HobbitShop.com has just posted limited edition shirts specifically aimed at helping you celebrate the release of ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ in theaters December 14th. These shirts will only be produced from now until December 3rd at 8am ET and then they will be retired forever – making them instant collector items! There are eight shirts in total (four designs for both men and women) and all of them are on discount as of this posting. Snag your shirt today! [HobbitShop.com]
Category: LotR Movies
“You shall be The Fellowship of the Ring.”
-Elrond to the Fellowship at the Council of Elrond
Of the many things at Comic-Con 2012 Weta had three items that fans like myself had been waiting years to finally see. That amazing scene of The Fellowship cresting the hill has been long called for by fans to be turned into a collectible. Well, in June of this year the long wait for something representing this was over. Weta Workshop announced a three part set capturing this long awaited moment and set one has arrived. On the heels of set two going up for order its time to review set one.
PACKAGING
Graphically the box for set one is similar to what we’ve seen before with past items from Weta. The Lord of the Rings logo appears once again on the front of the box with a great group shot of The Fellowship as they make their trek across Middle-earth. In the center of the box you have a great picture of the piece number one of this set. On one side of the box you get a great picture of set one while the other contains multiple great images of items that you can find on Weta’s website. The back of the box has one final image of set one a nice story about this piece and what it took to bring it to life.
SCULPTING
A team of Weta artists was tasked with finally bringing one of the most demanded pieces to our collections. Based on how the pieces looked at Comic-Con and how set one came out in production they did a great job. One of the biggest challenges in a piece this size is the likenesses. The team at Weta was successful in making sure that each character in set one, which contains Gandalf the Grey, Frodo, and Legolas bears close resemblance to the actors that played them. Detail-wise, this piece is as good as anything you will find. Hair detail on Gandalf, Legolas, and Frodo is there and you even get individual hairs, you get great detail in Sting’s hilt, Glamdring’s hilt, Gandalf’s staff (even has the G-rune), and the detail in Legolas alone is really very good when you look at the size of these statues. The clothing of each character is not without detail either as each outfit is done successfully so that their outfits look like cloth. Finally, the base is as good as anything with its great rock, grass, and even detail in the dirt.
PAINT
As hard as it would be to sculpt a piece of this size the biggest character is only 5.5 inches tall would be to make sure the paint works with the sculpts. Well, Weta did not miss anything with this piece and it really helps set this piece at the highest level a collector could want. Skin tone on the three characters is on par with a statue two or three times the size. Another possible issue with a statue of this size is how the little details can be covered and that does not happen with this statue. As I said the hair, details in things like Sting, Legolas outfit, etc are all enhanced by the paintwork on this statue. The base is even brought to life and feels real with the sculpt and paint working together. Simply put, it’s a fantastic piece and the paint/sculpt work hand-in-hand to create something special
Overall
Set one costs $199 via Weta’s web site as does set two, which is up for Pre-Order now. As I said at the start of this little review this is something I know many of us have been waiting years for so now is the time to jump on these items before they vanish. I know for me personally this is something I’ve dreamt of owning for years and to finally have it coming to the collection piece-by-piece is simply fantastic. In other words this a must have item I think for any fan of Middle-earth!
SPECIFICATIONS: The Fellowship Set 1 is an open edition and comes in at: 5.5″ x 7.5″ x 5.1″ (H x W x D)
14 cm x 19 cm x 13 cm
PHOTOS
To celebrate the release of ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey‘ enter to win tickets for you and a guest to a special marathon screening of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy in New York City.
Grand Prize Includes:
- • Round-trip airfare and hotel accommodation for two.
- • Two Tickets to ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy movie marathon
- • Two leather banff bags courtesy of Roots
- • An ultimate fan prize pack courtesy of TheOneRing.net (That’s us!!)
- • And two tickets to an advance screening of ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey‘
Canadian Ringers…enter now!! [Click here] And don’t forget (like we needed to remind you), ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey‘ opens December 14th!
These guys are pretty popular – we’ve received MANY emails from people out there, telling us about their new music video. So here it is, for those who have not yet seen it! Whether you’ve been celebrating Thanksgiving today and you’re now too full to move, or you’ve been working hard all day and need to relax, this music video is sure to please. The Piano Guys (Al van der Beek, Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson) use piano, cello, percussion and vocal textures to recreate well known tunes – and this video is a compilation of favourite motifs from Howard Shore’s Lord of the Rings scores. Check it out:
Thanks to all who emailed to tell us about it!
The grandson of JRR Tolkien said he felt ‘suffocated’ by the legacy of his famous relative and feared never being able to emerge from his shadow.
Barrister-turned-novelist Simon Tolkien said the unstoppable success of the film adaptations of his grandfather’s classic Lord of the Rings trilogy caused a bitter feud within his family.
Mr Tolkien said the problems led to an ‘incredibly, dreadfully painful’ feud with his father Christoper.
The 53-year-old author of The Stepmother and the Inspector Trave trilogy said ‘nothing could prepare’ his family for the release of the films, which he said was like being ‘hit by a juggernaut’.
He said the success of the films, which grossed almost $3 billion worldwide, made him feel as if he had ‘disappeared’.
He told The Sunday Times: ‘It was like being hit by a juggernaut. One minute, I was Simon Tolkien, a barrister from London. The next, I was JRR Tolkien’s grandson. This might sound strange, but I began to lose sight of who I was. It was as if I — me, Simon — had disappeared. I felt suffocated.’
It was reported at the time that the family row stemmed from Mr Tolkien’s willingness to cooperate with director Peter Jackson despite opposition from the rest of the estate. However this was later denied.
Mr Tolkien said: ‘Maybe some people assumed it was about money…I don’t know.
‘In hindsight, I think all of my anger was being driven by this feeling that I was trapped. All I ever was going to be was the grandson of a very famous writer. That was the sum total of my achievements.’
He and his father have since managed to reconcile their differences and he even dedicated his latest book to his father. He said: ‘I guess I feel lucky that I got the chance to put things right with my dad.
A decade ago, Matamata was a sleepy country town in the middle of the North Island, well-placed for travellers in need of a comfort stop and a takeaway snack. Today, it is better known as Hobbiton and is one of the country’s star tourist destinations, attracting 1.9 million visitors over the last 10 years. It is poised for a fresh invasion starting this Christmas which seems certain to top that number over the next decade.
It all began in 1998 when movie director Peter Jackson took to the sky in a small plane in search sites to film his planned trilogy of JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.
His target was a piece of countryside untouched by concrete buildings, power poles and roads that he could transform into Hobbiton, the primitive village home of Tolkien’s small, hairy, Hobbit people.
A family farm outside Matamata, set about halfway between the provincial capital, Hamilton, and the tourist city of Rotorua, and complete with Tolkien’s so-called “party tree” and a lake, proved perfect. Continue reading “How a sleepy country town became Hobbiton”