Category: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
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.
One of my favorite Orc designs from any of the Middle-earth films got the Weta Workshop statue treatment late last year. We originally knew him as Azog, then Bolg, and eventually he became The Torturer of Dol Guldur, beating Gandalf the Grey up during The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Extended Edition. This guy is just brutal to look at, with metal on his face, armor made of bones, a massive mace, and blood all over. It’s an absolutely savagely superb piece! Sculptor Sam Gao, who we’ve come to know as someone who can brilliantly sculpt monsters, did it again. I hope you enjoy the review and I hope you get this piece, which is limited to an edition of only 500 worldwide. Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Weta Workshop’s The Torturer of Dol Guldur Review”
Over the weekend, our friends at Weta Workshop surprised us with not one but two pre-orders. Not only was this out of the blue, but it’s also a very special kind of pre-order.
One of the coolest moments from The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies was during the fight sequence at the end of the film, when elves and dwarves join together. Fans can now add this to their collection, in either the Mirkwoord Elf statue or the Dwarf Soldiers of the Iron Hills statue. Both statues come in an edition size of 750 pieces, with a price tag of $449 (USD).
If you’re so inclined, you can order a special Elf and Dwarves two pack, which includes both statues with matching numbers (for numbers 2 through 150). What makes this two pack so special is that you can remove the elf from its base, and place it on one of the dwarves’ shoulders, to recreate the jumping scene from the movie. The two pack comes in at $898 (USD), and is part of the 750 edition size of each piece. I would ‘jump’ on this unique two pack now, and make space on your shelf for them in August of this year. You do not want to miss one of Weta’s most unique statue ideas!
J.R.R. Tolkien and Edith Bratt, soon to be Tolkien
Tolkien fandom finds itself with an embarrassment of riches in 2018. The Tolkien Biopic has wrapped principal photography and is currently in post-production. There will be a new book out featuring Gondolin, edited by Christopher Tolkien. The most recent update about the Amazon Studios’ TV series is now confirmed to be a 5 season commitment. And then word starts to filter through that there are current negotiations for an actual Middle-earth Theme Park.Continue reading “There is a cornucopia of Tolkien stories coming this year”
We are now about halfway through the first Round of our Middle-earth March Madness, and some of the match ups are really close, while others have one contestant running away with the race. Because this year’s bracket has the newly added twist of featuring characters portrayed by the actors who brought our most beloved Middle-earth characters to life, this rundown will include a little about those non-Middle-earth characters.
The traditional match ups first: Boromir is facing off with Gimli in a close race, make sure you vote before the evening of March 22, this one is close enough that your vote will definitely matter. The contest between Samwise and Merry has the acclaimed gardener running away with nearly all the points on this one. Surprisingly, the other match up of Hobbits is unexpectedly close, with Frodo holding a slim lead over Pippin. To cap off the Fellowship match ups, Aragorn is soundly beating Legolas.
With the non-ME characters, there is just as much variety in vote percentages. Sean Bean’s portrayal of Eddard Stark in Game of Thrones has a narrow lead over Orlando Bloom’s Will Turner, from Pirates of the Caribbean. The next race is just as close, between Viggo’s portrayal of real life long distance, endurance horse racer Frank Hopkins with a slim lead over John Rhys Davies’ Sallah from Raiders of the Lost Ark. There is a neck and neck contest going on between Dom’s Charlie Pace, the recovering addict rock star from Lost has a very narrow lead over Billy Boyd’s Barrett Bonden, the coxswain on the HMS Surprise in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Not close is the fact that Sean Astin’s earnest performance of Rudy is decidedly running away with the race, leaving Elijah Wood’s Ryan Newman from Wilfred.
“You All Everybody” should get out and vote before 10pm et on March 22.
DIVISION II
In this division, the ME match ups are as follows: Galadriel has firm control of the contest with Eomer, the Lady of Light is not easily taken out of events. Faramir has a small lead over Old Bilbo, so you may still be able to give a helping hand to the Hobbit that found the One Ring in the first place. Eowyn and Gollum are nearly neck and neck, can the Shieldmaiden of Rohan defeat the sneakiness of Smeagol? Her uncle Theoden, however, is wiping the floor with Denethor, who became tainted by his contact with the Palantir.
The non-ME roles are proving interesting as well: Cate Blanchett’s Hela, the Goddess of Death from Thor: Ragnarok has a decent lead over Andy Serkis’ Caesar, the ape leader from Planet of the Apes. At the same time, Karl Urban’s Dr. ‘Bones’ McCoy is soundly beating Sir Ian Holm’s Ash, the rather inhuman android from the original Alien movie, who admired the xenomorph just a little more than he valued human life. There are two battles that are very close and would benefit from a last fit of voting on your part. Those are between David Wenham’s Carl from Van Helsing just edging out Bernard Hill’s Captain Smith from Titanic, who did his duty and went down with the ship. The other close battle is between Miranda Otto’s Mary Ann from War of the World with a slim margin over John Noble’s brilliant, but crazy Walter Bishop from Fringe.
DIVISION III
On the other side of the bracket, let’s see who is doing well for the traditional match ups: Believe it or not, Gandalf is stomping all over Young Bilbo, guess that is punishment for not telling the truth about finding the One Ring. Dwalin has a sizable lead over Radagast, but then, he does have a massive War Hammer, this is not surprising. Amongst the Dwarves from The Hobbit, Kili is slaying pick pocket Nori, while Thorin is not really faring well against Saruman. Feel free to give a boost to those you wish to support and share with your friends, it’s all in good fun.
The non-ME side of things has: Sir Ian McKellen’s Magneto soundly thrashing Richard Armitage’s John Thornton from North and South, the clever mutant is probably dismantling all of Thorton’s looms as this is written. Graham MacTavish’s Dougal from Outlander is all but finished at the hands of Martin Freeman’s Dr. Watson, it’s those modern Doctors he can’t handle, clearly. As expected, Christopher Lee’s Count Dooku from Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith is trouncing Jed Brophy’s Dagda More from the Shannara, this writer would love to see this battle realized on screen. A little less expected, but even cooler for that is that Sylvestor McCoy’s Doctor has the upper hand on Aiden Turner’s Ross Poldark, Time Lords really do know how to come out on top when needed.
DIVISION IV
Last division match ups, for the traditional segment: Elrond has a decent lead over Smaug, which is fascinating to see. The Master of Laketown is no match for Tauriel, she saw his selfishness and is leaving him to his own ruin. There is a relatively close match between Thranduil and Bard, with the Elven King of Mirkwood edging out the Bowman of Laketown. Bard’s son Bain is faring even worse in his match up with Azog. This calls for some voter help, Bain came to his father’s aid while the town was burning under the wrath of an angry dragon, the least we can do is vote for them and see how things play out.
Over on the final division of non-ME characters: Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock is so soundly beating Stephen Fry’s Oscar Wilde, it’s almost as if something very large has been dropped on him. This writer’s favorite match up in this round is Luke Evan’s Gaston from Beauty and the Beast against Hugo Weaving’s Agent Smith from the Matrix. A battle of the bragalicious Gaston up against the master manipulator within the Matrix is just something that should be onscreen. Right now, Agent Smith is defeating Gaston. A match that is all but over is that of Lee Pace’s Ronan from Guardians of the Galaxy wiping the floor with John Bell’s Young Iain from Outland, poor lad never stood a chance. And the very last match up to get coverage tonight see’s a near tie between Evangeline Lilly’s Kate Austen from Lost squaring off with Manu Bennet’s Deathstroke from Arrow, another match up I would love to see on screen.
Last chance to vote in Round 1 is 10pm et on Thursday, March 22. Round 2 will begin on Friday, March 23.
Good news is never late; it arrives precisely when it means to! As we mentioned a little while back, our friends at Weta Workshop were nominated for several categories in Michael Crawford’s The Poppies yearly collectibles award show. Not only were some Middle-earth themed items nominated, but they came home with the hardware in both The People’s Picks as well as The Judge’s Picks. The Mouth of Sauron on Steed finished second place in best statue for The People’s Picks, as well as finishing third in the same category for the The Judge’s picks. Weta also did well in some other categories, with the Frodo Baggins Mini Epic finishing second in Best Designer Vinyl, while the 1:30 Dol Guldur set finished first in best misc collectibles. Congratulations to our friends at Weta Workshop!
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.
