Review: LOTR 9469 Gandalf Arrives

[Review] Lord of the Rings 9469: Gandalf Arrives

Hi Everyone,
Manage to get this at the recent BE storewide sale. And to begin to bring the fellowship together on the quest to destroy the One ring! I’m sure almost everyone has it, now let’s take look what’s inside..

Set Information
Name: Gandalf Arrives
Number: 9469
Theme: Lord of the Rings
Release: 2012 (June)
Pieces: 83
Figures: 2
Price: SG S$29.90

Shop@Home said:
Visit the Shire with Gandalf the Grey and Frodo!

Join Gandalf the Grey as he travels to the Shire to celebrate the 111th birthday of his old friend Bilbo Baggins and relive the opening scene of The Fellowship of the Ring! As Gandalf makes his way through the Shire on his horse and cart, he meets an excited young hobbit, Frodo Baggins. This is where the legendary adventure of The Lord of the Rings begins!
Includes 2 minifigures: Gandalf the Grey and Frodo Baggins.

• Includes 2 minifigures: Gandalf the Grey and Frodo Baggins
• Also includes the new LEGO horse
• Accessories include book, staff, backpack and letter
• Features horse cart, carrot and barrel with fireworks
• Collect the exclusive Gandalf the Grey minifigure!
• Build the scene where the adventure began!
• Cart and horse measures 6" (16cm) long

Links: Shop@Home | Brickset

The Box

At the top we have the classic movie font of the main title and the One Ring one the right. The box art shows the set with a lovely background of Hobbiton. I do recall in the movie that Frodo was standing on a ledge and greeting Gandalf, but here, looks like the horse is gonna crash into him!


The back of the box features the set from another angle and the sub frames show all the ‘play’ scenes, which I think none of the scenes had actually occurred in the movie. An ad for the Lord of the Rings game occupies the bottom left corner.


Contents

The contents only fill up about half the box. The instructions were folded in half, though there was enough space for it not to. There are 2 bags, and the new horse without any packaging.

Instructions

The instructions had a map, lightly printed, in the background. With the light brown colour, it gave a very parchment feel, in line with the look of the theme.

Minifigs (and horses)
The minifigs are quite good and gives a good representation of the characters. There’s back printing on both minifigs but only Frodo has an alternate face. Well, it’s a
good starter sets as these are the main characters in the fellowship.




The horse is the new model which got everyone talking. I must say it is so much more pose-able and gives it a sense of movement.



Build

Being the smallest set, building it was super quick. The wagon has quite an interesting method of building. Although at certain angles it does looks like there are many gaps present, but I think it is ok and generally creates the shape and look from the movie.

Conclusion
Scores
Design & Build – 6
The build is very simple and straight forward. It’s basically the smallest and simplest set in this theme, and serves to entice you to get the whole range.

Parts – 6
Don’t there’s anything new, but good bricks to integrate into your MMV. Always nice to have a extra wagon to add to the busy market.

Figures – 8
Bonus points go to the horse! However, when I saw Frodo’s alt face, I thought of the scene where Gandalf gives the ring to Frodo. Wait, where’s the One Ring!?! I guess they forgot to include it and would want you to buy the bigger sets to obtain it.

Playability – 6
There isn’t much play except for recreating the scene itself. I place it in my workdesk for the ladies to trot the wagon around the top of your cubicle wall. Well, the wagon is moving along until it finds Bag End. *hint*hint*

Price - 6
This is pretty much the price I’ve come to accept small license sets to be in Singapore. So get it at a discount whenever you can.

Overall score: 6.5/10.
I got this set so that I can complete getting the whole series. It looks like it can’t complement the other sets at the moment, and I would believe this would go very well with the upcoming Bag End set instead. So you should know what I’m getting next.

Thanks for reading! I hope you guys enjoyed the review.

nice review............

this is the only set i lacked to complete the theme this year

i always thought that this set doesnt worth the money
more probably made to enticed people to army build the horse
your review also further justify i shall hold out on this set and see what hobbit theme had to offer...........


but most probably same like u, i will get it for the "completeness" sake

i agree with DC. got this set just to complete the series. seriously overpriced per piece, the worst among 1st wave lotr.

n if u need frodo n gandalf, u can just grab shelob set n the hobbit bagend set at the end of the year.

enough ranting from me. great review.

Great review. So far LOTR, i manage to get Uruk-Hai Army set in SG metro. I was told the price of lord of the rings might drop in US for it is not popular among the kids there. Whether this rumor is true or not, i guess i shall wait till the end of the year before i buy the remaining sets.

Thanks guys. I'm not an army builder, so I collect one set each to complete the series. Only best to get this at a sale.

kai_kuduo wrote:Great review. So far LOTR, i manage to get Uruk-Hai Army set in SG metro. I was told the price of lord of the rings might drop in US for it is not popular among the kids there. Whether this rumor is true or not, i guess i shall wait till the end of the year before i buy the remaining sets.

black friday sales.

Thank you Nukescientist for this fine review.

Thank you for this review. LOTR seems to be setting the standards for castle theme, good news for all castle-rs