Ever since seeing The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey I’ve been waiting to go to Goblin Town via the various collectibles I collect. Comic-Con 2013 finally brought me and many collectors a chance to finally snag one of those nasty looking Goblins. The first Goblin character to get the high-end collectibles treatment is the Goblin King himself. If you ordered directly from Gentle Giant you were lucky enough to snag the little Goblin Scribe for a pretty sweet little set of Goblins. This little set was limited to just 100 pieces worldwide, which made for one of the rarer collectibles so far for The Hobbit Trilogy.
With the Home Video release of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (which becomes available this week in Australia, Brazil and parts of Europe), Richard Armitage has been busy giving interviews, as we’ve been posting over the past week or so. He found time to sit down again with staffer greendragon, and they chatted about finding Thorin’s voice one last time, what he’s working on now, and what it was like to fill (literally!) those mighty dwarven boots… Here’s what he had to say:
The convention season is about to start in a big way with TheOneRing.net appearing at shows across the U.S. and even at a special event in Europe. HobbitCon in Bonn, Germany, is packed full of Hobbit and Tolkien guests, including our own MrCere (Larry D. Curtis) who will present several panels about, as you might guess, The Hobbit.
Joining him is an amazing collection of 12 star guests that includes actors from The Hobbit film and Royd Tolkien, great-grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien. The lineup of special guests includes Sir Richard Taylor, some fan films and other prominent figures from the world-wide Tolkien community. Tickets are no longer on sale online but day or weekend tickets can be purchased directly from the event at the Maritim Hotel If you are in Europe this is an event without peer.
WONDERCON
From the same folks who stage the world-famous San Diego Comic-Con, comes WonderCon in Anaheim, with a pretty incredible lineup that also includes TheOneRing.net staff previewing the last movie from Peter Jackson about Middle-earth, “The Hobbit: There and Back Again.” That can’t-miss panel takes place Saturday, April 19 at 5:30 p.m., in room 300DE.
We also will have a table on the sales floor to get exclusive TORn t-shirts and talk to staffers about all things Middle-earth. Our all-volunteer staff has an abundant representation in Los Angeles, making this a way to meet our friends.
MORE CONVENTIONS
CALGARY EXPO: April 24-27, Calgary. Staffers greendragon and Deej join a powerful Middle-earth lineup of guests that includes Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Jed Brophy, Manu Bennett, and Dean O’Gorman. Also featured is Weta’s incomparable Richard Taylor. TORn will sell our exclusive convention shirts and meet fans and friends face-to-face!
FANTASYCON July 3 – 5, Salt Lake City. This show, focused on fantasy, has a heavy Middle-earth influence with celebrity guests and rumor has it they will add several others to a lineup that includes Sean Astin, John Rhys-Davies, Sylvester McCoy, Ken Stott and Graham McTavish. TheOneRing.net is partnering with the show and will be present at the celebration of all things fantasy with a booth, panels and some surprises.
SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON The grandaddy of pop-culture events in the world will once again feature Hobbit content from Warner Bros. and TORn. Director Peter Jackson is a likely candidate to be here and as well as a list of celebrities from the film to make their “Hall H” appearance. Plan to wait or camp in line. Our own panel is also in high demand and while nobody can camp overnight, we fill any room the SDCC hands us. This is Mecca for pop-culture. See you there!
DRAGON CON The annual event in Atlanta, Georgia is something of a home for all things Tolkien with the Tolkien Track of programming that definitely features TheOneRing.net and always includes some celebrities from the film world. This focuses on books, film, pop-culture, costuming, dancing, music and everything else you can think of. TORn staffers attending include greendragon, Deej, MrCere, Thorongil, often Quickbeam and usually a few more.
More conventions are likely including the New York Comic Con so expect lots more convention updates.
As many of you might have guessed, there were a couple of stories posted today that were a few facts shy of truthfulness, courtesy of your very tricksy TORn staff on the occasion of April Fools Day. Currently, Warner Bros has no plans to move the release date of “The Hobbit: There and Back Again” to July 2015 or any other date, and no, Peter Jackson has not hired Leonard Nimoy to reprise his “Ballad of Bilbo Baggins” song for the closing credits. We also had a little fun over on the message boards, highlighted by this post by DanielLB. Turns out there were April Fools jokes all over the inter webs today, and even a few with actual advertising, such as the Cheeteau perfume, that smells like Cheetos. None for me, thank you very much. A quick google search should come up with some of the best, but this reporter rather liked the the PBS report on Dolphins shooting rainbows out of their beaks, or Westjet converting to Metric time and giving you a mathematical equation to figure out the time conversion. So if you were scratching your head, wondering if something we said was true or not, rest assured that the two stories mentioned above were not true, but the interview with Luke Evans and the spoiler analysis from Cinemacon were true. And if you would like a walk down memory lane to April Fools past, you can find them on the TORn Mathom-house Wiki.
And for anyone wondering why Garfield the Cat is being used here, the answer lies in my nickname.
In shocking news, Warner Bros. today announced that the release of The Hobbit: There And Back Again will be pushed back so the final film of Bilbo Baggins’ adventure can premiere at Comic-Con in July 2015. The new worldwide release date is July 29, 2015.
Premieres during Comic-Con International in San Diego are nothing new. “The 300” premiered in Petco Park a few years ago, heralded by bare-chested Spartans throughout the week-long convention. “Cowboys and Aliens” also held their premiere in San Diego during the convention, with DreamWorks booking an theater complex for the event.
This was an April Fool gag, and is not a true story. It is false, and all details have been invented. We hope that everyone enjoyed the joke.
Early details hint that Jackson and Warner Bros. are planning something on an even-larger scale: a massive week-long Middle-earth-themed carnival of events and activities that turn TABA’s debut into “the largest-ever world premiere of a film”. We’ve also noted that it sets Warner Bros. up for a strong one-two punch at the box office with the release of Pan just two weeks earlier.
Readers will, of course, recall that the date for The Hobbit: There And Back Again has, already been pushed back once from July to December 2014. I think we can all sincerely hope that this is the last shift in date for the film!
The official press release follows:
“The Hobbit: There and Back Again” to be released July 29, 2015 and will premiere at Comic-Con International
One of the showstoppers at Comic-Con 2013 was a character I had been looking forward to seeing since the The Hobbit Trilogy was announced. Being pretty pleased with how this character was done left me looking forward to finally adding a statue of him to my collection. Thankfully that wish came true when I made my voyage to the Weta booth during Comic-Con last year. I was really blown away by the job done on the Radagast the Brown statue and just how spectacular a job was done to translate the onscreen character into a 1:6th scale statue.
PACKAGING
The overall graphic layout for Radagast’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 Radagast, graphic work for the title of the movie, and of course the Weta logo. The sides of the box for Radagast 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 line of collectibles. The back of the box contains a great story on Radagast 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
The task of sculpting Radagast the Brown was handed to the ultra talented Steven Saunders. He has once again shown why he is a master of his craft with the skills needed to bring the movie to life within your collection. The Istari would be proud to have Mr. Saunders sculpting them I believe.
I personally think the likeness to actor Sylvester McCoy with all the makeup he wore is pretty much spot on. You’re going to be hard pressed, I think, to deny that this isn’t an excellent reproduction of the character. This goes all the way down to his nose being just a little crooked. As we know Radagast‘s appearance is a total mess, which is wonderfully shown on this statue with his beard going every way possible.
One of the things I love the most about Radagast is the unique look he has with his hodgepodge of an outfit. It is one of my favorite things about him. His coat has some amazing details in it with little plants or flowers on the back of his coat, which just happens to be fraying at the ends of it from the constant wear and tear. His vest and undershirt appear to be the same type of material along with looking exactly the same. Both of these are also fraying/tearing at the end from him wearing them all the time, as is the case with Radagast’s entire outfit. One small detail I love on the vest is it being held closed by just one simple button, which has some nice details within those buttons. Radagast’s pants which now resemble capris from most likely being the only pants he wears as he roams Mirkwood. The one detail that I think I love the most about his outfit and did not notice until after seeing the movie is he wears two different shoes. This reminds me of a neighbor that used to live by me that always had on two different pairs of shoes. They’re totally different designs with one having fir at the top and leaves while the other is a plain black leather looking shoe. He also carries with him a worn out bag that appears to be made out of the same material as his coat.
Radagast lives a simple life style so he doesn’t really have weapons or jewelry that we’ve seen on other statues from this line. He does have his unqiue hat that like the rest of his outfit is made of cloth with the little cloth fiber details that make up the hat. Wizards really don’t need too many weapons, but one you can bet they will have is a staff. The staff has the little wood grain details put into it, which when painted help create a real wood looking staff. It also at the top of it has the crystal that he used to help save his little pal Sebastian when we first meet him in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Speaking of Sebastian he joins Radagast on this statue climbing the log that has fallen on the ground making up part of the base. This little addition may be the part I love the most as that moment when Radagast saves Sebastian made me think of how much I love my puppies. Those are not the only animals that help make up this statue with a cute little mouse and robin that is landing on Radagast’s outstretched hand.
I think Weta has done an excellent job with the poses on these statues allowing them to gives us a look inside these characters. As I mentioned in a previous review the Elves have both a power as well as a beautiful elegance. The pose for Radagast shows his care of nature and love of the animals that make up his world. As an animal lover myself it really is the cherry on top of this statue.
PAINT
The streak continues by Weta with how the factory paint came out on Radagast. The overall skin tone on Radagast I think is really well done, and very much looks like a healthy human should look. The one issue with my statue is the redness is a little on the strong side but overall doesn’t take away from the statue. The grey coloring of his beard does a great job highlighting the hair detail and matching what we saw on screen. When put into my collection cabinet his paint apps look great along with the rest of the collection.
As I mentioned earlier the outfit is really exceptional. I love the way they used the various shades of browns to help create the worn look of the clothes. It’s also great that the browns highlight the detail within the outfit and don’t hide the details that were sculpted into the outfit. His shoes have a great paint job with the one having some cool gold painted leaves on the shoes while the other does have the old worn leather look. The animals and parts of Mirkwood that make up the rest of the statue stays at the high level as Radagast himself when it comes to paint detail. They even did a nice job on my least favorite part of the character with the bird poop in the proper spots.
Overall
Radagast retails for $275, which puts him inline for the non-Dwarven characters. I really love this statue! I love the character and just how well done this statue is. Again, I think this is a statue you must see in person to appreciate how beautiful this statue really is. I was also lucky recently to get Mr. McCoy’s autograph here in Kansas City’s Comic-Con to add something to my Radagast statue.
SPECIFICATIONS
Radagast is limited to just 1000 pieces worldwide and is ready to order now from our friends at Weta. As we wind down The Hobbit Trilogy this is going to be a hard statue to get a hold of so don’t wait an let it pass you by.
Dimensions:
11.8″ x 9.1″ x 5.5″ (H x W x D)
30 cm x 23 cm x 14 cm
Ever since seeing The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey I’ve been waiting to go to Goblin Town via the various collectibles I collect. Comic-Con 2013 finally brought me and many collectors a chance to finally snag one of those nasty looking Goblins. The first Goblin character to get the high-end collectibles treatment is the Goblin King himself. If you ordered directly from Gentle Giant you were lucky enough to snag the little Goblin Scribe for a pretty sweet little set of Goblins. This little set was limited to just 100 pieces worldwide, which made for one of the rarer collectibles so far for The Hobbit Trilogy.
In shocking news, Warner Bros. today announced that the release of The Hobbit: There And Back Again will be pushed back so the final film of Bilbo Baggins’ adventure can premiere at Comic-Con in July 2015. The new worldwide release date is July 29, 2015.
