Weta Workshop has finally answered a long-held wish for fans who collect The Lord of the Rings. For years fans have been asking for a diorama consisting of the nine walkers as they trekked from Rivendell to Mordor to destroy The One Ring. Well, now we get the first set in completing the collectible many of us has wanted with set one of The Fellowship of the Ring set 1. This set is scheduled to ship in quarter four of this year and come with a price tag of $200. Weta states that announcements for the other two sets will happen in 2012.

Today via a special newsletter the artisans at Weta have announced they will be producing many types of collectibles based on Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Hobbit. According to the newsletter the license covers both films of which The Hobbit is being split into with some of these items being on display at Comic-Con in just a little over a month. Obviously, this is very good news for fans of Middle-earth and we will make sure you get tons of pictures of anything Weta has at Comic-Con.

Read the full newsletter here: Weta Announces The Hobbit Collectibles license

The folks at Weta dropped big news on Ringers today with the announcement of their next The Lord of the Rings environment. In their own words they’ve decided to climb the Mount Everest of environments…that’s right fans… we’re going to get a chance to own Barad-Dur, made by those that conceptualized and created it for the trilogy. Over the next few months Weta will be giving us updates on the creation of this massive undertaking, and of course we will pass those updates onto you as they become available. Stay Tuned! Until then check out the latest Weta Newsletter!

Fandalf visits the heart of Tolkiendom in America - Houghton Mifflin's HQ, Boston

You may remember this story from summer of last year: ‘Fandalf’ the travelling Gandalf statue (well, two of him actually…) was making his way around America and around Europe, stopping with fans in many different places and posing with famous landmarks.  With San Diego ComicCon 2012 being the final stop on Fandalf’s journey, he has just over a month to go; so we thought readers might like an update on his travels!

The statue (made by Sideshow/Weta) which is travelling around America made his way over to the East coast.  He was recently in Atlanta, followed by a few stops in New England (Rhode Island, Boston and Concord).  Right now he’s winging his way (courtesy of a friendly eagle!) over to Ohio.  The European Fandalf has been to various places in Germany, Belgium, France and Italy.  The wonderful pictures hosting fans have taken can be seen at flickr.com – search for images tagged ‘Gandalf World Tour’.  Many thanks to all who have hosted Fandalf – it’s great to think of fans all over the world mooting with the Grey Wizard!

As we draw closer to the release of the first Hobbit movie, San Diego ComicCon promises to be full of excitement and Middle-earth goodness!  Fandalf’s return from his travels and merry meetings with fans will be a wonderful part of these ‘Hobbit Eve’ celebrations.

The artisans at Weta have introduced a new range of collectibles from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. These new collectibles are some of the coolest magnets you can ever collect. The announced magnets so far are: Bag End Door, The Green Dragon Sign, The Prancing Pony Sign, Red Book, No Admittance Sign, Hobbit Feet, Sting/Scabbard, and of course the Dark Lord Sauron. You can buy each magnet individually for $15 or in two sets of four for $60 each (Set 1 and Set 2). These items are in-stock and should ship very soon after order. Time to start decorating your fridge with The Lord of the Rings!

Tonight, the artisans from Weta released the latest statue in their mini-statue line. The character chosen to join the line-up, accompanying Gollum and Gandalf the Grey, is none other than the future King of Gondor, Strider. This adaptation of the character, features Strider as we first see him in Bree. This is the first time we’ve seen Strider captured in this pose and looks to be a must own The Lord of the Rings collectible. This statue will cost $75 and will be shipping sometime in September/October.