LEGO Shire prioritised interiors over hobbit real estate

The LEGO designer behind LEGO Icons 10354 The Lord of the Rings: The Shire has opened up about early versions of the newly-revealed set.

The centrepiece of 10354 The Lord of the Rings: The Shire is Bag End, the largest build of a set made up of various side builds. It’s the only sections that offers a glimpse of the interior, with the other smaller builds showcasing smaller exterior locations from around Hobbiton.

There was some early discussion of expanding the scope of the set, according to the LEGO Icons set’s designer, Kenyon Brady. Speaking to LEGO YouTuber DuckBricks at LEGO Fan Media Days, he described how there once was the possibility of multiple Hobbit-holes.

“There was a very early set that had more than one Hobbit-hole,” Kenyon said. “It was the whole hillside, but then the interiors of the individual holes became very limited.

“We wanted to really flesh out all these fun details, so we decided to zoom in on the iconic one that you actually see the interiors of in the movie. I think it really fits with the set in the end to make that choice and leave it to the fans to build out the Shire if they want to.”

The details of Bag End are what make 10354 The Lord of the Rings: The Shire work, as noted in our review by Johanna from HighTeaToys.

“Building the set was even better than I expected because there are a lot of things that the images don’t really show very well,” she said. Throughout the review, it’s the interior of Bag End that Johanna enjoys the most, while the side builds are, in her words, ‘take them or leave them’.

Some of the criticisms levelled against 10354 The Lord of the Rings: The Shire centre around the lack of value. However, adding other Hobbit-holes would have increased the price still further, perhaps edging the build closer to 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell’s size. Narrowing the focus has enabled the LEGO Icons The Lord of the Rings collection to enter a lower price point – even if some still deem that too high.

10354 The Lord of the Rings: The Shire will be available to buy for £229.99 / $269.99 / €269.99 set early from April 2 for LEGO Insiders, as well as a surprisingly dark gift-with-purchase, ahead of general release for everyone else from April 5, 2025. Click here to check out Brick Fanatics‘ full review, featuring Johanna from HighTeaToys.

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