As we reported earlier, today is The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit day at Comic-Con 2012 (aka #HobbitCon) and LEGO® was kind enough to send us this exclusive image of a brand new ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey‘ Playset! The set is called ‘An Unexpected Gathering’ and features Bag End with six mini-figures. As you can see in the image above, we have Bofur holding an axe, Bombur with a sausage and knife, Dwalin wielding a really large weapon and knife, Balin with chalice, Gandalf the Grey with walking staff, and Bilbo Baggins. As you can see the set is highly detailed with greenery, vegetables and much more. From the looks of the image we’ll have a nice inside component to play with as well. Stay tuned as we report more from Comic-Con 2012! [Live Coverage]
Category: LotR Movies
We are very excited to share with you our LIVE coverage from this year’s Comic-Con, now appropriately renamed #HobbitCon! Throughout the next few days, our 100% volunteer staff will descend on San Diego to give all of us who can’t make it to the show, the best LIVE coverage a not for profit website can muster! That includes a live blogging feature which follows select staffers as they work their way around the exhibit hall and panels, a LIVE video feed from the TORn Tuesday team and Stickam.com, and a special Flickr gallery that we hope to update often with great Tolkien related photos. In a year in which The Hobbit will rule Comic-Con, we want to give you the absolute best online experience possible. All of this takes place in our LIVE event center – http://www.theonering.net/sdcc. As we all know, if you step on the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to! [LIVE from Comic-Con 2012] Please do take a moment to share that link with your friends and family.
(And, if you enjoy this type of coverage from us, please consider a small donation to help us handle the expenses. Even just a few dollars can go a long way!)
LEGO Systems Celebrates a New Theme Each Day at San Diego Comic-Con
-Surprises abound for fans as construction toy maker unveils new playsets, life-sized models, mystery builds, contests and one-of-a-kind giveaways in support of popular licensed properties-
SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON (July 11, 2012) – LEGO Systems, Inc., the world’s leading construction toy manufacturer, unveils its largest ever San Diego Comic-Con presence with a “theme of the day” calendar of events that celebrates its top licensed properties including LEGO® THE LORD OF THE RINGS™ and LEGO THE HOBBIT™, LEGO Super Heroes, LEGO Star Wars™ and LEGO NINJAGO. LEGO Systems welcomes show attendees with displays of life-size models, first-ever “reveals” of LEGO building sets and limited edition giveaways. In addition, attendees are invited to help “build” a section of its booth each day that features 7.5 feet tall mosaics of Comic Con favorites at booth #2829 of the San Diego Convention Center, July 12-15.
“Each year we’re overwhelmed by the excitement Comic-Con fans show toward the LEGO brand and the new playsets we introduce based on their favorite characters and storylines,” said Michael McNally, brand relations director, LEGO Systems, Inc. “As we celebrate our 80th anniversary this year, we’re pulling out all the stops in San Diego to show fans how the classic LEGO brick continues to build popularity among children and adults of all ages with a rotation of themes and activities for fans of all interests.”
Continue reading “LEGO Announces The Lord of the Rings/Hobbit Thursday Celebration at Comic-Con”
In this article, The New Zealand Herald’s Helen Frances speaks to Weta concept designers and illustrators Ben Wootten and Paul Tobin about how they got their starts in the industry.
Wootten joined Weta in 1996, and has worked on King Kong, The Lord of the Rings and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. His knowledge of animal anatomy and behavior (he studied zoology at university) was key to creating the dinosaurs for King Kong.
Paul Tobin began his career at Weta Workshop in 2003 when the first Narnia film and King Kong were underway. Tobin says he was “lousy at drawing dinosaurs” so he stayed with Narnian fantasy. His background in ancient history and archaeology proved the inspiration for concept designs for Peter and Edmund’s armour and weapons and Susan’s horn.
Read more here. Photo by Steve Unwin.
How do you put together a grand tour of The Shire? Where do you take Ringer fans who want to see the REAL Middle-earth? Be sure to catch our innovative *LIVE WEBCAST* TORn TUESDAY — In a few minutes our delightful friends from the LOTR filming locations tour company “Red Carpet Tours” will be on via Skype from New Zealand! You can be part of the show and bring your questions to Vic & Julie James, who are busy preparing our wonderful HOBBIT MOVIE PREMIERE TOUR in late November 2012, alongside the premiere events in Wellington! You should join us in NZ too! Come join host Clifford Broadway *live* via Stickam (account “theoneringnet”) using your own Skype login or come join us via our Live Event Page with our unique Barliman’s chat embedded in the show! Tune into our webcast at 5:00pm PDT (that’s Los Angeles time folks), and just click to our Live Event page.
Sideshow Collectibles Online Comic-Con event is in full swing and day 13 brings us the first pre-order for a collectible from 
Middle-earth. The next statue in The Lord of the Rings statue line is the Twilight Witch-king statue! It is a superb looking mirror image of the Ringwraith statue released a while back. This statue gives fans a chance to pair this up with the Ringwraith and show what both Frodo as well as the other Hobbits/Strider saw while on Weathertop. This outstanding statue costs $275 with a $27 NRD but you have time to save up as this won’t release until March of 2013. [Pre-Order]