Tag Archives: The Lord of the Rings

“The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow!”

The Lord of the Rings is full of scenes perfect for adapting into LEGO for the LEGO Ideas challenge “Explore the Middle-earth”. Builder BardJaskier chose one of the most iconic scenes to adapt — the Bridge of Kazad-Dûm. This scene features Gandalf the Grey standing in the way of a mighty Balrog to buy the Fellowship time to escape from the Mines of Moria. To say the Balrog towers over Gandalf is to do a disservice to the presence of the foul being. BardJaskier does a great job of capturing the dreadful power of the Balrog as it wields its fiery sword and whip. And those wings! They’re majestic and terrifying at the same time. They feature fantastic parts reuse from the Ninjago set 71753 Fire Dragon Attack. And let’s not forget the rest of the scene! I do love the techniques and design of the bridge and the surrounding mines. They do a good job of conveying the wear of time.

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Rider of Rohan, what news from the Mark?

I just love it when LEGO is used to give us a glimpse of Middle-earth, like Shaun Sheepa‘s Rider of Rohan here. The Riddermark is a vast domain, and to traverse it the people take to the saddle. In the build you get a glimpse of these plains in the grassland beneath the horse’s hooves. Speaking of the horse, it’s not very often I see brick-built ones. There is some nice parts usage at play here. Of particular note is the shaping of the horse’s face, and those angled hollow studs with bar for the rear hooves. This is a very thin part of the horse’s anatomy, and those parts are perfect for it! I think now I need to go watch The Lord of the Rings to see the riders at work.

LEGO Creation of the Week (#9): Shelob by Grant Davis

Every week readers of the The Brothers Brick Telegram channel choose the Creation of the Week: one project that impressed all of us the most. As the sales of new LEGO Icons The Lord of the Rings 10316 Rivendell has began last week, there’s no better time to enjoy a stunning themed creation. No wonder, Grant Davis grabbed our Creation of the Week prize this easily! His scene featuring spidery monster, Shelob totally deserves it!

Meanwhile, the new vote is already on! Join our Telegram channel to follow all the best LEGO creations, latest news, and, of course, vote for your favorites. See you there!

You have no clutch power here, Gandalf the Dark-bluish Grey

The Lord of the Rings seems to be making a comeback lately, and I’m all for it. Among other things, it means we get awesome tributes like this one from Marcin Otreba. Like all good builds, I find it quite thought-provoking. The thought in question is – isn’t it odd that Gandalf is most famously represented in his grey garb? He doesn’t even spend a whole movie’s worth in that outfit. (Yes, I know, The Hobbit, but over a decade separates that trilogy from The Lord of the Rings movies.) Even as Gandalf the White, he still gets called Mithrandir – which means “the Grey Pilgrim” in Sindarin. I know being called the White Wizard might be awkward after Saruman did, you know, all that evil stuff. But come on, Gandalf had to slay a whole Balrog to get there!

Marcin isn’t the only one to have been paying a visit to Middle Earth lately – plenty of others have joined this little fellowship of “>LOTR LEGO builders.

Siege of Gondor vignette pays tribute to a great battle

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the publication of Lord of the Rings, so you can expect to see a number of fan-built tributes in addition to official LEGO sets based on the franchise. Grant Davis has been building vignettes inspired by LotR for a while, and this latest build is a fantastic tribute to the white city of Gondor. Depicting a scene from the epic battle set in the third book where the army of Sauron lays siege to the city, sending rock after rock against the white walls and towers. The impacting rock and all of the rubble are very cleverly attached with only a few barely visible bars the same color as the wall, and the angle of the photograph hides any non-essential parts, creating the illusion of a moment frozen in time.

If you want to see more, be sure to check out his Shelob build from LotR that we recently featured.

Nobody tosses a dwarf, and Gimli’s LEGO helmet is no toss-up either

This LEGO version of Gimli’s helmet by Marcin Otreba from The Lord of the Rings gave us no real choice — it was too awesome for us to pass up! Pearl-gold lattice pieces decorate the brow and chin guards, evoking the dwarvish designs on the helmet as seen in the Peter Jackson movie series. Sitting on a display stand, Marcin’s fan design would fit right in with the official LEGO Star Wars helmets collection.

Marcin follows up his fantastic Mouth of Sauron, and we’re hoping that this latest LEGO helmet is just the next in a larger series of helmets and busts from the world of J.R.R. Tolkien.

We’re caught in the web of this wonderful build.

Grant Davis has been on a quest to depict the major moments from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings saga in LEGO form. Grant’s latest vignette is of Sam’s encounter with the vicious, spidery monster known as Shelob. Rarely has an arachnid been so perfectly captured in LEGO form. The secret is plenty of inverted rubbery tires to give Shelob some organic roundness and an eerie texture.

“Smile pretty for the camera”

As we all bask in the latest LEGO Lord of the Rings news, it’s a perfect time to celebrate other amazing Middle Earth constructions. Case in point, this tribute to the Mouth of Sauron by Marcin Otreba. This scene-stealing Return of the King character is perfectly captured here with his ornate armor and trademark spooky grin. Look closely, and you’ll see those creepy teeth are actually repurposed Battle Droid heads from the Star Wars prequels, which makes this build a loving homage to early 2000s blockbuster movies of all kinds.

LEGO Icons The Lord of the Rings 10316 Rivendell: Middle Earth just got bigger [Review]

LEGO’s standalone The Lord of the Rings theme is back after the better part of a decade-long hiatus, and it’s come back with a roar. A few small BrickHeadz sets have already been released, but the star of the newly revived theme is a massive diorama of Rivendell, the Last Homely House East of the Sea, where the Fellowship of the Ring is formed. The three-part diorama of the elven home spans almost 30 inches and is the first to include the entire fellowship together, with 21 minifigures in total. 10316 Rivendell includes 6,167 pieces and will be available for LEGO VIP members starting March 5, with general availability March 8. It will retail for US $499.99 | CAN $669.99 | UK £429.99.

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

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Breaking Wormtongue’s spell.

With The Rings of Power debuting on Amazon Prime, it seems a fitting time to check back in on Jonas Kramm’s The Lord of the Rings vignette series. Here, Gandalf the White appears before Théoden in Meduseld and drives Sauman’s magic from the corrupted king. This cross-section style rendering of the Golden Hall is worthy of royalty, with the carved wooden horse heads being an especially nice detail.

The final fate of a doomed son of Gondor

Nobody sets a LEGO scene quite like Jesse van den Oetelaar. Just take a look at some of these past builds, and you can find some common themes showcased in this gorgeous vignette of Boromir making his last stand against the Uruk-hai. For example, Jesse’s vegetation is top notch, not to splashy such as to draw the eye away, but definitely providing a closeness to the scene. The twisted tree trunks and overgrown patches of dark green and olive contrast the occasional pile of rocks or red-capped mushroom. And the use of lighting is exquisite! The surrounding forest feels dark and eerie, with the foreground even slightly out-of-focus. Everything about this build pushes the eye to the center of the picture, all to behold Boromir’s final redemption: sacrificing himself so Frodo (and The Ring) can escape.

Awww, what a cute little tower you have there Saruman

There are few towering structures more recognizable than the two towers featured in the Lord of the Rings novel of the same name. The obsidian-colored sharp-cornered Orthanc has more in common with its dark counterpart in the book, Barad-dur than it does with any of the man or Dwarf made structures of Middle-Earth, namely a lot of sharp pointy bits. Even in this microscale model by Jesse van den Oetelaar the tower at the center of Isengard looks quite ominous. One of my favorite details is the angled bars made by wedging the lever part in between grille plates. The round base was constructed with black clamps attached to flexible tubing, and it is a simple yet effective technique.