9469- Gandalf Arrives

I squeak when I think about this set.  It is simply so heartwarmingly iconic and has the added benefit of some very cute accessories.

This horse-drawn cart set illustrates the first moments Gandalf comes back to the Shire and meets up with Frodo, before any notion of Middle Earth saving adventure is whispered of.

To help us reacquaint the wizard with the hobbit folk of the Lord of the Rings world, we get Gandalf the Grey, Frodo, a well constructed cart, brown horse, barrel of fireworks, satchel with letter, brown book, and a carrot.

This Frodo is the same one that came with my small polybag set 30210- Frodo with Cooking Corner, which happen to be the only two sets he is wearing this outfit in.
He comes with dark brown shaggy hair, brown short legs, and a torso print showing suspenders over a green shirt.  Frodo has two expressions- one smirking and one looking a little worried.

This Gandalf is very grey indeed with a grey pointed hat, light grey beard, grey cape, and an outfit nearly entirely grey with the exception of a brown belt that matches his staff/walking stick.

With his hat and beard, he looks fairly gruff.  Removing all that, we can see that he has a kind weathered old face with very bushy grey eyebrows.

 The cart construction is fantastic.  There are many elements incorporated in the build which make the end result a rugged and interestingly shaped old wooden cart.  My only complaint is that it's a bit difficult to get Gandalf sitting at the reins properly due to his cape and the fact that while the stud for him to sit on is centered, his Lego leg anatomy dictates that either his left or right leg be locked onto the cart and therefore he cannot be sitting in the center which makes the cape issue even worse.







The other two special studs in the cart are also centered.  One is for the open rucksack which holds a letter tile and the other is for the dark brown wooden barrel meant to contain Gandalf's magical fireworks.

Seen here are all the colorful accessories we can pack into the cart.  The three fireworks are ingenious and utilize a snake element only otherwise seen in Ninjago sets.  I wouldn't have really noticed it was a snake if not for examination as my imagination and movie knowledge immediately cast it as the magnificent dragon firework.
We also get a letter, the book Frodo is reading when he first glimpses Gandalf back in the Shire, and a nice carrot for the horse.

Year Released: 2012

Retail Price: $12.99

Pieces: 83

Minifigures: 2

My Purchase Location: Lego.com