LEGO The Lord of the Rings: The Shire minifigures are thanks to the party

LEGO 10354 The Lord of the Rings: The Shire has nine exclusive minifigures, and picking who made it into the set all came down to the party.

Tomorrow's early launch of 10354 The Lord of the Rings: The Shire for LEGO Insiders gives enthusiasts the chance to collect nine new Middle-earth minifigures, including eight exclusive hobbits. Selecting the minifigures in the latest LEGO The Lord of the Rings set all revolved around a singular scene and how the various characters reacted to Bilbo Baggins' birthday party.

"Of course, we start with what is recognisable in the scene from the movie, and then you start to flesh out who you need – Bilbo, Frodo and Gandalf – listing down what is left," explained design manager Ashwin Visser to DuckBricks. "Then we need to decide if we're going to have the firework dragon, do we need Merry and Pippin, and what can we do with Merry and Pippin? The alternate face prints with the smudges on their faces were the answers.

"Then we went further down the line, seeing Sam and Rosie having this moment at the party and deciding to include that," Ashwin continued. "We're creating all of these sub-stories with the characters. At one point, we had budget left for characters to fill up the scene, so we went through the movie again, and these two farmers are making a face (Mr and Mrs. Proudfoot), and again it creates this iconic scene of them being grumpy as the firework goes off."

By choosing the party as the subject of 10354 The Lord of the Rings: The Shire, the minifigure selection fell into place, and the design team were able to pick characters with strong ties and reactions to the party, even if some hobbits weren't as impressed as others with the celebrations.

"We wanted to give novelty where it's possible, so we decided to put everybody in their party outfit because that fits the entire scene, and it provided the opportunity for a lot of new torso prints"

You can take a closer look at those new torso prints by clicking here. LEGO Icons 10354 The Lord of the Rings: The Shire is almost here, launching early tomorrow for LEGO Insiders for  £229.99 / $269.99 / €269.99, with an exclusive gift-with-purchase while stocks last.

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