Even decades after J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were first enjoyed by readers as a series of fantastical novels, fans are still sharing their love for the world of Middle-earth, including a group of friends who built a massive LEGO model of Minas Tirith with almost 100,000 bricks and 8 months of dedicated work. A number of impressive Lord of the Rings LEGO sets have been released over the years, but diehard fans often appreciate bringing the iconic locations of Middle-earth to life completely from scratch.
LEGO has often been praised by audiences for its incredible variety of building kits, which often draw inspiration from pop culture and feature iconic franchises like Super Mario Bros., Star Wars, Harry Potter, Pokemon, and even LEGO sets based on anime. It should come as no surprise that a powerhouse series like The Lord of the Rings has already made its way into the ever-growing LEGO lineup, but many have been shocked to see an incredible Minas Tirith build that was developed without any handy guides or pre-fabricated kits.
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The Lord of the Rings Minas Tirith LEGO Build
Reddit user hatzequiday shared snapshots of an unbelievably huge LEGO Lord of the Rings Minas Tirith build that they found at a local shop. They spoke with one of the creators, who revealed that the entire structure was made with 99,500 individual LEGO pieces and took over 8 months to finish. Specifically, a group of six friends met for roughly 4 hours during a single evening every week until the project was completed, resulting in a grand total of 768 hours of combined labor between all six contributors, who each provided 128 hours of meticulous LEGO building. Considering the novels' description of Minas Tirith and the version that debut on the silver screen with Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, it is rather fitting that the custom LEGO version of the capital of Gondor is equal parts awe-inspiring and daunting.
In a bit of humorous irony, there have been rumors of an official LEGO Minas Tirith kit set to launch in 2026, though that particular set is alleged to be much smaller, "only" comprised of roughly 8,278 pieces. One point of curiosity discussed among LEGO fans was the estimated price tag for the customized Minas Tirith built by the group of six Lord of the Rings fans. LEGO aficionados are likely familiar with the average 10-13 cents per LEGO piece, when looking at the price of a full kit versus how many pieces are included, so some commenters believe the gargantuan Minas Tirith could have cost anywhere from $9,950 on the low end to upwards of $12,935, if not more. Financial costs aside, many were beyond impressed with the amount of time spent on the project, leading many to liken such an effort to the journey of The Fellowship.
With the rumored upcoming Lord of the Rings LEGO set for Minas Tirith expected to drop sometime in June 2026, many have been inspired to dive into the kit and try their own hand at building one of the most iconic locations from The Lord of the Rings in LEGO brick style. Fans have been hoping for more epic Lord of the Rings LEGO builds, and Minas Tirith seems an apt new addition to an already impressive lineup of Middle-earth building kits. Of course, the official sets pale in size comparison to the original creations of dedicated fans, but perhaps one day LEGO will be ambitious enough to offer a massive kit that will help bring the fantasy of of The Lord of the Rings to life.
- Release Date
- December 17, 2003
Cast
-
Elijah WoodFrodo -
Ian McKellenGandalf -
Viggo MortensenAragorn -
Sean AstinSam
WHERE TO WATCH
- Runtime
- 201 minutes
- Director
- Peter Jackson
- Writers
- Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, J.R.R. Tolkien
- Producers
- Barrie M. Osborne, Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Mark Ordesky, Robert Shaye
- Prequel(s)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
- Franchise(s)
- The Lord of the Rings
