Lego Lord of the Rings- Gandalf Arrives

It seems that it became something of a tradition  for my girlfriend, Chelsea, to give me a Lego set for Christmas. That tradition continues, and this year I received Gandalf Arrives, from the Lord of the Rings line.

I love the little vignettes on the back of the box. Lego used to show alternate models that could be built with the same pieces, but that seems to have been abandoned with the sets based on licensed properties. 

As I've gotten older, it seems a pile of random, unorganized parts means many hours of sweating and frustration. With Legos though, sorting through the pieces is part of the fun. Some of you might like to organize things in neat little piles, but I like having to search for the pieces that I need.

I just had to show the first page of the instructions. I love how that first picture makes it look like Legos just won't work if you try to put them together outside. They just lay around, not connecting to each other. Pay no mind to step 2, that's merely a suggestion. Now, let's get this thing assembled.

Well, that actually went rather quickly. I'm surprised at how much detail they were able to pack into this little set. There's Gandalf leading his cart along while he holds on to his staff.

In the back of Gandalf's cart we have a barrel full of fireworks, a backpack that contains a letter, a large carrot, and an open book. I love that they included the Dragon fireworks that got Merri and Pippen in trouble in the first movie.

The set also includes a Frodo minifig, which is fitting since he's the one that greets Gandalf on the road to the Shire. It's actually a pretty good likeness for the scale, and I love the printed details on his shirt. Lego really did a great job on this set, and it's tempting me to check out some of the other kits in this series.