The Lord of the Rings: Barad-dûr™ LEGO™ set is HUGE. The set comes with 5471 pieces including 10 minifigures in 40 individual bags. (LEGO #10333)
You might need to find some more space in the house because this set is larger than most. It comes with the following specs:
- Height: 83cm / 32.5 in
- Width: 45cm / 17.5 in
I also weighed the box before opening it and it comes in at 7kg (over 15 pounds)
Sections of Barad-dûr
The inside of Barad-dûr was not seen in the movies and it was not described in the books, so the creators of this set had to imagine what was inside.
Interestingly, you don’t start building the tower immediately. First you build a rocky platform from Mount Doom where Frodo will eventually throw the ring down into the lava.
The fortress is divided into three main sections (and three books, one for each):
- The lower level with the gates, forge dungeon and a random fish.
- The middle level which is the Orc dining hall and kitchen.
- The upper section which is the thinner tower part topped with the Eye of Sauron.
Each level is built separately and can then be joined together later. They slide together nicely once finished and become quite sturdy.
Lower Level of Barad-dûr
Front Gates
There is a knob (looks like part of the rocky structure) on the left side of the fortress that if you turn it, the front gates will open.
Forge
There is a forge, an anvil, a weapon-sharpening tool, a barrel with some weapons in it and on display are some shields and helmets that have already been made and lined up ready to be used in battle. These will be great to use with your orc minifigures for your imaginary battle scenes. 😆
To the right of the forge (when looking at the set from behind) there is a little room with a large fish of all things. I’m not sure about the significance of it, but it is there. Above the small “fish room” is a hidden section that can be pulled out. It contains a spider, fortunately not a real one, unless you forget to dust.
Dungeon
There is a skeleton in a cage hanging above lava. This cage is hanging from a chain and it can be lowered into the lava pit.
Middle Level of Barad-dûr
Dining Hall for Orcs
In the middle of the dining hall is a long table with goblets and various things to eat.
To the right is a cauldron hanging above a lava stove. It contains a carrot and a bone (yum!)
At the back wall is a bench with some cooking tools and ingredients.
On the left is a barrel containing some green liquid. (There are two green “splashes” of it on the ground)
There is another hidden compartment that contains secrets about the Rings of Power that were forged by the Elves.
Something fun thing about this section is a large sign that you can more or less understand as saying Menu with a picture of meat under it. If you are a fan of the movies, you might remember a scene with an orc saying “Looks like meat’s back on the menu, boys!” Well, this “menu” part of the Orc dining hall refers to that scene. Note: this “menu” comes as a sticker for one of the larger pieces.
There are three orcs included in this section, including one called Gothmog.
Upper Level of Barad-dûr
The upper level contains four separate sections: the throne room, a study, a library, and the Eye of Sauron.
Throne room
The lower section of this upper section (does that make sense, probably not) has a throne room. Beside the throne are two black and red banners with the Eye of Sauron in the middle (these come as stickers). There is a lever that can be pulled from the base of this section which will open the throne in two parts to reveal a chamber at the back that contains a Palantír (seeing stone – much like video chat back in LOTR’s time). On the back wall you will find a map of Middle Earth (comes as a sticker). These are the battle plans that Sauron has in his quest to conquer all of Middle Earth. You can see Barad-dûr appears in one corner of this map.
Study
Immediately above the throne room (in the thin tower part) is a study with a desk that has a quill, and an unopened letter. Next to these is a Mithril shirt (comes as a sticker) and a green potion on a shelf. Above the desk are some shelves and a large portrait of Sauron (all come as stickers).
Library
Above the study is a library containing many shelves with old scrolls and maybe some cocktail recipes too, who knows. The ladder moves and circles around the library to reach the scrolls on the higher shelves.
Eye of Sauron
The Eye of Sauron swivels and moves in most directions so it can follow you. You can also flip the eye to look behind. There is a light brick at the back of the tower that shines a red light onto the eye to give it a nice glowing effect.
What minifigures are included in the Barad-dûr Set?
There are 10 minifigures included in this set.
- Sauron – This is the first Lego minifigure of Sauron and his helmet was designed specifically for this set (as in not made of from a past set). He also has his huge mace for crushing things, ever so nicely of course.
- Mouth of Sauron – Look at those teeth – ready for a toothpaste commercial … say cheese!
- Gothmog – an orc – the only one that is named in the set.
- Orc 1
- Orc 2
- Orc 3
- Orc 4
- Frodo – I think he appears somewhere in the story. 🙂 Oh, and he comes with a ring.
- Sam – He is holding a sword in one hand and The Phial of Galadriel in the other. Sam recovered it after killing Shelob (the giant spider).
- Gollum – Was redesigned for this set and includes a new face decoration.
Random Facts
Now for a dose of Random Facts you didn’t need to know but I’ll share them with you anyway …
- The Mouth of Sauron is not actually the physical mouth of a random person called Sauron. No, he is in fact one of Sauron’s most devoted servants and served as an emissary. He was the Lieutenant of the Barad-Dûr tower during the War of the Ring. In the Peter Jackson version of Lord of the Rings, the Mouth of Sauron only appears in a scene that was eventually cut from the main release but appears in the extended version.
- A new transparent orange flat 1×4 LEGO tile was made specifically for the lava flow in this model. There are 63 of them in the set.
- The spears and blade pieces on the side of the tower where coloured black for this set.
- Barad-dûr means “Dark Tower” in the Elvish language.
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