It was 1982, and the final episode of NPR adaptation of Star Wars (A New Hope – not that the label was familiar to us yet) had just been broadcast on ABC FM on Sunday morning. “Next Week – The Lord of the Rings episode 1″…of 26. This BBC production was my introduction to Lord of the Rings. Over the next 6 months, 12-year-old me followed the adventures of Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring, as they covered the diverse geography of Middle earth. I opened the books and began to explore the extended world.

With time, Peter Jackson’s movie adaptations became a regular Wedding Anniversary date for Ann and myself. Then, in 2010, I finally came out of my Dark Ages and accepted that I was allowed to buy LEGO® sets for myself. Fast forward to 2011 and after presenting Bag End, assailed by dwarfs at Brickvention 2011, I put together a model, loosely based on Rivendell, at the time of the Council of Elrond.

Using non-licensed minifigures, and drilling a hole through the middle of a pearl gold 1×1 round brick/stud to use as a ring, many kids who saw the layout identified most of the figures in the fellowship correctly. Except for 2. But they were so consistent that I suspect I must have been wrong in identifying Merry and Pippin.

And then, in 2012, we saw our first wave of Lord of the Rings sets – with the Fellowship of the Ring carefully spread across no fewer than four sets! A second wave followed in 2013, before leading into the sets licenced from the Hobbit. In this second wave was the set ‘Council of Elrond.’ With 4 Minifigures and 243 elements this was a somewhat lacklustre representation of the iconic scene from the story (be it book, radio drama or movie).

And now, after 10 years Lord of the Rings is back.

With 6167 Pieces and 15 minifigures (plus some statues of Elven Heroes from days gone by.) this is a beautiful set, providing exquisite architectural details, as well as rolling landscape and new minifigures throughout.