smaugThe summer of Smaug continues with another new product of the best dragon to ever appear on the big screen. We’re pleased to team up with our friends at The Bridge Direct to exclusively announce their Smaug action figure for their The Hobbit Trilogy line of figurines. This huge Smaug figure has an exclusive pre-sale starting TODAY at WB.Com in which fans can place a pre-order for this figure that will be limited to only 3000 pieces world-wide. Smaug could be yours for $69 and will be shipping from WB.Com in December of this year.

Full description of Smaug from The Bridge Direct:

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies ™  Smaug ™ Large Scale Poseable Action Figure

From the depths of Erebor and the film The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies comes this detailed, limited edition Smaug the dragon large scale action figure, complete with a surprise 1.5″ figure and accessory.  Featuring an impressive 22 inch wingspan, Smaug stands tall, measuring 21 inches.  No details were overlooked as this center piece of any action figure collection was in development.  Smaug boasts ten points of articulation and underwent over 140 painting procedures.  The figure is plastic, but Smaug’s tail and wingtips have a wire core, allowing for additional poses.  This item has a limited edition production run of 3000 units and each box will be labeled with a gold sticker indicating the number.

IMG_0517Tonight’s newsletter from Weta Workshop provides us with an update on the many items that were on display during Comic-Con 2014.

As we posted the other day, the massive new Balrog statue will pre-order on September 22nd at 1pm PST. This statue will have an edition size of 1500 pieces world wide and will be 21″ tall with a 17.5″ long base. So this is going to be an attention grabbing piece in any collection.

Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Weta Workshop’s Comic-Con 2014 Update”

emp914_1 Our friends The Heirs of Durin have full scans of the September issue of Empire Magazine and their “access-all-areas” tour of the final Middle-earth movie’s post-production facility.

I’ve picked the eyes out of it and listed some highlights below (contains some minor movie spoilers), or you can follow the link below and read the article in full yourself. Thanks to Ringer Eol for the link.

  • The digital remaster of Braindead will be released post-The Hobbit (one for TBHL fans.
  • There is already a working cut of the film, with only a couple more shots to “chisel into shape”.
  • Without credits, the cut currently runs to 150 minutes and Jackson says he’s aiming at 140 minutes.
  • Jackson: “I think of this third movie as a psychological thriller with actions scenes interspersed in the middle of it. It has for a very tight narrative structure.”
  • Thranduil’s Warmoose will return! (Yay!!).
  • Line from Thranduil to Thorin: We’ve come to tell you payment of your debt has been offered… and accepted.
  • The orcs have all manner of creatures. Not just trolls, but creatures they have bred for their armies.
  • Negotiations between Thorin and Thranduil conclude abruptly when Dain Ironfoot’s “cavalry” arrives.
  • The dwarves are mounted on battle goats and battle rams. Dain rides a warpig.

[Read More]

HobbitFreemanJacksonAW-620x349 Fairly wide-ranging interview from Deadline with Peter Jackon conducted around the time of the San Diego Comic-Con.

It actually contains little that’s new: the fact that The Dam Busters film is still on the cards will be of interest to war-buffs who remember the 1955 original. And apparently Jackson and Mortensen have chatted about those 3D comments that Viggo made to press a couple of months back, too. Something something misquote. Supposedly.

Anyway, here’s the meatiest bit of the entire interview about The Hobbit: Continue reading “Jackson muses on his Middle-earth exit”

Hobbit_BoFA_AD hc cOur friends at Harper Collins Publishers, along with our friends at Weta Workshop, have a new Chronicles book coming out for The Hobbit Trilogy. We’re pleased to team up with them to unveil the cover for the new book The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Chronicles: Art & Design. This book, like all the others in this series, is going to be fantastic allowing fans to see the amazing process of bringing this movie to life. You can Pre-order the book right now and have it in your collection on December 17th just before the movie comes out.

Another great book coming out for The Hobbit Trilogy is the The Hobbit Motion Picture Trilogy Location Guide that will take you from Bag End to Erebor and beyond. Ian Brodie is back taking us across Middle-earth much as he did with The Lord of the Rings Location Guides so expect to add another fantastic book to your collection. You can order this book right now with it arriving on October 28th.

Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Chronicles: Art & Design”