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The Lord of the Rings: The Shire

Bag End reborn at last, with nine exclusive figs and a birthday party in bricks.

4.1/5

Set 10354 · 2025

Pieces2,017

Minifigs9

Year2025

Set number10354

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The verdict

If you love Middle-earth, this one is an easy yes.

You get the first proper Bag End since 2012, nine minifigs you cannot find anywhere else, and a hobbit hole that genuinely looks the part from the outside. The catch is the price, which stings for just over 2,000 pieces, so go in knowing you are paying for the license and those figs as much as the brick count.

Best for: Lord of the Rings fans who want the definitive Bag End display piece

The full review

What it is

Right, if you have been waiting for LEGO to give Bag End the treatment it deserves, this is the moment. 10354 The Lord of the Rings: The Shire is a 2,017-piece LEGO® set that recreates Bilbo's hillside hobbit hole during his eleventy-first birthday party, that famous long-expected party from the very start of Fellowship. It is the first real Bag End since way back in 2012, and you can feel the years of catching up in the detail. That green round door, the little windows tucked into the hill, the party field with its banner reading Happy Birthday Bilbo Baggins, it all lands. Crack it open and there is a furnished interior too, with an entrance hall, a study and a parlor, so it works as both a display piece and a proper diorama you can play scenes out in.

The catch

Now the honest bit, because your wallet deserves a heads up. The sticking point everyone landed on is price. Around 270 USD for just over 2,000 pieces is not a great ratio, and reviewers were quick to point out that other direct-to-consumer sets dropping the same week gave you hundreds more parts for barely any more money. You are clearly paying a premium for the Tolkien license and for those exclusive figs, so the piece count alone will not justify it for everyone. The build itself is enjoyable and very approachable, but a few reviewers felt it was on the easy side and missing the ambitious techniques that made Rivendell and Barad-dur feel special. The exterior is gorgeous, though the interior can read a little plain by comparison, so temper your expectations for what is behind the door.

Who it's for

So who should grab it? If you are a Lord of the Rings fan, this is close to essential. Nine exclusive minifigs is a serious pull, the Bag End exterior is genuinely lovely on a shelf, and the party features are a warm nod to the films. Kids and newer builders will have a great time with it too, since it never gets fiddly. If you are purely chasing parts-per-dollar value, or you want a challenging technical build to lose a weekend in, you might feel a bit short-changed here and could wait for a discount. But for the Middle-earth crowd, this is the Bag End you have wanted for over a decade, and it delivers on the thing that matters most, which is capturing the feeling of the Shire. It sits at a solid 4.1 on Brickset, which feels about right: loved, with an asterisk over the price.

The parts story

What the build is actually like, and the pieces worth knowing about.

The build is a comfortable, feel-good sit-down rather than a marathon. You start with the landscape and the base of the hill, then work up through Bag End's rooms, dressing each one before the hillside shell goes over the top. Because it is a hobbit hole built into a mound, there is a lot of curved and angled work to get that organic rolling-hill look, which is the most interesting part technically. The round front door assembly is the showpiece and where the detail really shines. The play functions get slotted in as you go: a dial that makes Bilbo vanish and a letter that flips to reveal the One Ring. It never gets fiddly or frustrating, which makes it a lovely one to build with a younger fan, though seasoned builders may want a bit more of a challenge.

For parts nerds there is a decent haul here. New Elementary counted 2 brand-new molds (including a fresh two-brick-high glass panel element) plus around 12 to 13 recolors, one of the fun ones being the old boomerang element recolored to nougat and used as fencing. There are two large printed fabric pieces, including that Bright Light Yellow Happy Birthday Bilbo Baggins banner, and a stack of newly printed minifig torsos for the hobbits' party outfits. The nine figs are the real value story: every one is exclusive to this set, and the new Gandalf the Grey is a clear step up from the Rivendell version, now with a fully printed beard, reshaped eyes and thicker brows. Combine the exclusive figs, the new banner and the earthy recolors and there is plenty in the box for a builder who cares about parts, even if the raw piece count feels light for the money.

Fun facts

01This is the first proper Bag End LEGO has made since 2012's 79003 An Unexpected Gathering, ending a wait of over a decade.
02All nine minifigs are exclusive to the set, including brand-new characters like Rosie Cotton and the grumpy hobbits Odo and Mrs Proudfoot.
03The set captures Bilbo's eleventy-first (111th) birthday party, the long-expected party that opens The Fellowship of the Ring.
04The new Gandalf the Grey is widely called the best Gandalf minifig yet, upgrading the Rivendell version with a fully printed beard and more expressive face.