Our friends at Weta Workshop have stated that they wanted to go big or go home with this years Master Collection statue. They did that and then some. This year The Hobbit Trilogy gets to join the other Master Collection pieces with Thranduil: The Woodland King. You’re literally not going to find a bigger piece ever made by Weta, and as you will see in one of the videos below it gives you multiple display options. Fans that get this when it goes up for pre-order are, I think, in for a treat when it arrives. It is simply a stunning piece.
As many of you are aware, there isn’t going to be an in-person Comic-Con this year due to Covid-19. So our friends at Weta Workshop are doing what they can to help make that easier. They’re bringing the goodies to us virtually and we’re going to be bringing you daily videos as and when these new items are released, giving you a virtual recap.
Fans right now can order this years exclusive Gollum Mini-Epic variant for $29. Also teased, but not up for order yet, is the largest Mini-Epic yet, of Smaug. This dragon is very cool and fun.
Weta Workshop have also announced a new line of 1:6 statues. These new classic statues look amazing and are a great way to start the 20th Anniversary of The Fellowship of the Ring. Fans can Order Gandalf the Grey and the Ringwraith right now for $349 with an expected ship date of February 2021.
Finally, if you want to know what it takes to paint these superb pieces, paint master supreme Jules German of Weta has an awesome video showing the steps, and he teases about an upcoming piece in the video.
As many of you know Comic-Con in San Diego was cancelled this year due to the Covid-19. So our friends at Weta Workshop have decided to take Comic-Con and do it virtually. They’re calling it Winter Warm Up, because it is winter in their part of the world. The first two days have brought us three new collectibles from Middle-earth. The first one is from The Lord of the Rings, and a piece we saw sculpted live, two years ago during San Diego Comic-Con. Sculptor Jane Wenley is bringing to life that iconic moment where we see The Witch-king stab Frodo on Weathertop. When this piece goes live we will bring your more information but for now we hope you enjoy this concept sketch.
If you’re one of the lucky fans attending San Diego Comic-Con this weekend, don’t forget to swing by our presentation tomorrow night, July 20, from 6:45 to 7:45 p.m. in room 6DE. The room is already filling up, so be sure to get there early! For all of you Hobbits, Elves and Orcs who attend in costume, directly after the panel there will be a group photo taken on the steps behind the convention center, facing the Bay and the Coronado Bridge. In true Hobbity fashion, after the Cosplay photo, we’ll also be having in ice cream social at Ghirardelli, 643 Fifth Ave., San Diego, CA 92101. Show up between 8:15pm through about 9pm or so and there may be a few little mathoms handed out as well.
More details about the panel below, and don’t forget to RSVP on the SDCC SCHED page for the panel linked below.
*** TheOneRing.net (TORn) staffers Josh “Elessar” Long (host of Collecting the Precious), Jon “Tookish” Ben-Asher (former associate editor for TORn), Hannah “Took” Greenwood (co-host of TORn Tuesday, associate staff at WETA Workshop), and Josh “Sarumann” Rubinstein (former host of TORn Bookclub) celebrate 20 years of talking Tolkien and all things Middle-earth. They will be discussing all the current known news and maybe a rumor or two, reminiscing about some of their biggest stories and events in the past, and laying out a schedule of some of their 20th anniversary events. The Tolkien movie has already hit theaters, but the Amazon Lord of the Rings (LOTR) series is full-steam ahead in preproduction and this panel’s got some tantalizing news on that front. Bring your favorite stories about a TORn event or story they posted to discuss-they really want to focus on the community that TheOneRing.net has created these past 20 years. Costumes are welcome and encouraged. Cathy “Garfeimao” Udovch (special events coordinator) moderates.
Our friends at Weta workshop have two fantastic new items for fans who are looking to expand their Middle-earth collections. Our first item allows fans who are missing one of the original The Lord of the Rings statue line greatest pieces The Ringwraith on Steed. This piece is long sold out and hard to track down. So it was a wonderful surprise back during the holiday season they showed off the beautiful Ringwraith at the Ford statue. This superb piece is a companion piece to go with the Arwen and Frodo on Asfaloth, which was announced and shown off during Comic-Con 2018. Like Arwen and Frodo this Ringwraith comes in with an edition size of 750 pieces and a price tag of $699. Fans also have the payment plan option open to them, which will hopefully allow them to add a statue of the year for 2019 candidate into their collections.
You may not know his name, but outside of being a co-investor in the LOTR films, Samuel Hadida through his Davis-Films production company and his Metropolitan FilmExport distribution company in France helped make or distribute numerous films you would have heard of, including the Resident Evil franchise, True Romance, and the Silent Hill films and this year’s Hunter Killer. This reporter first encountered Samuel Hadida at San Diego Comic con when he brought Solomon Kane to Hall H in 2009. He was a champion of indie and genre films, and without his output deal with New Line Cinema, Lionsgate and Dreamworks, we might not have ever gotten the LOTR or the Hunger Games films.
Mark Ordesky, Executive Producer on the Lord of the Rings films said of him;
“Shocked and saddened. Sammy was so dear and brimming with life. One of many memories is indelible: His company was a co-investor in The Lord Of The Rings trilogy and needless to say the stakes were high. After we premiered the first public footage in Cannes 2001, Sammy lifted me off the ground and kissed me in his excitement. He lived and bet his passions and I’ll miss him terribly. We should all aspire to love our lives and jobs as much as he did. My deepest sympathy to his brother, Victor, and all who loved him.”
We at TORn also send out a heartfelt ‘Thank You’ for his courage in being a financial partner on the LOTR film, and send our condolences to his family and friends on his passing at such a young age. You can read more on his work at Passing of French Distributor Samuel Hadida
Solomon Kane panel at SDCC 2009 with Samuel Hadida second from left, Director Michael J Bassett and actor James Purefoy on the right. AICN’s Quint was the moderator on the far left.
Our friends at Weta Workshop have stated that they wanted to go big or go home with this years Master Collection statue. They did that and then some. This year The Hobbit Trilogy gets to join the other Master Collection pieces with Thranduil: The Woodland King. You’re literally not going to find a bigger piece ever made by Weta, and as you will see in one of the videos below it gives you multiple display options. Fans that get this when it goes up for pre-order are, I think, in for a treat when it arrives. It is simply a stunning piece.
