Azog holds aloft the head of the Dwarven King, Thorin Oakenshield’s grandfather.

Last year for Comic-Con the folks at The Bridge Direct lead off their line of figures for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey with the Invisible Bilbo 6″ figure. Well, today via their Facebook page they announced the figure they will be bringing with them to Comic-Con 2013. This year’s figure will go the bad guy route with the choice being Azog the pale Orc. This figure is going to come with a huge assortment of choices and stand 7″ tall. No price has been announced (but Bilbo last year was $25 so that gives you an idea). The edition size for Azog will be 26oo pieces.

Here is the full listing from The Bridge Direct’s Facebook Page:

We are excited to announce:

San Diego Comic-Con 2013 Exclusive Hobbit Collector Figure Azog

Our 7″ tall Orc Commander Azog comes in a numbered, limited edition of 2,600 pieces. Azog is depicted as he appears in the prologue scene from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. In the battle between the dwarves and an army of orcs to reclaim Moria, Azog holds the severed head of the dwarf King Thror up in victory. The figure comes with interchangeable hands – the right hand that holds Thror’s head can be replaced with a hand capable of holding either his dagger or mace, and the left hand can be switched with the prosthetic spikes that replaced the hand he lost to Thorin’s sword.

June 13th: Photo will be released

This month we’re asking questions of self-described Online guy at Weta Workshop and all round top bloke, Magnus Hjert.

Kelvarhin: Thanks for joining us this month Magnus, as always we’ll start with grammas favourite question…

What was your favourite cartoon when you were growing up?

Magnus: I grew up in Sweden on a rich and varied comics diet consisting of Tintin, Asterix, The Phantom, Spirou et Fantasio, its spin-off Marsupilami, Iznogoud… but my all-time favourite (that I still read) is Tintin.

Kelvarhin: What was your favourite toy as a kid?

Magnus: My Märklin train set… it initially provided much entertainment for my father and uncle, as I believe I was about three when I got it for Christmas. But it was awesome when I was older and could build model buildings etc.

Kelvarhin: Some of the  TORNfolk (Tehanu, Garfeimao, deej and entmaiden) were in attendance to help Weta and the Neonatal Trust break the Guinness Record for most sandcastles built in an hour. They know that they built enough, but Guinness requires a lot of documentation and time to certify the results, and they’re wondering if you’ve gotten the official results from the world record Sandcastle Build last November?

Magnus: I don’t actually know the answer, but I promise I will find out from Martin Baynton, who is the main link between Adventure Wellington and Weta Workshop. I was on that beach myself, covering it on behalf of Weta. The event was organised by Adventure Wellington and Weta Workshop helped out with buckets and quite a few crew, including Richard, Tania and many others.

Kelvarhin: What is your favourite location in NZ?

Magnus: I’ve lived here now for 10 years and I have many favourites. But that’s a bit of a cop-out, so I will try to pick one.  To narrow it down little by little, the region called the Wairarapa is about 90 minutes’ drive away from Wellington and is predominantly a rural area, but with a twist – it’s one of New Zealand’s premier wine regions. Small towns that 50 years ago were as rural as rural can be have blossomed with the increased interest the wine has brought to the region. On the way to my favourite place, you pass through several of these, Featherston, Greytown, Carterton. When you get to Masterton, you take a right and head for the coast. And after driving through orchards and sheep stations, you get to Castlepoint. A Pacific beach community with a spectacular lighthouse and rock formations, a fantastic beach and a camping ground. And very little else. The weather is often unforgiving, but lying in a tent, listening to the ocean… it doesn’t get much better. Oh – I just realised you probably meant shooting location? Well, other than Hobbiton which is truly AWESOME, a favourite is the Dimholt Road/Paths of the Dead at Putangirua Pinnacles in… you guessed it: The Wairarapa.

Kelvarhin: What are your most favourite places, of all the places you’ve been to in the world?

Magnus: Monterey, California. Montpellier, France. London, England (lived there for 7 years). Copenhagen, Denmark (being from Malmo in Sweden, Copenhagen is a natural place to hang out – back then it was a 45 minute boat trip away. Now there’s a bridge…). And Wellington – on a good day…

Kelvarhin: What movies or television shows are you into right now, apart from The Hobbit?

Magnus: Star Trek: Into Darkness was awesome – I went with a band of colleagues and everyone was pretty much in agreement it was a great film. With two kids of 6 and 10 years, I watch a LOT of ‘children’s’ flicks – like Wall-e, How to train your Dragon (and Riders of Berk) and love it, but Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, House MD, Doctor Who, Sherlock and even the occasional UK detective show/murder mystery re-run like Midsomer Murders, Morse, Miss Marple, Hercules Poirot… I’m easy to entertain…

Kelvarhin: I’m a child of migrants, and I know you’re originally from Sweden, so I was wondering what inspired your move to New Zealand?

Magnus: I was dragged here kicking and screaming by my Kiwi wife… nah, it was actually the other way around. I get itchy feet staying in one place for too long and when we were living in London (where we met and wed) and expected our first child, we decided there were healthier places to bring up children than south London, so we chose New Zealand. Thinking we’d only be here for 4-5 years and then perhaps go to Sweden (where all my family is). But then I got my job at Weta – as close to my dream job as I’m ever likely to get – and we’ve now decided not to up-root the kids, but stay here for at least as long as they want to stay. Then we’ll see.

Kelvarhin: What was the most difficult thing about organising Wetas surprise for TORn’s 10th Anniversary?

Magnus: Getting everyone to the same courtyard at the same time. Gino from Weta Digital down the road, Richard Taylor from somewhere in the building, Guillermo del Toro from 3 Foot 7 and then getting the crew to pick up some props and waving them around. We had many false starts on different occasions, but in the end we got it together. Woohoo! Man, that seems like a long time ago now… I was very nervous directing Guillermo del Toro, but he was very good about it.

TORn 10th Anniversary Weta Video

Kelvarhin: How long have you been working for Weta Workshop and how did you come to be involved with them?

Magnus: I’ve been here since 2008 and I owe it to my sister-in-law who found the ad in the paper…

Kelvarhin:  Working for Weta sounds great, but being a marketing manager sounds like hard work… is the line between being on the job and dreaming sharp or fuzzy? Is there even a line?

Magnus: That’s a great question… I’m gonna have to think about that one… Right – I’m back after having answered a few other questions in the meantime. The answer is – there is no line… my job is a constant intertwinement of fantasy, fans, fiction, collectors, artists, logistics, writing and just saying ‘awesome’ a lot. Weta is not a normal workplace – we who work there tend to forget.

Kelvarhin: Within your position at Weta, you must have been involved with some very surreal situations (perhaps meeting certain people, taken part in certain events and so on). What is your most memorable moment?

Magnus: There are many… in my first week, one of the Workshop technicians, Jordan, drove up and down the road outside on his rocket powered bicycle. A few months later I was recording a sound bite with Bill Farmer (Goofy since 1986) on a podcast and suddenly Michael Winslow (officer Larvell Jones in Police Academy) chips in with a Mickey Mouse impersonation… And meeting Sir Ian McKellen – again for a podcast interview… it’s all a bit surreal in hindsight, but while you’re doing it… it’s fantastic.

Kelvarhin: What item do you like the most of all the items made by Weta? And why?

Magnus: Ooooooh – that’s a tough one. The Minas Tirith shooting miniature – I have never seen it in real life, but the impact it had on me in LOTR when I first saw it on screen… man! Barad-dûr and Orthanc likewise – I’ve seen both of them outside David Tremont’s workshop while he was working away on the collectible models. Of the things you can take home… Peter Lyon’s swords… probably Andúril… words cannot describe how epic they are and how powerful you feel with one in your hand.

Kelvarhin:  I have heard workers from Weta get a chance to buy the things they make (the collectibles). Have you ever not bought an item and later regretted that you didn’t get it? If yes, what was it, and why do you regret not getting it?

Magnus: Yes – I admit to being a complete sucker for Greg Broadmore’s rayguns… and my favourite is the Goliathon 83, which is now sold out. While it was still in stock, I couldn’t afford it. But if I ever get a chance to buy one…

Kelvarhin: What is it like seeing all these cool Collectibles before the fans get to see them? Also, how hard is it to hold that from the world?

Magnus: A) Orgasmic. B) Extremely.

Kelvarhin: If you were making a car commercial, what Weta Workshop items would you include?

Magnus: Rayguns – ‘Vorsprung Durch Technik’. It’s a mantra in Ingolstadt as well as at Grordbort Industries. Although it would be in English undoubtedly. ‘Advantage through Technology’.

Kelvarhin: And lastly, if you were a dwarf in Thorin’s Company, which one would you be?

Magnus: Easy – Bombur. A little known fact is that I have “arse-modelled” for our Bombur collectible, showing the sculptors what it looks like when a fat guy runs… up and down the Weta Workshop car park. And Leaflock from The Shadow and Flame’s Weta collectors’ forum actually turned me into Bombur in the S&F Christmas card for Weta. So I feel a strong affinity with the guy. I have included the image Leaflock made.

As always thanks to all our message board regulars, DanielLB, SirDennisC, Ataahua, Elessar, Brethil, elaen32, entmaiden, dernwyn, Kaede, grammaboodawg and Rosie-with-the-ribbons, for this month’s questions.

If you would like to ask any questions yourself, just head over to our Message Boards, the sign up process is pretty painless. A lead post for questions is made at the beginning of each month on the Main board. Or you can just check Main for each months interviewee and email me your questions at kelvarhin@theonering.net.

Till next time from TORn’s resident Tiger.

Kelvarhin

Shows

We had a wonderful time in April, attending 3 shows in Melbourne and the Gold Coast of Australia, and our first visit to CalgaryExpo in Canada. It was exciting to meet some new and old Flamers in person for the first time. We were especially grateful for the kind donations of chocolate for the crew !
Most of us just got back to work on Monday, a bit tired, but ready to get going again. And of course, we are only 2 months away from the Big Show; San Diego Comic Con. Time flies, we can’t wait ! We will be in the same booth space (3513B) as last year. This has now become our own Weta booth, we are no longer sharing someone else’s space. We will have our largest ever team of Weta crew at Comic Con this year. We’ll be announcing names soon. Please come and say Hi We are shipping out a container full of goodies to San Diego at the end of May, full of confidential, new stuff. We still have lots of work to do, as there are always a handful of items packed in at the last minute.

The Hobbit – 1/6th scale polystone range

We have now launched the first seven pieces in the 1/6th scale range: Thorin, Gandalf, Bilbo, Dwalin, Balin, Bombur and Gollum. Thanks so much to all of you who have supported this range, we consider these to be the best quality sculptures we have created. This will be our signature line for The Hobbit trilogy of movies and we have several more outstanding pieces in production. A lot of thought has gone into the poses, and how the various characters could be displayed together. We expect this will become clearer over time. We will most likely unveil the next sculpture in the range in July.

Some of you have asked why there are no creatures launched yet ? The reason is that most of the creatures are created in digital form for the films, and the digital work is normally finalized very late in the film making process. So therefore we could not start work on these creatures until very late last year. But never fear, they are coming !

The Hobbit – Environments

We had hoped to have launched an environment by now. We were actually building a few pieces last year. But once the decision was made to change from 2 to 3 movies, we had to put them on hold until the second movie is released.

The good news is that we do have 2 new environments in production now, so you will be seeing them at some stage soon.

The Hobbit – New Polystone Product Ranges !

Over the next few months, we will be launching some new smaller scale pieces, priced under US$100, including a few special pre-releases from the upcoming movie The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Look out for these at Comic Con!

The Hobbit – Prop Replicas

Our Staves have been extremely popular. The first production of both the Staff of Radagast the Brown and the Staff of Gandalf the Grey, sold out even before they arrived in our warehouses. The second and final production run will take place over the next few months and we hope to release these final pieces before the end of 2013. We strongly suggest pre-ordering to ensure you don’t miss out.

The Key to Erebor is our highest selling item. We have sold out our stocks twice and are struggling to keep up with production

Daniel Reeve has had a great time creating hand made Contracts and Maps.

Jewelry from Middle-earth

Our new range of Jewelry from Middle-earth has been a huge hit, especially The One Ring in gold plated tungsten carbide, created by Jens Hansen Gold and Silversmith. We continue to struggle to keep up with supply for this item, the Evenstar and the Elven Leaf Brooch

We have a new Stone Pendant launching in the next week. Keep an eye out for it

The Hobbit – Maps and Art Prints

We now have a room in our office dedicated to storing tubes with all the Maps and art prints created by the artists who worked on the movies. We will continue to expand this range and would be grateful for a poll to vote on the scenes you’d like to see from LOTR and The Hobbit.

If you are coming to Comic Con in July, this would be a great opportunity to get some of these art prints signed.

You can also expect to see something new from Daniel Reeve soon too

The Lord of the Rings

There are a couple of items in production from LOTR.

The Fellowship of the Ring – Set 2 starts arriving in our warehouses over the next month, and will be followed up by Set 3 in a few months time. All three sets look fantastic displayed together, with a mirror set behind them, as we have done in the Weta Cave

We will also be releasing a new sculpture of Arwen soon, as part of the range of smaller scale pieces; Gollum, Gandalf and Strider

Next shipment

Our next shipments arrive in our 3 warehouses in the US, UK and NZ over the next month, including new pieces such as:

• The Fellowship of the Ring – Set 2
• The Pipe of Fili the Dwarf
• The Staff of Gandalf the Grey (already sold out)
• Gollum Enraged

Changing Warehouses in the US

In late May / early June, we will be changing our warehouse in the US. So if you are planning to make any orders in the near future, we recommend making your order in the next 2 weeks.

And for customers in North America, we will be announcing a range of special offers early next week, to help us reduce our inventory before we move to the new warehouse. Watch out for this in our next newsletter !

Cheers

Tim

Below are the full descriptions of each line from the Asmus Toys website:

Heroes of the Middle-earth will be the premier line of important characters. Presented by well know heroes such as Aragorn, Gandalf…etc, who will be built in top quality head sculpt, realistically accurate clothing, and mixed media accessories. Each hero will have its own custom base, and together they will be puzzled into a huge battle field diorama. Also, heroes don’t necessarily have to be the good guys.

Man of West and Army of Mordor will feature the soldiers from both side of the force. Some of the familiar faces we see in the movies but not as important as the heroes. Examples like Uruk-hai, Orcs and even Merry and Pippin.

Armors in the Battlefields is a series of products that will contain only the armors, weapons and clothing. Collectors can use whatever figure body you have at hand to custom a figure in a relatively cheaper price, in this way, collectors can put together an army in affordable budget. Examples such as Gondorian soilders, Orc armors..etc

— Unfinished Tales, p. 338

As the saying goes there are always two sides to the same coin. The last statue that from Sideshow Collectibles The Lord of the Rings statue line was the Witch-king as we see him before Frodo puts on the ring. Now, we get the other side of that same coin with the exception of this is what we see from Frodo’s point of view after he puts on the ring. Both statues exclusive version come with him holding the Morgul Blade to give you the full effect of both points of view.

PACKAGING

The graphics on the outside of the box follow the same pattern set by the previous statues in this series. Following the trend as I mentioned about being the other side of the coin this box instead of being black is all white, with the exception of The Lord of the Rings being in gold and the character name in a silver. While the sides of the box you get an image of the statue from two different angles. The material of the box is continues the matte finish we saw with the last statue. The inside of the box saw the biggest change though from previous statues even the last Ringwraith statue. The flowing robes of the Witch-king caused Sideshow to create a big hole that made the Styrofoam adequate for the robes. There have been a few cases where despite the best efforts to make sure this statue arrived ok that it did show up broken.

SCULPTING

Gabriel Marquez was once again tasked with bringing a Ringwraith to life all while capturing the evil and power they posses. As was the case with the other statue the job done bringing this side of the character to life was superbly done. The complexity of this statue is actually much more difficult than his previous effort because of the massive flowing robes. The robes are very intricate and have been sculpted in a way that it has the feel of the Wraith world, but also has cloth look we’ve come to expect from the talent at Sideshow.

Unlike the previous statue there is a facial sculpt that must capture the likeness of the Witch-king as Frodo saw him after he put the ring on. When we see the Witch-king he looks he looks like a man long dead who is still lingering due to the power of Sauron, and this statue has captured that look as fantastically as can be done. You get great detail in the cheekbones and sunken eyes that the Witch-king has when you see him. His crown also looks like long worn metal that should have fallen apart years ago. The same can be said with his sword and if you get the exclusive the Morgul Blade that he stabs Frodo in the shoulder with.

PAINT

Normally, when you have a statue with a likeness you want a nice skin color that looks like someone who is still among the living. That is not the case though with the Witch-king since he is no a member of the Wraith world. His skin tone is the proper pale looking color we see on screen, while also matching the pictures of the costume outside of that scene. It very much gives you the feel this is someone who is no longer human and has long given himself to the will of Sauron. The robes have a great mix of grey, blue, and white to very much give that Wraith world feel you get from this particular moment. The previously mentioned metal parts would not have that worn feel they have within the sculpt if it wasn’t for the great job creating a worn metal paint look. So again the paint only helps add to the feel this piece has of someone who has been around for quite some time. The base is not to be left out of the discussion for how nicely this piece is painted giving that old run down look Wetathertop had when Strider and the Hobbits rested there.

Overall

The Witch-king costs $275 from Sideshow Collectibles for both the exclusive and regular versions of the statue. The exclusive has an edition size set at only 300 pieces while the regular has an edition size of 1000 pieces world wide. There is currently a wait list for the exclusive but the regular version is in stock. Do not let a collectible as well done as this one slip by so go to Sideshow’s site right now and purchase this statue!

SPECIFICATIONS

The Witch-king has an edition size of 300 pieces World Wide for the Exclusive and 1000 pieces World Wide for the Regular. The dimensions for the Witch-king are as followed: 18.5″ x 12″ x 12.5″ (H x W x D)

PHOTOS

If you’re a fan of Gondor then this next item is for you! During The Battle of the Last Alliance this shield was carried by soldiers of Gondor as they fought Sauron for the fate of Middle-earth. This amazing replica from United Cutlery captures the fantastic design we saw during the prologue sequence of The Fellowship of the Ring. This fantastic item measures 42 1/2″ x 20 1/2 and comes with a awesome Gondorian Banner. You can pre-order this item right now for $250 and it also shipping in July of this year.

The Bridge Direct fresh off the success of their line of figures for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey are releasing some information regarding when we might see wave two. This wave will commence under The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug which hit store shelves October 15th. This wave will have the same style of figures that we saw in wave one but we will see characters we did not see as well as new characters. The Bridge Direct also announced they will once again have an exclusive figure at Comic-Con in July of this year.

Update: We just received some awesome pictures of a few of the upcoming items. So a gallery has been added to this post.

Per the info we know so far for Wave Two:

3.75” SCALE ACTION FIGURES

o    New assortment includes Radagast, Thranduil, Azog, Beorn and Gandalf

o    Each figure features 12 points of articulation and replicates the authentic facial features, clothing, weapons and accessories of the character in painstaking detail.

o    SRP $7.99 each

3.75” SCALE ACTION FIGURE BOX SETS - Three New Packs!

• Mirkwood Pack: Legolas, Tauriel, Thranduil, Fili and Kili
• Thorin Oakenshield Adventure Pack: Nori, Ori, Dori, Gloin and Thorin
• Bilbo Baggins Burglar Pack: Bifur, Bombur, Bofur, Oin and Exclusive 3.75″ Invisible Bilbo
• SRP $29.99 each

6” SCALE COLLECTOR FIGURES

• New assortment includes Radagast, Azog and Legolas
• Each collector figure features intricate details replicating the character’s facial features, clothing, weapons and accessories.
• SRP $14.99 each

Weta Goes to Calgary

Woohoo – Weta will be attending the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo 2013.

When: April 26-28, 2013

Where: The BMO Centre, Stampede Park, Calgary, Alberta

The Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo is the only festival in Calgary where you can get your sci-fi, film, television, fantasy, horror, comic book, gaming, and animation fix all in one incredible weekend. Join 60,000 other fans for this celebration of pop culture.

We are absolutely thrilled to have been invited by the organisers and we’ve been eagerly packing cool stuff from Middle-earth and beyond onto trucks and into planes to have a great range available to purchase at the Weta booth. Our booth number is Z-603 (Please Note: due to some international systems issues, we will only be able to accept cash at our booth – we cannot accept any payment cards).

This is our first ever show in Canada and we can’t wait to hook up with our fans and friends at the convention.

Richard Taylor and David Tremont will be at the Weta Booth along with Ri, Tim and Stacy.

This year the Calgary Expo will feature a variety of guests from different industries. From film and television stars to make-up artists, writers, comic book creators, cosplay specialists and much more – the Calgary Expo covers every corner of pop culture imaginable!

There will be over 600 exhibitors, artists, and special guests, all in one spot!