Random set of the day: The Wizard Battle
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 79005 The Wizard Battle, released during 2013. It's one of 5 The Lord of the Rings sets produced that year. It contains 113 pieces and 2 minifigs, and its retail price was US$12.99/£11.99.
It's owned by 11,903 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you should find it for sale at BrickLink, where new ones sell for around $94.20, or eBay.
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43 comments on this article
Cool set; nice that they offered this as a cheaper option for people who couldn’t afford 10237.
It's such a small set, but such a legendary one too.
Gandalf the Brick? Gandalf the Fool!
Good, twice the pride, double the fa- wait, wrong Christopher Lee duel
Small, nifty and cool set. Bought this years ago from Chowren Toys online. Twice the original retail price back then, but I think worth it!
Oh look, a reasonably priced playset with desirable characters that kids and collectors alike will enjoy.
Where the heck are these sets now??
the fact that this little build has three functions is pretty impressive
I didn't buy this when it came out because I already had Gandalf and thought LOTR sets would be around indefinitely. I guess I wasn't too bright. Epic fail for me.
Wonder why the picture said it came with a brick separator?
@lego4elio said:
"the fact that this little build has three functions is pretty impressive "
There are only two, the rotating palantir and the Saruman launcher. (Incidentally, that's not a sentence you'll hear every day.)
@MCLegoboy said:
"Gandalf the Brick? Gandalf the Fool!"
So, you have chosen... death
One of the first sets I bought new as an adult. Thought it would look nice on a desk. Over a decade later and I have two tall display towers plus some overflow. And I know that's minuscule compared to most people here!
@WolfpackBricksStudios said:
"Good, twice the pride, double the fa- wait, wrong Christopher Lee duel"
Well, to be fair, he did have pride twice, and he did fall twice.
@lego4elio:
Really only two, but one of them is dual-purpose.
Definitely a cool set. Even though the scene it’s based on a) is quite a departure from the source material, and b) gives off some heavy vibes of Star Ward Force telekinesis.
"My powers have doubled since the last time we met, wizard!"
Strike me down and I will call an Eagle uber.
Count Dooku’s landspeeder.
Wow, that hidden function is amazing. So simple, yet so good.
@TannerTheHunter said:
"Oh look, a reasonably priced playset with desirable characters that kids and collectors alike will enjoy.
Where the heck are these sets now?? "
If this came out today, it'd somehow have twice as many pieces but be half the size, would have 12 stickers, Gandalf would have a hat instead of hair, an orc would be included for no reason, and the colors wouldn't match on the black bricks.
$49.99 USD, thank you!
Sadly no function for making Gandalf do the weird breakdancing moves Saruman put him through
@Pekingduckman said:
""My powers have doubled since the last time we met, wizard!""
That would probably be more fitting for the scene where Saruman meets Gandalf the White.
I only have two LOTR sets, this one and the Shelob one. Good times. Please, LEGO, more small and affordable sets and less megasets for millionaires.
Totally looks like a GWP.
Bought 2 of this back then while on discount.
Still have 2 of the 10237 MISB.
As said above, this is the kind of set we're kinda missing these days, well, we do still have sets around this price point which usually include one or two desirable minifigures, but they're always Mechs now... Except for Minecraft and Friends, they often have good sets in this range.
With all the Narnia discussions in the past RSOTDs.
It seems fitting to get a set based on the works of C.S.Lewis's good friend J.R.R Tolkien!
As for this.
A nice cheap set and cheap way to get the scene for people who couldn't afford Orthanc.
I obtained this after having a particularly bad week as school, that being noticed by a friend who was getting rid of some lego, and then randomly gave this to me at lunch break without explanation.
It truly is simple acts of kindness that keep darkness at bay.
I've still got a few of these from when Amazon clearanced them at a fiver each. It is an OK set and a good way to get Saruman cheap, especially as they sold his robes slope piece for about 50p on bricks and pieces /online PAB when Orthanc came out. Some of the parts are quite sought after, obviously the eye but also the 1x1 round bricks with fins.
Such a great small alternative to the Tower of Orthanc!
At the time I found 20,- for it a bit too expensive for what it was.
Kicking myself for not getting it back then... as it's FAR more expensive now!
According to the parts list I am missing only 8 pieces of this set, including minifig parts and that Palantir-head.
@WolfpackBricksStudios said:
"Good, twice the pride, double the fa- wait, wrong Christopher Lee duel"
He turned from that path long ago. To fullfill his destiny, Strider need take up the sword of Red Pill and become... Neo!
@TannertheHunter said:
"Oh look, a reasonably priced playset with desirable characters that kids and collectors alike will enjoy.
Where the heck are these sets now??"
@Heriol said:
"As said above, this is the kind of set we're kinda missing these days, well, we do still have sets around this price point which usually include one or two desirable minifigures, but they're always Mechs now... Except for Minecraft and Friends, they often have good sets in this range."
This type of set still exists. £12 in 2012 is about £18 now.
In 2012
79005 has 2 figures and 113 pieces.
In 2025
76441 is £20 and has 4 figures and 158 pieces and is a similar base with functions for play action.
76442 is £18 and has 3 figures and 204 pieces and is again a small play scene.
Of course those are not Lord of the Rings sets but Harry Potter sets which LEGO is still marketing towards kids at the lower end. They have decided that LOTR is a theme for large and detailed 18+ sets rather than play sets this time around.
There are also plenty of similar small sets in in-house themes such as City, Friends, and Ninjago. Even Marvel has similar price / contents sets that are not mechs although these by their nature are a bit more action based such as 11198 (£18, 2 figs, 124 pieces).
LEGO still make this type of set, but they also make lots of other style sets including much bigger sets compared to 10-15 years ago and the big sets tend to draw the eye. Presumably looking at the big sets and not the full range leads the assumption that they don't make the small sets of yesteryear, when the reality is that they do.
@bnic99 said:
"With all the Narnia discussions in the past RSOTDs.
It seems fitting to get a set based on the works of C.S.Lewis's good friend J.R.R Tolkien!"
They were friends? I had no Inkling... (Actually, I was well aware, I just couldn't resist the joke.)
Yer a wizard … battle.
My second favorite scene in cinema where two old guys fight each other and the music is way too dramatic for how funny it is. Number one is Disney-Pixar's Up.
@PurpleDave regarding your last comment about Narnia yesterday:
But Prince Rabadash was defeated? Regardless, you are correct otherwise.
@TannerTheHunter said:
"Oh look, a reasonably priced playset with desirable characters that kids and collectors alike will enjoy.
Where the heck are these sets now?? "
One does not simply make affordable LotR sets after 2014.
-TLG (apparently)
@Brickalili said:
"Sadly no function for making Gandalf do the weird breakdancing moves Saruman put him through "
As the set review points out, you can repurpose the Palantir function to make that happen, but I don't think it's by official design. There doesn't appear to be any image showing that this is possible.
@Wallace_Brick_Designs said:
" @PurpleDave regarding your last comment about Narnia yesterday:
But Prince Rabadash was defeated? Regardless, you are correct otherwise."
Yes. He was. Was he killed? No. But his plans were thwarted, and he was brought to heel and gentled.
I can't believe Peter Jackson was able to do so much CGI yet wasn't able to achieve Saruman's robes "Of Many Colours" with the large amount of screen time he gains over the book. It would be achievable with practical effects anyway, just use iridescent fabric.
@Norikins said:
"I can't believe Peter Jackson was able to do so much CGI yet wasn't able to achieve Saruman's robes "Of Many Colours" with the large amount of screen time he gains over the book. It would be achievable with practical effects anyway, just use iridescent fabric."
Maybe he just didn't want to bother, it was fairly minor next to some of the other changes.
@PurpleDave said:
" @Brickalili said:
"Sadly no function for making Gandalf do the weird breakdancing moves Saruman put him through "
As the set review points out, you can repurpose the Palantir function to make that happen, but I don't think it's by official design. There doesn't appear to be any image showing that this is possible.
@Wallace_Brick_Designs said:
" @PurpleDave regarding your last comment about Narnia yesterday:
But Prince Rabadash was defeated? Regardless, you are correct otherwise."
Yes. He was. Was he killed? No. But his plans were thwarted, and he was brought to heel and gentled."
He didn’t die, but if it wasn’t for Aslan, he would’ve. He was still mocked, ridiculed, and given a tale… anyway, it’s been a fun Narnia discussion, and I thank everyone who participated in a fun talk.
@Norikins said:
"I can't believe Peter Jackson was able to do so much CGI yet wasn't able to achieve Saruman's robes "Of Many Colours" with the large amount of screen time he gains over the book. It would be achievable with practical effects anyway, just use iridescent fabric."
The philosophy they went into those films with was figuring out what the core element of the story was, and that was Frodo taking the One Ring to Mount Doom. Anything that didn't advance that plot was expendable. That included leaving Saruman alive for the Scouring of the Shire that should have bumped RotK up to a full ten endings.
@PurpleDave said:
" @Norikins said:
"I can't believe Peter Jackson was able to do so much CGI yet wasn't able to achieve Saruman's robes "Of Many Colours" with the large amount of screen time he gains over the book. It would be achievable with practical effects anyway, just use iridescent fabric."
The philosophy they went into those films with was figuring out what the core element of the story was, and that was Frodo taking the One Ring to Mount Doom. Anything that didn't advance that plot was expendable. That included leaving Saruman alive for the Scouring of the Shire that should have bumped RotK up to a full ten endings."
Which is also why Tom Bombadil had to go. Not that anyone but the real purists were sad to see that.
@TheOtherMike said:
"Which is also why Tom Bombadil had to go. Not that anyone but the real purists were sad to see that."
I own three copies of the film trilogy, and one MMP copy of The Two Towers that I got for free, so I guess you can tell which side of that argument I stand on.
@PurpleDave said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
"Which is also why Tom Bombadil had to go. Not that anyone but the real purists were sad to see that."
I own three copies of the film trilogy, and one MMP copy of The Two Towers that I got for free, so I guess you can tell which side of that argument I stand on."
I very much enjoy both, but I had no problem with Tom being cut.