Warner Bros. and The LEGO Group have teamed up to design Lord of the Rings LEGO sets that will hit store shelves in 2012.
The new sets are slated to be based on the Lord of the Rings film trilogy and the upcoming two-part Hobbit film.
This likely means that the costumes and characters depicted will be those from the Peter Jackson epics, and anything left out or changed from the original books will thus be missing also from the LEGOs. Most notably, it means there will be no Tom Bombadil LEGO.
“Only LEGO, with their expertise in the construction category, is capable of doing justice to the incredibly imaginative environments depicted in the world of The Lord of the Rings and the two films based on The Hobbit,” Warner Bros. rep Karen McTier explained.
“These films give life to amazing worlds and characters and we are thrilled to bring fans these products that deliver an imaginative play experience befitting of these beloved properties.”
This has been LEGO’s strategy for a while now – making deals with holders of existing IP to base LEGO designs and games on. Other properties include Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Toy Story – all of which have video games, mini-figures and playsets associated with their LEGO versions.
The announcement comes only a few months after the announcement that LEGO and Warner Bros. would be expanding their relationship to include more DC characters – currently, they only work with Batman.
“Our collaboration with Warner Bros. Consumer Products has delivered numerous worldwide successes in the construction toy aisle with lines like LEGO Harry Potter and LEGO Batman, introducing us to loyal audiences who love great stories, strong characters and the toys that they inspire,” said LEGO exec Jill Wilfert.
“It’s particularly exciting to now be able to create sets based on the fantasy worlds and characters from The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the two films based on The Hobbit, not only because we know they will foster collectability and creative play, but also because these are two properties that our fans have been asking us to create for years.”
So far, the only image we have of LEGO The Lord of the Rings is a 3D render of the Frodo mini-figure and an oversized ‘one ring’. LEGO will be releasing more information about the new sets on their website over the coming months.
