Review: LEGO ICONS 10333 The Lord of the Rings Barad-Dûr

Today we are quickly interested in the content of the LEGO ICONS set 10333 The Lord of the Rings: Barad-Dûr, a very large box of 5471 pieces which will be available as an Insiders preview on the official online store as well as in the LEGO Stores at the public price of €459,99 from June 1, 2024.

This new box intended for an audience of adult fans of the franchise The Lord of the Rings comes after the very successful LEGO ICONS set 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell marketed since last year, we are therefore entitled to be demanding with this new derivative product with its substantial inventory, high price and tempting promises.

It is therefore a question of assembling Barad-Dûr, the lair of Sauron installed in the depths of Mordor. Barad-Dûr meaning "Dark Tower", we suspect that the construction will be less colorful and shimmering than the one nestled in the Rivendell valley. And it is an understatement to say that the whole thing is almost worryingly sober, there is hardly anything other than the lava which flows at the foot of the construction and the rocky staircase which circulates around the center of the tower to bring a little of variety.

The product is an exhibition model on one side and a playset for older children on the other. We know that LEGO appreciates this type of combination mixing two different scales and this principle is used here to good effect by offering a relatively detailed tower on one side and a few spaces on the scale of the minifigs provided on the other. Don't look for references to the interior designs, LEGO has taken care of imagining them in its own way by adding its usual touch of humor and a few nods to the saga.

That being said, you still have to settle for an impeccably cut half-tower in the height direction which will not really support being exposed in profile and the interior spaces, spacious at the foot of the tower, then become difficult to access. on the upper floors. We will use these niches to store the minifigs, LEGO not having planned a display except the small independent rocky peak which can accommodate Frodo, Sam and Gollum.

The construction is divided into four distinct sections, three of which can be assembled and disassembled without a fixing point. These sections simply slide onto the construction below, they are supported by a few beams which pass through the space available in the lower section. The manufacturer also delivers three separate instruction booklets which allow the assembly of the product divided into 40 bags by several people for a little more conviviality, even if that is not the atmosphere of the place.

Two of these sub-assemblies are joined together by a fixing point which remains removable and which is made up of an axis to slide into the protrusion of a Technic beam. This overall modularity of appreciable simplicity will allow the model to be moved or stored without breaking everything.

You have surely read or heard somewhere that LEGO promises to be able to extend the tower on its thinnest section according to your desires. This theoretical possibility is not documented anywhere and I doubt that the manufacturer will one day provide precise instructions allowing the tower to reach even higher than the 83 cm of the model delivered in the box. It would be necessary to obtain both an accurate inventory of the necessary parts as well as detailed assembly instructions, I think that the ingenious fans will have solved these two equations well before LEGO actually tackles the problem to keep its promise.

You have understood, this set gives pride of place to black parts and once again we cannot escape the usual quality problem which affects the elements in this color with numerous scratches and other marks upon unpacking. Seen up close, it is annoying, observed from further away Barad-Dûr will be an illusion if you also avoid fingerprints and dust the construction very regularly.

The set incorporates a few features that allow it to be qualified as a playset: the entrance door to the tower is not really "automated" as LEGO claims in the official product description but it opens and closes by manipulating an offset wheel on a side rock. We feel that the mechanism forces a little during manipulation, but it works.

You can access the Palantír as well as the more detailed version of the map of Middle Earth housed behind the throne by pulling on an outgrowth placed on the front to open the two sections of partition, the ladder of the library moves along shelves and a light brick with a red plastic insert allows you to light up the eye located at the top of the tower provided you keep your finger pressed on the button, LEGO still not having decided to provide us with light bricks with a switch.

There is also a small secret compartment to discover in the foundations of the tower, I leave the privilege to all those who acquire this box to locate it precisely. These different playful refinements are there to offer a little more than a simple static model, no one will really play with this tower but LEGO remains faithful to its reputation as a toy manufacturer and these different devices will fuel conversations during your evenings with friends.

The inevitable sheet of stickers, even in a high-end set sold for €460, is here made up of fourteen stickers, some of which, like the map of Middle Earth or the portrait of Sauron, are graphically very well executed. We also find on one of them a nod to the promotional product which will be offered from June 1 to 7, 2024 to members of the insiders program: the LEGO ICONS The Lord of The Rings set 40693 Fell Beast, with its 269 parts allowing you to assemble the creature ridden by a Nazgûl. Some of these stickers are laborious to apply, they fit inside curved parts and it is rarely fun.

The supply of minifigs may seem a little sparse to some fans with around ten figurines including a few generic orcs, but the minifigs of Sauron and The Mouth of Sauron largely save the furniture with very high-end pad printing and accessories. Buying this box only for Sauron may seem a little excessive, but I know that some will take the plunge so as not to have to pay crazy amounts of money to later acquire the minifig alone via the secondary market.

The new Gollum figurine clearly divides fans, I hesitate between finding it too close to a Kinder toy and considering it as a credible interpretation of the character with its emblematic attitude rather well reproduced. For those who are wondering, the Frodo and Sam minifigs are those already seen in the LEGO ICONS set 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell.

LEGO is not stingy here with various and varied accessories, including a gaggle of helmets, equipment and weapons of all kinds scattered throughout the furniture and construction racks. Perhaps a few additional orcs are missing to carry all this paraphernalia, in my opinion the set would not have suffered from a larger population.

We're not going to lie, this tower is a little less sexy than the superb construction from the LEGO ICONS set 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell and we may ultimately find it all a little too crude despite the efforts made to offer interesting architectural and chromatic variations throughout the levels. The subject covered does not help to demonstrate finesse and refinement, it was undoubtedly difficult to escape the large black areas and the base of the construction visually saves the furniture even if it means doing a little too much.

There remains the obvious pleasure of assembling this imposing and emblematic construction which will find its place a few cables from Rivendell on our shelves with its sequences alternating between stacking of bricks, construction of furniture and discovery of some techniques which are always interesting although difficult to re-use elsewhere. A day.

I was one of those who long regretted that the range of LEGO products derived from the franchise The Lord of the Rings marketed in 2012/2013 is a little too timid and lacks panache (and orcs), I'm not going to complain about finally being entitled to a few more ambitious sets capable of satisfying me as much as the set did 10237 The Tower of Orthanc at the time, another half-tower with its 2359 pieces and its 73 cm high.

Some will also regret that for €460 you have to settle for a half-turn instead of a model closed on all sides with, for example, the possibility of opening certain compartments to access the interior spaces. As it stands, we are indeed more of a toy for older children than a pure exhibition product for adult fans who would have liked to be able to observe the tower from all angles without having to hide the back against a wall.

It is therefore up to everyone to appreciate LEGO's proposal and to judge its interest. I am neither frankly disappointed nor really enthusiastic about this product which will nevertheless join my collection from the beginning of June because I also want to obtain the LEGO ICONS The Lord of The Rings promotional set 40693 Fell Beast the contents of which should in fact have been integrated into this box. The creature could, for example, have been attached via a transparent pole to the sides of the tower to give it a little volume, but LEGO preferred to separate the two products to make one of them an urgent incentive to buy the other. The marketing trick is crude but it will work on me.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at May 25, 2024 next at 23:59 p.m. Simply post a comment below 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.