Gandalf Arrives (9469)
Join Gandalf the Grey as he travels to the Shire to celebrate the 111th birthday of his old friend Bilbo Baggins and relive the opening scene of The Fellowship of the Ring! As Gandalf makes his way through the Shire on his horse and cart, he meets an excited young hobbit, Frodo Baggins. This is where the legendary adventure of The Lord of the Rings begins!

Shelob Attacks (9470)
Plotting to reclaim The One Ring, Gollum lures Frodo into the lair of the ancient giant spider, Shelob. Will Shelob cast her web and capture poor Frodo or can Frodo’s brave hobbit friend Samwise Gamgee use the Elven sword Sting and rescue him in time? You decide!

Uruk-hai Army (9471)
Under attack by the evil Uruk-hai Army, the ancient fortress at Helm’s Deep is the last refuge for the people of Rohan! As the Uruk-hai draw near, they fire hooks from the armored hook shooter and try to scale the fortress walls. Can Éomer and the Rohan soldier hold back the Uruk-hai and save the day?

The Orc Forge (9476)
The Uruk-hai army is growing! Grown in the smoldering depths of Isengard, the Uruk-hai and their general, Lurtz, pull one new Uruk-hai after the other from the ground. Use the winch and slide the metal into the smelting pot to make weapons for the growing army. Dig out the Uruk-hai from the ground. There’s no rest when there’s a dark army to build!

Attack on Weathertop (9472)
Resting in the ancient fortress ruins of Weathertop, Aragorn, Frodo and Merry are suddenly attacked by the Ringwraiths, the evil servants of Sauron! Will the Ringwraiths take The One Ring from Frodo or can Aragorn stop the evil Ringwraiths in time?

The Mines of Moria (9473)
On their epic journey across the lands of Middle-earth, the heroic Fellowship of the Ring travels through the abandoned Mines of Moria. Pursued by the evil Moria orcs and a giant Cave Troll, Pippin, Boromir, Gimli and Legolas make a stand in Balin’s Tomb. Can the heroes hold back the evil horde and make it out of the mine unhurt?

The Battle of Helm’s Deep (9474)
The walled fortress at Helm’s Deep is under attack by the mighty Uruk-hai army. The forces of men, elves, and a dwarf must do everything they can to stop them from breaching the fortress walls. Can they prevent the Berserker Uruk-hai planting the bomb and blowing up the wall? Will they stop the enemy climbing up the siege ladders?

Minifigs

There is only one minifigure included in the set and that, of course, is R2-D2. It is the the same one that we’ve seen before in previous 2012 sets.

Build

As stated before, there are 15 bags in which a couple has bags in them as well. In Bag 1, you start off by building the base of the astro droid including the recharge coupling in the front. As you can see, there are many colored pieces along with with some basic white pieces. Nothing too special here.

In Bag 2, we continue with the building the center part of the droid. At this point, you can now see his rounded shoulders. As we move up, we also build the front door panels for his gadgets. On the back side, there is a hole for the third leg release switch that we’ll be building shortly as well as turn switches to pop out his gadgets. For the sides of the inner walls, there are some Technic pieces to act as stabilizers for the leg mechanism.

As we move to Bag 3, the upper body is pretty much assembled. Here we can see the Spacecraft Linkage Control Arms completed as well as the Utility Circular Saw and the Universal Computer Interface arm. In the front, the Burtt Acoustic Signaler and the System Ventilation are nicely built.

For Bag 4, we start building the third leg mechanism and the back switch using a lot of Technic pieces. The yellow connector is joined with elastic bands to form the latch to keep the leg raised or lowered. Also the side panels right below the legs are covered up with some grill pieces.

As we come to the halfway point of the set, Bag 5 allows us to build the retractable third leg as well as the base of R2-D2′s head. The leg fits right between the the yellow mechanism in the previous step.

Moving to Bag 6, we now build the the legs for both sides. They are mounted by a red Technic pin. There are some SNOT work for the blue cover area of the legs.

In Bag 7, the little droid finally gets to stand on his own two feet. Here we see some nice uses of cheese wedges to shape the feet. It slips right into the leg piece where it is secured with a blue pin on the bottom of the feet.

In Bag 8, we build the covers for the shoulder pieces as well as what I believe are the fuel cells for R2-D2. There are also brown tubes which are the Powerbus Cables. The fuel cells easily attach to the inside part of the legs.

As we’re getting close to completing the set, we finally get to build the head. It did get a little annoying to put together in the beginning because it was a little flimsy until the third level. You continue to build up until the dome is almost complete. Some notable features you see are his Holographic Projector and Primary Photoreceptor/Radar Eye in the front and his Secondary Holographic Projector in the back.

On the final bag of the set, we get to cover up the rest of the head and attach it to the body. We also build the stand for the plaque and the R2-D2 minifigure. You also get a good amount of extra pieces in the end.

Results

Overall, this is a really nice set. Building him was very enjoyable and worth the time to make it. I think LEGO did a great job in making our favorite astro droid into a collector’s item that we can construct. The dark blues and grays make the figure stand out. Although it does look a little blocky on the head, it’s not bad at all. The back of the body looks a bit plain but that’s ok.

Some of the features of the set includes a fully rotatable head and the gadgets in the front panel. They include the Circular Utility Saw and the Universal Computer Interface Arm which both extend out. The Linkage Control Arms also flip out right under the dome.

The main feature is the retractable third leg which flips out from the lever in the back. To do this, lean him forward and flip the lever to the “down” position and the leg will drop down. To retract the leg, just flip the lever to the “up” position and it’ll lock in place.

Again, LEGO put a lot of detail in planning and designing this set. He measures 7″ wide and 12″ tall so this is a pretty nice-sized figure. This will definitely be a nice showcase set to add to your collection.

Third Leg Released

Features

Bonus

As I stated before, I got this set during the May the 4th promotion. Along with the purchase, I did get an exclusive TC-14 minifigure as well as a Limited Edition R2-D2 poster. The posters are limited to 48480 and I received #6171.

At the end of instruction book #3, you get the see a preview of the new Summer 2012 Star Wars sets.

LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series R2-D2 (10225)

The newest set to achieve 10000 supporters is the Modular Western Town by mb_bricks. The set first appeared on LEGO CUUSOO on 10/14/11 and seven months later, it now has the opportunity to become an official LEGO set. After the revisions to the standards and guidelines of what is acceptable to be an official set, it seems to be looking good for the Modular Western Town. There are no controversial content or licensing issues, and plus, LEGO already had a Western them from many years ago so initially it looks good to go. Now we wait for the LEGO Jury to review the set. Congratulations to mb_bricks for this achievement! Below is the official LEGO comment on the set.

Congrats on 10,000 Supporters, mb_bricks!

We will post follow-up information and our decision here.
The LEGO CUUSOO Team

Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace – Naboo

The epic Battle of Naboo pits Gungan forces against the Trade Federation’s battle droids for control of the planet and its capital city, Theed, The Royal Palace, home to Queen Amidala, is constructed of more than 15,000 LEGO bricks. In the Theed hanger bay, young Anakin Skywalker saves the day by flying his Naboo starfighter to victory while Jedi Knights Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn battle the Sith apprentice, Darth Maul.

Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones – Geonosis

In the Geonosis execution arena, Padme Amidala, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker battle three ferocious creatures: the massive reek, the terrifying acklay, and the ravenous nexu. The Geonosis arena itself is built to 1:180 scale; If the LEGOLAND Model Builders had built it to a scale of 1:20 like the other Miniland models, it would be more than 29 feet high! Also depicted is the Battle of Geonosis, where the Separatist Droid Army clashes with the Grand Army of the Republic in the first conflict of the Clone Wars.

Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith – Kashyyyk & Mustafar

Two planets are shown here: The Battle of Kashyyyk depicts the Droid Army’s amphibious assault on the home planet of Chewbacca and the Wookiees. The scene features two AT-APs (All Terrain Attack Pods) plus the massive Clone Turbo Tank, which is constructed from 10,180 LEGO pieces and took 168 hours to build. On the opposite side is the volcanic planet of Mustafar, where the fateful duel between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker takes place.

Star Wars: IV A New Hope – Tatooine

The desert planet is the childhood home of Luke Skywalker. In the spaceport city of Mos Eisley, you will find the Cantina where Luke and Obi-Wan Kenobi first meet up with Han Solo, captain of the Millennium Falcon, and his copilot Chewbacca. As the band plays on, Greedo corners Han Solo just before the group narrowly escapes the planet with C-3P0 and R2-D2. It took LEGOLAND Model Builders 142 hours to design and build the Millennium Falcon, using 19,200 pieces.

Star Wars: V The Empire Strikes Back – Hoth

The Rebels establish a secret base on this frozen planet, which is home to wampas and tauntauns. But the Empire’s probe droids discover their location, and send massive AT-ATs (All Terrain Armored Transport) and nimble AT-STs (All Terrain Scout Transport) to attack Echo Base. Inside the base, Rebel snowspeeders and Luke Skywalker’s X-wing fighter can be seen. Outside, Luke’s snowspeeder has crashed, but the young Jedi uses his lightsaber to single-handedly bring down the giant AT-AT.

Star Wars: VI Return of the Jedi – Endor

The forest moon of Endor is home to the Ewoks. These small but resourceful creatures join forces with the Rebel Alliance to destroy the shield generator and prevent completion of the second Death Star. the Imperial shuttle can be seen on the landing platform, where Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, has arrived. Next to the landing platform is the massive shield generator, which stands 8 feet tall.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Christophsis

The animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars takes place chronologically between Episode II and III and follow the adventures of Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi. The scene represents Christophsis, a crystalline planet, where Republic clone troopers battle the Separatist army. Anakin single-handedly attacks an Octuptarra droid while Obi-Wan prepares to repel the advancing droid army. The Crystal City building is the largest Star Wars Miniland LEGO model and is made of more than 20,000 pieces.

LEGOLAND California Model Shop

This is where LEGOLAND Master Model Builders prepare and create models for the park. You can see many different models they’ve created throughout the days.

LEGOLAND California Block of Fame

This is a walkway that displays LEGO busts of historical figures as well as other famous people. Depictions of the busts include George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Queen Elizabeth II, Ludwig Van Beethoven, William Shakespeare, Luciano Pavarotti, Albert Einstein, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Salvador Dali, Marilyn Monroe, and Elvis Presley.

LEGOLAND California Star Wars Fan Gallery

On top of the Model Shop is an area for the Fan Gallery setup by FBTB. Here you can see MOCs created by many talented people and various LUGs. There is also an amazing Star Wars mosaic created by Ace Kim and FBTB. In the back, there are minifigure portraits from Gareth Payne and Mike Stimpson as well as a massive Endor MOC by Mark Borlase aka Brickplumber.