If you missed the Peter Jackson hosted first look at The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, or just want to watch it over again, a modified version is now available and archived on the Trilogy’s official website: www.thehobbit.com/sneak. To access the footage, use your UltraViolet code on your copy The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Blu-ray Combo Pack, Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack or 2-Disc Special Edition DVD. Please note, you will only be able to access the footage three times per code. So make good use of your opportunities! You will also notice the footage is now twenty minutes shorter than the live counterpart. And of course, if you want to geek out a bit celebrating the teasing of Smaug (aka Peter’s Dragon) check out our latest T-Shirt in our Emporium! [Hobbit Sneak] [T-Shirt]
Month: March 2013
Beginning this Friday, March 29 through Sunday, March 31 will be Wondercon, in Anaheim for a second straight year. TheOneRing.net will be hosting a panel on Sunday at Noon in room 207. The panel is titled “TheOneRing.net’s Unauthorized Sneak Peek: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”. Come join us for a lively discussion regarding all things Hobbit on Easter Sunday.
WonderCon is one of three conventions hosted by Comic Con International, the others being APE (Alternative Press Expo) and San Diego Comic Con. Wondercon follows the same general format as San Diego Comic Con, but on a much smaller size, making it easier to attend the panels you wish and still have time to shop. It is returning to the Anahim Convention Center for the second year while the Moscone Center in San Francisco is getting a major renovation. If you have had problems getting into San Diego Comic Con the last few years, this is a really great alternative. See you all on Sunday.
The final of the six statues that Weta Workshop had displayed at Comic-Con 2012 has arrived to many of our collections. If you recall the six statues at Comic-Con to start the The Hobbit statue line were; Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo Baggins, Balin, Dwalin, Thorin Oakenshiled, and of course Bombur. Bombur is also the first statue in the line to have an edition size set from the start.
Bombur is the brother of Bofur and is also the cousin to Bifur who are both members of the party whose goal is to reclaim The Lonely Mountain from the Dragon Smaug. Bombur is a rather large Dwarf and as the traveling party makes their journey this will present challenges. However, we will also see that you can’t judge a book by its cover with Bombur.
PACKAGING
The overall graphic layout for Bombur’s box stays the same as we’ve seen with previous entries in the line. Per the format we’ve come to know the front of the box gives you a great shot of Bombur, graphic work for the title of the movie, and of course the Weta logo. The sides of the box for Bombur also present a familiar format with different looks at the statue. While the other side of the box presents some of the various products you can get for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey line of collectibles. The back of the box contains a great story on Bombur as well as information regarding details of the character and statue. The Styrofoam on the inside is typical with what we’ve come used to getting with these statues.
SCULPTING
Greg Tozer is at it again but this time he had some help from fellow sculptor Scott Spencer with their combined efforts making a great statue. Bombur is another case of the statue looking spot on to the actor and the character we saw on screen. One of the things I think that might have been a challenge for sculpting Bombur was the long U shaped beard making sure it looked like real hair, and it was done really well in coming out looking just like that.
The outfit is probably the simplest of all the Dwarves so far but it done equally as good as those Dwarves. Unlike the previous Dwarves Bombur’s outfit is cloth based with only his boots being leather. The job making the outfit look like cloth was done successfully. So much so that Bombur looks very much like a pauper, which is fitting considering the Dwarves of Erebor situation following Smaug’s attack. Bombur was the cook of the group and as we saw in the movie really had no weapons with the exception of his cooking gear. So for this statue you get Bombur running away from what I imagine is the Goblins of Goblin Town with his giant ladle. There is a sequence where you see him running holding this so that is where I draw my inspiration from as to the sequence of events for this piece.
A fun note for anyone who wonders how poses are created or who might help create them. If you post or lurk on the forum The Shadow and Flame you know the username WetaBloke. Well, he was the inspiration in being asked to run the parking lot of the Weta Cave and then turned into the satue we have in our collections.
PAINT
Bombur continues the streak of very well painted statues from Weta Workshop. The skin tones use the proper paint mixture to not only make the statue look like a shrunken Dwarf. Making the outfit look like worn cloth must have been a challenge for the paint department but it was a challenge they met to the high standards we have as collectors. Bombur very much comes out looking like someone who has the proper skin tone you saw on screen and the worn outfit of someone who has lived a hard life since leaving Erebor. The ladle that Bombur carries looks fantastic as well and very much matches the prop on screen.
Overall
Bombur retails for $249, which is in line with most of the statues so far in the line. I will say that while I’m not a giant fan of the character I love the statue and find it to be another hit for Weta. He looks great and helps create a really great looking Hobbit display. I want to add that with every release in this line Weta is just continuing to show how great they with these statues.
SPECIFICATIONS
Bombur is the first limited edition statue of the line (minus the Comic-Con Exclusive Thorin). His edition size is just 1000 pieces and for now he is in-stock ready for purchase.
Dimensions:
9.3″ x 9.1″ x 5.9″ (H x W x D)
23.5 cm x 23 cm x 15 cm
Weight:
3.4 lbs (1.9 kg)
PHOTOS
We are now taking pre-orders for our latest official TheOneRing.net t-shirt – Peter’s Dragon! This black shirt, designed by Chris Lyons, features a stylized ‘Peter’s Dragon’ logo and the imposing eye of what we all hope will be the most magnificent Dragon to ever grace the screen! It is a geeky way to share your anticipation for ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.’ Shirts can be pre-ordered from now until Tuesday, April 9th 2013. For those of you not familiar with pre-order, this means the shirts will not be produced until all orders are in. We will then print and ship the shirts as soon as possible. And as a small aside, if you enjoy TheOneRing.net, purchasing shirts are a great way to support the site. The money we collect from making shirts goes directly to site expenses. Thank you for your support! [Purchase Peter’s Dragon T-Shirt]
On today’s very exciting *live* webcast TORn TUESDAY at 5:00pm PDT — all Ringer fandom had their eyes on THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG live preview from this weekend — but if you missed it or saw only part of it, we are going to carefully review and analyze every little nook and cranny of it today! Peter Jackson and Jed Brophy have certainly given us much to talk about! What was that stuff on the walls of Thranduil’s underground kingdom while Bilbo was pushing some sort of barrel-releasing lever? What was that place Radagast and Gandalf were investigating? Why does Bard the Bowman look like a new-fangled Errol Flynn ready to swash a buckle at a moment’s notice? Join your host Clifford “Quickbeam” Broadway and co-host Justin “I Love Jar-Jar” Sewell on the Live Event page here, which will provide the video playback of our show, broadcast from the heart of Hollywood at Meltdown Comics, and will also let you access our wonderful Barliman’s Chatroom! There you can join hundreds of fans from around the world and bring your questions and comments to the live show! It all starts in about 10 minutes! Huzzah!
The Round of 32 is over and we have the Sweet Sixteen line-up for Middle-earth March Madness 2013! 22,000 votes were cast, and if you expected this year’s competition to progress based solely on ‘film’ character popularity, you are mistaken! Many non-film characters have made their way into the final 16 combatants!
Here are your Round 3 Match-ups…
The Shire Division
Looks like we have a high chance the winner out of The Shire Division will be an elf! The Lady of the Light, and number one seed, (1) Galadriel has a match-up of mind-blowing proportions as she faces the definitive antagonist of Arda, (4) Morgoth. Helped a bit by his prevalence in Peter Jackson’s Desolation of Smaug tease, (7) Thranduil now has a significant challenge as he faces J.R.R. Tolkien’s favored elf princess (6) Luthien.
The Erebor Division
The Cinderella story continues as (16) Pippin has made it past Dwarven favorite Fili. But will that journey come to a dramatic end as he faces fourth seed (4) Beren? But far more interesting is the match-up between (6) Elrond and (7) Aragorn. The soon to be King Elessar better not underestimate the Lord of Rivendell.
The Mordor Division
The two baddies from Tolkien’s most popular works (The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings respectively) will face off in Round 3! (1) Smaug the Magnificent hopes to defeat the all seeing eye of (4) Sauron! (Someone make up a cool graphic for this one and we’ll post it on FB) In the other match-up, two popular characters from The Hobbit butt heads as (3) Thorin Oakenshield, most likely helped by his RA army, will face everyone’s favorite mysterious shape-shifter, (2) Beorn.
The Angmar Division
Could this division be any more exciting? (1) The One Ring has made it past Frodo Baggins, but will it defeat the King of Arda (12) Manwe, in hopes to have a potential re-match with (3) Gollum?! Gollum shouldn’t count those eggses before they hatch though. He needs to make it by (2) Gandalf the Grey. Will Gandalf’s sympathy for the wretched creature be his downfall? We shall see!
Voting starts right now and will run until March 28th at 10pm ET.
[Download Division 3 Bracket] [Round 2 Results] [Round 1 Results]
Continue reading “Middle-earth March Madness 2013 – Round 3 – Vote Now!”