First things first, I'm a parent who buys Legos for my 6 year old son (and of course for me a little bit as well). That being said, I can't speak on how fun it is to play with, although my son seems to enjoy it. I will say a bit about the technical aspects of it: 1. The full retail price of $129.99 is too high (in my opinion). I got mine from Amazon for ~$105, so I'd suggest waiting for a sale. 2. Although pricey, you do get 8 minifigures, 9 bags of Legos (1,368 pieces) and 4 instruction books. It's a large set, and a fun build (although a bit repetitive). 3. My son always asks me what each set "does;" meaning: what special features (trapdoors, hiding places, etc) does it have? This set doesn't have many. There's the catapult by the front stairs (for Gimli) and the break-away wall (for when the bomb explodes). And the break-away wall's design prevents it from working properly (pieces are always left behind). 4. The LOTR Hobbit Urak-Hai Army (9471) can be clicked into the side of this set to make an even bigger fortress. All in all, if you're a fan of the Lego The LOTR sets, then I would definitely recommend this one. Read more

I have purchased MOST of the LOTR legos by now, and I was holding off on this one because the price seemed high for what seemed like not the world's coolest set. I have now changed my mind. This set is really great, and nicely detailed. Once built it looked much bigger than how it looked in pictures, and makes for great play with all the other sets. Anyone who is a fan of the movie will like the detailing, and anyone who like legos will like it because it is awesome, a really fun set to build and a very "playable" set. Read more

Wow, for the price this is one of the best LEGO sets I have bought in years. Helm's Deep is amazing. Besides being impressively large, it is also beautifully detailed. There are so many unique elements: the moss on the rocks, the angled ramparts, curved walls and stairs, the infamous grate that blows apart, the hidden doorway. Plus, it contains exclusive characters, including the elf Haldir and King Theoden. (I know the elf wasn't at Helm's Deep in the book, but it's a nice feature for fans of the movies). Besides these you also get Aragorn, Gimli, and a few Uruk-hai. The set also can connect with Uruk-hai Army, set 9471, which makes it even more fun. The only minor drawback, i think, is the bridge between the King's chambers and the main ramparts. It's a little bush-league. All-in-all, a fantastic set. If you are only getting one LOTR Lego set, I strongly recommend this one. It does not disappoint. Read more

I have a 7 year old son, and he loves the set. The castle is nice and open, which makes it easy for him to play with. It is a bit difficult for him to put the small pieces together, but he enjoys playing with it. I also own Kingdoms King's Castle 7946, and King's Castle Seige 7094 sets (along with many more). I think Helm's Deep is superior to them. Pros: -8 Detailed (as far as Lego's go) Minifigures -Higher walls than normal Lego castle sets -Exploding wall -Lego bricks that resemble bricks -Many more pieces than a normal $99 Lego castle -Almost 1400 pieces Cons: -Many small pieces. This isn't a bad thing in itself, it just makes the piece count a little deceiving. Even though it has about 40-50% more pieces than a normal $99 castle, it's not much larger. -No base plate. It's not just a flaw with this set, it's a flaw with a lot of the newer sets. They would be better if they came wit a base plate to put the castle on. I want to make a note that I got this set on Amazon for $99.99. For this price it is truly one of the best lego castle sets you can find. The MSRP of $129.99 is a bit overpriced. Read more

excellent Read more

Very rarely would I ever give any set a five star rating, even if the set was amazing it would have to really impress me to earn such a rating, this one has done just that. It includes a great mix of minifigures (even the berserker which for those of you who have seen the movie, you know why this is weird for a toy meant for kids) though a word of warning, for me at least Aragorn was rendered useless due to his body cracking once I put the legs on, a few other pieces did the same thing but thankfully they were very common parts and ones you don't even see, this can be attributed to two things, age since the set came out in 2012, and a bad batch of plastic since all of the parts were the same color (brown). The set is rather pricey now but I'd still highly recommend this for either children or adults, personally if you do get this I would recommend also getting set 9471 Uruk Hai Army since it connects to it and gives you a larger force of Uruks to have attacking the fortress. Overall this is an impressive set to look at and though it only really has two real play-functions (a small catapult and an exploding wall) if your child has a decent imagination (which these types of toys are meant to encourage anyways) and if you are an adult or teenager, you may find it fun to try to expand onto the fortress since it has numerous areas to do so. All in all, this is a set I had always wanted and I'm so glad that unlike a lot of things this actually lives up to the hype, I cannot recommend this set enough, though like all things you should make sure you find a reliable seller to avoid some of the nasty little things (bags having been opened, missing pieces, missing figures, dirty parts, etc.) people may mention in other reviews. Read more