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- Set 40761 captures a powerful and unsettling scene from Return of the King in micro-diorama form.
- Minifigures include Sméagol and Déagol, both with dual molded legs and expressive face prints.
- It’s a creative and unique build, but reused torsos and limited display space hold it back just a bit.
Free with The Shire: Is LEGO's Sméagol and Déagol Diorama Worth It?
It’s not every day LEGO drops a set based on a murder over a magic ring, but hey—2025 is wild. LEGO Lord of the Rings Set 40761, featuring Sméagol and Déagol, recreates the haunting opening of Return of the King where cousin turns on cousin for “his precious.”
The catch? You can’t just go buy this set. It’s a Gift With Purchase (GWP) only available between April 2–8, 2025 when you buy The Shire set for $270. So is it worth chasing down—or selling your soul (and wallet) to Mordor for?
Let’s break it down.
🧱 What's in the Box?
Open it up, and you get:
- 181 pieces
- 3 numbered bags
- A loose plate
- Instruction manual
Straightforward stuff. And honestly, the packaging is really slick. There’s a nice design touch where the tree from the set curls up and over the box top—a small but appreciated detail for us packaging nerds.
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🧝♂️ The Minifigures: Small But Mighty
We get two exclusive Hobbit minifigs—Sméagol and Déagol. Here’s the good, the okay, and the “eh”:
- Dual molded short legs: Always a win. It gives them a higher-end look and makes them feel more premium.
- Face prints: Super expressive! Déagol even has a breath-holding face perfect for his underwater moment.
- Torso prints: …meh. Sadly, both torsos are reused from other minifigs. Not a deal-breaker, but feels like a missed opportunity given how unique this scene is.
Sméagol also comes with a gold chrome ring (yes, chrome still exists!) and it just pops visually. Great inclusion.
🌲 The Build: A River, A Tree, and a Shocking Scene
Despite its small size, the set packs in three distinct environments:
- The boat floating on a shallow river
- The shoreline where the tragic tussle occurs
- The underwater riverbed where Déagol finds the ring
The entire thing is bordered in black, giving it a clean diorama feel—a bit like the Star Wars diorama sets but smaller and more stylized. It’s not a playset, but there’s enough motion and storytelling baked in that it still feels alive.
Highlights include:
- The boat sits on a swiveling turntable piece, giving it a nice rotating effect
- A small fishing rod can be equipped to either minifig
- The underwater section is gorgeously designed with dark blue and green bricks, ferns, and a shiny chrome ring
- Déagol can actually be attached underwater, fishing line in hand, posed just before grabbing the ring
Oh—and the tree roots extend below the ground into the water, which is a subtle but genius design detail. It gives the whole set that mock-built-at-a-convention vibe.
⚔️ The Flaws: Just a Few
While the set is strong, it’s not without its quirks:
- Reused torsos take away from what could’ve been 100% exclusive figs
- The shoreline is tight—posing both characters in a struggle gets cramped fast
- It’s not a big set, so don't expect display grandeur
Still, the design creativity makes up for a lot of that. If you like small-scale builds with storytelling impact, this set delivers.
🪙 Value Talk: Free... Kinda
It’s a GWP, so it doesn’t have a retail price—but let’s be real: you’re paying $270 to get it. If you're not already planning to buy The Shire, this isn't necessarily worth it on its own.
However, on the secondary market, it could help offset the cost of the big set. So if you’re a collector or planning to resell, it might just justify that day-one splurge.
The LEGO Sméagol and Déagol Set 40761 is one of the strangest and most creatively built Lord of the Rings sets LEGO’s ever released. It's not iconic like Rivendell or Minas Tirith, but it tells a chilling, powerful story in a small space—and tells it well.
If you're a LOTR fan, a LEGO collector, or just someone who loves detailed storytelling in miniature, this set will probably charm you—even if it creeps you out just a little.
👉 Want more Tolkien-inspired LEGO deep dives? Stay on the path to Middle-earth with us at Land of Geek Magazine, where brick meets legend.
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