Preview night at San Diego Comic Con is just that, a 3 hour preview of the show, with the Exhibitor’s hall open, and several sneak peeks of upcoming network Pilot shows for the Fall Season of new television. There are no panels or major presentations going on, just the room screening the pilots (no guests) and the gigantic exhibit hall. Here you see an image of the side approach to the WETA booth from a bit of a distance, just look for Gandalf watching over everyone.
Last year, Warner Bros. really pushed The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey into orbit with video games, 16 Lenticular posters, free Acorn button pins, and a massive panel with The Hobbit the clear headliner. This year, because Peter Jackson is not sending cast or video content, it is left to vendors such as WETA, Bridge Direct, Sideshow and Badali Jewelry, along with TheOneRing.net to bring share the Hobbit love. It was clear by the lines at the WETA booth that this was not going to be a tough sell, they nearly sold out of the day’s allotment of Smaug’s Eye exclusive T-shirts, so if you missed that shirt last night, be sure to head over there first thing this morning. In addition to the Smaug’s Eye shirt, WETA unveiled some pretty cool new items, and has another big figure dominating the exhibit hall floor.
Two of the new items are of Thranduil and Tauriel, both in action stances, while the dominating figure is that of Azog in full attack mod. The detail that I had never picked up while watching the film is that his loin cloth has faces on it, now we know where the ‘Defiler’ nickname comes from. A few of WETA’s artists were signing books during the evening, which was a nice bonus, since they weren’t really scheduled.
And lest you think staffers from TheOneRing.net do nothing but talk and work Tolkien all day long, here are two other big aspects of this year’s SDCC. The first is from the Marvel booth, where it is clear that Thor is reigning all week long, while the second is from an Off-site event location called the Godzilla Encounter where guests get to feel what a Godzilla attack is really like. Seeing the King of Monster’s profile walking past your office window is Awesome!
Our Panel will be today, Thursday, July 18 at 5:30pm in room 6A. Remember to wear your Tolkien themed costumes or TORn T-Shirts (past or present) and show your Ringer pride. We have quite a few little surprises in store for you, so please do come on down and support your favorite 100% volunteer based fansite. And don’t forget to visit TheOneRing.net at the Badali Jewelry booth #532/534 or at WETA’s booth #3513B, you never know who you might run into.
