We have big news for fans of Jerry Vanderstelt and his works in Middle-Earth! Jerry is pleased to announce that he will be creating art pieces based on Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Hobbit. Like his amazing art prints based on The Lord of the Rings these prints will be sure to capture what we all expect to be a couple of truly fantastic films. There is also news for those that collect his superb art work based on The Lord of the Rings, and here’s a hint to what is coming next:  Durin’s Bane has been found. As soon as we get a good look at anything based on The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings we will let you know.

If you want to know more about Vanderstelt Studios and his work check out our interview with Jerry along with his site with all his art work.

WizKids Lord of the RingsThe WizKids product brand, under various owners, has been publishing the ‘HeroClix’ series of collectible miniature boardgames for several years now; they are move-and-fight combat games played on maps with miniature pre-painted figures whose movement and combat statistics are recorded on a dial that clicks to (usually) lower values as the figure receives damage. The most popular and numerous HeroClix products have been based on Marvel and DC superhero franchises, though there have been other settings as well.

Their newest product is a Lord of the Rings game. There are (at present) two ways to buy: an ‘Epic Campaign’ starter set, which contains eight characters (Sauron, Witch-Kingm ‘Ringbearer’ (Frodo), ‘Esquire of Rohan’ (Merry)m ‘Guard of the Citadel’ (Pippin), Strider, Captain Lurtz, and Olog-Hai), as well as rules, six largish maps, ‘Horde’ tokens representing generic Orcs or warriors, dice, character cards, and other play aides; and the standard ‘booster’ style in which one of an initial set of 21 figures (with various degrees of rarity) and its associated character card is purchased sight unseen. You might get a common ‘Frodo’, or a rare Gandalf the Grey. There will undoubtedly be many expansions with additional figures and maps before long.

Continue reading “WizKids The Lord of the Rings”

Welcome to our collection of TORn’s hottest topics for the past week.  If you’ve fallen behind on what’s happening on the Message Boards, here’s a great way to catch the highlights.  Or if you’re new to TORn and want to enjoy some great conversations, just follow the links to some of our most popular discussions. Watch this space as every weekend we will spotlight the most popular buzz on TORn’s Message Boards.  Everyone is welcome, so come on in and join in the fun!
Continue reading “TORn Message Boards Weekly Roundup – December 26, 2011”

Eric writes: Ohakune was our destination and was to serve as two locations within Middle Earth. One of these locations was up on Mount Ruapehu, which is the tallest mountain in the North Island and very sacred lands to the local Maori Iwi (tribes). They filmed quite a lot of the Mount Doom scenes in Lord of the Rings, such as Sam carrying Frodo up the cliffs, on other parts of the mountain, but this particular area was new ground for the production. That’s not to say that Ruapehu is Mt. Doom, which is a common misunderstanding amongst touring LOTR geeks.

It’s considered disrespectful to photograph the distinctive peaks of Ruapehu, so while they filmed much of the prologue battle and the slopes of Mt. Doom scenes on Ruapehu they had to digitally construct the imposing Middle Earth landmark out of a hodgepodge of other mountains, including active Hawaiian volcanoes.

UPDATE: There are a couple of film spoiler tidbits in this report. TORn staffer Demosthenes has written some analysis after the cut, but if you want to read Quint’s report in full, then head here. If you want Demosthenes’ SPOILER analysis, head beyond the cut! You’ve been warned! Continue reading “AICN Set Report #6”

The folks at bricktuts.com have revealed the preliminary box sets for the LOTR Lego series. As the art indicates the art is subject to changes. We were asked to remove the images and so they are now history. More and more official info and images as they become available. More..