How awesome are the folks at Weta? They’ve not only given fans one Christmas special already but are now giving us a second chance to grab some really amazing items. There are a couple of deals Ringers will want to make sure they take advantage of before they sail into the west with this special. The Prancing Pony environment is back with just a few pieces left for collectors around the world to get their hands on, and Ringers if you’ve been eying those fantastic shields now is your chance to get a great deal on them. The special on the shields is if you order the set of four right now the first ten orders will get a free Collector’s Guide book. We reviewed the Collector’s Guide book if you recall right after Comic-Con 2011. Finally, make sure to check out Weta’s specials page and Christmas Guide 2011 page for all your collecting needs!

As mentioned on our last *live* broadcast of TORn TUESDAYS, our friends at Badali Jewelry have an exciting Thanksgiving weekend sale going on where you can get a FREE replica of the One Ring (and other cool items) after buying $125 worth of jewelry. Each promo code is good for a particular free item on each separate day. Here are the codes: 11/26 Saturday “THANKS1” (for a Gold Plated Asha’man Dragon Pin), 11/27 Sunday “THANKS2” (for a Bronze Cthulhu Medallion), and 11/28 Monday “THANKS3” (for a Gollum Gold One Ring of Power with plain script). When ordering, select at least $125 worth of merchandise, then add the Free Jewelry Item of the day into your shopping cart (RJ-36 for Saturday, CTHN-22 for Sunday, and GG-01 for Monday). Then enter the day’s coupon code during the check out process and the cost of that day’s Free Item will be removed from the cart, giving it to you free! Also good on telephone orders! Check out their site Badali Jewelry for more details!

Message board member geordie alerted us to this unique item to be auctioned by Bonhams on December 15, 2011 in Los Angeles. It’s a copy of “The Lord of the Rings” signed by various members of the cast and crew of the movies including Peter Jackson, Ian McKellan, Cate Blanchett, Viggo Mortensen, Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom, Sean Astin, Sala Baker, Liv Tyler and other principle actors and crew. Online bidding is welcome, so have a look.  More..

Welcome, welcome to the fourth set report from the set of The Hobbit and the very first from a brand spankin’ new location! We started in Matamata (Hobbiton) and the plan was to work our way down the North Island of New Zealand, zig-zagging south until we hit Wellington again where the 450 strong main unit would board planes and ferries bound for the South Island and the bulk of location photography. Upon departing Hobbiton I made my way to a small town called Te Kuiti. This lovely little farm town is famous for being home to (Colin Meads), one of the most revered All Blacks of all time. The dude is so famous that my place was on Meads St. More..

Continue reading “AICN Set Report 4”

With the pages falling off the calendar of time remaining in The Hobbit filming schedule, TheOneRing.net is heading to Queenstown (for starters) for more coverage.

Writer and photographer Larry D. Curtis (MrCere@TheOneRing.net) will be a one-man news production team for two weeks, starting November 30 when he touches down at the Queenstown airport. His journey will also take him to Wellington to mark the one year countdown before the world premiere of the first Hobbit film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, in 2012 along with visits to friends of TORn (such as our own founder Tehanu) and can’t-miss public sites like the Weta Cave.

Curtis (known by the handle MrCere on the site) also plans to meet with as many fans as possible while in the area, including at un-official but hopefully frequent moot events, so if interested in attending or hosting, please contact him at the email above. The always all-volunteer and not-for-profit TheOneRing.net would also appreciate anybody who has great information or tips on inexpensive places to stay (no haystack ruled out!) or eat while in New Zealand. Continue reading “TORn headed to Queenstown, NZ for ‘Hobbit’ reporting”

“The old giant beech tree which prompted Sir Peter Jackson and 450 cast and crew members to film a scene for The Hobbit near Paradise, beyond Glenorchy and Queenstown, survived for a century until a storm blew it down six weeks ago.

This, however, was a Hobbit-sized problem in the grand scheme of issues for the Academy Award-winning screenwriter-producer-director in his bid to deliver Hobbit adventures to the world.”

Read the rest of the story, including the reporter’s on-set experience at Otago Daily Times It is pretty clear that Beorn is shooting now.