LEGO 40761 The Lord of the Rings: Sméagol and Deagol GWP review

LEGO 40761 The Lord of the Rings: Sméagol and Deagol is available now exclusively with The Shire, and it’s certainly a gift that will help make the purchase sweeter.

Available exclusively with 10354 The Lord of the Rings: The Shire from April 2 to 8 (or while stocks last), this limited-edition gift-with-purchase includes 181 pieces and two unique minifigures. A good beginning, you may agree – and most importantly we have never seen Sméagol or Déagol in minifigure form, so let’s start by looking at them.

They both use previously-seen, though not necessarily common, pieces – except for their faces, which are unique to this set and both come with dual expressions. Sméagol is made using the dual moulded legs now common for hobbits. His torso we have previously seen used on Argus Filch in Harry Potter and the hair we have seen on Igor Karkaroff. The face captures the character well with nice and wicked expressions.

Déagol uses the same legs, the torso used for Sam Gamgee in 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell and the hobbit hair in dark brown. His face too is unique, with a happy expression on one side and holding his breath on the other. Both minifigures capture the characters well and it’s nice to see them here, as outside of this GWP it was not really something we’d ever likely have seen in a set. 

The build itself is simple yet effective. The above/below water divide is really fun and allows for a few different display options, though the one with Déagol underwater is the most eye-catching (even if it’s tricky to get Déagol’s hand on and off the bar piece that allows him to ‘swim’). The boat is rather large and a somewhat awkward shape, but the design of the base makes the entire composition feel more organic and interesting on display, while the tree is a nice build too – it could be better, sure, but the shape is at least interesting and it avoids too many exposed studs.

The colours used in 40761 The Lord of the Rings: Sméagol and Deagol are great too, with reddish brown, dark blue, green, dark green and some trans-light blue in the mix. The size makes it a nice little display that can easily stand alone, and the fact it’s available now will make it just a little bit easier to justify purchasing The Shire. For our money it’s a step up from last year’s 40693 The Lord of the Rings: Fell Beast in most departments, but opinions may be split on that one.

All that said, 40761 The Lord of the Rings: Sméagol and Deagol is a nice addition to any collector’s display shelf and really holds its own as a set. Now if only we could see more of these small display scenes available to purchase separately...

LEGO Icons 40761 The Lord of the Rings: Sméagol and Deagol is available from April 2nd until April 8, or while stocks last, when purchasing 10354 The Lord of the Rings: The Shire.

This product was provided by the LEGO Group for review purposes. 

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