Minas Tirith and Lothlórien crowned in LEGO Ideas The Lord of the Rings contest

The LEGO Ideas team has revealed the results of its The Lord of the Rings contest, and two iconic locations never seen before in bricks have come out on top.

The LEGO Group returned to Middle-earth earlier this year in 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell, and to celebrate the LEGO Ideas team launched a contest themed around all things Tolkien. Entries were divided into two categories, scenes and locations, and the community submitted an incredible 469 builds in total. That gave the panel of judges – comprised of the designers of the LEGO Icons set – a quest worthy of Frodo in whittling them down to two overall winners.

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Such was the scope of this task that the announcement has actually come a full eight days later than originally planned, but we now finally know which two Middle-earth builds are taking home the grand prize. First up is Gandalf rides to Minas Tirith by jnj_bricks, which makes clever use of forced perspective to place Gandalf the White in front of the White City, straight from the silver screen.

That Return of the King scene is joined on the podium by Martin_Studio’s Lothlórien, which looks like a fine companion piece to the official 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell. It’s another elven kingdom that shares plenty of aesthetics and architectural flourishes with Rivendell, while the carefully-considered colour scheme comes through in both models too.

Both of these builders will now receive a signed copy of 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell, along with a bundle of The Lord of the Rings goodies. A runner-up in each category will also take home an unsigned copy of the 6,167-piece Middle-earth model, which arrived on shelves in March – and includes the entire Fellowship of the Ring in the one box in minifigure form.

Those runners-up are a very impressive brick-built Gollum – who’s looking more ferocious than ever – by IsleOfHeather, and a lesser-spotted location in the Gates of Argonath by JaoGosma.

If the official LEGO The Lord of the Rings line continues beyond Rivendell, we could easily see Minas Tirith or a Gollum statue coming at some stage, though Lothlórien may be a little too close to 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell in style and design – and the Gates of Argonath are probably just too obscure. But if you want some inspo for your own Middle-earth builds, there’s plenty among the full list of entries.

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