Amazon's Black Friday Week 2025 ends today and we can't say that the deals on LEGO products have been exceptional.

The store has accustomed us to better in the past, but there are still a few hours left to snag the LEGO ICONS sets. 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell et 10333 The Lord of the Rings: Barad-Dûr at attractive prices and with the guarantee of being able to complain if there is a problem.

Including shipping, it's hard to beat the prices currently offered by Amazon on these two big boxes, excluding more or less exotic retailers and obviously barring a particular aversion to this retailer.

LEGO Icons The Lord of the Rings: Barad-dûr - S

459.99 €

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LEGO 10316 Icons The Lord of the Rings: Fondcom

584.19 €

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If you haven't yet fallen for the LEGO ICONS set 10354 The Lord of the Rings: The Shire Sold at the public price of €269,99 on the official online store, please note that LEGO is doubling the Insider points collected for the purchase of this large box of 2017 pieces from September 18 to 24, 2025.

Instead of accumulating the usual 2025 points, you therefore obtain 4050 points which you can later exchange for a reduction of €27 to be used on a future order or for an Insiders reward that interests you.

It's not the offer of the century, but it's still something considering that this box is still exclusive to the official online store. from FNAC.

10354 THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE SHIRE ON THE LEGO SHOP >>

Continuation and end of the adventures of the Peter Jackson minifigure produced in around twenty copies and put on sale by the ex-designer Marcos Bessa, it was finally sold for the sum of $40.000 via a private auction.

The purchaser of the item, which was given as a gift to participants in a meeting attended by the New Zealand director, producer and screenwriter before the launch of the range in 2012, is a collector who confirmed purchasing the figurine and posted some visuals on Instagram.

So Marcos Bessa cleared (a little) space in his drawers and recovered a nice sum, the buyer added a rare figurine to his collection, everyone is happy and gets what they want. If you want yours, the manufacturers of "custom" figurines will be sure to quickly offer a more affordable version of the object.

It is the former Star designer at LEGO, Marcos Bessa, who reveals via Instagram the Peter Jackson minifigure that almost no one has ever been able to obtain due to not knowing it existed: this figurine was in fact only produced in around twenty copies and it served as a gift offered to the participants of a meeting in the presence of the New Zealand director, producer and screenwriter before the launch of the range in 2012.

Marcos Bessa, who joined LEGO in 2010, is currently cleaning up his LEGO inventory of more or less exclusive products that he had the opportunity to get his hands on during his years in Billund and is putting them on sale in a dedicated Bricklink store that you will find at this address.

This figurine, with its torso and head being new elements, could end up listed there quickly, it's up to you.

Update : the figurine is finally put up for (private) auction Our Instagram -.

Today we are quickly interested in the content of the LEGO ICONS set 10367 The Lord of the Rings: Balrog Book Nook, a box of 1201 pieces which is currently available for pre-order on the official online store at the public price of €119,99 and which will join the references from June 1, 2025 10351 Sherlock Holmes: Book Nook (1359 pieces - 119,99 €) and 76450 Book Nook: Hogwarts Express (832 pieces - €99,99) in the section of what LEGO calls Book Nooks.

From the first leaks to the official announcement of this new product, everyone has had plenty of time to form an opinion on this set under the license of The Lord of the Rings which surfs the trend of Book Nooks, these products which stage miniature dioramas to be placed between the books stored on the shelves of a library. We feel that the reactions oscillate between disappointment and satisfaction, some regretting the somewhat simplistic approach to the subject treated while others are simply happy to see one of their favorite licenses having the honors of a new interpretation in plastic bricks.

Personally, I have mixed feelings about how LEGO has handled its subject matter here. The scene where Gandalf confronts the Balrog in the heart of the Mines of Moria was well worth LEGO's attention, but I feel like the manufacturer has once again locked itself into the format it created, and the result is far from what we could have expected.

The staging is rather well executed with relatively simple columns that embody the architecture of the place relatively well, but the product packaging sells us a context that we no longer really find on the product itself with flames that visually fill the sides of the construction on the box.

From this impression of having a Balrog emerging from a very bright fire, there is not much left on the model exhibited with some pieces that struggle to embody the furnace seen on the screen. In my opinion, we even border on the ridiculous with these orange colored pieces arranged between the columns, with the feeling that it was absolutely necessary not to put too many to maintain the margin generated on the sale price of the product.

The bridge of Khazad-dûm on which the Balrog and Gandalf are standing is very symbolic here. It is certainly slightly raised, but it is not something to shout about as genius, knowing that the scene in question relies heavily on the fact that it takes place on a bridge allowing one to cross a precipice. A slight curvature of the bridge would undoubtedly have better embodied the feeling of being above the void. Once again, it is the format that decides and imposes technical concessions on the designers.

We can regret that the sides of the construction are empty, there was material to cover these two side faces with on the outside the cover of an old book making reference for example to the author JRR Tolkien and take advantage of it to give a little more depth to the expected furnace around the Balrog emerging from the flames. LEGO knew how to do it very well for the construction of the set 10351 Sherlock Holmes Book Nook, I don't understand why this isn't the case here. A simple forced perspective effect would have allowed the majestic side of the tall columns in relief of the Mines of Moria to be maintained.

What can we say about the Balrog itself, except that the construction reminds us of the worst mechs and other robots from the Marvel or NINJAGO universes with a messy aesthetic, visible ball joints and axes, an illegible pile of Technic parts on the creature's back and an appearance that is far from paying homage to the subject matter, especially in a set intended for a demanding adult clientele. The few flames present on the creature's back and the "whip" it holds in its hand unfortunately do not save the day.

I can understand the need to implement the mechanism that will hold the creature on the structure via two axes present on the wings, but it all frankly lacks elegance. Note that the Balrog is not fixed to the bridge, it is only held in place thanks to the two axes present on the wings.

Two display options are available: the Balrog can have wings extending beyond the structure in case the product is presented alone on the living room dresser and it is possible to block the end of the wings in the pillars located at the back to keep the entire diorama in the format intended to insert it, for example, between two piles of books. This is a good idea.

No stickers in this box, the face of the creature and the small plate present on the front face at the foot of the diorama are therefore pad printed. The face of the Balrog is not missed, the pad printing even seems rather successful to me even if the assembly of pieces constituting the head of the creature is not of an irreproachable aesthetic finesse.

The Gandalf figurine is not new, it uses the outfit already seen in the sets 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell et 10354 The Lord of the Rings: The Shire  and the head is already delivered in the set 10354 The Lord of the Rings: The Shire.

For those wondering: Glamdring, Gandalf's sword, is a common element already seen in many boxes. The pad-printed plate placed at the front of the diorama repeats the phrase used by Gandalf to inform the Balrog that he is not welcome on the bridge, the whole thing lacks some motifs putting the thing in context and we have to make do with a print that is a little too academic for my taste.

The whole thing is sold for the modest sum of €120, a price that doesn't really seem unreasonable for what LEGO offers, with the feeling of paying for a lot of emptiness, a mech with a design dated to the level of what the NINJAGO range regularly offers us for children, a fire made of twigs, and a single figurine that recycles elements already seen elsewhere.

I know that many fans of the license will be happy to accept it, only too happy to see that LEGO continues to exploit this universe, but I think that this product seriously lacks finishing despite the good initial ideas. At €120, it's a no, for less than €100 we can start discussing it while closing our eyes to the flaws of the thing.

I also think it's safe to say that LEGO is just exploiting the Book Nook term to capitalize on the format's current popularity. This set isn't a real Book Nook, it's just a closable diorama that doesn't visually benefit from being placed between a few books. I think many fans will display it open, at the risk of seeing the living room wallpaper patterns through the pillars of the Mines of Moria, to preserve the impressiveness of the scene, which disappears once the thing is closed.

Please note that the product is also available for pre-order on Amazon, so it is not a temporary or permanent exclusive to the official online store:

Discount -20%

LEGO ICONS 10367 The Lord of the Rings: Balrog Book Nook

119.99 € 95.99 €

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Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at June 8, 2025 at 23:59 pm. Just post a comment under the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion. Avoid "I'm participating" or "I'm trying my luck", we suspect that this is the case.

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