While LEGO has delivered some impressive sets over its 90+ years of existence, it’s the original builds that are sometimes the most eye-catching. It never fails to amaze: seeing how creators can combine pieces from a dozen or more sets into unique creations that rival the size, scope, and scale of anything LEGO has ever released. But even those original builds pale in comparison to this latest creation, a 9-month-long Lord of the Rings/Hobbit build that is simply stunning.
I’ve seen a lot of incredible LEGO creations over the years, but this Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit build is something else. It’s a massive recreation of Erebor, the Dwarven kingdom featured heavily in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, brought to life with incredible detail, a ton of minifigs, and surely countless LEGO bricks.
DrBricksDanki has shared their incredible LEGO MOC (My Own Creation) on Instagram, where you can see all the progress they made over the course of the build. I was particularly impressed with the posts that show Erebor alongside some of LEGO’s actual Lord of the Rings sets, namely the Barad-dur that was released not too long ago. Knowing how large the Barad-dur set is, standing at 32 inches tal,l only illustrates just how massive DrBricksDanki’s creation is.
You have to dig through the comments to discover the stats on the Erebor MOC, but they did confirm that it isn't entirely LEGO. Even so, they used some 150,000 LEGO bricks to bring the Tolkien landmark to life, which is a staggering number that rivals some of the creations you see at Legoland.
I highly recommend looking at every post on DrBricksDanki’s Instagram, because they offer up close looks at a lot of the key details of the LEGO Erebor MOC. I particularly like the videos that showcase Smaug, which I presume came from The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies LEGO set.
Obviously, they had to borrow some minifigs from the currently-available Lord of the Rings sets, and that in and of itself had to have been a monumental undertaking. The armies poised to clash in front of the Misty Mountain brings a ton of life to the scene and highlights just how dedicated they were to creating an actual moment rather than a landscape.
Given how expensive the Barad-Dur LEGO set is at $450, one can only imagine how much this LEGO Erebor set would cost if it was actually available for purchase. It would surely set a record for the most expensive LEGO set by a large margin, and would likely rival high-end luxury purchases.
As far as what’s next for DrBricksDanki, they hint that a new build is in the works but won’t reveal what it is just yet. Given the room that houses Erebor, I wouldn’t be surprised to see more of that space used for another Lord of the Rings or Hobbit-themed MOC. I might have thought Minas Tirith would be perfect for another creation of this scale, but that seems to be a common LEGO build we've seen before.
As well, rumors suggest that a LEGO Minas Tirith set is already in the works for release later this year. And yes, it is going to be pricey.
I love LEGO creations like this that highlight the creativity of the fan community and showcase what some incredible planning and man-hours can deliver. We’ve all been sitting around with some LEGO bricks and come up with something original like a spaceship or a car, but something like this is simply incredible.