“I can avoid being seen if I wish; but to disappear entirely, that is a rare gift.”
-Strider to Frodo while at The Prancing Pony in Bree
Continuing the trend of fantastic mini-statues from The Lord of the Rings, the artists at Weta have created a great version of Strider. This is the third statue in a beautiful line, which includes Gandalf The Grey and Gollum. This version of Strider captures the character as we first meet him in Bree, sitting by himself, watching the comings and goings of those at The Prancing Pony.
PACKAGING
The graphics on the front of the box for Strider have the same elegant look we’ve come to know from the collectibles Weta has created for The Lord of the Rings. The Lord of the Rings logo appears in the upper left hand corner, while a screen capture of Strider from The Fellowship of the Ring is in the upper right hand corner. In the center of the box you have a great picture of the piece itself, with the name of the collectible under the screen capture of Strider. On one side of the box there is a further picture of Strider, while the other contains multiple images of items that you can find on Weta’s website. The back of the box has one final image of Strider, with a bit more information on the collectible and the sculptor.
SCULPTING
Sculptor Steven Saunders created the Gandalf in this line of statues, as well as the Gandalf from The Hobbit line of statues; so we’ve seen his skills in being able to deliver a great collectible. The likeness to Viggo Mortensen is really well done, especially for a small statue with a head that has to fit in a hood. The texture of the cloak in which Strider has concealed himself is astonishing, giving a real look of draped cloth. We also get a great little sculpted pipe, which we see Strider smoking as he surveys The Prancing Pony. The extraordinary detail of this statue is continued in the bench Strider is sitting on; the natural lines and markings of the wood are perfectly captured.
PAINT
The paintwork on Strider is as good as the sculpting. The greens of Strider’s outfit match exactly what we saw on screen in Bree. The skin tone once again shows that Weta can get it done when it comes to making skin look very natural. One would expect the eyes on this statue, being small, to be an issue – but the painters did a fantastic job capturing Viggo’s eyes. Strider’s beard has the proper, worn look you would expect on a guy who lives out in the wild!
Overall
Strider costs $75 retail via Weta’s website, which is a steal for something as superb as this collectible. So do yourself a favor and hop over to Weta’s site and place your order now for a fantastic Strider statue!
SPECIFICATIONS
Strider is an open edition. The specifications for Strider are as follows: 5.3″ x 4.3″ x 4.1″ (H x W x D)
13.5 cm x 11 cm x 10.5 cm
PHOTOS
Posted in:
Share:
For Sideshow Collectibles the month of October means their annual Spooktacular event. Now the event brings Ringers a chance to order the best Premium Format Sideshow has ever made. The Dark Lord Sauron has been turned into a massive 3 foot tall Premium Format figure. Sauron will cost you $900 and will not be shipping until July of 2013, so fans will have time to save those pennies or use Sideshow’s super friendly flex-pay plan (up to 8 payments for Sauron). As we saw at Comic-Con this past July, this piece is amazingly large and impressive – worthy of the centerpiece for any The Lord of the Rings collection. [Sauron]
Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Sideshow Collectibles Sauron Premium Format”
Posted in:
Share:
Here at TheOneRing.net we have a long history of ‘swamping’ polls – showcasing the full power of Ringers worldwide. Well, today we have a special poll from the folks at People’s Choice. They have come up with a list of 10 Nominees for a ‘Favorite Movie Fan Following’ category, and we ‘Ringers’ are among the choices. Sure those other fan bases are great and all, but we hope you hold a special place in your hearts for the Ringer community. (BTW – Anyone know the first use of Ringers to refer to the Tolkien fan community? We’d love to hear what you think in the comments) Jump over to their nominations page and cast your vote today! [Vote Ringers!]
Posted in:
Share:
The next item from United Cutlery we’re previewing this week is the sword of Gandalf himself Glamdring. Also known as Foe-Hammer, this sword is found by Gandalf in the treasure trove of items the three trolls had stanched away in their cave. Beater, as its known by the Orcs, was once the sword to the King of Gondolin and is the twin sword of Thorin’s sword Orcrist. This sword has been created in stunning detail from the prop created for Sir Ian McKellen to use as he plays Gandalf the Grey in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Fans can pre-order this piece right now for $190 from Budk.com and it will be in stock in December of this year. UC is also running a contest to win one of the cooler swords wielded by any villian in The Lord of the Rings. All you have to do is enter this awesome contest for the sword of The Witch-King which ends November 14, 2012 at 10 am EST.
Posted in:
Share:
Living in the wastelands of Angmar these Snow Trolls would adorn themselves with the furs, bones, and skulls of their victims. The most recent statue from Sideshow Collectibles The Lord of the Rings statue line comes to us not from the movies, but from last years awesome game The Lord of the Rings: The War in the North. While not from anything Tolkien wrote himself the game does allow fans of Middle-Earth to venture into events that could have happened during The War of the Ring.
The game takes place during the events of The War of the Ring, but you’re not playing as the Fellowship, you play as one of three characters: Eradan the ranger, Farin the Dwarf or Andriel the Elf, as you aide the Fellowship in stopping Sauron’s plans to take the North, making things much harder for Frodo to complete his quest. During your trek through the North, and the beauty in that area of Middle-Earth, you battle numerous Orcs, crazed Men, and of course Trolls. One of the variations of Trolls you will come across as you play the game is this Snow Troll. Sideshow Collectibles in conjunction with this game was asked to create one of these Trolls for collectors to add to their Middle-Earth collections.
Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Sideshow Collectibles Snow Troll Statue Review”
Posted in:
Share:
As part of our World Wide Celebration of Hobbit week we, and the folks at Weta Workshop, teamed up to give away one of their amazing Sunrise Upon Edoras Art Print (I just received mine and it is AWESOME). After nearly 500 entries we’re pleased to announce the winner…Congrats to S. Jones of Seattle, Washington. Weta will be sending this masterpiece directly to your door. Please don’t forget to support our contest sponsor Weta Workshop! [Weta Workshop]
Posted in:
Share:
Continuing the trend of fantastic mini-statues from The Lord of the Rings, the artists at Weta have created a great version of Strider. This is the third statue in a beautiful line, which includes Gandalf The Grey and Gollum. This version of Strider captures the character as we first meet him in Bree, sitting by himself, watching the comings and goings of those at The Prancing Pony.
Sculptor Steven Saunders created the Gandalf in this line of statues, as well as the Gandalf from The Hobbit line of statues; so we’ve seen his skills in being able to deliver a great collectible. The likeness to Viggo Mortensen is really well done, especially for a small statue with a head that has to fit in a hood. The texture of the cloak in which Strider has concealed himself is astonishing, giving a real look of draped cloth. We also get a great little sculpted pipe, which we see Strider smoking as he surveys The Prancing Pony. The extraordinary detail of this statue is continued in the bench Strider is sitting on; the natural lines and markings of the wood are perfectly captured.
The paintwork on Strider is as good as the sculpting. The greens of Strider’s outfit match exactly what we saw on screen in Bree. The skin tone once again shows that Weta can get it done when it comes to making skin look very natural. One would expect the eyes on this statue, being small, to be an issue – but the painters did a fantastic job capturing Viggo’s eyes. Strider’s beard has the proper, worn look you would expect on a guy who lives out in the wild!
