One of the worst-kept secrets in the LEGO collecting world is that LEGO has been planning a full line-up of LEGO The Hobbit sets to coincide with the release of this winter’s “The Hobbit” movie, directed by Peter Jackson. However, LEGO has managed to successfully guard all details and images pertaining to the LEGO Hobbit sets–until this weekend, when LEGO proudly debuted three of the six sets that will comprise the 2012 LEGO The Hobbit theme at New York Comic Con 2012! We were on-hand for the event and have included photos and impressions of each of the three sets that debuted at New York Comic Con 2012 this weekend. As the three sets were only displayed within a glass display case, we weren’t able to get the photos as high-resolution as we would have liked, but they should give everyone a good idea of what to expect from the LEGO The Hobbit theme when it debuts this winter.

While not the largest or most expensive set in the 2012 LEGO The Hobbit range of building sets, 79003 LEGO An Unexpected Gathering is unquestionably the most iconic and high-profile of the sets that LEGO is producing for the movie. LEGO The Hobbit An Unexpecting Gathering brings the legendary Bag End Hobbit Hole of The Shire to life for the very first time in toy form! Before this set, the closest we’ve ever come to having a toy of Bag End is the stand-alone front door that came with the Toybiz Bilbo Baggins action figure from “The Fellowship of the Ring”. This set really is a dream come true for hobbit lovers!

While the set is called “An Unexpected Gathering”, collectors won’t be getting minifigures of all the Dwarfs that meet up at that fabled gathering at Bag End. LEGO 79003 An Unexpected Gathering will include LEGO minifigures of Bilbo Baggins (in his Shire attire), Gandalf the Grey, Balin the Dwarf, Dwalin the Dwarf, Bombur the Dwarf and Bofur the Dwarf. Collectors who want the other nine Dwarfs minifigures will have to purchase the rest of the LEGO The Hobbit sets, as the remaining Dwarfs minifigures have been sprinkled amongst the remaining five sets.

The LEGO An Unexpected Gathering set will contain 652 pieces and have a retail price of $69.99. If I was a betting man, I’d say that this Shire-themed LEGO set will easily be the best-selling LEGO Lord of the Rings set of 2012.

The smallest The Hobbit LEGO set to debut at New York Comic Con 2012 is the value-priced LEGO The Hobbit Riddles for the Ring 79000 set. There’s not a whole lot to say about this particular set, as it contains only 105 pieces and will retail for $11.99. This set represents the critical scene in the Lord of the Rings saga in which Bilbo steals The One Ring from Gollum’s cave.

Because of its positioning in the corner of the display case, we couldn’t get a clear shot of the LEGO Riddles for the Ring set without glare, but you can see that this is a pretty basic set. Essentially, this set is being produced so that kids can get Bilbo and Gollum minifigures for a low price, and also so that parents can pick up a cheap stocking-stuffer LEGO set for The Hobbit if they don’t feel like picking up the more elaborate sets.

The final set that LEGO debuted at New York Comic Con 2012 this year is the LEGO The Hobbit The Goblin King Battle 79010. This is the largest set in the LEGO Hobbit theme, ringing in at a $99.99 retail price and 841 pieces. The underground battle with the goblins was only a minor arc in the original “The Hobbit” novel, but looks to be greatly expanded upon and increased in importance for Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit” movie trilogy.

LEGO The Goblin King Battle set will include more minifigures than any other LEGO The Hobbit set. A total of seven minifigures are included: another Gandalf the Grey minifigure along with Dori the Dwarf, Nori the Dwarf, Ori the Dwarf, The Goblin King, a Goblin Scribe and 2 Goblin Soldiers. The oversized LEGO Goblin King minifigure looks to be an all-new mold that is appropriately much larger than standard LEGO minifigures.

All three of these LEGO The Hobbit sets, in addition to three as-yet unrevealed sets, are scheduled to be released in the Holiday 2012 period between late November and early December. I’ll provide more details and coverage of the LEGO The Hobbit theme sets as LEGO makes more information about the sets available.