LEGO Lord of the Rings Battle at The Black Gate Summer 2013 Set!

Now that I’ve finished covering the LEGO Legends of Chima Summer 2013 sets write-up and the LEGO Star Wars Summer 2013 sets news, I can move on to the short but sweet assortment of 2013 LEGO Lord of the Rings sets. First and foremost–the LEGO Lord of the Rings Battle at the Black Gate 79007. This was the first 2013 LOTR set that we saw leaked photos of the prototype of, but now we’ve that we’ve seen the finished model, we know exactly what to expect from this LEGO Return of the King set…

The Battle at the Black Gate is the climactic battle of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Aragorn leads all of the peoples of Middle Earth on an assault on Sauron’s Black Gate of Mordor. Though Aragorn knows that the battle will be futile, it’s intended as a distraction to allow Frodo to destroy the One Ring. This battle has several extras scenes in the Return of the King Extended Edition, and LEGO pays respect to them with this set!

With 656 pieces for a retail price of just $59.99, 79007 Battle at the Black Gate is one of the best values we’ve ever seen in the LEGO Lord of the Rings theme! That’s a good thing, too, because big fans of LEGO LOTR will probably want to get multiples of this set–the set only includes one tower and two sections of wall, so you’ll need to purchase an extra set or two to make the Black Gate look truly impressive. The elaborate architecture of the spiked Black Gate walls look great as it is, but the set seems just too small to me as-is to give off the grand effect necessary. I’ll be picking up at least two copies of this set myself.

Perhaps the craziest part of the LEGO Lord of the Rings 79007 Battle at the Black Gate set is the inclusion of a character that didn’t appear in the theatrical version of the Return of the King movie at all–the Mouth of Sauron! Riding atop his black steed, the Mouth of Sauron minifigure can ride out to taunt the King Aragorn minifigure over the alleged death of LEGO Frodo.

This particular costume is my absolute favorite for Aragorn from the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy, and I’m thrilled to get it in minifigure form. The King Aragorn minifigure is exclusive to this set, and he’s not alone–the set also includes an exclusive Gandalf the White minifigure, as well as an all-new exclusive LEGO Great Eagle figure. The Grand Eagles are pivotal in the Battle at the Black Gate, so it’s great to see one included (although I’d still really like a LEGO Fell Beast!).

Rounding out the set will be two Mordor Orc minifigures. The Orcs minifigures can stand up in the tower and bombard the Army of Middle Earth! I’m glad there’s multiple Mordor Orc figures included with this set, as that will allow army-builders’ collections to multiply much quicker if they buy multiple Battle at the Black Gate 79007 sets to expand the Black Gate.