New York Comic Con is almost here – the fun starts tomorrow, and runs 4-7 October at the Javits Center. You can find TheOneRing.net at booth number 1678; please come and say hi! We’ll have buttons and shirts for sale – this year’s designs for t-shirts are ‘Top Ten Authors’ (the Professor is of course #1!), and ‘Not all those who wander are Lost’. We also have our usual ‘lucky dip’ with some amazing prizes to be won.  Be sure to come and find us!

And don’t forget – we’re teaming up with Sideshow to host a party in Manhattan! Tickets are still available for Ringers take Manhattan on FRIDAY 5th October 8-11pm at Tir na Nog pub in Times Square – that’s 315 West 39th Street.

You don’t have to be attending New York Comic Con to come along – all are welcome! Tickets are only $15 this year – and include your first drink, finger food throughout the evening, and two tickets for the evening’s fabulous raffle. You can buy tickets by clicking here.

Looking forward to seeing lots of Middle-earth fans this weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

[Buy tickets for Ringers take Manhattan here]

 

 

New York Comic Con is just around the corner; and TheOneRing.net will be there! We’ll have a booth at the Javits Center, where we’ll be selling tshirts and buttons, chatting with fellow fans, and giving out some amazing prizes… You can find us at booth number 1678, October 4-7.  Be sure to come and find us!

We’ll also be teaming up with Sideshow to host a party in Manhattan! This year our Ringers take Manhattan event is on FRIDAY 5th October (nb not Thursday this year), 8-11pm. The party will be at Tir na Nog pub in Times Square – that’s 315 West 39th Street. You can expect a great atmosphere, with fun decor and even some themed drinks!

You don’t have to be attending New York Comic Con to come along – all are welcome! Tickets are only $15 this year! – and include your first drink, finger food throughout the evening, and two tickets for the evening’s exciting raffle. You can buy tickets by clicking here.

Hope to see lots of folks in Manhattan – let’s take the Big Apple by storm! See you in a few weeks!

[Buy tickets for Ringers take Manhattan here]

 

 

The Dragon is upon us! It’s only Thursday and yet, even though DragonCon doesn’t officially start until tomorrow, there was merriment and partying even last night here in the Marriott Marquis in Atlanta. Deej and greendragon are at DragonCon to represent TORn, and we’re looking forward to a fun weekend with our fellow fans! Here’s what’s going on:

Even though the Tolkien Track has sailed into the West, there will still be lots of Middle-earth related happenings over the course of the convention. Check out the High Fantasy Track schedule for details! Some highlights:

Friday 10am: ‘Namarie: Farewell Tolkien Track’. TORn staff will be joining Track staff to reminisce and celebrate the Tolkien Track – and look forward to the continuation of friendships and community, for many years to come, even without the Track.

Friday 7pm: ‘Elf Choir’ – come along and join in!

Saturday 4pm: ‘Preciousss Moments with Gollum and Sméagol’ – lead by Constance Wagner, whose very popular panels are always fascinating and insightful.

Saturday 5.30pm: ‘Beren and Luthien’ – a closer look at the latest Tolkien publication.

Monday 10am: ‘Still Tolkien About It: 80 Years of Middle-earth’. Join TORn staffers deej and greendragon, together with scholar Constance Wagner, to look back on the past 80 years since The Hobbit was first published. What has made Middle-earth such an enduring passion – and to what can we look forward?

All of the above are in the High Fantasy Track Room – L401-403 in the Marriott (where the Tolkien Track was in the past).

In addition, on Friday night we have, of course, the ever popular Evening at Bree! This will be held in the Hilton Grand Ballroom West, from 8.30pm – be sure to get in line early! We have a party of special magnificence planned this year! Bands Toucan Dubh and the Brobdingnagian Bards will be providing live music, followed by a dance party hosted by our very own DJ, deej. We’ll also have the costume contest and the performance by the Elf Choir, plus this year you can expect one or two special surprises. With the theme of ‘Class of 3018 Prom – Enchantment under the Mountain’, we’ll say farewell to the graduating Tolkien Track seniors; and your host Prom Bombadil will be there to make the evening go with a ring a dong dillo!

On Sunday night you can hear the Brobdingnagian Bards again, playing Hobbit Drinking Songs in the Hilton Crystal Ballroom from 8.30pm.

And of course TORn has a table! Come and find us in our usual spot in the Hyatt. For shirts this year we’re bringing back an old favourite – the Lake-town Fire Department – and we have a fabulous new design, encouraging the races of Middle-earth to Coexist. We also have new buttons, fans, and lots of prizes you could win. Come and check out all the goodies – and be sure to say hi to deej and greendragon!

There may not be a Tolkien Track, but Tolkien fans are here in force, and we’re ready for a great weekend of fun and companionship. Half the Shire’s been invited – hope to see you, too!

Our friends at Weta Workshop are Smelebrating Smaug this month as well as the birthday of Smaug himself Benedict Cumberbatch. Weta is unleashing a Dragon’s share of discounts on various Smaug related collectables. Just some of the Smaug goodies fans can get are: Smaug the Terrible: Premium statue $549 USD, Smaug – King under the Mountain $99 USD, Smaug the Terrible – Bust $299 USD, Smaug’s Treasure: Coin Pouch with Coins $19.99 USD, and Smaug T-Shirt $20 USD.

Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Weta Workshop’s Smelebration”

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San Diego Comic Con

Edited to Add and update details: 

What’s Next for Tolkien Fans
From cast and crew interviews to having a staffer assigned as an embedded reporter on set, TheOneRing.net has had a front row seat these past 16 years as Peter Jackson’s Middle-Earth films were created. Now that all the films have been released, the only thing remaining for fans is the extended edition of The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies and rumors of possible Tolkien biopics on the horizon. Join staffers Cathy Udovch (special events coordinator), Clifford Broadway (TORn tuesday), Josh Rubinstein (TORn bookclub), Kellie Rice (Happy Hobbit), and Larry Curtis (senior staff writer) for an in-depth discussion full of expert analysis, behind-the-scenes stories and audience participation with the website forged by and for fans of J. R. R. Tolkien.
Friday July 10, 2015 4:00pm – 5:00pm
Room 25ABC

The 2015 edition of San Diego Comic Con is coming up in just 3 short weeks, and TheOneRing.net will be there. We will not have a booth this year, but we will be hosting a panel on Friday afternoon, July 10, called “What’s next for Tolkien Fans”. We just can’t give any further details until the official schedule is posted next week. Please do plan to wear your Tolkien finery on Friday if you are able. That means costumes, TORn shirts, whatever you have that shows your affinity for all things Middle-earth. Since this may well be TORn’s final big appearance at SDCC (we won’t know until next year if they will invite us back), so let’s go out in style. There will be a mass photo of fans in TORn shirts or other Tolkien themed tees, Hobbits, Elves, Dwarves and other denizens of Middle-earth, directly after the panel out on the front steps between Ballroom 20 and the Sails Pavillion. You will have to take the escalators to the ground floor in order to exit to get to the front steps, but this will allow any non-ticket holders to participate. So do plan to represent Middle-earth and we’ll see you on Friday, July 10, Costumes or geeky shirts are equally welcome, this photo event will take place between 5:15pm and 5:30pm.

GCC-LogoThere will also be a TORn Moot that Friday evening, but instead of the Laketown Luau we had last year, which forced us to charge money to attend, we decided to go a little more casual. So, without further ado, all Tolkien fans attending SDCC and those locals that are not attending are invited to an ‘Ice Cream Social’ at the Ghirardelli Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop in the Gaslamp District, located at 643 5th ave. We’ll begin at 7:30pm, giving everyone time to make it into the Gaslamp District after the hall closes, and run till 10pm.You can RSVP at our Facebook Event page for “We’re Taking the Hobbits to IceCreamGard”

 

Now here’s the rub, Ghirardelli does not take reservations, so everyone will just have to show up, grab whatever chair or table is available, and eat their yummy goodness. We may end up scattered about the place, but that’s OK, we are all Tolkien fans and we can socialize with the best of them. The shop is always rather popular and busy, the turn over is pretty quick, so just show up and have some fun with your fellow Tolkien fans, and there may even be a few prizes to win.

BotFA shirtsWith the announcement yesterday that The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies will have its World Premiere in London on December 1st, the final part in Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy seems just around the corner! Our friends at the official Hobbit Shop will release an ‘Opening Date’ T-shirt for this third movie, but they want YOU to help decide what the design should be:

Help HobbitShop.com choose this year’s official Opening Date T-Shirt for #TheHobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies! Take this quick survey to select your favorite design: click here.

There are five designs to choose from – one might even call it the Battle of the Five Shirts…  I know which one is my favourite! Which gets your vote?

[click here to take part in the survey]