…the most loathly shape that he had ever beheld…Most like a spider she was, but huger than the great hunting beasts…Great horns she had, and behind her short stalk-like neck was her huge swollen body, a vast bloated bag, swaying and sagging between her legs; its great bulk was black, blotched with livid marks, but the belly underneath was pale and luminous and gave forth a stench. Her legs were bent, with great knobbed joints high above her back, and hairs that stuck out like steel spines, and at each leg’s end there was a claw…

Shelob.

For every Tolkien fan, the name leaps from the pages (and screen) of Middle-earth to invade a commonly held fear in our everyday life – the fear of an impossibly large, eight-legged, creepy-crawly finding us in the dark. *shiver* According to Wikipedia, it is estimated that 55% of women and 18% of men are Arachnophobic. You can count me among those with a mild fear of spiders, which basically means I have to ‘act’ the role of father/husband when it comes disposing of them. I can’t very well unleash a high-pitched scream and run away now can I…

So when I first saw the ‘Shelob Attacks’ LEGO® Set at the 2012 Toy Fare, I have to admit…I was a bit creeped out. Yes, its LEGO® blocks, but the piece is still surprisingly life-like. In fact, one of the reporters getting the sneak peek at this set could not go within 5 feet of the display. Yes, he was that Arachnophobic!

Before we get to the meat of this review, I will warn you ahead of time, that I am in no way a LEGO® Set expert. To be honest, I haven’t touched the popular construction toys for possibly 10 years, so I’m a bit behind the times when it comes to the licensed themed sets. However, I can tell you, within 1 minute of opening the box, the wonderful memories of LEGO® set building came swooping back.

Continue reading “Product Review: ‘Shelob Attacks’ LEGO® Set”

In preparation for a product review, I found myself last night eagerly unboxing one of two upcoming The Lord of the Rings LEGO® Sets. I was pleasantly surprised to find this mini-teaser in the back of the instruction pack for the ‘Shelob Attacks’ Set and thought I should share it quickly…so I posted it on our official TheOneRing.net Facebook. Well, it has gotten quite a stir over there, so I figured I should share it with you this morning. The ad confirms the long assumed notion that we would see a The Lord of the Rings LEGO® Video Game from long-time LEGO game producers Traveler’s Tales.  So let this been 100% confirmation of the games existence, and I’d be willing to bet we’ll see a The Hobbit game in the future as well. As for my quickie review of the ‘Shelob Attacks’ LEGO Set: Building a gigantic realistic LEGO spider, complete with shooting string and eight extremely posable legs, was one of the most fun activities I’ve had in years! (Full review with pics will be coming soon!)

Ringers unite! A grievous wrong has been done to Dallas Poll, jeweler and prop-maker for the Lord of the Rings movies. On international Star Wars Day (May 4) thieves made off with thousands of dollars of movie memorabilia from his home in Paraparaumu, New Zeeland, including a replica sword he wielded while acting as an Aragorn double, and his precious stormtrooper outfit.

According to stuff.co.nz: Mr Poll, a jeweller, spent seven years in the police but over the past decade has worked mostly as a prop maker on The Lord of the Rings, King Kong, the Narnia films and Avatar. “We have been well and truly done over,” Mr Poll said yesterday. “They seemed to know what they were looking for.”

Please read the stuff.co.nz article and if you come across any suspicious collectibles for sale, email the New Zeeland police.  Read More…

The stars are aligned for today’s *live* webcast TORn TUESDAY, where viewers can be part of the show and ask questions directly to our celebrity guests!  Today we are joined by the creative team behind the wildly popular “FELLOWSHIP! The Musical” — an award winning stage production that rips on the first book of Tolkien’s trilogy!  I’ve seen it a few times and it’s  hysterically good (check out TORn’s previous podcast interview here).  Our special guests today include Comedy Central’s RENO 911! star CEDRIC YARBROUGH (who plays Gandalf) and composer ALLEN SIMPSON!  There will be mischief aplenty as we also turn our attention to WETA Costume Contest winner NICOLE ROBERTS, who recently completed her trip to New Zealand and has great stories and surprise photos to share.  Tune into our show TORn TUESDAY, hosted by Clifford Broadway (Quickbeam), by clicking to our Live Event page.  As always, you can participate starting at 5:00pm PDT — There’s a built-in Barliman’s chat room or come in via Skype in TheOneRing.net’s Stickam page. Check out our LIVE Event section right here every week! [LIVE Event Area] (See All Times)

It’s been more than a decade since the first of the films in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy was released, and although fans are now eagerly anticipating a return to Middle-earth with his upcoming Hobbit films, well, one does NOT simply walk away from where it all began.

Today, we feature an article written for TheOneRing.net by guest author Leslie Martinka, Marketing Manager at Hark.com, the world’s largest platform for pop culture quotes and images, on the phenomenon that is Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, and the top 20 quotes from Peter Jackson’s films:

My Precious“, says Gollum through missing rotted teeth. His emaciated body is evidence of his life in Middle-earth as a slave to the One Ring. For the past 60 years, people have devoured the pages of The Lord of the Rings reading about characters such as Gollum, Frodo and Gandalf. Fans of the trilogy have made it one of the most beloved literary works of all time.

Continue reading “Top 20 Quotes From “The Lord of the Rings””