At last the first concrete information about the upcoming BrickHeadz sets from The Lord of the Rings universe has appeared. And although for now we have to make do with really poor quality photos, you can already form an opinion about what awaits us soon.
We’re talking about three sets:
40630: Frodo & Gollum
40631: Gandalf the Grey & Balrog
40632: Aragorn & Arwen
40630: Frodo & Gollum
The first set in the series is causing quite a bit of controversy because of Gollum. He’s so… bland. Anyone who knows what Gollum actually looked like (and who doesn’t?) understands how hard it’s to recreate such a character in the BrickHeadz format, so the controversy is understandable. On the other hand, is anyone forcing LEGO to feature particular characters? As Marcus Bessa himself has said many times, not all well-known and well-loved characters come out well as BrickHeadz. LEGO builds and tests a great many figures and ideas, and only some of them get the chance to see the light of day. We have to wait for higher resolution photos, but I have the impression that in this case the designers set the bar for the end result low.
Frodo looks much better, but the hero’s high forehead stands out, whereas in reality Frodo could boast a thick mop of hair.
40631: Gandalf the Grey & Balrog
This is a set I had high hopes for. Now that we have the first photos, I have some doubts. Gandalf could potentially be quite a successful figure, although I’ll hold off on a final verdict until we see good quality photos. Those photos will matter even more in the case of the Balrog. There’s no denying that recreating such a character is a very difficult task, so mixed reviews are to be expected. And that’s how it is right now: BrickHeadz fans are discussing the upcoming sets and opinions are divided. There’s no shortage of voices, though, saying this will be a very nice set and will sell brilliantly.
40632: Aragorn & Arwen
Who would have thought that of all six new LotR BrickHeadz it would be Arwen and Aragorn who look the most likeable. This is of course just my personal opinion, but I’m ready to risk saying these figures are the most successful. Aragorn in particular, with his armour, has a chance to make a really good impression. I have no doubt why that is. First, both characters are humanoid (I was going to write that they’re human, but Arwen is a half-elf, after all), and those are the easiest to recreate in BrickHeadz. Second, the strength of our favourite series is printed bricks, and there’s no shortage of them here.
But don’t let my harsh reviews fool you. LotR appearing in the BrickHeadz series is a big event, I’m immensely happy about it and I’m sure I’ll add them to my collection with great pleasure. According to the leaks so far, they will all be released in January 2023, so in less than a month.
On this occasion I’d like to show you one more set. Unfortunately it’s “only” a MOC, but the amount of work the creator put into it is impressive, and I sincerely encourage you to look at the high quality photos in this thread. The creator is the same person who made the sets described here, his work is top level, and while you’re at it, it’s worth taking a look at his one more proposal, this time from the Batman series.
