I never understand why LEGO decides to use sockets on torso side rather than balls?! It limits articulation a lot. They did same thing with some Exo Force mechs and Nexo Knights mechs. At least then socket was sideways so arm could move forward but it still made awkward to put hands down.

A definite buy for the fan of the material. I liked the movies but I'm too distant to fandom for the source.

Almost 10 years old. I wonder how the designers would make this set nowadays with all the new elements and all

@jkb said:
" @NotProfessorWhymzi said:
"so, why couldn't Gandalf have the eagles fly himself and the ring to Mordor? wrong answers only."

The eagles joined the German public transportation strikes.

@StyleCounselor And you shouldn't! You're missing out on a great model!

I gave mine to a dear friend and TRUE LOTR fan for his 40th birthday. Whenever he came to visit me, he really visited the Orthanc. Seing his face when he opened his present was priceless!
Best time I gave something away!"

Because it conflicted with EagleBrickCon. So, yeah, they had something better to do.

@jkb : That's a great story. Makes me feel even less proud.

I did build Baradur from a MOC kit sold on ebay by a guy who designed it from a combo of 9472 and 79007 plus a big printed eye on a trans orange rock piece. I forgot whether he said he custom printed that or it's from some obscure set that includes a big trans orange eye. Probably the former.

One of the sets I spent the most on for normal retail price, but displayed with pride for years!

Got two copies of this set back when I had the idea to make a bigger tower. Glad I did because the brittle brown plague is real! Strangely, one set is flawless while the other suffers from at least a dozen broken pieces. Fortunately, lego was able to replace all of them for me.

@MCLegoboy There are other sets that do the same thing – 10253 comes to mind, which lays out all the leftover tools that aren't used in the model. They aren't used at all, but I assume since each tool set is effectively one part, they can't be considered extra pieces either.

My work bought me this as a reward for work on a specific project. Unfortunately they only did it once (although do £25 amazon vouchers now). Was the most expensive set I owned at the time!

I bought this at the Disney Springs Lego Store in Lake Buena Vista (FL) back in 2013; if I recall correctly sets were cheaper in the USA than in Europe even taking sales tax into account, so that gave me a good justification to bring it back to Belgium.

It's a brilliant set; I just wish it weren't open-back…

Ordered this from LEGO.com and by a mistake they sent it to me twice, but didn't bother with the return of one of them, which I sold thus getting the set for free :) Still one of my favourite sets to display

Great set, today I'm scared to build it because of the brittle brown pieces. Especially the pieces like 'The eye' for the 'Ent' that split when connected.

If LEGO remade this it would pair perfectly with 10316!
Then again, so would Minas Tirith. Hint hint, LEGO.

@NotProfessorWhymzi said:
"so, why couldn't Gandalf have the eagles fly himself and the ring to Mordor? wrong answers only."

Eagles could've gotten tired.

I can't wait to put this next to Barad Dur!

Love this one. Just absolutely imposing in its blackness and hugeness.

I missed this one so I've bought the parts to build the tower itself, and intend to do it when I free up some display area space. Had 79005, so have one version of Saruman (without the tall skirt). Now, to find Wormtongue at a reasonable price....

I've actually seen this set in person, once. Must have been a while after I started to emerge from my 'dark age' and after I had watched the LotR movies for the first time (both of which I think were in 2016?), so the set was several years old by then; but there's a games (and collectables and similar stuff) shop in Weston-Super-Mare that also sells a decent amount of Lego, both new and used. One time when I visited, they had a used copy of this set, completely assembled, on sale in the front window; it was the first time I'd seen a LotR set in person and I was amazed by how huge it was.

It was also waaaaay out of my price range! And I feel like it may not have included the minifigures; or if it did they had been placed inside the tower so couldn't be seen at a glance. But I was very impressed, nonetheless!

@Fatsochillyfries said:
"I would love a re-release/update of this set"
Same. With that after-market price and how good this still looks, I'd take a straight re-release. I'm not even normally interested in fantasy models, this one is nevertheless right up my alley.

Alternatively they could do Barad-dur, but I'm not sure if there's actually enough to work with there. I just want a model of the Eye on a big black pillar lol

This was my first big Lego set, and responsible for getting me into the hobby. I still have it assembled, on a front-facings windowsill. Probably my favourite Lego set ever!

I have this sealed and had been meaning to list it on ebay these past few weeks when I heard a Barad-Dur was coming. I'd assumed Orthanc and Barad-Dur were the same thing and only wanted the best (most recent) version. I guess it's just as well I never got round to selling if these are two different towers.

@Brainslugged said:
"I have this sealed and had been meaning to list it on ebay these past few weeks when I heard a Barad-Dur was coming. I'd assumed Orthanc and Barad-Dur were the same thing and only wanted the best (most recent) version. I guess it's just as well I never got round to selling if these are two different towers."

They in fact put the “Two” in The Two Towers book / movie title. And I believe Barad-dur is massive compared to Orthanc. I’ll leave the nerding out there, and let others expand as needed. :)

Very cool that you own this one!

I've built many large scale Lego models - I still remember this as one of the most difficult to construct. Maybe it was me, but its left mental scars !

getting this set made me feel like General Grievous finding another Jedi lightsaber

Such a fantastic set for a lot of reasons. The build was engaging despite the overall lack of color, with various techniques on display. I like how you built it in tiered sections, so it kept the build fresh as you progressed. Speaking of which, the different tiers/levels of orthanc added to the display but also the playability, should one choose to go that route. Once complete, it’s an impressive display set that still holds its own up against other tall sets like Saturn V, or another detailed set like Rivendell within the same theme.

Top 10 all time set for me.

Where's the salted pork!

I got SO lucky in getting this set about 5 years ago. I saw on ebay someone had a sealed bag with Gandolf in it for $5. I didn't have many LOTR figures at the time I figured what the heck. I offered $4 and he accepted. Then I looked at his other items and realized he had nearly every sealed bag for this set in separate auctions. So I think I offered $4 for each and and accepted them all. I have a note I paid $56 + $8 shipping for the sealed bags.

I figured out it was missing bags 1,2,4, 5 (one of two 5 s), Eagle, stickers/instructions. I figured out the parts I needed from online instructions and ordered them all new. The only missing figure was a cheap Orc (cheap at the time, think all the figures have skyrocketed since). I now have all the new parts for this set. Unfortunately the sealed bags and a lot of the parts were pre-cross country move, and a few parts, instructions, stickers were post-move. I need to get them all together and build it!

But yeah, I was so lucky to get most of the set for really cheap and really glad I completed it before the items went up in value...The Orc and Ent parts were cheap at the time, I got a sealed eagle for $10, and I think the instructions were $10-15 each at the time. Seeing what it all goes for now, I'm so glad I got it when I did. Almost tempting to sell it, but I think it's a must keep for me.

This was my only LotR set until 10316. Not a huge fan, but both are great looking sets.

My first D2C set ever. I love this thing.

I put this together from parts last year, it was difficult but fun. I got the majority of parts from my collection , and got the rest from pick a brick, bricks and minifigs, and bricklink including a sticker sheet I imported from Canada.
Such a cool set, looks great on its shelf in my room.

I paid $240 for an MISB copy in 2019, having missed the entire LoTR line during my dark ages. I don't know that I've ever been so excited to purchase/own another set.

@ForestMenOfEndor said:
"I paid $240 for an MISB copy in 2019, having missed the entire LoTR line during my dark ages. I don't know that I've ever been so excited to purchase/own another set."

I missed the lotr line because I was six :(

@MCLegoboy said:
"I've always gotten a kick out of this image because of how neatly everything is laid out. Why is every accessory there? You never see that with other sets. It's so funny and strange, but also nice to see."
Who doesn’t like a bit of knolling? I wish LEGO had a picture like this for every set.

@Brainslugged said:
"when I heard a Barad-Dur was coming."
Woah, I was just running my mouth when I said something about a Barad-dur model. You mean they're actually doing it!?

@Robot99 said:
" @Brainslugged said:
"when I heard a Barad-Dur was coming."
Woah, I was just running my mouth when I said something about a Barad-dur model. You mean they're actually doing it!?"
Yes. Scheduled for release this year and will contain a Sauron minifigure.

In the process of changing the battery on the light up affect for the Palantir crystal ball. Neat little feature.

@Zander said:
" @Robot99 said:
" @Brainslugged said:
"when I heard a Barad-Dur was coming."
Woah, I was just running my mouth when I said something about a Barad-dur model. You mean they're actually doing it!?"
Yes. Scheduled for release this year and will contain a Sauron minifigure."
I’m always confused how big he was. Did the rings change size?

@yellowcastle Yes the ring changed size, and I don’t think Lego has any minifig or humanoid body that will make him look good. I guess long Avatar legs may be the best we get.

@ZeroGravitas:
I'm reading that he purposefully left it ambiguous in the text, so as to not give away plot details, that _five_ towers are mentioned in the text, and four possible pairings have been identified:

Cirith Ungol & Barad-dûr
Barad-dûr & Orthanc
Orthanc & Cirith Ungol
Orthanc & Minas Morgul

The original book cover depicts the latter, Minas Morgul in white below a crescent moon, with eight small rings and one large ring near the base, and another crescent moon on that side of the title. Orthanc is in black below a white star, with the White Hand of Saruman on that side of the title. The copy I got from RIF showed Frodo, Sam, and Gollum approaching what I'm guessing is supposed to be the Argonath (two seated figures, one of which has had some of the cladding fall off, leaving an off-color bulb where the head would be). So, for a long time, I thought those were supposed to be the two titular towers.

Regardless of Tolkien's intent, I think it's left ambiguous enough in the story that you could make an argument for Orthanc & Barad-dûr (those being the bases of the two main enemy factions). I don't see how Minas Tirith would be a possibility, since it doesn't really feature in the story until the third book, and the tower near Cirith Ungol seems too inconsequential to be named in the title (as well as primarily featuring in the third book). Speaking of which, I'm very much in favor of the reframing Jackson did for the second chapter, shifting the battle at Amon Hen into the first chapter, and the fight with Shelob into the third. I never liked the way he split those sections up between books.

@ForestMenOfEndor:
You got in MISB with only a 20% markup four years after it retired? Seller obviously had no idea what they were doing.

@yellowcastle:
You can see the ring change size a few times in Jackson's trilogy. Most notably, when Isildur picks up Sauron's finger (Sauron having just been shown to be about twice as tall as a normal human), the finger crumbles to dust while the ring shrinks dramatically in his hand. Thereafter, it's much more subtle, but it's always the right size to fit the finger of whoever puts it on, regardless of how big they are. They kind of expect you to catch the first instance so you'll understand how it can fit a human finger but not simply fall off a Hobbit finger.

Ironically, the most dramatic change in size was purely external to the story. When Gandalf drops the ring on the floor in Bag-End, it lands flat, with a heavy thunk, where a normal ring would bounce unpredictably. To achieve this, they cast a gigantic version of it that weighed several pounds. The immense size meant it behaved more like a cinder block than a tiny metal ring when dropped.

@B_Space_Man:
Could do something halfway between Hagrid and a bigfig. The trick is, he absolutely would have to be able to hold The One Ring. Standard minifig hands can accomplish that.

@B_Space_Man said:
"I would buy a re-make of this set in a heartbeat. And by heartbeat I mean payments spread out over six months. "

Pretty sure they're one coming in the near future

@PurpleDave said:
" @ForestMenOfEndor:
You got in MISB with only a 20% markup four years after it retired? Seller obviously had no idea what they were doing."

I felt lucky at the time, although I don't recall the Bricklink price being that far off $240 in 2019. It seemed like many aftermarket prices shot up during and after the pandemic. I do remember when the guy went into the trunk of his car to retrieve 10237, I was thinking, "Maybe it's going to be a knockoff?" I expected him to tell me that it fell off the back of a truck.

@PurpleDave: If I'm remembering correctly, they used a powerful magnet under the floor to keep the ring from bouncing; I know the shot of the Ring in the snow before Boromir picks it up used a huge prop.

@parker0424 said:
" @B_Space_Man said:
"I would buy a re-make of this set in a heartbeat. And by heartbeat I mean payments spread out over six months. "

Pretty sure they're one coming in the near future"

Wrong tower, common mistake. It doesn't help that they're both black and have four spikes sticking up out of the top. Orthanc, located at Isengard, is the home base of Saruman the White, leader of the Wizards (of which Gandalf is a member). It has four symmetrical tines, which are echoed by the top of Saruman's staff. It's surrounded by trees, and sits on the edge of Fangorn Forest. The tower is very symmetrical, with a stairway leading diagonally out of one corner, as seen in this clip of Gandalf's arrival:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBMiyEzOJmI

Barad-dûr in the films was somewhat lopsided, being built out of the side of a mountain. His giant flaming eye was situated between two large tines, but two smaller tines located at midpoints appear almost the same size in low angle closeups of the eye. The cuts are really abrupt, but someone actually spliced together every shot from Jackson's trilogy that shows Sauron, in his armored form, as just the flaming eye, or as the flaming eye atop the tower:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOBVwZI7z6s

Barad-dûr in the films is supposed to be about 10x as tall as Orthanc, and the reason it collapses is because it's only through Sauron's magic that it was even able to stand under its own weight. Once the magic's gone, the tower experiences physics for the first time.

@TheOtherMike said:
" @PurpleDave: If I'm remembering correctly, they used a powerful magnet under the floor to keep the ring from bouncing; I know the shot of the Ring in the snow before Boromir picks it up used a huge prop."

*sigh* I'm going to see if I can locate the specific featurette that explains how they shot that scene. It may have been a combination of both, but I know they covered it in the 4-disc release, and there's two whole discs of featurettes, plus four different commentary tracks. _Hopefully_ it's included in the Fellowship box set, and not referenced later with one of the other two films.

@PurpleDave - you better hurry. This thread disappears soon, just like the alien fortress in Krull.

Bought this and then returned it for some reason. One of my only LEGO-related regrets.

@PurpleDave said:
" @ZeroGravitas:
I'm reading that he purposefully left it ambiguous in the text, so as to not give away plot details, that _five_ towers are mentioned in the text, and four possible pairings have been identified:

Cirith Ungol & Barad-dûr
Barad-dûr & Orthanc
Orthanc & Cirith Ungol
Orthanc & Minas Morgul."

While Tolkien was noncommittal for quite some time, he eventually settled on Orthanc and Minas Morgul:

‘The second part is called THE TWO TOWERS, since the events recounted in it are dominated
by ORTHANC, the citadel of Saruman, and the fortress of MINAS MORGUL, that guards the secret entrance to Mordor…’ J.R.R. Tolkien (caps sic)

@TheOtherMike:
So, one odd thing I found out is that Jackson's The One Ring was actually based on the wedding ring of co-producer Rick Porras, whose ring ironically has text engraved into the outside surface. They did a Bag-End test shot of the scene where Gandalf confronts Bilbo about his ring, and they needed something to sub in for a prop that hadn't even been designed yet, so Porras volunteered his wedding ring.

I didn't find anything in the featurettes, which are really messy to sift through. They cover such a wide range of topics that you have to just pick something that looks somewhat promising, and burn through it at double FFWD, watching for any shot that includes The One Ring. So I moved on to the commentaries, and there's conflicting bits of story in _THREE_ of the four commentary tracks.

In The Director and Writers commentary, they mention adding a deep sound to make the ring sound extra heavy when it lands.

In The Design Team commentary, they mention using a magnet under the set to keep the ring from bouncing.

And in The Production/Post-Production Team commentary, they mention using an oversized lead prop to keep it from bouncing.

And in The Cast commentary, they reiterate the magnet story.

Lead's not magnetic, so unless they cast lead around a steel or iron core, I don't see both of these stories being true, at least not of what we actually see in the film. They might have tried both separately, and decided one worked while the other didn't, and I'm left being unsure which version of the story to believe.

Couple odd things I picked up were that Sean Foot was the makeup artist who applied the prosthetics to Sean Astin's feet, and the cast commentary included Saruman, Arwen, and the entire Fellowship...except for Aragorn. Viggo Mortensen may have done commentary on either of the next two films, but I'm not pulling those out to check at this time.

@yellowcastle:
Buck forty-five to spare.

@Zander:
One possible source of confusion I ran across is that the title may have been created by his publisher, which would have left Tolkien having to come up with an answer after the fact. If that's indeed true, I can understand why he would have had such a hard time nailing it down. This fits with the idea that Tolkien intended to have the text published in a single volume, and both of those conflict with the idea that he was trying to be cagey about which two towers were being referenced.

Anyways, all that being sorted out, I'm kinda in the mood to do a runthrough of all the Hobbit/LotR expanded editions...

I was one of those "prescient" ones that bought this set upon release a decade ago. Of course, I couldn't say no for any price, and this was at a time my budget and pockets were more voluminous than actual space I had in my home or apartment. So for over a decade now, it has been sitting MISB, and it has been one of those great shames in my LEGO fandom to have left it sealed away for so long. But if Barad-Dur is truly imminent, I shall perhaps finally dedicate a tall section of one of my newer display cabinets to this edifice and pray the remaining space is tall enough to accommodate the Dark Tower of Mordor.

Yes, unfortunately, there is no great or moving story behind how I got this set. Just a tale of hording that afflicts many LEGO sets I bought between 2012 and 2015.

Couple last minute corrections before this closes forever. It was Bilbo who drops The One Ring on the floor at Bag-End, not Gandalf. Gandalf reaches to pick it up, and yanks his hand away (I don't think he ever comes in direct contact with it for the entire trilogy).

And when Isildur picks up Sauron's severed finger, the finger crumbles to dust in his hand, and then The One Ring shrinks to fit as he holds it between thumb and forefinger (not in the crumbling dust of Sauron's finger). I have a feeling it does this to make putting the ring on your finger seem more enticing, as it resizes to fit every hand that holds it. And there are at least two other times that it changes size in betrayal. It slips off Isildur's finger in the river where he's pincushioned, and it slips off Frodo's finger at least once. This is a ring that can resize itself to perfectly fit the bearer's finger, so it's probably growing just a tiny bit bigger when it sees an opportune time to leave the previous bearer behind.