One of the new Mini Epics revealed at Comic-Con 2018 last month was my favorite creature within Middle-earth The Balrog. This guy has had me mesmerized ever since I saw it on the big screen, when I first saw The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I’ve got several collectibles of him in my collection and when it was pointed out that they had this one for sale at the show, I had to have him.
You can get the Balrog for $99 and depending on where you have him shipped from, can get him shipped right now. He’s a massive piece, quite heavy, and super well done. Added with the very cool anime style of this line, its another great piece from our friends at Weta Workshop. Also joining the review as a special guest, is a Mini Epic of the Ring-bearer himself. Frodo Baggins. Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Weta Workshop’s Balrog Mini Epic Review”
News just in from our friends at Amazon Studios – team JD Payne and Patrick McKay are on board to develop The Lord of the Rings Original Series. Here’s what the press release tells us:
After a long process and extensive search, which involved going to Middle Earth and back, Amazon Studios is thrilled to share the news with fans, elves and the Amazon Prime Video audience everywhere that we have chosen the duo of JD Payne and Patrick McKay to take us on the development journey for The Lord of The Rings.
Of their involvement in The Lord of the Rings, Payne & McKay said: “The rich world that J.R.R. Tolkien created is filled with majesty and heart, wisdom and complexity. We are absolutely thrilled to be partnering with Amazon to bring it to life anew. We feel like Frodo, setting out from the Shire, with a great responsibility in our care — it is the beginning of the adventure of a lifetime.”
Writers JD Payne and Patrick McKay have been working together since meeting on the high school debate team more than two decades ago. Their most recent projects include writing Star Trek 4 for Paramount and producer J.J. Abrams, adapting Jungle Cruise for Disney and stars Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, and setting up their original, 2017 Blacklist drama scriptEscape with Academy Award-nominated producer Mike DeLuca.
Finally, while speculation is human nature, you can trust that when we have more news to share about this journey, we will share it with the world.
Payne and McKay
About The Lord of the Rings Original Series Based on the celebrated fantasy novels by J.R.R. Tolkien, Amazon Studios has a multi-season commitment for The Lord of the Rings. The upcoming Amazon Prime Original will be produced by Amazon Studios in cooperation with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line Cinema, a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment.
Set in Middle Earth, the television adaptation will explore new storylines preceding J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring.
A world-renowned literary work, and winner of the International Fantasy Award and Prometheus Hall of Fame Award, The Lord of the Rings novels was named Amazon customers’ favorite book of the millennium in 1999 and Britain’s best-loved novel of all time in BBC’s The Big Read in 2003. Its theatrical adaptations, from New Line Cinema and Director Peter Jackson, earned a combined gross of nearly $6 billion worldwide. With an all-star cast that included Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin and Orlando Bloom, The Lord of the Rings trilogy garnered a combined 17 Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
Amazon may tell us that they will share any news when they have it, but rest assured, here at TORn we’ll be speculating all the way through to the first episode and beyond! Stay tuned…
Comic-Con 2018 is in the books, and if you followed us on Social Media you had a chance to see us share what was going on at our friends at Weta Workshop’s booth. Now that I’m back, I wanted to share all the pics I took of the wonderful things I saw at their booth. They had the jaw dropping (watch a recap of the Weta live video when they unveiled the new pieces) Master Collection Treebeard, new Balrog Bust, and the stunning Arwen on Asfaloth. All of these pieces were absolutely awesome and all may end up in my collection! The one piece we can all add right now is the Arwen on Asfaloth statue. She comes in with a price tag of $699 and an edition size of 750. However, fans will have to be patient until early 2019 to get her. In the meantime please enjoy the booth tour and various shots of what amazingness was at the Weta booth. Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Weta Workshop’s Comic-Con 2018 Recap”
Easily one of the show stealing pieces last year at SDCC, Thranduil on Elk just drew you in when you visited the Weta Workshop booth. This had fans online chattering at just how amazing it looked through the pictures posted by TORn and other collectors at SDCC. Needless to say, all of us were looking forward to his arrival. There were some snags on the production version, making this a somewhat controversial piece within the fanbase. It’s still a super impressive and overall good looking piece and one that will look good in your collection. As always here are my thoughts on Thranduil on Elk. Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Weta Workshop’s Thranduil on Elk Review”
As you will recall, late in May we announced the TORn Collectors Club, and we announced it with a contest for new and current members. We wanted to remind you, if you haven’t joined yet and you want to win a pretty cool prize, that the contest ends tomorrow at midnight PST. So do not hesitate to come and join if you want to chat with some amazing folks about something so precious to us as fans of Middle-earth. You’ll discover over 3000 people you can chat with, share your collectibles with, review items, buy/sell/trade, etc. There is no shortage of fun going on in the club and we can’t wait for you to join us. So come on and show us how you Collect The Precious.
As you all might be aware we’ve teamed up with our friends at Gemr to create a Collectors Club specifically for fans of Middle-earth. Things are going great, and so many of you are posting your items and collections. In celebration of how things are going, and to help get the word out even more, we’ve created a Middle-earth Giveaway of some pretty cool items ranging from a mini-Ringwraith from Weta Workshop to a XL Funko Treebeard. The contest runs from today May 29th to June 29th. Get signed up, show off your collectibles, and lets all Collect The Precious.
One of the new Mini Epics revealed at Comic-Con 2018 last month was my favorite creature within Middle-earth The Balrog. This guy has had me mesmerized ever since I saw it on the big screen, when I first saw The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I’ve got several collectibles of him in my collection and when it was pointed out that they had this one for sale at the show, I had to have him.
