LEGO The Lord of the Rings sets generally don’t come cheap, but an alternate build for the latest LEGO Ideas release offers a more accessible entry point to Middle-earth.
If you want to dive into LEGO The Lord of the Rings in 2026, your cheapest option (at the time of writing…) is 10367 The Lord of the Rings: Balrog Book Nook at £110. But if you’re willing to embrace the world of alt builds there are more and potentially better options, including this latest design from veteran fan designer terauma. Hot on the heels of their recent Balrog makeover, they’ve now transformed the latest LEGO Ideas set into Treebeard.
To pull off this build you’ll need only the pieces from 21365 Love Birds, which is a much simpler path to Middle-earth’s most recognisable Ent than sourcing individual elements for a custom build (or the official LEGO design in the long-retired and very expensive 10237 Tower of Orthanc). The Merry and Pippin minifigures aren’t included – you’ll find those in 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell – but all the other pieces are.
21365 Love Birds retails for £44.99 in the UK, $49.99 in the US and €49.99 in Europe, and includes 750 pieces all in all. Terauma’s Treebeard build uses just 430 of them, so you’ll have a bunch of additional parts to assimilate into your wider collection too. But there’s something very fitting about converting probably the most detailed LEGO tree to date into a walking, talking fantasy tree.
It isn’t the first LEGO tree to act as the foundation for a Two Towers-inspired build, though: Rebrickable user Vanestream did the same thing with 10281 Bonsai Tree, which retails for the same price as 21365 Love Birds but can frequently be found discounted through third-party retailers. The two builds are pretty different, so best to pick your favourite between their designs before worrying about the price of the required set.
Hit the links below to find the instructions for these models over on Rebrickable.
Either LEGO Treebeard build would also make a fine companion to the current line-up of larger LEGO Icons The Lord of the Rings sets, including 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell, 10333 The Lord of the Rings: Barad-dûr and 10354 The Lord of the Rings: The Shire. All those are available now, as are 10281 Bonsai Tree and 21365 Love Birds.
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