LEGO's An Unexpected Journey subtheme was released in November 2012 and based on the movie which is set in Middle-earth seventy-seven years before the main events of The Lord of the Rings.
2013 LEGO Sets
2013 included a number of notable theme releases including the Legends of Chima, The Lone Ranger, Galaxy Squad, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Jake and the Never Land Pirates and Mickey Mouse & Friends. The flagship release was Legends of Chima with the coincided premier of The Legends of Chima TV Show on Cartoon Network. However, LEGO unfortunately did retire a number of well-loved themes such as Monster Fighters, SpongeBob SquarePants, Cars and Dino. One interesting note is that in 2013, LEGO started changing from 4-digit set numbers to 5-digit set numbers. 2013 was also the year that LEGO release the exclusive Mr. Gold in its collectable minifigures blind bags. This event single handled created one of the greatest investment opportunities for collections LEGO has seen.