Lord of the Rings - 2001 onwards

WORK IN PROGRESS

Introduction

Games Workshop (GW) produced a range of The Lord of the Rings figures based on the New Line Cinema movie trilogy launched in 2001. The range was a success and became a third core game for GW alongside Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000 and was still in production 2013.

• The miniatures were originally released for the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game rules set (thankfully referred to by the acronym SBG) which focused on small scale skirmishes based on scenarios. Several rule books were produced for SBG. A second rules set War of the Ring appeared in 2008 which focused on larger forces.

• The license from New Line Productions wanted the miniatures to be incompatible with GW's other games so they are nominally "true 25mm" scale which makes them smaller than current fantasy range's "heroic" 28mm scale. (Please note, I know mm is a size not a scale, I am using it in the popularly understood sense...).

• While based primarily on the film trilogy, GW also had a separate license (from The Tolkien Estate) to produce models from The Lord of the Rings books (including the appendices). Therefore, some releases feature characters and events that were not included in the films (e.g. Fog on the Barrow Downs, The Scouring of the Shire). Releases continued after the films before being overtaken by The Hobbit films in 2012.

Scope

This Collectors Guide is an attempt to show the full range of figures by release date.

While speculation on the rarity of individual models is outside the scope of this guide, releases can be put in various categories which reflect their availability at the time. They are noted when the information is available. Such classification can only be approximate as GW frequently reclassified the range with previously LE models becoming general release models or regular release models being discontinued so please don't take the information here as gospel.

I use the following classification system:

  Regular release; Direct Only release [DO]; Limited time regular release [LT]; Limited Edition [LE]. 

• Unreleased models have their own category on this wiki.

• With the introduction of Finecast in 2011, metal models were gradually phased out and replaced. Some previously unavailable models were re-released.

• Note: Battle Games in Middle-Earth (BGiME)

As well as releasing models for their own games, GW teamed up with DeAgostini to produce a ‘part-work’ called Battle Games in Middle-Earth (BGiME). This periodic magazine included rules, painting and modeling guides and a figure (or a sprue of plastics) with each issue. During the initial run some figures were sold as BGiME Exclusives. However, all of these “Exclusives” were eventually made available in the normal range of figures available from GW.

  Former BGiME Exclusives: Ugluk, Rohan Royal Guard Standard Rider, Théodred, Hama, Armored Boromir, Armoured Faramir, Ghan-Buri-Ghan, Conversion Kit

Releases by Date

2001-02

• The Fellowship of the Ring
• The Fellowship of the Ring 2

2002-03

• The Two Towers
• The Two Towers 2
• Shadow & Flame

2003-04

• The Return of the King
• The Seige of Gondor
• The Battle of the Pelennor Fields

2005

• The Scouring of the Shire
• General Releases 2005
• The Mines of Moria

2006

• A Shadow in the East
• The Fall of the Necromancer
• Legions of Middle-Earth

2007

• The Ruin of Arnor
• Khazad-Dum
• Gondor in Flames

2008

• Harad
• Mordor

2009-10

• War of the Ring
• War of the Ring 2

2012

• War of the Ring - Battlehosts
• General Releases 2012

December 2012 Onwards

• December 2012 Onwards - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey