LEGO Hobbit sets out now from the LEGO Shop [News]

We expected LEGO to officially release the LEGO Hobbit sets on December 1st, but they’re now available (perhaps spurred on by their early availability from places like Amazon.com). All of the new Hobbit sets are out on LEGO.com, and free shipping applies on orders over $99 through December 18.

Here’s the full list of sets:

• 79000 Riddles for the Ring: 105 parts and two minifigs (Bilbo Baggins and Gollum). This is a nice little set — we’ll have a full review up later today.
• 79001 Escape from Mirkwood Spiders: Includes 298 pieces and four minifigs (Fili, Kili, Legolas, and Tauriel). Read my review of 79001 here on TBB.
• 79002 Attack of the Wargs: 400 pieces at $49.99, and minifigs include Thorin Oakenshield, Bifur, Yazneg, and two orcs, plus two wargs. This is another set I picked up early here in Seattle, so I’ll try to get a review posted here on TBB later today as well.
• 79003 An Unexpected Gathering: My current favorite set of all time. With an MSRP of $69.99, Bag End has 652 pieces and six minifigs — Gandalf, Bilbo, Balin, Dwalin, Bofur, and Bombur.
• 79004 Barrel Escape: This set includes 334 pieces at $39.99, with five minifigs — Bilbo, Oin, Gloin, Thranduil the Elvenking, and a Mirkwood elf guard.
• 79010 The Goblin King Battle: At $99, this set has 841 parts and 7 minifigs — Gandalf, Dori, Ori, Nori, the Goblin King, a goblin scribe, and two goblins.

I know we’ve had a lot of sales news lately, but a percentage of everything you buy on the LEGO Shop and Amazon.com goes toward supporting what we do here on The Brothers Brick, from servers to contest sponsorships. Thanks very much for all your support over the years!