The artisans at Weta as most folks know are some of the kings when it comes to the special effects world. We know their work from films such as; District 9, King Kong, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, The Lovely Bones, The Adventures of Tintin, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and of course both of The Hobbit films. In other words some of your favorite films and mine have been worked on or touched by some truly skillful folks.

However, these fine artists are also some of the masters behind many of you Ringers favorite collectibles. That’s why I’m writing about this particular item because it shows the amazing work that the creators working at Weta have made over the last ten years. The item I will be writing a bit about is the brand new released at Comic-Con 2011 Weta: The Collectors Guide. This amazing book captures the work Weta has done over the last ten years into one of the best reference books and coffee table books I’ve had the pleasure to own. Just a couple of the reasons I love this book are the amount of pictures taken of the items ranging from The Lord of the Rings to Halo. They’re all beautifully done and show off just how great the work coming from Weta has been over the last ten years. The other being the amount of information in the book not just on the collectibles, but the people behind the scenes the artists themselves will give collectors a real insight into who made these pieces. Finally, a nice addition is quotes and pictures from collectors who own many of these pieces. It’s nice to see people who I call friends pictures or quote from people who say what I’ve felt when looking at these items. Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Weta: The Collector’s Guide”

Alright, Ringers today is the day! The Orthanc Pre-Ruin environment has gone up for Pre-Order! Orthanc of course is the newest environment to join the environment line with amazing pieces like Bag End and Rivendell. The price of this Orthanc is $250 and for the first 400 orders you will get a 24k gold Sauron Eye pin as well as a numbered piece. After this the piece will be an open edition but don’t wait too long as this will be a piece you will be kicking yourself if you never add it to your collection. Don’t forget after you order to enter what you want the official name of this piece to be when it ships. The contest ends August 5th at 5pm PST! [Orthanc naming contest]

In 2010, the artisans at Weta, brought to life through help of the members of the Shadow and Flame forum, one of the most well loved places in Middle-Earth. That place would be none other the hole under the hill, Bag End. The home of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins would finally be turned into something The Lord of the Rings fans could bring into their collection.

Weta would not settle though for just making one version of Bag End for collectors to choose. They would go out and make a traditional open edition, and for the collector who wanted just a little bit more they also made a Collector’s Edition. The difference between the two types is the collectors edition has an edition size of 1,111 to help honor Bilbo’s 111th birthday, and on the backside of the environment you also get some truly finely sculpted rooms in Bag End.

Oh and by the way, you can win one of these if you enter our naming competition with Weta for the brand new Orthanc Environment.

Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Weta’s Bag End Collector’s Edition Review”

This Sunday, at 2pm PST, the new Orthanc Environment from the artists at Weta Workshop will go up for Pre-Order. As, I told you the other day, Weta wants your help to name this piece. Starting today and running through August 5th at 5pm PST, we will be helping them collect name suggestions through the link below. The winners will be chosen by none other than Orthanc model makers David Tremont and Daniel Falconer! The winner of the contest not only gets their name chosen for Orthanc but they will also receive a collectors edition of Bag End, and two runners up will receive a very cool Sauron T-Shirt. Good Luck!!! [Orthanc Naming Competition]

During, Comic-Con 2011 Weta released the next amazing environment from their The Lord of the Rings line. The item is noneother than Orthanc the home or Saruman during the battle for The One Ring. This version of Orthanc is before we see Saruman tear apart Isengard to use in his part of making war in Middle-Earth.

The detailing in Orthanc is off the charts! It looks like the statue is made from real obsidian and pulled from what we saw on screen during the trilogy. The addition of the trees add a feel of peace that this location had before Saruman sold himself out to Sauron. For owners who have Orthanc after Saruman destroyed the beauty that you see here the comparisons will make for one of the cooler looks in any The Lord of the Rings collecton.

Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Orthanc Pre-Ruin by Weta”

Our TORn staffers at Comic-Con are busy (and tired) but the time is coming soon when the live streaming will return to TheOneRing.net/live and continue for the convention’s afternoon and then into San Diego’s night. We want to under-promise and over-deliver so we will only tease that if things go well, an astounding guest or two might join us today. We will visit Weta’s booth and Sideshow Collectibles to feature the news LOTR items available as well as cool stuff and cool people from everywhere.