It seems so, thanks to this poster displayed on the LEGO stand during the New York Toy Fair 2012 and which did not raise tons of remarks on the surrounding forums. Still, we can assume that it openly announces the launch of the next LEGO video game based on the The Hobbit license for the end of 2012. 

The timing seems consistent: the game will undoubtedly resume the scenario of the film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which if it is already known to all those who have read Tolkien, is much less known by the general public who will discover the adventures of the Hobbits in the cinema.

Nothing more about this video game for now, we will have to wait for an official announcement or at least a trailer.

The flagship of this Lord of the Rings range, in this case the set 9474 The Battle Of Helm's Deep will need reinforcements in terms of minifigs. And that's where the set comes in 9471 Uruk-Hai Army with his 6 minifigs including 4 Uruk-Hai, a generic Rohirrim Soldier and Eomer, Théoden's nephew and king of Rohan, with his golden helmet.

This set which almost looks like a well supplied Battle Pack delivers all the elements to allow to give some density to the 9474 with a well designed catapult and a piece of wall generic enough to be duplicated and intended to be connected to the fortifications of set 9474 . 

Expected at the US price of $ 29.99 or around thirty euros with us, this mega Battle Pack should quickly become a bestseller among army-builders keen to reenact the epic battle of Helm's Deep. The necessary budget will however be substantial and not within the reach of all budgets.

The photos are from FBTB, you can find more about this set in the flickr gallery dedicated.

Come on, for fun, a close-up photo of the Troll from the set 9473 The Mines of Moria. Which brings me to a highly philosophical reflection on these figurines that are not minifigs. I really like big minifigures with LEGO sauce, even that of the Hulk about which I had some prejudices during the first presentation of the prototype. The Wampa, Tauntaun, Dewback, etc ... are all very successful. Paradoxically, I already like smaller or more compact minifigures less than classic minifigs like Sebulba, Gollum or Salacious Crumb.

On the other hand, the swimming pool blue color of this troll is a little weird. It seems to me that this critter is rather gray in the film and that it is the ambient lighting that gives it this bluish tint. But maybe I'm wrong ...

The news is significant, and paradoxically it is not commented more than that, or at least not as much as it deserves.

The LEGO Lord of the Rings range introduces a new horse model including the set 10223 Kingdoms Joust yet recently released does not benefit. This model is articulated at the rear end and will allow your valiant riders to take more realistic poses.

Beautiful technical innovation which brings real added value in terms of visual rendering but also playability on these sets. Nothing beats a prancing horse to give dynamics and a beautiful effect of movement to your dioramas.

If you are a fanboy absolute ready to go into raptures permanently and without restraint on what LEGO offers us, do not read on, there are other sites which serve soup better than me and which have made the use of laudatory superlatives their business.

For others, here is what I think of this LEGO Lord of the Rings range, after having seen what is undoubtedly the almost final rendering of the sets that will be marketed. First of all, I would like to point out that I am not an unconditional and fundamentalist fan of the Lord of the Rings universe. I really like the Peter Jackson movies, but I've always considered Tolkien's books to be boring and off-putting, and I'm not alone ... Obviously LEGO has a range based on the film version of this work, as will be the case for The Hobbit elsewhere.

Upon reflection, I think there is nothing to cry genius with this range as some do. Of Castle mixed with kingdoms, and sold with a bunch of characters carefully distributed to get you to buy the bundle, that's great marketing. The minifigs are successful, the animals too. I have never been a fan of ends of wall, wagons, rocks, etc ...

Only the MOCeurs will find their account in these varied inventories, the others will have to be satisfied with rickety reconstructions which make me think of movie sets: pretty on the front, but without depth. How LEGO could have titled the set 9474: The Battle Of Helm's Deep ? Haven't they seen the movie? What credible battle can we reconstitute with this set, the price of which will probably exceed 100 € ???

The problem with Lord of the Rings is that it is an epic epic populated by thousands of characters, and LEGO, which clings to its minifigs as if they were gold nuggets that you should not distribute too much under penalty of seeing the price drop, has a hard time restoring this grandiose side in these sets.

There are still beautiful minifigs, to line up in a display case or to stage in a diorama as desired. No one is going to play with these sets, they're not even designed for that. In the best case, they will please collectors, happy to be able to combine two of their passions, to speculators who already know that this range will be of the same ilk as a Pirates of the Caribbean or a Prince of Persia and will quickly become sought after by all. those who waited for the ultimate promo in vain, and to the MOCeurs who will give it their all to stage the emblematic characters of a cinematographic saga which some do not even know is taken from a literary epic.

For my part, this once again confirms the current trend for licenses that do not integrate any vessel, or rolling or floating devices: LEGO sells minifigs with parts around, to fill the box. This is not necessarily a criticism, but it is an important marketing turning point and it will take some getting used to.

If you don't agree with anything written above, feel free to say so in your comments, but be polite. Everyone may have a different opinion depending on their relationship with LEGOs. The debate remains preferable to unconditional ecstasy on the pretext that it is fashionable to bow down and open your wallet indiscriminately as soon as we talk about LEGO.