10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell solves an age-old LEGO problem

10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell takes an age-old LEGO problem and finds the perfect solution – but it’s one that could perhaps only have worked within the context of this particular set.

When the LEGO Group introduced short legs for minifigures in the early 2000s (how better to represent Yoda?), the wider population of tiny plastic people faced a confounding conundrum: how do you sit down? The immobile shorter legs have since prevented these diminutive characters from properly accessing chairs, benches and stools for more than two decades.

A sort-of-solution to the problem arrived in 2018, with the introduction of mid-sized legs. These are shorter than regular legs, so still communicate a height difference, but are also hinged, to allow minifigures to be displayed in multiple poses – and, crucially, sit down. But for 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell, the LEGO Group returned to short legs for its Hobbit characters, reserving the mid-sized legs for dwarves Gimli and Gloin.

The age-old issue therefore reared its head, because the set couldn’t leave out Frodo Baggins sitting with the rest of the Fellowship of the Ring at the Council of Elrond. Thankfully, the designers managed to come up with an even more flexible solution – and it’s one that may only have been possible because 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell is an 18+ set geared primarily towards adults.

As glimpsed in the official images released so far, the 6,167-piece The Lord of the Rings set includes alternate brick-built legs to represent Frodo sitting down. You can see him seated at the Council of Elrond, and get a better look at the solution in full – which takes advantage of headlight bricks and 1×1 plates – in the image of Frodo perched on his elven bed.

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These elements obviously don’t allow for much in the way of flexibility or playability, and are only really intended for displaying Frodo across Rivendell’s various environments. They feel like the kind of thing that wouldn’t have flown in a playset aimed at kids, but that the LEGO Group has been able to get away with in a set priced at £429.99 / $499.99 / €499.99 and targeted at adults.

That wasn’t the only minifigure posing issue solved by brick-built elements: as you might have already caught across the images so far, a similar approach has also been taken to allow Gandalf and Elrond – both of whom use inflexible skirt elements – to take their seats in the council ring. From the official photos, it’s difficult to tell whether the slope pieces used to recreate their robes are printed or stickered, but either way it’s a welcome alternative.

This approach also feels exemplary of the attention to detail evident across the entirety of 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell, not least through its 15 minifigures. You can take a closer look at everything the LEGO Icons set has to offer in our visual tour.

10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell launches on March 5 for VIP members for £429.99 / $499.99 / €499.99, and includes a free copy of 40630 Frodo & Gollum during early VIP access. It will then launch for everyone (sans free BrickHeadz) on March 8.

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