This Lego Sauron’s Tower is a gem for Lord of the Rings fans

Fans Lord of the Rings to the statue. As the trilogy of films directed by Peter Jackson continues to stir the public’s memory, the saga has perhaps never been more in the news.

It’s there prologue series on Amazon Prime Videoof which the next season will be revealed in 2024. There will also be other feature films spin-off focusing on Gollum planned for 2026 and before that, animated film for this year. And then there’s Lego.

Legowho has already started the sets Lord of the Rings 2012, started last year marketing a sublime reproduction of Rivendell, teeming with details and filled with figurines. Success, provided you agree to pay the tidy sum of €500. In 2024, the Danish company does it again, but this time seeks refuge in the camp of the bad guys with a reconstruction of Barad-dûr, a huge dark tower topped with the Eye of Sauron.

And here the price is high: count on 460 euros to erect a building that requires almost 5,500 parts.

You’re not ready for a Sauron Lego minifigure

The Lego version of Barad-dûr is divided into three different stages, each with its own booklet. On the ground floor there is a forge and a cage containing a skeleton. They surround a clever mechanism that allows the door of the building to be opened using a brick hidden in the rock. Once again, Lego engineers have put all their imaginations to work in an appropriation that is both faithful, aesthetically speaking, and clever in the construction of Barad-dûr. Through the various stages, we never stop appreciating the way Lego reinvents, stacks and combines pieces to create coherent sets.

On the second floor there is a canteen, which makes it possible to organize slightly more humorous scenes with a small company of goblins (there is even a cook and the infamous Gothmog, otherwise terrifying with his distorted face in The return of the king). Here we will especially appreciate the attention to detail, the variety of food (meat, vegetables, gnawed bones, etc.), the barrel of alcohol and the pot. Lego even came up with a menu displayed on the wall, as if it were written in chalk, and, contrary to what you think, goblins eat with forks.

The third part is the tower itself, which allows Barad-dûr to rise to over 80 centimeters in height (yes, he will need space to display it). Includes a throne room that hides map of Middle Earth and the stone of Ithil (or palantir). This is also where most of the large stickers that are placed on the mostly cylindrical parts are concentrated. An opportunity to remind that it would be better for Lego to reward those who are willing to invest more than €400 in a product with a stamp, than to risk sticking the sticker wrong (and spoiling everything). This is all the more true because these stickers age poorly and are mostly hidden.

At the top, it is impossible not to notice the imposing eye of Sauron in motion, reproduced with great brilliance (even if it rests on two thin bars that hold it “in the void”) and which glows. On this topic, it should be noted that the light brick is not placed directly behind the eye, but below it, a few centimeters away. To take full advantage of the effect, you will need to be in total darkness.

Finally, Barad-dûr comes with another small element: a piece of rock thanks to which we can recreate the scene where Sam and Frodo destroy the ring, much to Gollum’s displeasure. Three figures are included.

Some amazing details of Barad-dûr in Lego

We cannot really judge the aesthetic quality of this fortress. After all, it’s just a huge black shape, carved high and studded with spikes. But Lego tried to give it some “color” by treating the rock it rests on. We could also take a long look at the lava surrounding Barad-dûr. By combining three transparent shades (red, orange, yellow) we get a striking 3D effect and a particularly successful texture.

Here are some details to remember :

• By pulling the mechanism under the throne, the throne splits in two and gives way to the stone of Ithil, depicting Middle-earth in fire and blood. There is also a map behind (unfortunately just a sticker).

• A figure of Sauron in armor, as he appears in the opening of the film Fellowship of the Ring, is (for now?) exclusive to this set. And it pays homage to the legendary villain of the saga, making him almost cute with his helmet and armor made from a single block. For collectors, it can make a solid case for acquiring the set.

• The ring is obviously represented in this product. One Ring is present in three copies, physically. There’s also a secret hideout built into the structure, centered around a room littered with pointing stickers three more rings. Nice wink.

• Armor inside mithril is coming back. Already present in Rivendell, it is still there, placed on a table in a room that resembles a small office. It is, again, a simple sticker.

• Gollum has his own place, a hiding place from which he can monitor what is happening in Barad-dûr. He can even eat his favorite food: fish (yes, it’s ugly in real life as well as in Lego).

• In the different bags that are in the box (40 in total) you can find a lot of accessories. Swords, armor, objects that serve as references… And imagine if Lego thought to provide goblin helmets for Sam and Frodo, the helmets they wear to sneak into the fortress. It wasn’t mandatory at all.

Lego Barad-dûr in figures

• Number of pieces: 5,471;
• Number of figures: 10;
• Measurements: height 83 cm, width 45 cm and depth 30 cm;
• Recommended age: 18 years and older;
• Number of bags: 40;
• Time needed to make: about ten hours;
• Price (Lego website): €459.99.

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