Click These Links to See The Individual Lord of the Rings Pages

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The Story of Lord of the Rings toys is a long and complicated one. Unlike other mainstream franchises, Lord of the Rings toys were cranked out by a few different toy companies along the way, but it all began a long time ago…..with a book. The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, was published by the English author, J. R. R. Tolkien in 1937. The book was set in “Middle-Earth” and follows a lovable Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins who joins a Gandalf the wizard and thirteen dwarves on a quest to reclaim the dwarves’ home and treasure from the evil dragon Smaug. The sequel to the Hobbit was a trilogy of books called The Lord of the Rings, which was released in 1954/1955. The rest, as they say, is history.

Aside from the books themselves and a few small trinkets here and there, Lord of the Rings collectibles were pretty scarce until Knickerbocker Toys decided to create a LOTR toy line in 1979, based on the animated movie from November of 1978. Released by United Artists, the movie was directed by Ralph Bakshi and covered the first two books in the LOTR trilogy, Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. This movie and toy line had no connection to the Return of the King animated movie produced by Rankin-Bass the following year. The line was a small one with only six characters and two horses. It did not sell particularly well at the time, and was quickly relegated to store bargain bins. Since then, this line has gained a bit of a cult following over the years, and is very sought after by Lord of the Rings fans and collectors.

Since the Lord of the Rings licensing rights were out there for the taking, a brand new company called Toy Vault secured the rights to make LOTR toys in 1998 with their Middle Earth Toys. The toy line was another small one, that contained only nine characters. Of those nine characters, there were several variants created of each, mostly as a cost saving measure. This line proved to be a solid overall effort, but only consisted of a few waves of figures, and no other accessories to speak of. It came to end in the year 2000.

In 2001, Peter Jackson finally brought the Lord of the Rings trilogy to the big screen in full live action beauty, with the first of three movies, The Fellowship of the Ring. Expectations were very high for the first ever live-action LOTR movie, and that also went for the toy line as well. The movie went on to become a smash hit for fans AND critics. The toy line was released by Toy Biz that same year, who was actually under the control of Marvel at the time. This action figure line proved to be a truly wonderful and comprehensive effort, consisting of several waves of figures, large sized figures, multipacks, gift packs and various accessories. The follow-up movies, Two Towers and Return of the King would get the same toy treatment, and Toy Biz’s Lord of the Rings line would last until 2005. Toy Biz gave us a BUNCH of amazing figures and it was certainly well-received by fans and collectors alike.

Over its long history, we have seen LOTS of different Lord of the Rings products from a few different companies, some better than others. Just like every other toy line, the values of certain items can greatly fluctuate over time. This is based on several factors, including the item’s time period, scarcity, overall condition, and of course, consumer demand. The good news for Lord of the Rings collectors is there is always a demand for items from this franchise, as Knickerbocker, Toy Vault and Toy Biz created some truly iconic pieces. Most individual figures and accessories from the Toy Biz line can be easily found on the secondary market, with some Gift Packs and Large Sized Figure being harder to find than others to find. The same can be said for Toy Vault’s Middle Earth toy line, as they can be easily found nowadays and at affordable prices. The Knickerbocker line from 1979 can prove a bit challenging and pricey to collect, but they always looks great in any Lord of the Rings collection. Values for Lord of the Rings items have seen a slight uptick recently with the big budgeted Rings of Power series on Amazon and the upcoming “The War of the Rohirrim” movie in December of 2024. Pair that with talk of new live action movies as well, and the ceiling for Lord of the Rings collectibles looks bright. The Tolkien market remains strong due to an ever present nostalgic desire from kids who have read the books or grew up watching the live action films, not to mention an absolutely rabid and loyal fan base.