Would you really want LOTR LEGOs?

[forester3291]

First off LEGO wouldn't be able to make LOTR LEGO sets because intelebrix already has and they have the rights. I think the LOTR movies were great but the books were better of course. I think kids would realy like LOTR LEGO sets. Come on. I fthe like Harry Potter they would like LOTR LEGO.

[Formendacil]

What I say will probably astonish a few people here, knowing as they do that I am a fanatical Lord of the Rings BOOK lover, but I think the movies are great.

Seriously, they were great movies, very well done. They were amazing. I enjoy watching them, once over the canonical shocks to system. And as far as accuracy goes, they were not that bad. Certainly, they could have been a lot worse. I shudder to think of it.

I do NOT think that Lord of the Rings is a good idea. Lego would botch it anyways, and making it would stifle the creative processes of us. I would much rather see more Lord of the Rings MOCs. Don't ruin our fun. Making our own is a big part of that.

[Bruce N H]

I'll leave aside a discussion of the movies themselves as that could veer way off-topic.

On the question of a LEGO LotR license, I would be very opposed. I completely agree with Formendacil's points about creativity. It is comepletely possible to make LotR creations with existing elements -cough- Brick Tales -cough-. Okay, to be less self-centered, here's a fairly comprehensive listing of Tolkien MOCs (yes, I know it's out of date, I've got a backlog of links to add). I'm in general opposed to licenses and would rather see original sets that allow the child to develop their own story line (as in the great old sets).

As Forester said, another company bought the license for a building toy line, though AFAIK they only released sets to go with the FotR movie. LEGO instead decided to focus on the HP series, figuring (rightly, IMO) that this hit their target demographic more closely. They've also said that LotR was "too dark" for them to choose as a line. I'll leave aside my feelings about the wisdom of that statement, but perhaps you can guess what they'd be.

Bruce

[kajo163]

I like the movies and the books, but I do'nt think it qould work out very well in lego, it's to big and complex.

That is of course not to say that I dislike LOTR MOC's!

Joel

[TheOrk]

I they used the original colours it would be cool!
But if not

[The Tennis Ball Kid]

The Iron Man wrote

I thought it was boring, cheesy, unrealistic, and a waste of time.

I thought it was exciting, a rather realistic depiction of the world Tolkien described(though not completly), and twelve hours well spent.(I wo'nt dispute that there was some cheese involved...)

As for LEGO getting a license I think they were fools not to, but it's too late for them now. Such a line would have sold like hotcakes and attracted not only the usual supects but also more adult collectors than Hairy Parter.

This is not to say that I would have liked the idea, I agree that it would have stifled some of the creativity that we've seen in the last couple years. The Star Wars line has done this to a certain extent I think,(not to say I don't love my Vader minifig, he's da bomb!) This I think proves that a Star Wars line was not neccesary in order to build Star Wars MOC's; This proves a LOTR line is not neccesary.

[Bruce N H]

I'm humbled to be mentioned in the same breath as S. Fujita. Thank you. You should also mention Jon Furman. He's my favorite LotR MOC builder.

Bruce

[LEGOFREAK]

Personally I am not interested in Lego ever doing another pre-conceived pre-packaged storyline. (*cough KK2 cough*)
that being said, I would like to see some fantasy creatures, like orcs/goblins or something. perhaps some fantasy castles.
whatever they do, they should leave the story up to us, but since they won't I guess I'll just file this away under "yeah right"

[Sir Vincent]

I wouldn't want a Lord of The Rings line...but if it means getting orcs,goblins,and trolls...then I guess it would be alright...

[MaxiVisVires]

Though getting LOTR parts would be nice, I'd still oppose it. Just like it has been mentioned before, it's nice to see LOTR MOC's and customs and I think having a LEGO line of LOTR would take away from that.

[TwoTonic Knight]

Whether the movies were good, bad, or enjoyable despite either, is going to be off-topic, but very briefly, yeah, I enjoyed them all for what they were with the caveat that I thought Jackson made some poor editing decisions on The Two Towers (largely, but not entirely, made better in the extended DVD version).

As to Lego, they missed their chance. The time to get in was during the cross-marketing period when the movies were actually being released. So, even if they could do it, the license has lost value.

Honestly, I don't think they need to license LOTR. They didn't need to license Indiana Jones, and yet that's what Adventurers is inspired by.

Their recent survey had basically two divergents desires for the future of Castle: LoTR styled fantasy, and more historical and realistic stuff. What they currently have wasn't even a blip on the scale. Where things are going to go from there, Idunno.

[tanzirian]

Personally I wouldn't care much for LOTR lego. Give me classic castle any day! The way I see it, there aren't very many places in the movies that would make good system scale sets. A few come to mind...the wizard's tower, a hobbit house perhaps...But others would look absolutely bland, like Helm's deep. Also, I would be surprised if they sold well. My guess is that LOTR's biggest fan base is with teenagers, and teenagers on average, don't buy a lot of lego.
As for the movies...I know this goes against the general opinion here, but I don't think much of them. Visually, they are beautiful, and have great special effects. But I also find them episodic, overlong, and contrived, with superficial character development. I love great cinematography and effects, but not by themselves. The Star Wars films come to mind as the classic example of special effects laden money makers that also succeed on an emotional level and have a tight storyline without contrivance.

[The Brick Rat]

I'd take a LOTR theme over KK2 any day of the week. However, TLC doesn't really need yet another major licensed theme right now. I wish they had used LOTR (rather than Power Rangers) as inspiration for the current Castle line.

As far as the movies go, I think Peter Jackson did a great job of adapting LOTR to the big screen (in spite of some minor (and major) missteps). In fact, I'm looking forward to the Dec. 14 release of the ROTK extended edition DVD with more anticipation than I am to next years 'Revenge of the Sith'.

Ken

[doctorsparkles]

I'm going to go against the popular opinion here and say that I would have liked to see a Lord of the Rings line. I don't build LOTR creations, but the parts that we would have gotten would have been awesome. My only concern would have been all of the LOTR specific pieces (I don't need any torsos with the tree of Minas Tirith on it, nor the white hand of Saruman, though I would have made due with that one).
As for the movies, I loved them. I also loved the books. I think the books and the movies just make eachother better. The movies left a few parts out that makes you wonder 'Wait a minute, why is this happening now?' (for example, where did the eagles come from?), so you read the book and it all makes sense. On the other hand, sometimes I had trouble visualizing what Tolkien was trying to convey, so the movies helped me out in that department. One helped me enjoy the other much more.