The past two years, LEGO released the LEGO The Hobbit sets right around Thanksgiving, just in time for holiday shoppers to rush out and buy them! But this year, LEGO is doing things a little bit differently. While I don’t expect that we’ll see all four of the LEGO Hobbit 2014 sets released at once, at least one of the sets coming our way is going to be out in just over one month’s time! Scheduled for release on October 15th, 2014–it’s the LEGO The Lonely Mountain 79018 set… with LEGO Smaug Dragon!

Though I’m certain that LEGO would have loved to have had a LEGO Smaug figure ready to go when “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” hit theaters last fall, that just didn’t happen. But as a consolation prize, LEGO let us see the 79018 LEGO The Hobbit The Lonely Mountain set extra-early this year, before the doors could even open at San Diego Comic-Con 2014!

And now, the set that many Hobbit fans have been waiting for will be arriving earlier than we expected–in mid-October 2014! While LEGO hasn’t officially stated that this will be the only LEGO The Hobbit set released in 10/2014, I’m reasonably confident that it will be.

While LEGO 79018 The Lonely Mountain is bearing the “The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies” logo on the box, the set itself is clearly based off of scenes from last year’s “The Desolation of Smaug” and not this year’s film. As such, New Line Cinemas/Warner Bros. won’t even allow images of the other 2014 LEGO The Hobbit sets circulate until October 2014, whereas the LEGO Lonely Mountain set will likely be in stores before we can see photos of the other set at all.

The big prize in the LEGO Lonely Mountain 79018 set is beyond a shadow of a doubt the LEGO Smaug dragon! We’ve had to wait almost a full additional year to get our grubby mitts on a LEGO Smaug the Dragon toy, but he’s finally ready to dive-bomb in and fire-breath on our minifigures!

I was initially lukewarm on the Smaug LEGO figure when it was unveiled, but as I’ve seen better-quality photos of Smaug and learned his dimensions, I’ve definitely warmed up to the fiery dragon (pun completely intended). I love the articulated jaw on Smaug, his poseable wings, and the removable LEGO flame that you can stick into Smaug’s mouth.

As he should be, Smaug is absolutely immense–he’s over 7” (24cm) high, 18” (47.5cm) long and 17” (42.5cm) wide! If there’s anything made of LEGOs more intimidating than a foot-and-a-half-long LEGO dragon, I don’t know what it is!

Along with the awesome Smaug LEGO Dragon, LEGO 79018 The Lonely Mountain includes five minifigures. Technically, all five minifigures are new, but unfortunately they’re just updated versions of the LEGO Bilbo Baggins minifigure and four of the LEGO Dwarfs (LEGO Fili, LEGO Kili, LEGO Balin and LEGO Dwalin).

On the one hand, it’s a bit of a bummer that we don’t get any new actual LEGO minifigures characters in a $130 set. On the other hand, LEGO has already done every character before a LEGO figure that makes sense to include in the LEGO Lonely Mountain set, so it’s really tough to complain about LEGO going the accurate route.

And oh yeah–there’s an actual LEGO Lonely Mountain environment included in this set too. The 79018 LEGO The Lonely Mountain diorama is, well… okay. It’s basically just some archways, steps and platforms stuck together. For a set that costs $129.99, I feel like LEGO could have easily made this environment itself a lot more impressive, but alas, it was not to be.

Just as I had always thought, the Arkenstone has been revealed to actually be a CHI crystal from LEGO Chima! Though Bilbo finds the Arkenstone mixed into the hoard with the rest of all of Smaug’s treasure, you also have the option in this set of attaching it to the Lonely Mountain’s throne. This is probably for the best, as–despite the box art–LEGO didn’t include any LEGO gold coins with this set! Poor Smaug! He doesn’t have much of a hoard to protect at all!

In addition to the throne, there’s a bunch of little diorama pieces and action features built into the Lonely Mountain LEGO set. There’s a pulley that can raise a LEGO basket up and down, weapons and tools all over the place, a ladder, a catapult, a hidden entrance to the mountain and a slide. It’s a bit of a hodge-podge, but it’s not the worst LEGO environment ever (though certainly not the best either).

Overall, the LEGO The Hobbit 79018 The Lonely Mountain set ends up looking like a set that’s only essential to me because of the inclusion of the very cool LEGO Smaug dragon. $129.99 for 866 pieces–15 cents per piece–is a truly terrible value per-piece. Even if you decide Smaug alone is worth $20 to you, the set still feels $25-$30 overpriced.

I am absolutely going to buy this set–because I really, really want that LEGO Smaug dragon and won’t mind getting new versions of some of the LEGO Dwarf minifigures–but I’ll be waiting for a sale (*gasp!*) to pick up this set myself.

The 79018 LEGO The Hobbit The Lonely Mountain set will be available through the online LEGO Store and in physical stores on 10/15/2014. This set isn’t a store exclusive, so you should be able to find at other chain stores on or around the release date as well.

What are your impressions of the LEGO Hobbit Lonely Mountain 79018 set, LEGO collectors? Will you be running off to the store to claim your own LEGO Smaug on the release date, or is this a set you only want to grab on sale (or not at all)?