Welcome to our collection of TORn’s hottest topics for the past year. We’ve collected together some of 2012′s most popular posts on 10 of our Message Boards. You’ll be surprised at what captured the attention and imagination of our members. Come and have a look back at what has kept us busy, as we impatiently awaited the release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. We actually did manage to talk about many fascinating things, besides The Hobbit, so just follow the links to some of our most popular discussions for 2012. Continue to watch this space as every weekend we spotlight the most popular buzz on TORn’s Message Boards. Everyone is welcome, so come on in and join the fun!
Continue reading “TORn Message Boards Weekly Roundup – Special New Years Edition!!”
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In June of this year the folks at Weta Workshop answered a long-standing request from the fans of Middle-earth with the release of Set One of The Fellowship of the Ring three-part set. Well, on the heels of the debut of Set One (review of said set coming soon), Weta has announced Set Two.
As you know the first set contained Gandalf, Frodo, and Legolas all of whom look really fantastic. Set Two gives fans four more characters on our way to completing the Fellowship with Boromir, Gimli, Merry, and Pippin. Like Set One this set will cost $200 and will not be shipping until quarter two of next year. Start saving now!
[Pre-order]
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For Sideshow Collectibles the month of October means their annual Spooktacular event. Now the event brings Ringers a chance to order the best Premium Format Sideshow has ever made. The Dark Lord Sauron has been turned into a massive 3 foot tall Premium Format figure. Sauron will cost you $900 and will not be shipping until July of 2013, so fans will have time to save those pennies or use Sideshow’s super friendly flex-pay plan (up to 8 payments for Sauron). As we saw at Comic-Con this past July, this piece is amazingly large and impressive – worthy of the centerpiece for any The Lord of the Rings collection. [Sauron]
Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Sideshow Collectibles Sauron Premium Format”
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“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”
– J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
We got our first look at the young Bilbo Baggins statue at Comic-Con 2012. As was the case for Gandalf the Grey, and the non-exclusive version of Thorin Oakenshield, Bilbo Baggins went up for Pre-Order October 1st, 2012 and is an open edition which allows fans a solid chance at getting all three of these amazing statues.
Bilbo Baggins is a 50-year-old Hobbit, comfortable with living in Bag End and enjoying his daily life. On April 25th, 2941 of the Third Age, that would all change with a visit from the wizard, Gandalf the Grey. After an unexpected party, Bilbo was convinced to join Thorin and company on their adventure to Erebor, setting in motion events that would change his life, and the fortune of Middle-earth, forever.
PACKAGING
The graphics on the box for Bilbo are similar to those of the Gandalf statue, having a very Middle-earth-like look and feel to them. As with the Gandalf box, there’s a shot of the character, graphics for the title of the movie, Weta logo and the name of the character. The sides present a couple of different looks with one side showing great shots of Bilbo from different angles, and the other side showing some of the additional products that will be coming out for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The back of the box contains a great story on Bilbo and his importance to the events of The Hobbit. Unlike the Gandalf statue, you have to plug Bilbo into a base which is stored inside the box (the Thorin base was outside of the box).
SCULPTING
Brigitte Wuest is the sculptor of Bilbo, a name that fans of Middle-earth well know for her many amazing works like the Theoden Statue, Morgul Lord and Gandalf the White on Shadowfax. As with those statues, she nailed Martin Freeman’s look as a young Bilbo Baggins, which is to say fans will be getting an amazing likeness. The detailing of Bilbo’s outfit is really fantastic and the whole outfit gives off a very real vibe to it, looking like something worn by someone going through what Bilbo goes through. Two of the nicer small details with Bilbo are the embroidery work on Bilbo’s scarf and the hair on his feet. Another great thing is the detailing of Sting and Sting’s scabbard, both impeccably done. The pose of the statue is also awesome: we get to see Bilbo not just being the nice Hobbit we know he is, but we get to see him as the hero he becomes over the course of The Hobbit. From top to bottom this statue is a must have for any collector.
PAINT
The paintwork on Bilbo is simply fantastic. As with Gandalf, you have great, clean lines and the details are brought out even more so by the wonderful paint job. As good as the skin tones are on Gandalf and Thorin I think Weta really did a superb job with Bilbo, taking their work to another level. The paint work on the clothes look worn (obviously from a little later in his journey), but shows the proper wear of someone out on a long and perilous journey. I also love the paint work on Sting, and the scabbard with both items looking very much like their on screen counterparts with none of the sculpting details being lost in the paint job. I really can’t say enough good things about the paint job on this piece and just how impressed I was when I opened this amazing statue.
Overall
Bilbo retails for $200 on Weta’s website. As with Gandalf the Grey and Thorin, Weta was very successful in creating a fantastic statue capturing this little Hobbit as we will watch him grow on screen. I really just love everything about this statue from the little embroidery work on his scarf, wear of the clothes, likeness, paint work, detail, pose, etc. I love this statue more than I did when I saw it all those months ago at Comic-Con and having it in my collection brings a big smile to my face. There is nothing to not like about this statue and collectors are lucky that this statue is an open edition. Definitely two thumbs up!
SPECIFICATIONS
Bilbo is an open edition with a retail price of $200.
PHOTOS
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Welcome to our latest “Getting to know” questions that need answering. This month we’re talking to the one and only Balrog Showgirl, Nicole Roberts.
Hi Nicole and a very big thank you for taking part and for being so patient with me.
This first question is from Rosie-with-the-ribbons who’s latest costume for RingCon has been inspired by your Balrog Showgirl costume.
R-w-t-r: Do you make your costumes yourself?
Nicole: Rosie – that is awesome! Yes, for the most part the costumes I’ve been running around in for the past several years have all been of my own making. I only started sewing back in 2004, after I moved to Los Angeles and started hanging out with even more LOTR people. The first costume I made was to wear to Comic Con that year – I was the Mumak Mahud (the guy with the black and white painted face who steers the oliphaunt in ROTK), so you could definitely say I’ve always leaned towards costumes that were a little off the beaten path! I’ve done some costumes that were direct recreations (“Barf” from “Spaceballs”is the most well-known one), but as I’ve gotten more into the sewing, I really like doing things that are more of an original design, like the Balrog Showgirl. As someone who is not of supermodel proportions (and seriously, those chicks look like scary walking lollipops anyway), I like to have the opportunity to design something that I think is more flattering to me, and I always like to learn how to do something new, like dyeing feathers for the showgirl headdress.
Continue reading “Getting to know Nicole Roberts”
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“May the hair on his toes never fall off!”
-Thorin talking about their burglar Bilbo Baggins
Comic-Con 2012 brought us the first look at many things for this December’s release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. This was a chance for a company like Gentle Giant to show off just some of the items they will be bringing to collectors. The exclusive from Gentle Giant was the second mini-bust in the 1:6th range of busts from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The character chosen to represent the bust line at Comic-Con was the leader of the Dwarven party: Thorin Oakenshield.
Thorin was one of many dwarves of the Lonely Mountain driven into exile by the dragon Smaug in the year 2770 of the Third Age. During the Battle of Azanulbizar, Thorin had his shield shattered. He grabbed a large oak branch as a replacement — the source of the name “Oakenshield”. Later, a chance encounter in Bree with Gandalf The Grey eventually led to Thorin and his company visiting the hobbit Bilbo Baggins. There, they began a long, arduous quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain. The mountain was ultimately reclaimed, but not without cost. Continue reading “Collecting The Precious: Gentle Giant Thorin Oakenshield mini-bust review”
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