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Legos have been a passion of mine for my whole life. Lord of the Rings has always been my favorite fictional series. So you can imagine how perfect it worked out that I was a kid when the first Lego Lord of the Rings waves came out. I was fortunate enough to get many classic Lego Lord of the Rings sets, including one I am particularly proud of that I will show at the end of this post. As I got older and no more Lego Lord of the Rings sets came out, I started to fall out of love with lego. Although I have gotten sets here and there, nothing had the same passion that I had growing up.
Then Rivendell came out. This set was the first set in years that I felt a deep passion for and REALLY wanted. Of course though it had to be $500. So brutal. After a year of saving and selling old sets plus finding a really good pre-owned deal, I was able to finally purchase Rivendell a month and a half ago. It was everything I could have hope for and more. Easily my second favorite set of all time (you'll see my favorite later).
Then Barad Dur leaked and released. Now I am once again at a loss. $460 is a lot of money, but the set is such a masterpiece and one of those sets that I have that deep passion for. It's the type of set that I would give up a lot of other sets for. Both Rivendell and Barad Dur seem fantastic and unique in their own regard. Now I am at a crossroads. I'm at a point in my life where I need to keep my lego budget to a minimum. So any lego budget will come from previous lego purchases. Keeping it as self sufficient as possible if my goal.
So this leads me to my question that I would love input on. Which is the better set/the more worthy investment: Rivendell or Barad Dur? What are yall's thoughts on each set and do you think saving up for Barad Dur is worth it?
PS: Here is my favorite set of all time (Helms Deep + 2 wall additions) + a MOC Barad Dur I made last night with leftover pieces from 2 small minecraft sets I got a while ago.
This is my first time ever posting on a lego forum so here we go lol.
Rivendell is an absolutely gorgeous set, but Barad Dur has Sauron…
It’s a tough call, but investment is different to display and Rivendell (in my opinion) displays better that Barad Dur.
I’m personally in a very similar situation and will go Rivendell when the cash becomes available, but I’m also not likely to go investment on it (but won’t be playing with it haha)
I think there’s two questions you’ll have to address in order to determine which is better for you to get between Rivendell and Barad-dûr:
Which side do you like more? Do you prefer the heroes of the story or the villains?
Which movie was your favourite?
I think personally that the Rivendell set is the best set for those who are nostalgic and really love the first film (that for most people introduced them to LOTR). Barad-dûr is for those who loved the ending of the story in Return of the King and Samwise Gamgee’s legendary carrying of Frodo and the One Ring through Mordor.
Depending on what you love more, go with that 😉
Also it’s important to remember that shops do have sales occasionally and I have seen Rivendell for as much as 15% off on Amazon, and over 20% off on other sites.