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10237 - Tower of Orthanc


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But according to many here, it's a lukewarm theme that, despite a handfull of sets that increased in price very well, the rest didn't increase that well.

Personally I don't have an opinion on this theme. I came out from the dark ages only last year, missed a lot of themes and sets but bought one ToO (arrived today) and I'm dying to open it because it's awesome.

Exactly.

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Too many people tend to compare everything to exclusives where they tend to get 2x value right after it's EOL.  Well, this is the only true exclusive in the LOTR/Hobbit line.  But not everything is a HH, or SSD.

Ive beaten this horse a few times now, but I really think the ToO, The LM, HD, & UG are going to be the "premiere sets" where you will get about 3x above retail a couple years from now.  I also think Shelobs attacks, Council of Elrond, Wizard Battle, Black Gate, Mines of Moria, and Lake Town Chase have potential to go in the 2x to 3x range.  Shelob is already in the 2x range.  The pirate ship ambush is a weird one... i'm not sure how that one will go, but lately it seems to be popping at retail rates on ebay, and I just scarfed a few of those below retail last month when I stumbled onto them at clearance in a walmart.  So, that set has yet to truly go dry yet (you can still get them in various TRU's), but it might also have potential, and it's one of the last LOTR sets you can still find at retail, other than the ToO, and perhaps the Black Gate.

But have no fear with the tower.  I really do think it's going to do very well.  Now, if they will only take that one "Ideas" concept of the Minas Tirith that's currently under review and make it into an exclusive, before they retire this line, i'd be absolutely jazzed about what this series produced.  I personally, don't hate on the Mines of Moria, and some of the other sets.  I think they did a good job, considering they presented a range of price points for sets, and a variety of sets.  Not everything was a castle, but there are a few good castle type sets in this series.  I think it's a good line.

Edited by fossilrock
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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm slowly building one (last 3 bags will be built this weekend) and I got to say this is a thing of beauty for LotR/Lego fans. Tons of bricks and building techniques I've never seen.

For non-fans it's a really ugly tower so the appeal to fans will have to take into account the opinions of the significant other when bringing such a massive piece of black plastic into a house. It's probably a good investment but I think there are other investments out there since this will only appeal to LotR fans.

 

 

Btw, anyone knows if there are insctructions to close the back of the tower out there? I'm currently doing one with LDD but it's a blackhole of hours just to do minimal changes to the original build.

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I think it shows that anyone stating knowledge that licenses ending at any given date are talking out of their hobbit hole.

 

While you're being right, I think many people reasonably speculate about Lego having no intention of keeping a single set in its portfolio when the rest of that theme has been abandoned many months ago (speaking from a perspective of middle to end of this year). I mean has there ever been a last sole set of a theme that survived a whole year (or so) longer than its retired companions? Un-licensed Haunted House was a good seller and did that for about 6 months iirc. I don't know if you can transfer anything portfolio management related logically from HH to lincensed ToO, but I'd suppose Lego wants to keep its theme index somewhat clean over time.

 

I'd say IF there was a plan to reinstate LOTR through TLM 2 they would probably also release a bunch of new licensed sets instead of only keeping ToO alive - but to me that seems rather unlikely because to me a Gandalf character in the new movie alone might be a bit to little for a complete Lego LOTR renaissance. The general interest in LOTR does not rise just because of a TLM Gandalf. What could likely happen of course is a TLM 2 set for Gandalf, but that would be TLM 2 branded, not LOTR. In short: I personally think ToO will take the HH train and exit till the end of the year latest and then the LOTR line itself is history. My opinion.

Edited by rfish
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It's rare but not unheard of. The 10223 Kingdom's Joust set stayed around for a very long time on its own.

That said, I agree with you that I don't think the lifespan of the Tower of Orthanc will be influenced by an appearance of Gandalf in the Lego Movie 2. That movie will get sets of its own, maybe with some Hobbit/Lotr elements, we will have to wait and see.

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  • 3 weeks later...

My loca lego shop had two ToO on the sheld today. Really surprised me. Seals read 12R5. Did anybody else's local shop get another shipment of these?

​I finally saw these seals a couple days ago too. Any "run" could be the last, but my guess is we have a few months left at this point.

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This has gone out of stock at Lego.com again.  It went out of stock during the 2x VIP week, quite early, and then came back about 2 weeks ago.  It didnt last long.  My guess is this one is very near the end.  I wouldn't be surprised it's OOS and retired by end of June.

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​I finally saw these seals a couple days ago too. Any "run" could be the last, but my guess is we have a few months left at this point.

​4th quarter retirement always seemed most likely, especially given TLGs retirement track record. 

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There's been talk of the license expring this year, 2015.  Is the license really expiring, since they're producing Gandalf for LEGO Dimensions?

​They could License Gandalf under a video game license, for Dimensions, and drop the building set license for the Theme.  We will have to wait and see...

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Seals were 4S15, I bought one at SO Ouest on 27.4 and then tried to take another one in Cologne (Koln) but they didn't have any. After checking with her manager a charming employee told me it is sure to return before long.

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