Toy Fair 2012: Lego

5:30 PM on 02.18.2012   |   Brian Szabelski

Lego's Toy Fair offerings were plentiful, and as you might have expected, all of their big, upcoming licenses were revealed. The highlights were the upcoming Marvel and Avengers sets (tying in with the film), including a huge (by comparison) Hulk mini-figure and the new quinjet set for the Avengers film. Loki's also in a second set, ready to cause some chaos! 

But fear not, DC fans; there will be sets featuring the heroes and villains of that universe as well, including the Batmobile. And that's just the tip of the brick iceberg; The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and more! There's a ton to go over; so much, you'll have to hit the jump to read it all!

So, as we were mentioning, Marvel is a highlight of this year's Toy Fair booth. Not only were Avengers sets there, but there's also an X-Men set in the works (with a mini-figure Magneto that I have to have) and Hero Factory-style Marvel figures. Notably, they're Avengers-based ones, with Captain America, Iron Man and The Hulk at Toy Fair.

On the movie license front, Lego has just re-upped their Star Wars license for another 10 years, so there will be plenty more Star Wars Lego sets in the future. For this year, on display were the Buildable Galaxy pod sets, including Bespin with a Cloud Car and Endor with an AT-ST. Expect to see Lego sets for Star Wars: The Old Republic, too, with the Republic Striker-class fighter and Sith Fury-class interceptor on display. There's also a cool looking Jabba's Palace set that comes with a ton of different alien mini-figures.

Of course, what everyone's probably waiting for is The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings sets. Well, they're coming, and they look pretty cool. Many of the sets are based off memorable movie moments: there's a set that features Frodo and the ring, Gollum and Shelob the giant spider that gave you nightmares, along with a set featuring Gandalf and Frodo's first meeting and the battle against the Ringwraiths at Weathertop. Og, and yes, the Mines of Moria and Helm's Deep are going to have sets, too. The Hobbit sets are still a ways off, but they're coming later this year.

The new theme this year from Lego is Monster Hunters, featuring creatures and hunters inspired by classic monsters like Frankenstein and Creature from the Black Lagoon. These aren't licensed figures, just inspired by the monsters. New ghost pieces will glow in the dark but don't have the slight greenish hue that GID plastic often has, and most of the new sets will have a lot of caricatured vehicles, with a hot rod-like hearse for the vampire and a super-spooky 

Finally, if you collect the blind-bagged figures, Series 6 will be coming in May and Series 8 in September.