The latest episode of the BBC2’s “Planet Word” has Stephen Fry, cast in the role of the Master of Laketown, speaking with Peter Jackson about Tolkien’s use of languages in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Roads go ever, ever on, under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that wandering have gone, return at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen, and horror in halls of stone,
Look at last on meadows green, and trees and hills they long have known.

Stephen Fry’s recital of Tolkien’s poem sets the tone for his little discussion with PJ in a most apt setting – the Bag End set down in New Zealand, where filming for the upcoming Hobbit films is currently on in full swing.

Folks in the UK can watch the stream via bbc.co.uk, while those located internationally can catch a snippet over on YouTube (4:17 into the video).

A transcript is also up on our message boards courtesy of board member QuackingTroll.

Today, via their Facebook page Sideshow Collectibles has released a video of an upcoming Ringwraith Statue. In the video, we get a glimpse of the steed portion of the statue in production, and not much else. If this is a mounted piece, it will be a welcome return to the very popular Sideshow/Weta mounted statues from the early 2000s. The concept art shown in the video implies we will see just that. One question is will this end up joining the premium format line or the maquette line. Let’s hope we find out during the Spooktacular Event which starts next Monday, October 24th. [View the Teaser]

During the month of October Sideshow Collectibles holds its awesome Spooktacular Event. Now, while this would tend to make folks think Halloween, Vampires, Zombies, and not something from Middle-earth. However, the next character to get the maquette treatment in the The Lord of the Rings maquette line does, I would say, meet the requirements to be announced during Spooktacular. We have seen a quick glimpse of the maquette in a statue video Sideshow had out a while back. In that video the Ringwraith was holding the Witch-king of Angmar sword so that right there could be your exclusive item while the regular would just be a standard maquette. As soon as this new maquette is fully shown hopefully during Spooktacular we will have the images and information for you. Stay tuned! [Spooktacular]

Jim Beverly and his wife Holly Holt give a quick interview for the live broadcast of TheOneRing.net's coverage of DragonCon. A veteran of Iraq, Beverly credits J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings for helping him recover after war injuries in 2003.

Enraged, his knee and hands wrecked by shrapnel from the grenade that infamously disintegrated the hand of a Time writer, the 19-year-old private Jim Beverly lay in his hospital bed.

“It was almost like it was a personal insult that a guy would throw that grenade,” Beverly said.

Teeth were missing, bandages covered wounds from minor to devastating. His Kevlar vest and helmet undoubtedly saved his life, absorbing most of the pieces of metal that would have pierced a lung and skull. He still seethed as a 2003 casualty of the war in Iraq, recovering in Kaiserslautern, Germany away from what was left of his unit being profiled as part of Time Magazine naming the American Soldier the person of the year in 2003.

Michael Weisskopf, an embedded writer, became part of the story and the editorial team that chronicled the December attack: Continue reading “How a soldier found Tolkien to help heal his war wounds”

When Weta announced the Orthanc Pre-Ruin environment during Comic-Con 2011 they together with TORn it had a very special contest attached tothis announcement. Weta would be allowing the fans to submit suggestions with one of them becoming the official name to this truly amazing environment. Well, after many submissions Weta and TORn are pleased to announce the name and the Winners of the Orthanc Contest. The grand prize winner is Christopher Turner whose entry was Orthanc – Black Tower of Isengard. Mr. Turner’s prize is the awesome Bag End Collectors Edition while the two runners up Tom Barber and Chris Endicott both will receive a really cool Sauron T-Shirt. You can check out the full release of information from Weta here.

Today, in Sideshow Collectibles Production blog we finally get the full preview of the previously announced Arwen maquette from The Lord of the Rings maquette line. Arwen will come in with a price tag of $250 along with an Non-Refundable Deposit of $25 which will be charged 24-48 hours after the order has been placed for the exclusive and only after orders of 2 or more on the regular. The exclusive on this particular maquette will be a switch out portrait of Arwen wearing the Evenstar Pendant along with a slight scratch on her cheek. Arwen has an announced edition size of 500 pieces on the exclusive version so you will want to make sure to get your orders in quickly on this piece.

Here are just a few pictures of this amazing piece to whet your appetite. You can check out the rest on Sideshow Collectibles Production Blog.

Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Sideshow Collectibles Arwen Maquette Preview”