REVIEW: LEGO Hobbit 'Attack of the Wargs'

Warg? What is it good for?

There was a thudding at our door. We were prepared for an exciting, and unexpected, adventure to foreign lands; for battling monsters and evading dragons. But instead of an ageing wizard and a band of dwarves at the door, it was merely the postman. Still, he did bring us treasure and glory, albeit in the form of the latest LEGO Hobbit set.

Which, to be honest, we'd prefer.

You can get some great film and TV tie-in LEGO these days, the most popular undoubtedly being the Star Wars models and vehicles. But hot in the wake of the first of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings prequels, we now have a whole new world of bricks and minifigures to explore, namely that of Middle Earth and the Hobbit. We got our happy hands upon 'Attack of the Wargs' (LEGO set number 79002) and got with the building.

The scene the set recreates, for fans of the film and book to note, is when the party of dwarves (ahem, sorry- little people) are set upon by a bunch of fiendish orcs and snarling Wargs. They seek shelter in a huge tree, and you'd be forgiven for thinking from the image on the box that the tree is all this set comprises. Not so. You do in fact also get five minifigures - all of which are new to this set and therefore highly desirable - and two Wargs, which are nicely moulded big dogs. On the goodies' side we have the dwarves Thorin Oakensheild and Bifur, and on the baddies' side we have Yazneg, a fiendish looking fig, and also two hunter orcs.

The set comes in four bags as pictured and is made up of 400 pieces, most of which are brown (for the giant tree) and grey (for the orc catapult and what can only be described as Yazneg's posing perch). There are also plenty of green foliage prices, including some olive green ones that are new to LEGO, and some nice printed disc blocks to make mushrooms.

The build itself is fun and not too complicated. It starts with the grey pieces of the first bag before moving onto the larger tree. One great thing we found about the tree itself is that it can be rotated in two different places, allowing for a far more natural and organic model, throwing off the usual LEGO right angles. In total the whole thing took us about two leisurely hours to complete with no instances of having to go back and rebuild mistakes, as can sometimes happen. If you're as stupid as we are.

Actually, the only thing we did get wrong were the dwarf legs, not realising that dear Thorin and Bifur (and indeed all dwarves and hobbits) get special shorter legs to decrease the minifigures' height. A nice touch, and although the new legs don't bend, its great to see that LEGO are actually paying attention.

Leave us alone!

Nah, I'm too busy posing.

The Wargs are pretty impressive as well, actually appearing quite scary complete with snapping jaws and saddles for the orcs to ride them. The orcs themselves have a terrifyingly demonic look: well done again.

The same outfit? How embarrassing.
"You go home and change."
"No, you go home and change." 

As a play set the scene works pretty well with lots for kids of all ages to get involved with. The catapult really does fling blocks quite well, and the tree itself has little push-buttons for the dwarves to launch flames back at their pursuers. There are also nicely designed little fires that sit beyond the tree, lighting the attack for the orcs, and as the tree itself is crammed with little details there are plenty of spots for your figs to explore.

Although we at The Test Pit are usually fans of LEGO sets that produce vehicles, such as the many wonderful Star Wars models, we have to say that we loved 'Attack of the Wargs'. A great selection of minifigs coupled with nice attention to detail make for a great recreation and an enjoyable build.

We will definitely be keeping an eye out for more LEGO Hobbit adventures.


£49.99

See all the sets at www.thehobbit.lego.com