LEGOThe Lord of the Rings Hobbit Shelob Attacks

This build is 227 pieces and comes with 3 mini-figures.- Frodo - 2 faced - great torso printing, green/grey elf cape, sting the sword and the "one" ring;- Samwise Gamgee - 2 faced - great torso printing, green/grey cape, sword and elf-star;- Gollum - snarling face (rather than the cutesy Gollum and that you get in the films).Also included is a silver fish for Gollum's lunch.There is a small build - a cave entrance with a spring board to flip Gollum at Frodo, or Sam at the spider. This includes some green vine decorations. I have to admit that this is a disappointing mini built.The spider, however, is incredibly impressive. It is really is a multi-jointed wonder.The legs don't just move where they are attached to the body but in 3 more places down the leg (a total of 4 moveable joints on each leg). The rear of the body moves up and down and from side to side. Even the mouth pieces move.The head piece has printed eyes on it rather than stickers which is a very nice addition.The only disappointing aspect of Shelob the spider is the hook on the tail rather than a stinger. Attached to the hook is a threat which you can wrap round Frodo once Shelob has stung him. Which leads me to the thread system in the tail of the spider: it is this aspect which young people may need some help with. There are cogs which need to be lined up and of course the thread which needs to be wound onto a spindle - you get quite a lot of thread to practice with. The thread system is operated by a wheel underneath the spider's body.I admit that there isn't much playability with this set, but as a Tolkien fan it is a must have ... even though it gives me the creeps.The RRP is 19.99 (on the Lego site) which makes it 8.8 pence per piece (for the 227 piece build) so it is not an expensive build. The only question you have to ask is do you really want the big spider looking down on you with a hungry look on its face.