Regulars of LEGO games will not be disoriented, these first images of the LEGO Lord of the Rings video game confirm that we will find the same principles, actions, interactions, missions, objectives, etc ... already seen in previous video games produced around licenses marketed by LEGO.

So take advantage of these few images of the game offered by IGN while waiting for its release on all platforms on the market.

I take advantage of a moment of calm during my stay in Taiwan to draw the winners of the three bags: 1 x 30160 Batman on Jetski et 2 x 30165 Hawkeye.

Their names are added on the image above, on the visual of the set for which they were selected. They will be contacted directly by email.

Time to get back from Taiwan at the end of the week, and I will offer you something else to win, just to give as many readers as possible a chance to win something. 

It's always so well done and it still makes you want to buy ... Here is a first TV ad featuring the set 9473 The Mines of Moria.

We will note the clever and discreet mix of minifigs and digital versions of the characters, which creates a little confusion: At the beginning of the video we are presented with the set as it is in its plastic form and then put us in the fire of action with the animated version of the characters.

http://youtu.be/UtyqEeprwJQ

As is the case with the LEGO Star Wars range currently, LEGO already offers packs including either all the sets from the Lord of the Rings range, or the two sets designed to be combined in a giant playset reproducing the battle of Helm's Deep.

The prices charged are obviously more advantageous than when purchasing these same sets at retail. I still find it surprising that the Lord of the Rings range is already available in this format which is usually used more to get rid of sets at the end of stock, or which has not necessarily had the expected commercial success.

I would be careful not to draw any conclusions whatsoever from this commercial approach for the moment, the Lord of the Rings range seems to be having some success with fans. But AFOLs are not the only customers of LEGO and it is difficult to obtain objective sales figures for this range. Its future development will be a more reliable indicator of the lessons learned by the manufacturer of the success or the commercial flop of this range.

The two proposed packs are distributed as follows:

5001132 The Lord of the Rings Collection

9469 Gandalf Arrives 
9470 Shelob Attacks
9471 Uruk-Hai Army
9472 Attack on Weathertop
9473 The Mines of Moria
9474 The Battle Of Helm's Deep
9476 The Orc Forge

5001130 The Battle of Helm's Deep Collection

9474 The Battle Of Helm's Deep
9471 Uruk-Hai Army 

This is not really new from LEGO, but the technique is used more and more frequently: The manufacturer offers packages grouping several sets under the name xxxx Collection. We had already been entitled in the past to this type of set of sets in the Star Wars and Harry Potter ranges.

There is currently a pack comprising the three Planet Series 1 sets (5001136 Buildable Galaxy Collection): 9674 Naboo Starfighter and Naboo, 9675 Sebulba's Podracer and Tatooine et 9676 TIE Interceptor and Death Star as well as a pack comprising the two Battle Packs from early 2012 (5001137 Battle Pack Collection: 9488 ARC Trooper & Commando Droid Battle Pack et 9489 Endor Rebel Trooper & Imperial Trooper.

These packs are offered at a great rate on the LEGO Shop US, and I think it won't be long before they land on the French version of the manufacturer's store.