Today we are quickly interested in the content of the LEGO The Lord of the Rings set 40630 Frodo & Gollum, a box of 184 pieces comprising two figurines in BrickHeadz format which will be available at the retail price of €14.99 from January 1, 2023.

The idea of ​​bringing the two characters together in one and the same box is interesting, we can't blame LEGO for diluting the main cast of the license in countless sets filled with secondary characters. But interpreting Gollum in BrickHeadz format and bringing him to the scale of a hobbit was a complicated challenge that the designer tried to meet as best he could.

The result isn't wildly exciting with a Gollum looking more like a smooth-skinned baby than the creature seen on screen. LEGO does try to add some sparse hair to him via three plates pad-printed, the effect still falls a little flat and if the character hadn't been delivered in a box stamped with the logo of The Lord of the Rings saga, he could have embodied just about anyone or anyone. whatever. At a minimum, LEGO could have split a blue version of the eyes, this detail would have given a little personality to the thing.

Fortunately, Frodo is also present in this box and by deduction we can logically identify the two characters. The hobbit enjoys a pretty Plate pad-printed on the torso, an element whose flesh-colored area is as often a little pale and is not perfectly matched with the color of the parts forming the face. We will also note the difference in color between the different Dark Red colored parts, it's a shame especially on a miniature that only uses a few of them.

For the rest, I won't repeat the usual verse on the technique used for the guts and the internal structure of these miniatures, these two new characters are based on the same principle as the rest of the range. We will remember a nice cape effect on Frodo and the presence of three golden rings in this box. It would perhaps have been interesting to try something on the feet of the young hobbit, just to give them a little volume without going too far from the imposed format.

I remind you for all intents and purposes that these figurines sold in a pack of two can be assembled as a duo: the bags and instruction booklets are independent.

To sum up, this is not necessarily what fans of this universe were expecting when the return of the range to the LEGO catalog was announced, but the simple presence of the franchise logo on the box will be enough to boost sales of these figurines and the manufacturer knows it well. Frodo is acceptable, Gollum is much too simplified to be credible, but the box is pretty and that's the main thing for many collectors. It will always be without me, I will not find my 15 € in these two small cubic constructions and I prefer to keep my money for the minifigs to come.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at 10th January 2023 next at 23:59 p.m. Just post a comment under the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion.

Update : The winner was drawn and notified by email, his nickname is indicated below.

Today we are quickly interested in the content of the LEGO The Lord of the Rings set 40631 Gandalf the Gray & Balrog, a box of 348 pieces which will be available at the public price of €19.99 from January 1, 2023 and which will make it possible to assemble two figurines in BrickHeadz format: Gandalf and the Balrog.

I'm like many of you very happy to see the LEGO The Lord of the Rings range reborn and the announcement of the three BrickHeadz minifigure packs planned for the beginning of next year has caused some excitement in me. However, I am not a big fan of these cubic figurines, most of which, in my opinion, are prisoners of the idea and are content to painfully try to fit the character into the imposed cube.

With a little hindsight, this is the case here too, even if this set of two characters perfectly illustrates the big gap that the range regularly makes with, on the one hand, a figurine with an acceptable or even convincing appearance, Gandalf, and Another is a heap of pieces that frankly struggles to embody the subject matter, the Balrog. We could be indulgent and find this last cute, chibi or symbolic, I find it simply missed and much too messy to see a Balrog there.

the figurine of Gandalf seems to me very appropriate with a character certainly cubic but which manages to hit the bull's eye. We can probably thank the different attributes that are characteristic of the character, such as the hat, the beard or the stick, and which help to guess who it is at first glance but the result is there and this Gandalf minimalist looks great.

The Balrog is a desperate attempt to hold a creature with prominent appendages in a format that does not allow this type of fantasy without frankly departing from the framework imposed by the exercise. The horns are angular and lack finesse at their ends, the face is offset downwards to an almost comical effect, and the rest is a jumble of striped black pieces dotted with a few Slopes colored. The tail saves the furniture a bit, but we are already at the limit of what the BrickHeadz concept allows with, on arrival, a hilarious bat look that is very far from the starting point.

Many fans will no doubt be very forgiving just because this is a character from the relevant universe and this pack will easily find its audience because it allows Gandalf to be obtained. If the big black figure had been an interpretation of a Ninjago dragon, there would obviously be more fans with a sudden rupture of the cruciate ligaments on checkout day. In any case, it would have been difficult to sell this Balrog alone and associating it with a miniature that did not require major risk-taking was necessarily the best solution.

In short, for around twenty euros, this pack of two figurines very quickly assembled then forgotten on the corner of a shelf will always please a fan in need of LEGO derivative products from his favorite universe and the association of the two characters works obviously very well (You Shall Not Pass, etc). For lack of sets with minifigs at the beginning of the year, we will therefore be satisfied with these cubic figurines while waiting for better even if on my side the Balrog will quickly end up at the bottom of a drawer.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at December 31, 2022 next at 23:59 p.m. Just post a comment under the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion.

Update : The winner was drawn and notified by email, his nickname is indicated below.

If you do not yet know that the 17th episode of the Briquefan show is available on Youtube, this contest will perhaps be the occasion to interest you in it. And since this latest episode deals with the LEGO The Hobbit range, an endowment was required to match the event: I am therefore putting a new and sealed copy of the set into play. 79018 The Lonely Mountain marketed between October 2014 and July 2015 at the public price of € 129.99. As you can imagine, the price of this box has since skyrocketed on the secondary market.

To validate your participation in this new competition and try to win this nice set which has not been marketed for many years, all you have to do is identify yourself via the interface below and follow the instructions provided. You will need to locate Yoda's minifigure, visible in the photo above, which is hidden in one of the scenes in the video. When you have seen the figurine, you can then correctly answer the question that is asked in the interface below. At the end of the participation phase, the winner will be chosen by drawing lots from among the correct answers. Yoda's minifigure is not included in the endowment, don't abuse my kindness.

Your contact details (name / nickname, email address, IP) are only used within the framework of this competition and will not be kept beyond the drawing of lots which will designate the winner. As usual, this no-obligation competition is open to all residents of mainland France, DOM & TOM, Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland.

The prize is provided by myself, it will be sent to the winner by me and by Colissimo followed with insurance and signature on delivery (and suitable packaging) as soon as their contact details are confirmed by return email.

As always, I reserve the right to disqualify any participant who has attempted to defraud or hijack the entry system in order to increase their chances of winning. Hateful and bad losers to abstain, the others will have more chances to win. No participation via comments.

Good luck to everyone !

Update : Prize draw made. The winner's name is displayed in the interface above.
FYI, the correct answer to the question was Lacville:

I think we all agree to conclude that the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit ranges have lived.

However, we still have a few die-hards who do not let go and who try to make Tolkien's universe survive LEGO style.

Among these courageous adventurers, we find Apg1808 which launched this year in a thematic Advent calendar unveiled daily on its flickr gallery.

I will follow the thing, just to remember the best hours of these ranges too quickly disappeared from the LEGO offer.

If you want to do the same, it's at this address that it happens.

If you've watched the latest trailer for the LEGO Dimensions video game carefully, you've probably noticed the presence of a character that all fans of the LEGO Lord of the Rings range wish they had in one of the sets released. these last years.

From there to conclude that Sauron will be entitled to a minifigure version in one of the packs available to expand the content of the game, it is undoubtedly going a little fast in the job, but after all why not?

This would be good news for the fans but also a nice snub from LEGO to all those who have been loyal to the LEGO Lord of the Rings range and who have waited in vain for this character ...

Wait and see ...