Battle at the Black Gate

Everyone loves Legos and LOTR. I think generally Legos are over-priced, but you cannot beat them for consistency and quality. All of us--husband and wife and our kids--played with Legos when we were young and we love the more adult themes they are coming out with that tie into the Peter Jackson movies. More than once, the kids have said, like they were old folks reminiscing, that they wished those themes were available back in their day. My sons are hard to shop for now that they are adults; prefer gift cards and cold hard cash. I bought these for my son, as part of a 21st birthday gift, themed for adult stuff and kid stuff. (Hint: adult stuff had alcohol in it). These were the "kid" part. He liked them a LOT. Thanked me more than once and his girlfriend says they're playing with them practically every day now that it's summer and they don't have classes. Really pleased! more less

The Minifigures are excellent, and the Black Gate is perfect from the perspective of appearance. However, the size of the set is a huge flaw, and this set seems expensive to me for what it is. more less

In the end, this is a rather boring set. Despite the high piece count, the final model feels small for the price. The problem here is not one of LEGO's making; they did an admirable job considering the source material. But when your source is a giant gate, there's only so much you can do. more less

The colour scheme is appropriate and the reddish brown parts are a nice touch. The spikes give the set an appropriately menacing look and the door-(un)locking feature is nicely done I think. The fact that it can be expanded makes multiple purchases quite appealing, even though it's not much of an army builder (unless you want your Orc army to consist of clones). Nonetheless a great looking set with awesome minifigures and a nice variety of parts. more less