The good news of the day is the transition to the review phase of the project Tirith mines of Nuju Metru who has just reached the threshold of 10.000 supporters.

This long-term project created in March 2013 will therefore be entitled to a review in due form by the LEGO Ideas team, which will decide its fate.

I don't think this project goes beyond the review phase: By the time LEGO announces the results, Tolkien's universe will not be very relevant anymore. This is how life goes, the fans will move on, other ranges will arrive ...

The film trilogy The Hobbit comes to an end on December 11, and all that remains is the release of the inevitable multiple editions in ultra-collector's boxes of this trilogy for us to talk about this saga and the other work of Tolkien: The Lords of the Rings.

I just hope that LEGO will understand that the passage in the review phase of this project, which took all its time to collect 10.000 "real"supporters, is a credible indicator of the enthusiasm of fans of LEGO and the universe of Tolkien who would like other sets to complete the short list of those already released ...

It's no longer a secret, it smells of fir for the LEGO Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit range. With the theatrical release in the next few weeks of the last installment of The Hobbit trilogy, LEGO will probably put an end to the derivative product lines based on Tolkien's universe, barring any last-minute surprises.

Without this temporary highlighting implying serious consequences except perhaps a boost in the number of supporters of the project, we can all the same note that the team in charge of the LEGO Ideas concept is currently integrating in its selection displayed in homepage a MOC well known to all fans of the LOTR / The Hobbit ranges: The excellent version System de Minas Tirith proposed by Nuju Metru about which we had already spoken two years ago on the blog.

This project, realistic and achievable unlike many other creations posted on LEGO Ideas, is struggling to reach the 10.000 supporters necessary for its passage to the next phase of the LEGO Ideas concept. At the same time, many fans are already regretting the discontinuation by LEGO of a range whose sales volumes are sometimes assumed to be not exceptional but which has found its audience among adult fans of Tolkien's universe.

Fans of the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit ranges, if you want to send a message to LEGO, supporting this project is undoubtedly the best way to come forward and possibly be heard ...

It took more than 4 months to this Cuusoo project from Nuju Metru to reach the 1000 supporters and obtain a (laconic) comment from the LEGO team:

"... Behold, the White City in all its glory! You don't have to be Boromir to appreciate the beauty of this model and its modular design. Lord of the Rings fans of all ages can enjoy assembling and reenacting the largest battle of the third age. Nicely done! ..."

In essence, the model is cool, modular, allows fans to replicate the location and the battle that goes with it, well done!

It's short, we do not get at this stage a constructive opinion on the feasibility of the project, but we will probably have to wait a few more months and the threshold of 5000 supporters to obtain something other than a short statement, certainly enthusiastic but not really detailed.

If you want to see this project to go a little further, do not deprive yourself of making your contribution (no pun intended ...) by voting. Every voice counts.

Nuju Metru has therefore put its MOC of Minas Tirith on Cuusoo. This is a good move that deserves the support of all fans of the Lord of the Rings line, even those who would prefer a 10.000-piece UCS from Minas Tirith. Make yourself a reason, it won't happen. Never.

This playset would therefore be an acceptable compromise, with the fortress exposed and playable, full of minifigs, catalpults ... and Nuju Metru demonstrates that it is feasible while remaining reasonable on the number of pieces and therefore the selling price of the thing.

You and I know that this Cuusoo project will never reach 10.000 supporters. For many different reasons besides. Salvation from this Cuusoo project certainly lies more in a buzz on the sites of fans of Tolkien, or the Lord of the Rings saga than among the AFOLs themselves.  

And even if all the sites or blogs in the LEGO universe went there with their articles encouraging support for this project, that would probably not be enough: There would always be someone to criticize the scale of the project, the choice of minifigs, etc, etc ...

AFOLs are always more forgiving with official LEGO products, even when they are clearly bad, than with the MOCs of their fellows ...

So, you do as you want, I voted.

The starting point is simple: Offer an OMC on the Lord of the Rings theme while trying to respect the constraints that LEGO must meet to offer an official set for sale.

If you follow the blog, you may have already seen the work of Nuju Metru in the same spirit.

As part of this MOCAthalon 2012, the flower of MOCeurs is therefore found on MOCpages to offer teams of many creations on different themes, both of which on the Lord of the Rings theme presented here: The Masked Builder Siege of Gondor (above) and Legohaulic Oliphant (below).

Obviously in this MOCAthalon which brings together talented MOCeurs as well as many less experienced AFOLs, the very good rubs shoulders with the less good, but you should have a good time discovering all these creations.