And the next level of commercialization is...

[blantyr]

Lord of the Rings Lego! (http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57369242-1/lord-of-the-rings-lego-characters-visualized/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20)

Is this Christopher's fault?

[Galadriel55]

I see the revival of the trend of "I'm Legolas! I've lost my Legos!" jokes...

[Boo Radley]

"...and the brick maker has done an outstanding job re-creating the characters' iconic appearances..."

Umm.... no?

[Galadriel55]

"...and the brick maker has done an outstanding job re-creating the characters' iconic appearances..."

Umm.... no?

Considering that's it's lego made by the movies, umm... sorta.

[Boo Radley]

I just have a problem with the sudden over usage of the term "Iconic". Everything is iconic anymore. I'll bet that if you asked most people who just used the word in a sentence to define it, they be hard pressed to come up with the correct definition. "Well... it's like an icon."

BZZZZ!!!
I'm sorry! Wrong answer, but thanks for playing!

Sorry. It just makes me a wee bit nuts.

[Galadriel55]

"Well... it's like an icon."

Well, that definition certainly describes the Legos very well! :D;)

[Boo Radley]

Bah! Next you will be telling me that a little female "icon" made out of plastic blocks is called a Lego-Lass, and I'll not be having that kind of nonsense around here, young lady!

[Galadriel55]

Bah! Next you will be telling me that a little female "icon" made out of plastic blocks is called a Lego-Lass, and I'll not be having that kind of nonsense around here, young lady!

:D

I won't be telling any such thing, though. I prefer Gandalf uncloaking jokes. :p

And you have to admit, lego people always look a bit like icons with their simplified forms. :)

[Lindale]

The Ringwraith has an uncanny similarity to Vader, or maybe I need to visit the eye clinic again. :cool:

[Lalwendë]

Some of you have seen my vast collection of action figures/plastic tat* so I will be buying these. Not least because I love LEGO and so does the little fella, but because I have to say the Gollum one is so utterly hideous and sinister it goes beyond the pale and I'm therefore compelled to have it. I have a set of the 11 Doctors (from Doctor Who, if this wasn't obvious) done as 'LEGO' men (from the Character Building range, which is LEGO compatible) and they are quite ugly little things too, but I love them.

I will of course legitimise this and claim they have some educational value for the young sir as he will enjoy playing with them too and I can impart some more subliminal knowledge of Tolkien until such time as he's old enough to read the books. The best thing for a toy collector is having a child and therefore an excuse.

I will be very cross, though, if no proper action figures come out to accompany the films.

;)




*delete according to taste.

[Bêthberry]

What I'm (mildly) curious about is that little TM after each name. Who owns the trademark on the characters' names? Lego? New Line etc? The Estate?

[Morthoron]

What I'm (mildly) curious about is that little TM after each name. Who owns the trademark on the characters' names? Lego? New Line etc? The Estate?

Those are trademarked by the estate and used under license at Lego. I remember in the 70s or 80s Gary Gygax getting sued by the estate for using the term "Hobbit" in his Dungeons and Dragons game. Gygax had to change the character to "Halfling".

[Mithalwen]

What I'm (mildly) curious about is that little TM after each name. Who owns the trademark on the characters' names? Lego? New Line etc? The Estate?

I thought most of the names were the TMs of the Saul Zaentz co trading as Tolkien Entreprises not the estate but that may have changes since last time.

[Lalwendë]

What I'm (mildly) curious about is that little TM after each name. Who owns the trademark on the characters' names? Lego? New Line etc? The Estate?

Depends. TMs are usually licensed to the various manufacturers by the creators/brand owners. Most Doctor Who toys are trademarked to the BBC, except Daleks, which are trademarked to Terry Nation. So it depends on whether the Estate have released the rights or not. And it will be different in each country. To further complicate things, LEGO is a Danish company and that's a highly protected brand in itself (LEGO, not Denmark, that is). Character Building toys are made to be LEGO compatible but they cannot say this on any of their packaging.

I remember looking at my brother's D&D books and I used to get confused why they called all the Hobbits 'halflings'!