As we are eagerly awaiting the new LEGO Hobbit sets under the LEGO Lord of the Rings license, I thought to explore the new LEGO The Hobbit characters a bit more in debt as a refresher. 🙂
As you probably know already, to coincide with the release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey film by Peter Jackson coming out in December, LEGO is introducing a collection of LEGO The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey building sets. One of these sets, Bag End, was recently revealed at the San Diego Comic Con. (See below.)
Along with the set there are also six new LEGO The Hobbit minifigures. From left to right we have: Gandalf, Dwalin, Bombur, Bofur, Bilbo and Balin.
➡ As far as Gandalf goes, if you have read the Lord of the Rings books or have seen the movies you know how important Gandalf is to the whole saga. Here we have Gandalf the Gray, the same minifigure as in the currently available #9469 LEGO Lord of the Rings – Gandalf Arrives set. (Please note though that his face is slightly different.) I like the new beard, although I really miss Gandalf’s long and flowing silver hair. Since LEGO put quite a bit of effort into all the other Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit minifigures I’m not sure why they didn’t work on Gandalf a bit more. He is a wizard after all, not just some old bald guy with a big hat. 🙄
➡ Dwalin, the dwarf is one of the twelve companions of Thorin and Bilbo on the Quest of Erebor to challenge the dragon Smaug. He is the younger brother of Balin. According to the first chapter of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Party, he wore a dark green hood and a golden belt, and had a blue beard. It appears that the LEGO version of Dwalin is based on the upcoming The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey film, rather than on the book.
➡ Bombur, also a dwarf, and one of the twelve companions of Thorin and Bilbo on the Quest of Erebor. He was troubled by his weight and his sleepiness throughout the journey, but made it through and lived into old age. LEGO did an interesting new mold for him with a beard/expanded chest and tummy all in one piece. I think they did a good job, although by being so detailed and specific, they also limited the usefulness of the piece in other settings. But I guess a chubby dwarf is always welcome. 😀
➡ Bofur is another dwarf who accompanied Thorin and Bilbo on the Quest of Erebor. If I remember correctly according to the book he was wearing dwarfish clothing and hood like the other dwarves. I’m not sure why in the upcoming film he is wearing a Russian hat, but it is obvious that the LEGO version of Bofur was designed after the film, rather than the book. It’s kinda cute, although I’m not sure how else the piece could be used with those two girly braids.
➡ Young Bilbo Baggins is of course one of the main characters of The Hobbit saga. Originally he was a quite normal hobbit; solid, sensible, unadventurous, and respectable with a weakness for good parties. But he was also enamored with Gandalf’s stories about dragons, elves, dwarves, and foreign lands, and got bitten by the bug of adventure, taking him into incredible journeys. Bilbo was also a ring-bearer, and he later gave the One Ring to Frodo. He made it to the age of 131 – the oldest hobbit in history – before departing to Valinor with the elves. LEGO’s adaptation is the same as the other hobbits, with that cute new hair-mold made just for them. Other than that he is quite simple – just like how a hobbit should be.
➡ Balin, a leader amongst the dwarves, and older brother of Dwalin, played a key role in on the Quest of Erebor by always looking after and protecting Bilbo. He made it back home, and reclaimed the Mines of Moria along with other dwarves. Their success was short lived though and they were eventually killed by Orcs. Later the Fellowship of the Ring found Balin’s tomb; this scene being depicted in the #9473 LEGO Lord of the Rings – The Mines of Moria set.
These are all the LEGO The Hobbit minifigures we know about at this point, and I’m sure there will be more to come. Besides the minifigures one other nice thing about the LEGO Bag End set is that this hobbit-hole is a key location in both the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, so there is plenty of play opportunities. You can even get several and with a little modification build the whole Shire! 😎
One thing I’m not sure about is if LEGO will continue to produce sets from the Lord of the Rings saga now that the focus is on The Hobbit. In the first wave of the Lord of the Rings sets they included quite a few of the main scenes, however many have been left out. Also many significant characters are still missing; including all the ladies. I’m wondering if LEGO is planning to go back to the Lord of the Rings to expand the sets offered, or will they just stay with The Hobbit story-line as the movies get released.
What do you think? Would you like to have some more LEGO sets from the Lord of the Rings? And how do you like Bag End, and The Hobbit minifigures revealed so far? What other Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit characters would you like to see LEGO make in the future? Share your thoughts and comments below. 😉
And for more LEGO Lord of the Rings new, reviews and discussions, check out the LEGO Lord of the Rings section, or select from recent posts below:
Balin is not the leader of the dwarves, Thorin Oakenshield is.
It was a while ago when I read The Hobbit, but as far as I remember he was a leader. He was definitely a leader on the party that visited the shire as he was the oldest dwarf when Thorin wasn’t around, and he also lead the dwarves after recapturing Moria. In fact at that time he declared himself Lord of Moria. Of course that only lasted a few years, but he was a dwarf leader throughout his life.
Gandalf says it in the trailer. I could post the link.
(I read the hobbit blog )
Gandalf: The leader of our company, Thorin Oakenshield. He might have become the leader when Thorin died though…
Yeah, I like these very well done. Return of the kings and hobbit I like best, too. But two torwes is not bad..I like how he captured the eye but what is the meaning of the stars in return of the king poster?? I under about the tree. I think the stars was just in the wardrobe of the king? I get the fellowship of the ring poster but it is the least captivating. Thanks for sharing.
Balin was actually never a leader before he led the company of dwarves to retake Moria. He was indeed second oldest dwarf in The Hobbit, but he was not formally recognised as a leader in the book. He hold some loose rank of deputy leader (he speak with the elvenking when they were captured and Thorin was lost and captured). And even when Thorin died, Dain II Ironfoot assumed possition of the king under the moutain.
Also there were 14 companions (13 dwarves, Bilbo) + Gandalf
Otherwise nicely written article and I can’t wait to buy this sets.
Balin was the lookout.
Okay, good points. Thanks for the correction. I did a little research on the LOTR wiki, and changed the text to “Balin, a leader amongst the dwarves”. I hope that makes it more accurate as that’s how he is described both on the LOTR wiki and on Wikipedia. 🙂
I would love to see more lord of the rings sets. I think or at least I hope that the sets now are just a focussed on the main events to start things off.(missing a few sauron, sauromen , eowen and others.)I hope lego fills in the blanks later. On the hobbit , first off it is a much sorter story.Second, their are fewer events. I also believe, that lego likes to stretch things out a bit . Leaving us wanting more.
Peter Jackson dosen’t seem to think so, The amount of shooting days for the 2 films is almost the same as for the trilogy. and I still don’t know when film 2 is being released 🙁
Actually, there are now going to be three films.
That Bag End set is the bee’s knees
Yeah, I just found out that the hobbit is going to be a trilogy. The plot thickens.
lego makes me brroke
Yeah, I know! 🙄
hey guys off topic allert i think the next modular building set is a resturraunt because in the town hall where did the kid get the popsicle from ?
Where did the photographer get the camera from? I doubt it is.
what do you think its going to be admin
Hey, the town DOES need a restaurant… I hope it’s buffet style 😀
…and vegetarian… 😉
Oh yes… maybe a Soup Plantation or Sweet Tomatoes LOL 😉
LOL! 😆
the lego grand emporium was a realy fun set to build.
I really hope there are more LotR sets on the way. We need a Rivendale set. The Inn where Strider meets the Hobbits. Ents! Nazgul on Fellbeast! Seige of Gondor with Grond, catapults, etc.
Olyphants! Sooo much they could do.
I have to say, I am impressed with the amount of comments your posts get.
Eric, oh, yes! We definitely need a Rivendale. And an inn would be really sweet! And Ents for sure! And Nazgul, yeah, the list goes on and on. These are good days for LEGO! 😀
I was actually expecting less comments after I had to disable comment subscription (the number of emails TBB sent out crashed the server), but comments in fact went up to about twice as much per day. LEGO fans are an awesome bunch, and they will get their daily fix no matter what obstacles come up. 😉
Why does everyone call it Rivendale? It’s Rivendell.
Yeah, you are right. It just “sounds like” that’s how it should be spelled. Hope the elves will forgive us. 🙄
Eric check your setting. I tried to comment on your target clearance post and I couldn’t. I clicked the comment link and the page just reloaded. The comment box never opened.
awesome! (dont tell lexi i spelled AWESOME wrong right there 😉 )
I just want to say that this set is waaaaaaaaay better than the LOTR sets, look at all the detail… It’s actually a complete structure… I want like 3 of these bad boys.
LEGO just keeps on getting better. I’m a little disapointed with the Hobbit game though…
speaking of games… do you own the LEGO POTC? If so, is it worth buying?
Video game? I was talking about a board game.
Three words… Arwen Evenstar minifigure
I’m not sure that the head or the hairpiece of LEGO® Bilbo is accurate to the newer movie.
It works well enough for me.
J.C., the piece may not be completely accurate, but it is sweet and hobbitsy. And it also works well for other minifigures. The more specific parts become the less useful they are for other applications. LEGO is a building toy, not action figures or miniature replicas, so some inaccuracy and generic-ness is always going to be there. 😉
I agree. Though it looks like a cross between both reference pictures. XD
just rode my bike super sweaty
We need ring wraiths. Nine for the nine that was on the journy to distroy the one ring.
I also am worried that we may not see any more LotR proper sets. Without any female characters, Saruman, Gandalf the White, or Ents, it feels like it is missing a lot. It is similar making Star Wars sets, and not making Darth Vader, Princess Leia, Yoda, or a non-Tatooine Luke. Still, the Hobbit figures do look nice.
Jacob, yeah, that’s my fear too, especially with The Hobbit coming in three episodes. I think we will be stuck with that story for a while. It’s okay, but I was also hoping for more LOTR. 😕
Awesome minifigures can’t wait for the movie, the dwarves, the ring, treasure, and of course, the Smeagol! I love the Hobbit!!!!
Gollum is not Smeagol in the Hobbit.
I know. Well techniclly he was always Smeagol. But still, he is sadley a small part of it.
Great article. This is a great looking set. I think they will keep making new LOTR just maybe not as many sets. Kinda of like they do with Star Wars. The animated Clone Wars is still on TV and the Phantom Menace was re-released this year but LEGO still made The Jabba’s Palace set from Jedi.
thanks for the news i wonder what else lego will give us… yeah but we still need lotr especially the females lego BARELY makes females its like there sexist or something
to me it seems like LOTR would be incomplete without Galadriel, Arwen & Eowyn like SW would be without Princess Leia & Padme Amidala or HP without Hermoine & Prof. McGonagle. Rethink it Lego practically every book, story, or movie has some female or feminine character no matter how small or insignificant a role.
Ken, yes, that’s my feeling as well. I hope LEGO will listen…
shelob is the only girl so far
they need mordor and salron sorry if its spelled wrong
love the characters espesially Bombur.