcycle cross over... |
