Riddles for the Ring Lego Set

I love Lego. However, since they aren’t the main focus of my collection, I tend to stay away except for the occasional clearaence item or the blind bagged minifigures. I was extremely happy when I saw this set was coming and nabbed it the first time I saw it.

This is the Riddles for the Ring set. 105 pieces makes it a smaller set. However, instead of making you buy a couple of larger sets to get the minifigures you want this set has Bilbo and Gollum from their famous battle of wits.

I don’t have any of the other shorter figures so Bilbo was a nice add for me. He’s done with the flesh tone pieces we’ve seen in recent years. The paint on his clothes is Legorific. My favorite part? He has a two sided head. One side has a determined face on it, the other side is frightened out of gourd Hobbit.

While everything above the waist is normal Lego figure size, his legs are different. With his shorter stature, he unfortunately looses leg articulation.

Gollum spans the gap between pre-posed statue and minifigure. The body, legs and head are solid. His arms are separate pieces. The look on his face is a bit freakish to me. The paint on the teeth sells it. Again, we have a Hobbit items with Homer Simpson hair. It works with the Lego style though. The one thing I’m puzzled about is the Lego stud on his back.

Of course, The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings are the story that revolves around the One Ring. It only makes sense that it is here. Actually, I got two rings with my set. It’s a very cool vac metal piece. It’s exactly what you would think it would be in the Lego verse.

Speaking of twos, I also got two of Bilbo’s sword. An Elven blade, even though it’s Leogized, it’s still recognizable. Sadly, there was only one of Gollum’s fish.

The box also contains a couple of set pieces. The first is Gollum’s boat. A small brownish flat thing, the boat has grips for bones after the creepy little dude is done eating. I like this idea, as it helps keeps some of the tiny loose pieces in check. All of the extra stuff on it clutters it’s appearance and really makes me think of Gollum.

The main item is a rock outcropping with a couple of features. The first is a a couple of hinged sections that let you open and close the front of the piece or position them some where in between. This not only eliminates loose rock pieces, it also helps take the rock look off the “Lego Grid”. Add some smooth tiles every where and you have the perfect perch for Gollum to leap on Hobbits.

The other feature involves the ring. A round piece on the side allows you to flip a rock hidden behind the hinged sections over revealing the Ring. This makes me wonder how the Ring will be found in the film. Remember when I said the set came with two rings? The nice thing is that allows me to put one in Bilbo’s hand and the other can stay safe on its’ bit of rock.

Overall:

I can always tell when I’m writing a review how much I like something. If the words come easy, I like it more than if it’s hard to write. Let me say I didn’t have any issue writing this one. We’ve come to expect a lot from Lego in recent years. I have to say small size of this key set will make it a fan favorite. If there is a Lord of the Rings fan on your holiday list, this would make a great stocking stuffer.

My only complaint really is with the name. Why isn’t it “Riddles in the Dark”?

Engineernerd Score: 98/100

Tags: Bilbo Baggins, Gollum, Hobbit, Lego, Lord of the Rings, Minifigure, Ring, Smeagol

Category: Featured, The Hobbit & LOTR, Toy Reviews