I haven't played LOTR SBG since Return of the king, but I'm back. Previously, I was too young and too poor to really enjoy the hobby, but I am excited to be getting back into it. I have a scattered variety of figures from the early game but am looking to embrace to hobby fully. I have about 150$ from Christmas that I'd like to use to fill out some playable armies and aquire hobby essentials. Any suggestions?

I guess the first question is whether you like good or evil and then elite or horde. Is there any army you particularly like the look of.

I’d probably start by looking for the small version of the Hobbit rulebook on eBay.

I second the above.

Or the "Escape From Goblin Town" boxed set, which includes the small rulebook + a full decent warband (Thorin's company). It even has some goblins and some scenery