And these are indeed rumors, at least for the moment.
LEGO has never confirmed (nor denied for that matter) that the The Hobbit license will not be available in sets and minifigs in 2012 or 2013. So, what do we really know? What can we hope for?
This rumor originated from an interesting article posted on allaboutbricks , which announced in a few lines that the next license LEGO might acquire is Lord of the Rings ...
But this information was repeated without any verification based on numerous pages posted online, particularly on Wikia Fanon ( LEGO Lord of the Rings Theme , LEGO Lord of the Rings Video Game ), by overly eager AFOLs who transform vague rumors and long, heated discussions about the possibility of a LEGO The Hobbit license into a reality...
Obviously, Eurobricks seized upon this rumor in a dedicated thread where each forum member adds their certainties to the rumors, and the whole thing becomes a rather comical pseudo-parallel reality....
For my part, I believe in a possible The Hobbit license for 2013, but with a few caveats: Tolkien's universe is too dark for LEGO and if a range is developed by the manufacturer, it will be infantilized and watered down. There is no doubt that the two films scheduled for late 2012 and late 2013 will be full of good-natured scenes and slices of laughs between hobbits that can be adapted in sets for the youngest. After all, LEGO has already declined licenses that come from films where violence is present (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Prince of Persia, Harry Potter ...).
LEGO already has a base with its Castle range, and the elf (Series 3) or dwarf (Series 5) minifigs released in the Minifigures Series ranges would be suitable for this universe. Adapting a The Hobbit license would be technically possible and inexpensive. No doubt to the detriment of the Castle range which would suffer from it like the Pirates range with the Pirates of the Caribbean license.
Regarding the release of a LEGO Lord of the Rings or LEGO The Hobbit video game , the official developer of LEGO games, Traveller's Tales, recently refused to deny , but neither confirmed, the persistent rumor concerning the ongoing development of a LEGO game on the LOTR license.
A video game is an essential basis for the launch of a new LEGO license which is not originally intended for the youngest. The video game makes it possible to hook the children and to make them discover a universe by watering down the subject, the violence and the scenario.
In short, we don't know much, and the rumor mill is churning. Everyone has their own opinion, and upcoming events like Toy Fair will undoubtedly bring us more information.
What we do know for sure is that The Hobbit will indeed have merchandise in the form of toys. The license has just been granted to a manufacturer: The Bridge Direct.
