Today, we’re lucky enough that Warner Bros. has allowed artist Jerry Vanderstelt to release a teaser from his upcoming print for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. In this teaser image we get a look at a familiar face once again brilliantly translated by Jerry. Also, it appears next week we will get something else from Jerry as you can see in the quote below. So stay tuned for more teasers from Jerry and check out his Facebook page: Vanderstelt Studio

“Warner Bros. has given me permission to show this first little snap shot teaser of my upcoming The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey artwork! These are simple “point and shoot” shots, not color-correct hi res scans, but enough to give you an idea of how things are shaping up : ) More to come next week! For now, here is the first little teaser!”

In June of this year the folks at Weta Workshop answered a long-standing request from the fans of Middle-earth with the release of Set One of The Fellowship of the Ring three-part set. Well, on the heels of the debut of Set One (review of said set coming soon), Weta has announced Set Two.

As you know the first set contained Gandalf, Frodo, and Legolas all of whom look really fantastic. Set Two gives fans four more characters on our way to completing the Fellowship with Boromir, Gimli, Merry, and Pippin. Like Set One this set will cost $200 and will not be shipping until quarter two of next year. Start saving now!

[Pre-order]

There is something pretty special about banding together with fans in your area and fans world-wide to experience The Hobbit collectively. Following the tradition of Line Party events held a decade ago, our shirt designer Chris Lyons put together a shirt for TheOneRing.net’s fourth party experience. Modeled after a concert tour shirt while still celebrating dragons and dwarves, we want to make this one available to as many attendees as possible. Following tradition, this is our LP4 shirt, following our LP3 shirts from 2003 that we still get requests for and that some members of our staff rarely take off. (We are really hoping they will replace them with these newer, cleaner ones.) The city names on the back will be replaced with actual Line Party cities (join or start a line today!) and we would like to add a corporate sponsor as well. In fact, contact us if you would like to get your brand out  to the most die hard fans and have it worn around for a good, solid decade. Our hope is to make these shirts extra affordable and ship in time to wear to the December 13th midnight screenings across the land.

If you are familiar with Line Parties, we have a primer (Line Party 101) to give you the basic info on how to start or participate in an event near you. In 2003, with the momentum of three LOTR films, our line party organization reached well over 10,000 sign ups which usually represents only a small fraction of those actually attending. We know of people attending events in 2012 that have purchased 20 tickets but with only one sign up. We supported the most active lines with gifts or items from corporations or individuals as the opportunity arose. The largest lines, in Utah and Arizona, numbered more than 1,000 people and brought great costumes and media attention with them.

2001 was ‘The Fellowship of the Line’

2002 featured ‘2002 Towers’

and 2003 was LP3: The Return of the Line. We also declared, on a shirt and way before it was an internet meme, “One does not simply walk into theaters, there are geeks there that do not sleep.”

In fact the line party movement shares a common theme with Star Wars fandom, known for its weeks-long commitment to camping out and waiting in lines to be the first to see new installments of that franchise. Keep your eyes peeled for these to go on sale and thanks for all of your support. Join today!

Weta Workshop has released even more items for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The new items range from some awesome T-Shirts to a great replica of Thorin Oakenshield’s Dwarven Ring. Thorin’s Map obviously plays a big role in The Hobbit and now you can wear it with this fantastic looking Thorin’s Map T-Shirt.

Also, Weta has put up a really good looking t-shirt with the Red Dragon Logo of the and only Smaug. Barad-Dur: Fortress of Sauron will start shipping in the near future from Weta, and what better way to show your excitement for that item than to also buy the Barad-Dur t-shirt. The final t-shirt from Weta also has a matching pin celebrating The Hobbit’s world premiere on the 28th of this month. 

All of these shirts come in at $30 and are well worth the purchase. If you’re in New Zeland or know someone there make sure you get the World Premiere Shirt and World Primiere Pin. Finally, fans can order a sterling silver version the Ring of Thorin Oakenshield which is set to ship in early December for a great price of $189.

Hobbit bookKiwi Ringers! You could win a copy of The Hobbit signed by the Dwarves, Bilbo and Gandalf!

NZ Charity Skylight is raising money by auctioning a signed copy of The Hobbit. Skylight offers counselling and support to children suffering all kinds of trauma and grief  in their families – things such as earthquakes, mining disasters,  illness and violence. They’re a fantastic service and we would like to support this actors’ initiative to help them. You would need to have a New Zealand TradeMe account to bid on the auction, which goes live on November 20…..happy bidding. Read More

“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