This is probably the best set ever. The sheer beauty, size and detail of this set makes its price tag worth every cent no matter how much the cost hurt your wallet. You get every member of the fellowship and a whole bunch of other essential figures.

I will be honest the set has two flaws, its size makes it hard to display and I really wish we had stickers removed in place of prints. I currently have mine displayed in three parts as I have no cabinets bug enough.

But the positives heavily outweigh the negatives. I do hope that the success of these three massive sets leads to a much cheaper range of sets again.

An incredible set, with really fun details and minifigures. Definitely worth the money.

Very beautiful and great for display; great playability.

Fun to build and look at.

The waterfall and roof in particular were really fun to build.

The only problem is that some minifigures seem like they could have better leg prints, but that's a very minor problem.

This Rivendell set really transports the builder to the iconic location from the films. The size of the set allows it to include several different diorama scenes that make it perfect for playing, to recreate the scenes of the film or make up new stories with the incredible set of minifigures.

So this is my first review on this site and I write it, because I think this set is fantastic (my English is not, so please forgive me my errors ;) ).

Playability:

First of all this set is clearly an adult-set. Playability is, in my opinion, the weakest part of the set, but that is no criteria for me. It is pretty open, but I don't get to every spot with my hands after the build, maybe a child could. But then I don't think there are a lot of parents who buy their kids a Lego-Set in the range of 400-500 €.

Minifigures:

Absolut fantastic! Besides Indy, some Disney minifigures from the camera and the 100 Years Disney CMF-Series, this set has my favourite minifigures of the year. Especially Gimli and Boromir. Not only do these two have great printings but superb accessories with Gimli's helmet and Boromir's shield. The weapons for all the characters are great as well. The only thing I don't like here is the hair element for Legolas. I would have preferred the old one for him. For all the other elves, the new one is great.

Parts:

Great! There are just a few too colourful parts used in the foundation that you don't see after the build. Apart from that, the parts have appropriate colours for Rivendell in my opinion, and there are a few cool new pieces like the fern and the printed tiles. Plus you get a great variation. There are lots of tiles, bricks and plates in various sizes. With other sets I often have the feeling the budget at Lego is a bit too low and they try to put as little pieces as possible in a set to justify their pricetag. But not in this set. There are parts especially on the right side where I had the feeling the designers had some sort of carte blanche and could put just every detail they want. The only a little bit disappointing thing are the stickers. There are not many of them compared to the number of pieces the set has, but they are for greater details like the paintings.

Building experience:

Superb! The best I have had in a Lego set, and I've built more than half of the Modulars, which mostly have some of the best building experiences Lego offers. Although I didn't anticipate it as such, but the part on the right with the bridge and the gazebo was especially fun to build. The foundation is impressive because it manages to get a nearly perfect hexagon, which is normally not possible with Lego-parts. Even the roof, which seems a bit intimidating at first glance, was for me fun to build. I must say that I listened to the complete recordings of the Lord of the Rings Soundtrack while building, and I totally recommend that (I don't recommend watching films, as I already made enough mistakes building the set just listening to stuff ;) ).

Value for money:

This is hard to rate for me. I'm a big Lord of the Rings-fan and even my wife thinks this looks fantastic, and she is not easy to impress (she is an artist herself). So she was onboard for this and even encouraged me to buy it than it was reduced at a certain retailer. So we paid about 410 € which is a fair price for a fan like me. I probably would have even paid the 500 € if it never would have been reduced. But if you consider the sheer amount of pieces, the great and many minifigures and the fantastic building experience even the 500 € pricetag is worth it in my opinion. If you can get a reduced price of about 400 € and are a LotR-fan as well (and have enough budget for it) I would say it is nearly a no-brainer.

Overall:

As I said for me personally this is the best set Lego has ever made. It's clearly aimed at LotR-fans and as such you get a fantastic set. I have the feeling the effort put in this set is much higher then in almost every other set Lego produced so far. There are so many details! Even the trees are great! Some criticise that it's not a totally accurate realization compared to the films. But that is irrelevant for me (and probably not possible at a partly affordable price tag). For me it totally gets the atmosphere of the movies (and even the books). Plus the set looks amazing. It is the most beautiful set I've seen so far. Even such beauties as the Boutique Hotel or the Parisian Restaurant can't compete with Rivendell.

Concerning minifigures:

Largely, this is a flawless selection with a few notable exceptions. Several improvements over the previous versions of these characters have been made, which is good to see. However, among the issues is the thoroughly outdated hat piece used for Gandalf (baffling, since the perfect piece would appear to be that introduced for the Harry Potter theme with the dual-moulded hair), as well as the fact that Legolas still cannot wear a quiver under his (new) hair. Noted, these are tiny issues, and thankfully they are something that is obvious from the outset before you buy—as such you won't be disappointed by what you receive. The cause for frustration is that these were criticisms levelled at the previous version of these characters as well, a decade ago. The fact that they haven't been addressed is disappointing. The only other vague criticisms (far less significant even than those just described) are the face used for Arwen (I don't think a unique one was necessary—I just don't like the face) and the fact that given we have unnamed Elves, it might have been nice to see at least one with a different skin tone.

Concerning parts:

I don't build Lego as much as I used to and as such it felt like every other part here was new to me. Each of the new parts had a clear purpose and reason for existing, and I believe that anyone looking for a source of diverse, interesting and useful parts will certainly not be disappointed. The elements used for the trees I think should be particularly popular.

Concerning the build:

It is remarkable that the most mind-numbing and rage-inducing sections of the building process were *not* the roof tiles; rather it was the ornate "Elven" detailing, particularly on the gazebo. It's a delicate structure even when finished, but the build requires you to be holding it while adding bits on, which is difficult without moving what you've already done. The other issue is actually with the instructions: it's impossible to follow which direction certain parts are meant to be aimed or joined because of the angle of the image. It feels like this could have been solved by simply having them as separate steps.

Concerning the finished product:

It is beautiful. It's easily the best looking Lego set I've ever seen. This was obvious from the pictures, but it is worth saying that it looks better in real life, and in natural light. However, one final issue arises: there are not enough seats at the Council for all of the characters. Again this is something apparent from the images, and again it is a relatively tiny detail. But surely at this price 100% attention to detail is expected? Instead we have an extremely handsome model that doesn't so much want to have its cake and eat it—more like it wants to have its cake but insist that it's not really having cake at all. At this scale, and price, accuracy was surely the number one priority, so having a model that feels incomplete is a serious issue.

Concerning price:

Concerning is the word. I have trouble thinking any Lego set is worth over £300 (and I have a few). There's no denying that comparative to almost all other sets the value for money is extraordinary: but the inevitable and obvious comment is that it would be nice if it was cheaper. It goes without saying, but that doesn't mean it *shouldn't* be said.

Overall:

As wonderful and gorgeous as the model is, there are a few clangs of dissatisfaction with Rivendell, which for a set in this price bracket is bad news. The finished product is breathtaking and the value is technically superb, *and* the reality with a set like this is that you have to be so sure you want to buy it that some of these criticisms just don't factor. (It helps that they are all apparent from the outset.) My problem is not so much with the set itself at all, but with Lego's overall direction. When the set was announced I was expecting a microscale build, and was surprised when it wasn't. Having heard that that was indeed the initial plan, but the scale was altered to make the location more interactive with the minifigures, the dissatisfaction was clarified. The price and quality speak of a luxury, premium product, but I count three main areas where corners have very clearly been cut. The last thing anyone spending this amount of money on Lego should feel is shortchanged; overall I doubt they will, due to the quality of design. But if premium is the image they want to push, I don't think expecting absolute attention to detail is unreasonable. In fact I think it's essential, to stop prices of 18+ sets inflating and spiralling out of control.