I make it a point to see every movie that comes out that has its own LEGO sets (even “The Lone Ranger” *shudder*), so it won’t shock anybody that I went out New Year’s Eve to see The Hobbit The Battle of Five Armies. The movie was, uh… not my favorite Peter Jackson film, but I did like at least a few of the characters. And one of them just may be the final LEGO Lord of the Rings figure ever produced–the exclusive LEGO Bain minifigure has now been revealed!

If leaks aren’t coming from one place, they’re coming from another. The recent surprise source of LEGO information has been the Chinese market site, Taobao–one of the most notorious sites on the internet for selling goods stolen from factories.

It’s always disheartening to see that kind of illegal activity flourishing, and I’m sure LEGO can’t be pleased about it (to say the least), but the news and images flowing out from Taobao do generate some buzz for upcoming, unannounced LEGO sets and figures.

This time, the newest figure to be unveiled is what appears to be an exclusive version of LEGO Bain Son of Bard! While we already got a scruffy, battle-tested LEGO Bain minifigure as part of LEGO Attack on Lake-Town 79016 (which earns a recommendation from me, by the way), this new LEGO Bain figure depicts Bain in better times, with a big smile etched on his face and without his “fleeing from death by dragon” clothes.

I thought Bain was a surprise hit as far as characters in The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies go, and I really enjoyed getting to see him kick some booty against orcs and play an instrumental role in the final battle with Smaug the Dragon. I liked Bain, Son of Bard, quite a bit, so I’ve got no problem with LEGO giving us one more figure of this fun character as an exclusive release.

As there are currently zero more announced LEGO The Hobbit or LEGO Lord of the Rings sets for 2015, it looks pretty likely that this LEGO Bain Son of Bard minifigure will be the final LEGO Tolkien figure to ever be produced.

I’d expect the LEGO exclusive Bain minifigure to ship alongside the LEGO The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies Blu-Ray/DVD Combo Pack set at Target later this year, although LEGO has not yet confirmed that information (or even the existence of this figure, for that matter). I’ll post an update here and to the Bricks and Bloks Facebook Page once we know more regarding the future of this Bain LEGO minifigure.

What do you think of this new version of Bain, LEGO fans? Are you glad to get one more version of Bain, or were you hoping that the figure that just may end the LEGO Tolkien universe forever would have been someone else?