July 15, 2013 at 9:51 am by Garfeimao
The geek world is about to descend on San Diego for Comic Con International, and that includes a large contingent of TORn staffers and many of our dear friends, we hope you will all join us.
We just got a note from the team at Badali Jewelry, to give a sneak peek at some of their new Hobbit themed jewelry and remind us of some special promotions.
Hello TORn! Can’t wait to see you all next week. I just wanted to pass along our announcements for this years SDCC, which include the debut of 2 new Hobbit pieces! There may actually be a third, but we just have to wait and see if it will be ready when we leave on Wednesday.
Can’t wait to see what the third exclusive piece is, let’s hope it is ready by Wednesday. Badali will be hosting TORn at their booth #532/534, which will allow you to look at all their beautiful jewelry, and then look at all our pins, shirts and poster.
We will also be debuting 3 brand new Officially Licensed The Hobbit pieces; Sterling Silver Baggins Cuff Links as well as White and Yellow Bronze Khuzdul Dwarven Battle Axes, available as either a necklace or a key chain. The Battle Axe features the Khuzdul Battlecry etched into the blade: Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu! – “Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you!”

We are bringing back the Comic Con Preview Night Exclusive Sale for 2013. During Preview Night (Wednesday the 17th) all customers will receive 30% off their entire purchase. This is a chance to receive the lowest prices on our jewelry for the entire year. We will have a full inventory of Arkenstone Replicas, Bag End Door Necklaces/Key Chains, Thror’s Key Necklaces/Key Chains, Sterling Silver One Rings, Nenya’s, The Arkenstone Necklace, Smaug Ring’s and Gollum Gold One Ring Necklaces, as well as select sizes of Sterling Silver Narya’s, Vilya’s and Gollum Creature Rings. Sterling Silver One Rings will be marked down from $108.00 to $75.60. Sterling Silver Nenya’s will be marked down from $99.00 to $69.30. Sterling Silver Arkenstone Necklaces will be marked down from $39.00 to $27.30! These will be some of the absolute lowest prices on our Lord of The Ring’s Jewelry that can be found all year long.
We are even offering 30% off the regular retail price for any orders that are placed with us at our booth on Preview Night. This means that literally everything on our website will be available at the 30% discount, including all 10k. and 14k. gold items. 10k. Yellow Gold One Rings can be order on preview night for $646.80, that’s a savings of $277.20 off the regular retail price.
If you can’t make it to Preview Night be sure to check out our ad in the events guide for a money saving coupon that can be used for the remainder of the con and be sure to stop by the booth to see what items are on sale.
In addition to our Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit Jewelry we will have new products for our Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time line and Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive line. We will also have a full inventory of our Patrick Rothfuss’ Kingkiller Chronicle, Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn and Elantris, H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu and many of our other popular lines in stock.
And of course, we will be holding our annual Free Jewelry Drawing. This year you can choose from a Sterling Silver Thror’s Key Necklace, A Sterling Silver Eolian Talent Pipes Pin or Necklace from the Kingkiller Chronicle line or a Sterling Silver Lanfear’s Signet Ring from The Wheel of Time line. Entries will be taken through the entire convention and the drawing will be held on Sunday, July 21st at 1:00pm. Winner need not be present to win.
This Preview Night 30% discount really is one of the best deals you will find from Badali Jewelry, so peruse their website to see what you like and know the asking price, and then visit the booth on Wednesday and buy it on sale.
Hope to see you all this year and have a wonderful SDCC 2013!
– Best Wishes,Janelle Powell - Badali Jewelry www.badalijewelry.com
Posted in Characters, Clothing, ComicCon, Conventions, Evangeline Lilly, Events, Fans, Hobbit Book, Hobbit Movie, Jewelry, Jewelry, Meet Ups, Posters Prints, Shop, The Hobbit, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
July 12, 2013 at 5:30 pm by MrCere

Martin Freeman waves goodbye on his last day as Bilbo Baggins.
Peter Jackson has shared on his Facebook page that Martin Freeman has finished his last shot as the film’s titular character Bilbo Baggins. The filming segment currently underway is a 10-week period that was always scheduled for pickups (shots that fill in the cracks once a rough edit of the film is assembled) and scenes for the massive Battle of Five Armies. Bilbo, as written in the book, has a relatively small part to play in the actual battle with his more significant role happening in the lead up to the massive conflict. (Knowing Peter Jackson, this will really be a spectacle!)
Jackson, who shares photos and videos on his Facebook page, captioned a photo of Bilbo waving goodbye:
“Tonight Martin Freeman finished his last shot as Bilbo Baggins. The end of an incredible two and a half years. I cannot imagine anyone else in this role – a character that Martin has nurtured and crafted with love and great skill.
We have said goodbye to our elves, humans, wizards and now the hobbit. We now enter our final 2 weeks of pick-ups, and it’s wall to wall dwarves. These pick-ups have been gruelling and intense, but I’m so happy with what we’ve been shooting. These next two movies are going to be pretty great!”

Martin Freeman as Bilbo with Benedict Cumberbatch.
Soon after, Jackson followed up that post with a somewhat historical shot of Freeman as Bilbo with Benedict Cumberbatch, famously his partner in their Sherlock Holmes television series. The two also figure prominently together in the next Hobbit film as Cumberbatch performs the massive dragon Smaug from his performance capture suit and has a key exchange with Bilbo. When behind-the-scenes content rolls out after the film, there may be more of them together on the Hobbit films but little has been seen so far. With the performance capture role, there could be precious little of the two actors together in New Zealand.
All reports and word from Jackson indicates there will not be pickup shooting next year but Jackson had a period of these after ever LOTR film and it is tempting to suggest there will be more next year. But with such a large principal cast, such an effort might be impossible because of scheduling.
Still in Wellington are the Company of Dwarves which could mean a heavy dose of battle scenes as audiences will want to follow each of them in battle. The book plotting calls for ferocious and deadly action.
Luke Evans, playing the enigmatic Bard the Bowman in “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” also tweeted that his last day on the film is over. Evans’ Tweet suggests he is off to work as Dracula after a summer where his “Fast & Furious 6″ did big business at the box office.
Graham McTavish also tweeted his farewells to Freeman.
Posted in Benedict Cumberbatch, Casting Rumors, Crew News, Director news, Graham McTavish, Hobbit Book, Hobbit Cast News, Hobbit Movie, Locations Sets, Lord of the Rings, LotR Movies, Luke Evans, Martin Freeman, Peter Jackson, Production, The Hobbit, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, The Hobbit: There and Back Again
July 4, 2013 at 9:37 pm by elessar
The Summer of Smaug is in full go, as we get closer to Comic-Con 2013. We have had the first teaser poster, first trailer, and the first of Sir Peter Jackson’s Vlogs for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Now, we get the first product for the second film capturing a key moment in the Traveling Party’s journey to Erebor. The moment captured in this mini-statue is one of the participants in the barrel escape. The first character to be done in this series of mini-barrel riders is our loveable Hobbit Bilbo Baggins. This statue is a pre-release before the movie and shows the awesomeness of the collectibles to come from what we will see in the second film.
PACKAGING
The overall graphic for this mini-statue box is the same as we’ve seen from other statues for The Hobbit be it smaller than say a normal 1:6th statue box. Per the format we’ve come to know the front of the box gives you a great shot of Bilbo, the title of the movie (now saying though The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug), a special wax looking stamp saying it’s a preview collectible, and of course the Weta logo. As we’ve seen before you get a couple of shots of the statue on one side of the box. However, the other side gives you information about the statue and how it’s tied to the second film. While the back of the box gives you a look at a couple of items that you can buy from Weta.
SCULPTING
Brigitte Wuest is a name many fans that have collected statues based on the characters of The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit should know quite well. Ms. Wuest is back with another amazing piece. Doing a statue of this size and its smaller than even some of the previous mini-statues you’ve seen reviewed here before is a challenge. Well, the job done to make this statue detailed and capture a likeness was a successful one. When you look at this piece you see Martin Freeman and at a full 1:6th scale that’s a great thing, but even more so when you look at the size of this statue. Ms. Wuest did a superb job of making sure that we are able to have a great likeness of Mr. Freeman as he plays Bilbo in this moment.
The outfit is also very well done and there is great amount of detail within what you do see with this statue. His jacket very much looks like its real cloth, as do his pants. His hair also has some great detail in it very much looking like the hair he has on his head as we see it on screen. The barrel Bilbo is holding on to is a very detailed piece with all the little bits and pieces we see in barrels here in the real world. You also get the rushing water of the river, which we will see all these barrels making their way through. There is quite a bit of detail here when you examine the statue seeing how it’s made to look as if the water is a treacherous ride for the company.
PAINT
The skin tone on this piece is well done as usual by the folks at Weta Workshop. You look at Bilbo and you see someone who very much looks healthy and alive, which is something you want in your collectibles. Aiding the sculpting detail of the clothing is the paint job, which puts the final touches to create the cloth look we expect. The barrel as I said has a great sculpting job done to give it the proper details, but the job to put the cherry on top comes with the paint job. This allows for the barrel to look like its truly made of wood and something you would see in the real world. Of course you have the water, which is, has a great blue paint job creating the illusion of water. However, the coolest aspect of the paint job is the clear lacquer that’s been applied to this statue. In order to give it the proper wet look Weta applied a clear lacquer to the Bilbo, the barrel, and the water. Weta did a fantastic job of doing this so it has the proper wet look but not something that looked slimy.
Overall
Bilbo retails for $65, which is a fantastic price along with something most collectors can fit into a tight budget. The price will also make it much easier for collectors to get all the members of the Traveling Party. As I said the sculpt and paint on this statue is really well done and even more so when you factor in the size of the piece. I want to add that with every release in this line Weta is just continuing to show how great they with these statues.
SPECIFICATIONS
Bilbo is the first in this series of mini-barrel rider statues. He is an open edition and can be purchased for just $65.
Dimensions:
2.7″ x 4.1″ x 4.1″ (H x W x D)
6.8 cm x 10.5 cm x 10.5 cm
Weight:
.7 lbs (320g)
PHOTOS
Posted in Collectibles, Collectibles, Hobbit Book, Hobbit Movie, Martin Freeman, Merchandise, Shop, The Hobbit, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, Weta Collectibles, WETA Workshop
June 25, 2013 at 4:36 pm by Cliff Quickbeam Broadway
A version of this article was originally published in FAMOUS MONSTERS of FILMLAND: the enduring Sci-Fi/Horror/Fantasy magazine adored by fans since 1958, created by the wonderful Forrest J. Ackerman (who was coincidentally the first agent to approach Professor Tolkien about filming an adaptation of LOTR while he was alive).
The House That Bilbo Built: Tolkien’s Literary Legacy
by Clifford “Quickbeam” Broadway
Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien have a distinctly creative way of expressing what they like; and perhaps that is the very quality that makes them the greatest fandom to propagate a literary phenomenon. It has been said there’s Life within the words of a great book. The ultimate expression of that can be seen in the inspired individual who builds his Life from the words. Those are the types of fans who carry their love so strongly forward, into bookstores and cineplexes alike, that everyone gets swept up. Their friends and children inevitably receive the books from them when the time comes; each parent, with a knowing smile, handing the key to Middle-earth to their young ones. I sometimes wonder what Professor Tolkien would think of ‘The House That Bilbo Built:’ a wave of cultural influence and entertainment begotten by the high romantic world he invented, along with so many original languages and alphabets, such a long time ago.
Talk about longevity! THE HOBBIT just celebrated its 75th anniversary. First published in 1937, well before the first volume of THE LORD OF THE RINGS came out (1954), the whimsical adventure of the diminutive Bilbo Baggins stands as a giant among 20th century fiction. Certainly few other books sustain the same revolving fandom over decades. I don’t believe in the least that TWILIGHT or THE HUNGER GAMES will have this measure of adoration in 75 years (but POTTER damn well might). Don’t underestimate how beloved and emulated Tolkien’s books are to a surprisingly different quilt of nations, regions, and times. The world’s appetite for Tolkien’s uniquely rich fantasy storytelling caused the actual “Fantasy” section to appear in bookstores; a niche market broadened tremendously, a statement was made to the publishing industry, and there was certainly no going back. Elves, Hobbits, Wizards, Goblins and Dragons were here to stay.
So much of my own creative life has sprung from my love of Tolkien and willingly have I swam the subculture that embraces his work.
Ringer fans are counted among the best of friends and talents I’ve had the pleasure to meet. They never cease to surprise me in their endless originality. Interviewing them for our documentary, RINGERS: LORD OF THE FANS got me really up-close; and I take joy in exploring this never-ceasing question: why are these readers so deeply connected to Bilbo’s and Frodo’s story? Why does this phenomenon keep expressing itself in the desire for cosplay, spontaneous music, academic symposiums, boisterous conventions, movie adaptations, and profuse indulgence in second breakfasts? I keep asking through all my interviews and meetings and moots; yet the answer is mercurial.
And what humble, delicate beginnings for a behemoth like THE LORD OF THE RINGS! Let’s take a look at Tolkien’s remarkable publishing history, and thence pop cultural history, because it almost didn’t happen, for many reasons.
Tolkien started off developing the languages, and the foundational cosmological basis for his “secondary world,” while he was still a youngling in college, earning a degree in English Language & Literature. Then World War I arrived with death and disruption. Tolkien survived unwounded but his friends did not – he was medically discharged himself with trench fever. While on sick-leave in 1917 his wife Edith assisted him with hand-copying one of his earliest tales: “The Fall of Gondolin,” a fictional wandering that would ultimately become part of THE SILMARILLION (in fact, much of the content of THE SIL was created in Tolkien’s earlier years).
He was to become an Oxford philologist, dedicating his scholarly life to the study of languages. What better way to explore them than inventing your own! There’s a term for it: glossopoeia. As explained by TORn staff contributor Ostadan: “The word glossopoeia is a coinage derived from Greek, meaning ‘the making of tongues.’ As Tolkien explains, the creation of languages offers both intellectual and aesthetic satisfaction, but at the time he wrote, there were few such creations known to the public.”
By 1917 he was on his way to inventing Quenya and Sindarin – Elvish languages yet to be uttered by Orlando Bloom. Tolkien toyed with bits of poetry and his own slant on languages that he fancied (Finnish, Old Norse, Welsh), an effort which, oh-so-gradually over forty years, became an entire universe. He was also intent on creating a new mythology for England, which he felt lacked its own panorama of deities and “epicness” as Norway did. So THE HOBBIT was begun somewhere around 1930-31 (Tolkien recalls scribbling on a blank sheet of paper while marking examination papers, ‘In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit’).
In 1936 Sir Stanley Unwin of Allen & Unwin Publishers got his 10-year-old son Rayner on board as the first ‘early reviewer,’ believing a child was the best judge of children’s fiction. Rayner loved it and wrote a glowing report, describing it as ‘very exciting.’ So THE HOBBIT launched in September 1937, to considerable acclaim and boffo sales.
Sir Stanley quickly asked for a sequel; and the Professor sent them THE SILMARILLION, a woefully different ball of wax, with oddments of archaic manuscripts, a dense mine of data about Middle-earth’s pre-history, genealogies and somewhat biblical-style tracts that didn’t suit anyone’s taste at the publisher’s office. They wanted something with furry feet and gentle appeal.
Saying politely, “No thanks, but give us more material akin to THE HOBBIT,” they received in 1937 the first chapter Tolkien could manage – “A long expected party,” which reveled in much more hobbity sensibilities. The publishers loved what they read. But in so small an act can the hand of destiny be changed. The writing of the damn thing spiraled entirely out of control.
Tolkien felt endless pressure but wrote to Sir Stanley: “The work has escaped from my control and I have produced a monster.” This new epic was to take nearly 13 years, some say 17, during which time he held a chair at Oxford; and then, quick as you can say schnell, World War II arrived. THE LORD OF THE RINGS was finally finished in 1949. Tolkien was nigh 60 years old.
Over those years Tolkien had become quite miffed at Allen & Unwin for saying “no” to THE SILMARILLION. In 1949 he got entangled in a lengthy flirtation with Collins Publishers, hoping a new relationship would yield a home for his greatest effort.
He eventually went back to Allen & Unwin under terms of a new agreement: they would indeed publish THE LORD OF THE RINGS, even though there was a critical paper shortage during wartime. Sir Stanley did not take on THE SILMARILLION, either, another stroke against it (after Tolkien died it finally saw print in 1977, thanks to his son Christopher’s tireless efforts).
The decision to split LOTR into three volumes left the Professor rather unhappy. But he settled on the main title as THE LORD OF THE RINGS, with sub-titles for three distinct volumes (containing two “Books” each)– THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, THE TWO TOWERS and THE RETURN OF THE KING. He would much rather it had been THE WAR OF THE RING, which he sensed would reveal much less of the actual plot, but that didn’t stick.
It was the High Summer of 1954 – Bill Haley and His Comets would rock around the clock, just as Frodo Baggins made the scene in Volume 1 of LOTR; then Volumes 2 and 3 would arrive later in 1955.
The first wave of fandom simply ate up copies regardless of its mixed reviews. Tolkien’s good friend (and fellow Inkling) C.S. Lewis came to the books’ spirited defense, declaring famously: “Here are beauties which pierce like swords or burn like cold iron. Here is a book which will break your heart.” W.H. Auden also lauded: “No fiction I have read in the last five years has given me more joy.”
Steady sales and continued profits were nice, but when the American counterculture embraced THE LORD OF THE RINGS some ten years later it really skyrocketed. Over a few months time in 1966, THE LORD OF THE RINGS became a campus craze and books were seen everywhere through dormitory halls – even the University of Southern California Irvine Campus had a housing section renamed a lá Middle-earth. Causing admiration and titters alike (depending on your level of fandom) 1700 students to this day lounge in halls with such names as “Rivendell” or “Quenya.” The first and strongest wave of Western pop culture, the hippie movement, was staking its claim on how Tolkien was perceived and enjoyed by a broadly literate youth generation. Then there was the scandal of the “bootleg paperback version” of LOTR that were completely unauthorized (the guilty party being ACE Paperbacks) but that was resolved with the support of students/fans protesting booksellers who carried ACE and thus a new Ballentine edition was soon printed with Tolkien’s note on the back cover — much of this fuss we cover in greater detail in our documentary.
Then the Rock & Rollers picked up the books. An entire section of the RINGERS film covers that dynamic period where Tolkien unwittingly affected musicians of the time. Marc Bolan (of T-Rex) and David Bowie hit the underground “Middle-earth Club” on the seedy side of London. Connect the musical dots to Led Zeppelin; whose albums are rife with LOTR references and characters due to Robert Plant’s fertile affection for Tolkien’s books. I had a revealing chat with director Cameron Crowe who confessed: “Oh you’ve got to talk with my wife Nancy (Wilson of Heart), because she just loves it!” Then there was Geddy Lee (Rush), and nowadays we have Justin Timberlake – hardcore Ringers one and all.
Tolkien was uncomfortable with the explosion of attention. He was a tweedy Oxford don, after all, and wanted nothing to do with the drug-addled young people tramping across his rose garden and peeping into his windows while he worked. He once called them “my deplorable cultus.” After his death in 1973, and the posthumous publication of THE SILMARILLION, the wave of pop surrounding Bilbo and Frodo became a unique beast of another color.
The holiday animation company Rankin/Bass (yes, the folks who did stop-motion Rudolph and Frosty) brought us THE HOBBIT in less than 90 minutes of Japanese-produced 2D glory in 1977. Then Ralph Bakshi rotoscoped his drop-acid take on the first half of LOTR, but he never got to make his finale. Yet the fantasy explosion of the Eighties was off to a roaring start. Tolkien fueled all this, without dispute, and up sprang authors like David Eddings, Terry Brooks, Stephen R. Donaldson, and Marion Zimmer Bradley. Someone with a polyhedral die and several pages of Middle-earthy maps invented a pen & paper game that you might vaguely recall. And you can bet your Muggle face that J.K. Rowling was devouring the Professor’s books at the time, storing it all away for future inspiration.
Enter onto the 1990′s digital stage TheOneRing.net – an online fan community affectionately known as TORn – the largest, longest-running, all-volunteer web portal unique to a single fandom. As contributors to TORn, we spend our energy reporting news, presenting special panels coast-to-coast at massive Comic-Cons and Dragon*Cons, moderating forums, chat rooms, and Facebook timelines with an endless flow of fans who collide as much as confer. We produced three gobsmacking Oscar Parties just for Ringers, one event yearly for each of Peter Jackson’s sprawling films, which were attended by the trophy-bearing cast and crew. On the year of THE RETURN OF THE KING’s 11-Oscar sweep, the Kiwi filmmakers were especially eager to greet the grassroots fan audience that so avidly showed them three years of love (and repeat ticket sales). We also produced a hellzapoppin’ Oscar event for the HOBBIT: AUJ in 2013, providing a unique atmosphere for aficionados to celebrate a shared affection for Tolkien with creators from behind the camera.
Now the newest excursion into Tolkien’s legendarium is upon us with the late 2012 release of THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY. Not to mention the attendant merchandising and collectibles now flooding the market. Jackson and his team of film artisans surmounted terrific odds to return all the familiar players to New Zealand. The anticipation has left most fans breathless; while many purists may bemoan the stretching of an episodic 280-page children’s story into 3 extra long films. The level of involvement among fans hasn’t lessened, instead reaching a new zenith by way of shared electronic media.
On our weekly live webcast aptly named “TORn Tuesday,” actors and artists ranging from Sean Astin to Peter S. Beagle join me for a merry discussion of how THE LORD OF THE RINGS has impacted their lives. They definitively illuminate how Tolkien remains so relevant. These artists have lived and breathed the magic of Middle-earth in myriad ways. Nearly 60 years later Tolkien’s masterworks have reached countless millions; and there’s a vibrant community online that supports many great events and causes, all sharing the same literary joy. I’ve never witnessed another phenomenon like it. A shared passion for the Professor’s 1200 page opus is the very liferoot of it all.
As I said, Ringer fans really do know what they like.
Much too hasty,
‘Quickbeam’
Clifford Broadway
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Clifford Broadway, longtime contributor and webhost for TheOneRing.net, is co-author of the bestseller “The People’s Guide to J.R.R. Tolkien” (2003) and co-writer/producer of the award-winning RINGERS: LORD OF THE FANS (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 2005).
Follow us on Twitter:
TheOneRing.net @theoneringnet
Cliff Scott Broadway @Quickbeam2000

This thing went nuts with 200,000 views in 7 hours! With a busy Facebook timeline like ours at TheOneRing.net, it is always cool to see what stands out as a favorite popular post. Today’s image of Aragorn having a fun soliloquy about the day we STOP loving The Lord of the Rings became our most widely-seen and mega shared post of the year!
So why are fans so quickly drawn to a declarative statement like: “Other Fandoms may ebb and flow, but Tolkien fans are committed to these stories for life?” Quickbeam has pondered that very thing: and here is his article from this week, above
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Posted in Christopher Tolkien, ComicCon, DragonCon, Fans, Fellowship of the Ring, Headlines, Hobbit Book, J.R.R. Tolkien, Languages, Lord of the Rings, LotR Books, LotR Movies, Merchandise, Miscellaneous, Oscar Parties, Other Events, Other Tolkien books, Return of the King, Silmarillion, The Hobbit, The Two Towers, TheOneRing.net Community, Tolkien, TORn TUESDAYS Live!