The main part of this set are of course the minifigs, and they're nicely detailed especially with their rare capes. All 3 are exclusive as well!

I said this about Utapau Troopers and this set is no different. Get it if you want the figures.

Box/Instructions

Same old, same old.

Parts

Actually a few of the parts can be used for other things. I tried to add some of these to my Vampyre Castle and they fit in quite well with that set.

Minifigures

Best minifigures I've ever seen in a battle pack/small set. You get an amazing Elrond, an even more sophisticated Witch-King of Angmar (who, I might add, also glows in the dark), and then you get Galadriel. Galadriel is the best out of the three in my opinion, she is a beautifully done figure. All three are well designed.

The build

The build I found to be boring, but again, that is to be expected.

Overall opinion

As I said with Utapau Troopers, get this set if ou want the figures. They are very worth it.

Pretty good value for a $15 set, especially considering how overpriced sets are these days. With a few extra parts here and there I could easily see this being $20. Thank goodness it's not.

Box/Instructions

Very shiny box; seems to be of a higher quality than older boxes, though I haven't bought a set since the Winter Village Market almost a year ago. Instructions are folded in half as usual and don't want to stay open as usual but this problem can be easily fixed by squashing the manual with a heavy objects for a couple minutes......as usual.

Parts

The set is small (101 pieces) but has a good quantity of useful parts. There are 6 of the newish 1x2 bricks in dark bley, a round window piece that here is used as a drain/gutter/sewer of some sort, and a whole pile of small brown parts that are good for making trees.

Minifigures

The minifigs are the only reason you should buy this set. Elrond has a pearl gold torso (the first torso I have seen in this color), an olive green cape, and a nice rubber hair piece, all of which look very good. Galadriel has one of those improvised dress pieces, a cape covered in glittery bits on one side and a rubber hair piece that is the same mold as Elrond's but blonde rather rather than brown. The Witch-King has a crown of the same material as the elves' hair, a fantastic torn cape and a glow-in-the-dark head. All three figs have highly detailed facial expressions, and all have double-sided heads, though the back of the Witch-King's head is only printed with some hair, not another face. The printing overall is great, and the three capes are completely worth the money. The hair pieces come in little plastic bags, though the crown does not. There is also a normal skeleton.

My only concern with the minifigs is that Galadriel's cape is flattened and creased inward as a result of her hair and skirt sandwiching it. I have yet to see if this will damage the fabric in the long run but would probably disassemble/modify the minifigure as soon as possible to keep this spectacular piece in good shape.

The build

The building process is pretty standard, not many surprises. There are two functions: a weird spinny platform for the Witch-King and a handle to spin it with and a small catapult. The catapult has the torso and arms of the skeletons attached to it, which is pretty creepy...especially since that is the part you press on to launch the catapult's projectiles.

The set gets a 3 for building experience only because it is a small set, not because it is boring or obnoxious in any way.

The completed model

The set is mostly normal stuff that is simply there to give the minifigures a background and space to fight on. Although it is simple it does its job, and definitely adds a lot to the already amazing minifigures. A minifigure can be attached to the spinny platform so that he can "swing" his weapon, an odd though brilliant play feature that I have not seen before. Everything is quite compact and solid, so it is good for travel and those kinds of things.

Overall opinion

I'm pretty pleased with this set, though I can't say the same for The Hobbit movies, but that's an entirely different discussion. I would pay $3-$5 just for each minifigure (not including the skeleton), because they look so darn good. I don't think I've ever seen three minifigures (skeleton excluded) this nice (and so far, this rare) in a set for less than $30. I would say get this set for the minifigures: there are four for $15. That is battle-pack level minifigure count, and this set is only barely more expensive than those ($14.99 vs. $12.99).

An easy 5/5.

-D B

I have waited quite some time for a set to come out with Lady Galadriel, and LEGO didn't disappoint! Not too much to say on the set other than the minifigs, but I'll hit the points for those considering buying one (or more) of this set.

Box/Instructions

Nice new color scheme for the boxes, featuring green trim at the top and the new "Battle of the Five Armies" sub-theme. All three minifigs are clearly displayed, including alternate faces and the glowing head of the Witch-King.

Minifigures

Here is the real winner for this set! You get THREE amazing minifigs in this set!

Witch-King:

As you can see, the Witch-King has some very nicely printed pieces, with print on fronts and backs of everything except the pants. The crown is also very well designed and fits quite snug atop his head.

Lord Elrond:

Elrond looks great as well. Like Witch-King, his print is front and back of everything except the pants. His cloak is Olive Green, though the photos don't show it as well. Here are some pictures of other Elrond minifigs (From 79006 and 5000202):

Lady Galadriel:

By far my favorite minifig in this set! Beautifully painted torso and sloped bottom, and her hair is pearl gold! Alternate "crazy" face we've seen in the Lord of the Rings as well. Great for Mocs! I've been waiting for this figure for a while, and can now replace my "stand-in" I've been using for a few mocs. Others must have felt the same because I sold several custom Galadriel figs online.

The build

The build itself wasn't anything special. I didn't recognize anything as new, but there are a few profile bricks and a full skeleton. The set is "modular", but I'm not entirely sure why. Also, there is some technic parts in the back that don't do anything. Perhaps someone has found where these hook into an existing set, but I tried with Dol Guldur and had no luck finding suitable attachment points.

Overall opinion

This set is a must have for any LotR / Hobbit fan! The Minifigs are simply stunning, and for a small selling price too! Considering many LotR minifigures (including the custom Galadriel I included here) can be found on Ebay and Bricklink for $10+ (US), getting all three for only $15 (US) is a real bargain!

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy the set as much as I did!

As I'm sure you can tell from the pictures, this set is a battle pack, and is more like a Star Wars battle pack than a LOTR battle pack in that it has a very small build. It also differs from the other smaller LOTR sets (Wizard Battle, Riddle for the Ring, Gandalf Arrives) in that it doesn't do a very good job of portraying a particular scene. Of course those other sets only had two minifigures and this one has three.

Minifigures

The Witch King, unlike in Attack on Weathertop, is all white as he is a ghost. That said he looks very good and his crown in my opinion looks a lot better than the hoods the nazguls wear on Weathertop. His cape is actually identical to the capes of his counterparts in Weathertop, only this time its in white. Definitely a great looking figure.

Elrond is also a new one. While the Council of Elrond came with one of his minifigures, he was dressed in his robes he wears in Rivendell. This time he is dressed in armor and ready for battle. I will say he isn't quite as recognizable as he is in his Rivendell attire, but he does look great despite this fact.

Finally in this set we also get Galadriel. Like the Arwen minifigure, she too has a dress for legs, but this time I'm actually alright with that (Arwen rides a horse, she needs legs). Her hair piece is similar to Elrond's except that she has a silver as opposed to a gold crown. Her weapon appears to be the Light of Earendil, which she will ultimately gift to Frodo. However my favorite part of her is her second facial expression which I think represents her face after Frodo offers her the ring. This is the only instance where a minifigure who appears in both stories can effectively be used in both stories.

Technically there is a fourth minifigure, a skeleton, although his body parts are used as decorations and functional elements throughout the set. So since he isn't assembled, I guess he doesn't count, but he is a standard skeleton.

The Model

Lets just say this is a very fast and simple build, but you really can't expect anything mind blowing from such a small set. As a stand-alone model, I'd say this one is very weak. In fact, if I didn't already know this was at Dol Guldor, I'd probably have no idea of which locale it was referencing. This is rather disappointing since the equally small Riddle for the Ring clearly is referencing a cave, while the Wizard Battle is obviously Saruman's throne room. It really does seem that Lego dropped the ball here.

Now this set does have two play features, which I find pretty impressive for a set of this size. The first is a catapult that works surprisingly well. I thought it would fail due to its limited range of motion, but amazingly its ability to throw projectiles isn't hindered at all. Second is a rotating stud that the Witch King can stand on and swing his sword against attacking minifigures.

Of course the real value in this model is that it is an expansion pack for the larger Dol Guldor set. I won't get into how this set compliments a much larger set, I will instead discuss that in the other sets review. However, this set does have one huge flaw in its expansion capabilities. Only half of this set (and not the half with the catapult) can be added to Dol Guldor. What is the point of cutting an already tiny set in half?

Overall

If you can get this set cheap it is certainly worth it for the minifigures, but I can really only recommend it if you want the minifigures, or if you are trying to collect every LOTR set, otherwise, this set doesn't really give you anything of value.