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While searching the Internet for clone-brand info, I came upon a mention of
other Lord of the Rings sets that apparently never saw release. After the
disappointing performance of this product line, it's no surprise that the whole
series was abandoned rather than maintaining it through the whole three-film
cycle.
IMO Part of the problem was marketing; I never saw these sets advertised beyond
a passing mention in Toyfair magazine or by word of mouth. Another problem was
the scale and functionality; the figures were about the size of some action
figures, but their limited mobility and integrated 2x4 brick made it difficult
to use them alongside other toy brands. Also, the sets were quite expensive; an
80-piece set originally retailed, I believe, for $14.99. That's pretty steep,
especially for an all-but-anonymous brick brand.
Regardless, it appears that other sets were planned, even if they never made it
out of the factory. Here's the detail I've been able to amass on all of the
sets, including both the released and non-released products:
SET # OFFICIAL NAME YEAR PIECES FIGURES
140901 Battle at Weathertop 2001 98 2
140903 Buckleberry Ferry Escape 2001 116 2
140904 Orc Attack at Amon Hen 2001 79 2
140911 Isengard Caverns 2001 187 3
140913 Encounter at the Prancing Pony Inn 2001 225 3
?????? The Mines of Moria 2001 361 4
?????? Trollshaw Forest Clearing N/A 85 2
?????? Uruk-Hai Breeding Chamber N/A 180 3
?????? Bag End N/A 180 3
?????? Basic Block Bucket N/A 250 7
?????? Rivendell N/A N/A 5
?????? Fortress of Isengard N/A N/A 6
Some of this is borne out by the over-expensive "Mines of Moria" set, which
featured the pricey voice-chip technology that probably helped to doom the line.
The instructions for the set gave a listing of the phrases that each figure
would say when inserted into one of the sound-producing nodes on the big
baseplate. Among the listed characters was Bilbo, who did not appear in any of
the released sets, so it seems likely that he was at least planned. I suspect
that the missing sets were produced in some very limited quantity, or perhaps
they were all simply destroyed. It would be quite cool to find any of them,
especially the Basic Block Bucket.
Dave!
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