A map of Middle Earth drawn by Tolkien himself sold for £4000 at Bonham’s in London yesterday, according to Ringer spy Tracey. Betcha there’s people out there that would pay more ; )
Month: June 2002
This month sees the much anticipated release of Sauron, the Lord of the Ring! This huge model towers over all others, and stands ready to lead the forces of Evil against the Free Peoples of Middle Earth. Included in this box set are the dying Elendil and his son Isildur, who defiantly holds the broken sword Narsil, ready to strike the Dark Lord and sever The Ring from his grasp. A must for all Lord of the Rings fans!
These models are ideal for The Last Alliance, the big summer Lord of the Rings gaming event kicking off at Games Day Baltimore and running for 6 weeks. Full rules for using Sauron in your Lord of the Rings games can be found in White Dwarf 270, along with a new scenario for him and painting guides as well.
This model retails for $24.00 ($32.00 Can)
On the telephone the other morning from New York, Ian Holm sounded deflated. At 71, one of the most versatile character actors in movies, whose credits are so long they would take a good chunk of this column to properly describe, Holm has a clean bill of health after a recent prostate operation, and now finds what for him is a peculiar situation: He has no scheduled acting work. “Now,” he said metaphorically, “I want to play my violin and it’s locked in the cupboard. I don’t know why.” [More]
Kim + Tee write: The Wellington launch (of ‘The Art of FOTR’) was held at the gorgeous Embassy Theatre, with about 150 people attending – including artist Alan Lee; Richard Taylor & others from the wonderfully talented Weta team; Jane Johnson – publisher from HarperCollins and actor Karl Urban. I bought a copy of the book, which now has some amazing autographs in it in evidence. [More]
Atheryn writes: I notice there haven’t been any reports posted so far of last-nights’ book event in Wellington NZ. I was lucky enough to get a ticket – so I thought I’d share my experience. [More]
Atheryn writes: I notice there haven’t been any reports posted so far of last-nights’ book event in Wellington NZ. I was lucky enough to get a ticket – so I thought I’d share my experience.
The event started about half an hour later than planned, but there was a good turn-out – there must’ve been at least 100 people or so. It was held in the upstairs foyer of the Embassy Theatre – Dymocks booksellers had set up a stall with various books and collectibles, and a very small stage had been set up by the front wall. After about half an hour of mingling with the other guests, the event started – a spokeswoman from Harper-Collins welcomed everyone, and introduced Jane Johnson as a guest speaker. Jane spoke for several minutes about her involvement in Lord of the Rings, inparticular the release of “The Art of the Fellowship of the Ring”. She then then called on another guest – Richard Taylor! Richard spoke for a few moments about Weta and the production of the films, and then everyone mingled again. Among the crowd were a handful of designers from Weta, Richard Taylor, Alan Lee, Karl Urban (Eomer), and Jane Johnson.
Unfortunately, none of the main cast of Lord of the Rings made an appearance – EXCEPT for Sir Ian McKellan, who made a very very discreet appearance during the opening speech – as soon as the speech was over, he autographed a couple of books and made a dash for the exit – unfortunately I missed out, but seeing him in person was privilege enough. Only about 5 or 6 of us actually realised he was even there! Anyway. Throughout the course of the evening, I was lucky enough to get my copy of LOTR signed by Alan Lee, Karl Urban, Richard Taylor, Jane Johnson, and various Weta designers. I also had my photo taken with Karl Urban, which was really neat. As time went on, people started to leave, and the atmosphere became more relaxed – I was even able to have a one-on-one chat with Richard Taylor for a while – we talked about the movie, about some of the effects, and he even gave me the run-down on how to make fake blood! Shortly after that, he left with his partner, Tania Rogers. By that point in time, all of the other special guests had gone, and there were only a handful of us left behind. There was still that last shred of hope that some of the actors would show up – but alas, they didn’t. According to a Dymocks staff-member, Elijah Wood and Viggo Mortenson had hoped to make an apperance, but it seems that filming for the day had lasted longer than expected. When the Embassy staff began to clean up, I left.
It was sad that none of the main actors came to the event, afterall, although this kind of booksigning event happens a lot in other parts of the world, this event was possibly the first of it’s kind in New Zealand. But all of the autographs I was lucky enough to get, my photograph with Karl Urban, and especially my friendly chat with Richard Taylor all made up for it! I took a few other photographs of the event also –
I hope to get them developed soon – as soon as they are, I’ll have them posted here on the site.