One Word: Minifigures.
The LEGO® Lord of the Rings sets have LEGO® minifigures with uniquely printed designs and armor pieces that can only be found solely in these sets. In general, unique minifigures will drive up the price of a set, and the price of that set once it retires.
Couple the amount of minifigs with a beautiful franchise loved by billions? The set is going to be expensive! There were a total of 41 LOTR LEGO® sets made, 3 unique polybags, and 56 LOTR LEGO® minifigures. For such a small assortment of a discontinued theme, that is a ton of unique minifigs in a theme!
Why Do LEGO® Minifigures And LEGO® LOTR Minifigs Drive Up The Price?
For starters, these characters were niche, and yet…immensely popular and appealing to the fans. Plus, some of them were highly unique to the sets. For example, any LEGO® LOTR Big Fig (Cave Troll) or some of the menacing Uruk-Hai minifigures were only made for these set lines.
By the way, a singular Uruk-Hai is anywhere from $30.00-$40.00, that Boromir above? $94.00. The Cave Troll which I cover further down? $90.00. The printings, accessories, and sets are rare, discontinued, and more than likely, will never touch a shelf again – unless, that shelf is yours, you own it, or you are willing to spend a fortune to buy them. I highly recommend buying and selling LEGO® LOTR minifigures. One day, these minifigures will be worth an even larger fortune.
When Did The Lord Of The Rings LEGO® Franchise Begin: Roots And Beginnings in 2012
While the Lord Of The Rings movies premiered in December of 2001, spanning a total of 3 years of marvelous cinema, LEGO® did not come out with its first iterations of Lord Of The Rings LEGO® sets until 2012. June 2012 and the LOTR franchise gave birth to six different sets capturing some of our favorite scenes from the cinematic universe:
A Few Lord Of The Rings Sets Released in 2012 – Here Are Their Prices Then And Now:
LEGO® Gandalf Arrives Set 9469: In 2012 it was $12.99, now it sells for $75.00 New In Box (NIB)
LEGO® Shelob Attacks Set 9470: In 2012 it was $19.99, now it sells for $107.00 (NIB)
LEGO® Uruk Hai Army Set 9471: In 2012 it was $29.99, now it sells for $164.00 (NIB)
LEGO® Attack On Weathertop Set 9472: In 2012 it was $59.99, now it sells for $189.00 (NIB)
LEGO® The Mines Of Moria Set 9473: In 2012, it was $79.99, now it sells for $300.00 (NIB)
LEGO® The Battle Of Helm’s Deep 9474: In 2012, it was $129.99, and now it easily sells for $500.00 or more (NIB)
The Journey For LOTR In 2013 And Its Subsequent End In 2014
LEGO® LOTR In 2013 came out with three more sets that carried the them through, all the way to its unfortunate end and its entry as a discontinued LEGO® theme in 2014.
LEGO® Tower of Orthanc 10237: In 2013 it was $199.99, now it sells for $795.00 (NIB)
LEGO® Pirate Ship Ambush 79008: In 2013 it was $99.99, now it sells for $330.00 (NIB)
LEGO® Battle at the Black Gate 79007: In 2013 it was $59.99, now it sells for $400.00 (NIB)
To be honest, no one actually knows why LEGO® LOTR sets, in the capacity they were originally made, were really discontinued. My guess is misalignment with the demographic age and price point. Now, all those Generation Z and younger millennials are grown up and ready to buy — hence, why we got the LEGO® Icons Rivendell set!
The Minifigures Make These LOTR Sets So Expensive But Are Too Great To Pass Up!
From the LEGO® Big Fig Cave Troll exclusive in the Mines Of Moria LEGO® set, and the Aragorn (Strider at the time) minifig in Attack On Weathertop LEGO® build, minifigures are known to bring the display of these LOTR sets together. Anything that ties the set together, drives up the price…a lot!
Will Lord Of The Rings Sets Lose Value?
Absolutely not. Anyone who says these sets are not priceless…well they do have a price but it’s expensive…are not understanding the market! Eventually, LOTR sets will quiet down again, and even with the release of minifigures, a short plateau in set price will ensue. But you can bet it will climb again. And again.
LEGO® Lord Of The Rings sets are expensive because they are arguably some of the most unique sets in the LEGO® Universe.
LEGO® Lord Of The Rings In 2023 And Beyond…
While not many sets have made an entrance into the inventory of LEGO® websites, The LEGO® Icons LOTR Rivendell set hit the AFOL market and took adult collectors by storm.
This set is habitually on backorder on the LEGO® website. While a massive set, the rest of the Lord of The Rings franchise has remained quite dormant. We had the Gandalf and Balrog BrickHeadz set…but besides an awesome display piece, there was not much there in terms of incredible LEGO® Lord Of The Rings minifigures.
Hopefully, with the Rings of Power introducing Lord of The Rings back into the cultural limelight, LEGO® might explore some avenues with Second Age LOTR sets (one can dream).
Lord Of The Rings LEGO® Sets Are Expensive Sets And We Still Love Them!
Increible J.R.R Tolkien franchise? Check. Licensing and agreement with LEGO®? Check. Outstanding LEGO® minifigures with incredible, fine-detailed printing? Double check.
Yes, these minifigures drive up the price of LEGO® Lord of the Rings LEGO® sets and make the ludicrously expensive. I think these are some of the greatest builds ever made and you cannot tell me otherwise.
Truly, I might be a bit biased…
However, if you are a seasoned LEGO® collector or LEGO® investor, these sets are all certified 10/10 Baumlinks buys!
The post Why Are LEGO® Lord Of The Rings Sets So Expensive? appeared first on Baumlinks.
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