One of my favorite lines from our freinds at Weta Workshop is the mini-statue line. As I’ve mentioned before, these statues are really super well done, and done at a price that allows for collectors on a budget to get some Middle-earth goodness.
A statue of Samwise was long over due, as he has not had one from Weta since the Sam and Bill statue 17 years ago. Samwise comes in with a price tag of $79 and is a short pre-order with a shipping due date of just this month.
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.
The second figure review of 2018 comes from The Lord of the Rings and covers one of the most important characters in Middle-earth. Our friends at Weta Workshop absolutely nailed the statue of Isildur with some of the best detailing and paint you will see. It also features the new resin technique that Weta has started to use on their statues.
This is great. Writer-comedian Stephan Krosecz (who I’ve been a fan of since his very amusing Abridgement ofthe first season of the Attack on Titan anime) observed that Boromir’s walk into Mordor monologue from Peter Jackson’s Fellowship of the Ring could make a great premise for a heist film.
If you were lucky enough to be at Emerald City Comic Con, you got to see our friend Jerry Vanderstelt paint a large version of this at the Weta Workshop booth. Now fans can add a giclee version of this image to their collections. This fantastic piece gives you a great portrait look at The Balrog, one of the coolest creatures in all of Middle-earth.
Do not wait too long to order this, as it is limited to only 2000 pieces worldwide. As always, Jerry’s work is available in multiple options, such as a paper giclee at $80, canvas giclee for $225, and the canvas giclee with gallery wrapped for $325. No matter what option you go with, this is yet another outstanding work of art from Vanderstelt Studio.
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”