Its always nice to hear from Weta Workshop, but its especially nice when they drop something beautiful in our mailbox. This time it is concept art work from “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Chronicles: Art & Design,” book. Written by Daniel Falconer, this is likely to be an amazing book. TORn got its first look at a similar book by Falconer for the previous movie and it turned out to be as stunning as we imagined it might be. Those who have had occasion to meet the author, who does extensive design work for Weta, know that he is gracious and smart and passionate about the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Click for larger versionWhile the masses in the U.S. are out shopping, you can order one of these now and during the pre-order phase, your book gets signed by the concept artists and comes with a “Dragon’s Gold” for Weta discounts and prizes. As you can see above, the image we received is of Lake-Town, from the desks of Alan Lee (who writes the book’s introduction) and John Howe. And please click for the larger version, it is definitely worth
They also included some previously released Elf concept art which you can see below. You can order the book RIGHT HERE. Expect this art to pop up in other places soon and more will be released as Weta and HarperCollins see fit, but for Hobbit fans, this may be among the very best of seasonal gifts.
Have you ever wanted to be Sauron? Well, if you have now is your chance to at least have his helm. That’s right! We’ve teamed up once again with United Cutlery to give away another fantastic replica from Middle-earth. Starting today and running for one week only you can enter and roll the dice you just may bring home this $350 item. Thanks to United Cutlery for allowing us to give this awesome item away.
Late last night our friends at Weta Workshop sent out a special email with information regarding the details on the final new collectible from Comic-Con 2013. The last of the characters fans will be able to get their hands on is the loveable Wizard himself Radagast the Brown. Radagast was sculpted by the amazing Steven Saunders who has already turned out multiple winners from both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. The Wizard comes in with a price of $275 and an edition size of only 1,000 pieces worldwide, with expected shipping in February 2014. Having seen this in person at Comic-Con this past July I really think fans are going to love having this in their collections. Its a superb looking statue.
Over on the Brickset forums (home to many, many Lego fans), some interesting images have popped up, taken from the back of instruction booklets for the of the 2014 Hobbit sets. The images from Brickset member sidersdd appear to preview a LEGO The Hobbit video game to be released sometime in 2014.
One of the last remaining products from Comic-Con 2013 and one of the Dwarves I’ve been most looking forward to, has finally come up for order. As we know, Gimli Son of Gloin was a member of The Fellowship and had his own statue during The Lord of the Rings statue line. Now, after more than a decade fans of Gimli can add his dad Gloin, who is one of Thorin’s companions in his quest to take back Erebor. Gloin is a limited edition statue of only 1,000 pieces worldwide and comes with a price of $249. You can order him now and expect him to ship in December/January according to his product page. Also, if you’re a fan of Black Friday here in the United States stay tuned to the Weta website for deals starting from November 29th at 12am.
Recently I reported on the first Tolkien-based tour in the Swiss Alps, “In the Footsteps of Tolkien,” run by the Alpenwild company. I mentioned that our group ended the tour by visiting the brand-new Greisinger Museum, home to the world’s largest private collection of Tolkien art, books, and collectibles.
The image to the right shows the entrance to the museum, looking remarkably like the façade of Bag End transferred into a neighborhood in the prosperous eastern Swiss village of Jenins.
We had stayed the previous night in Chur, a charming small city with an old center with some buildings dating back to the medieval period, including a beautifully preserved cathedral. After a brief tour there, we took a short train ride to Landquart, the nearest station, and then took a taxi out to Jenins. As during the rest of our tour, the weather was sunny and mild. Continue reading “A Tolkien Collection worth the Pilgrimage”
