HobbitDOSthranduilsstaffa2Our friends at Weta Workshop have released two new products from the hit movie The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. One of these new products just happened to be teased a while back for any of us who bought the statue of the Elven King Thranduil statue, where we saw a sneak peak of the Staff of King Thranduil. This fantastic prop joins a range of prop replica’s from The Hobbit Trilogy. You can snag this replica right now for $179 with an expected release date of February 2014. The other item announced by Weta is a new book in their awesome series of art books for The Hobbit Trilogy. This book is all about one thing and that is the greatest dragon we’ve ever seen, Smaug the Terrible! Smaug: Unleashing the Dragon is written by author Daniel Falconer contains 96 pages of all the details that went into bringing this dragon to life. For only $19.99 you can get this book to add to your collection.  If you order by the end of March you can get a signed copy of the book.

IMG_7056Asmus Toys is proud to present the next figure in their 1:6th action figure line for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Previously Asmus released two bad guys, the Morgul Lord and Gothmog. Now we get the first good guy in Gandalf the White. Gandalf comes with a really good likeness to Sir Ian McKellen, Glamdring, staff, hands galore, and a very cool severed Orc head that will fit on a regular 12″ body. No word yet on when Gandalf will go up for order or price but once he does, we will certainly let you all know.

The full breakdown for Gandalf the White looks like this:

Authentic and detailed fully realized likeness of Gandalf the White from The Return of the King.

  • Asmus Toys  KP01A+ male body
  • Approximately 30 cm tall
  • Over 36 points of articulation

Features :

  • An authentic likeness of actor from the film.
  • One pair of relaxed posture hand
  • One pair of weapon holding hand
  • One pair of random posture hand
  • One Orc head (can be equipped on regular 12” body)

Special features on Clothing:

  • One white cape
  • One pair of long sleeved under-vest
  • One pair of  long underpants
  • One special patterned movie realistic vest
  • One pair of special skirt
  • One belt plus sheath holder
  • One pair of boots

Special features in weapons:

  • One  sword – Glamdring
  • One sword sheath
  • One  Gandalf the White’s wizard staff

Accessories:

  • One interactive custom base
  • One Asmus Toys figure stand

Frodo and Samwise Diorama from SideshowCollectibles.com
To celebrate TheOneRing.net achieving 200k fans on Facebook, Sideshow Collectibles‘ has generously given us their Sam and Frodo diorama to giveaway to our audience. Fully-realized in high-quality polystone, the statue depicts Frodo and Sam, clad in commandeered orc armor, as they make their way across the black lands of Mordor. Standing at 14 inches in overall height, the Frodo and Samwise Diorama equally captures Frodo’s tormented fortitude and Sam’s earnest vigilance while on the final leg of their quest to Mount Doom. How do you enter? Simply fill in the form below! The winner will be chosen next week. [View the Prize]

The same company that publishes the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, obviously including “The Hobbit,” and “The Lord of the Rings” announced an app companion to the latest Peter Jackson Middle-earth film, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.” From the looks of things, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt means for this to be an immerse and interactive version of the film books. Jude Fisher provides text and many of the images are 3D and interactive. We will include a gallery of images from the app below the official press release.

The app is produced by the United Kingdom publisher of Tolkien’s work, Harper Collins UK in conjunction with Warner Bros. and developed by Ardman Digital.

Below is the full press release with images of the product:

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT ANNOUNCES THE HOBBIT: OFFICIAL VISUAL COMPANION APP

December 20, 2013

LeggyHoughton Mifflin Harcourt, official U.S. publisher of J.R.R. Tolkien’s work, is thrilled to announce THE HOBBIT: OFFICIAL VISUAL COMPANION APP, an app designed to accompany the film experience of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, directed by Peter Jackson. A production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug opened worldwide on December 13.

The app, produced by HarperCollins UK in association with Warner Bros., was developed by Aardman Digital. The app aims to engage with book and film fans on a digital and interactive platform, and is packed with content from the The Hobbit Trilogy, including text by Jude Fisher, details and images of the characters and a beautifully rendered 3D map.

Nick Perrett, Group Director of Strategy & Digital at HarperCollins said, “This is the first step toward HarperCollins’ vision for persistent storytelling worlds that will act as a hub for fans of The Hobbit worldwide. This exciting new experience brings The Hobbit universe alive and, will over time, develop as a platform for discovering the world of Middle-earth.”Sanj Kharbanda, VP of Digital Strategy at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt said, “At Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, our strategy is to create great experiences across many touch points including books, ebooks, apps, and the web. We are thrilled to partner with HarperCollins UK to bring this to life for The Hobbit and celebrate the magic of Middle-earth with a new generation of readers with this app.”

BilboCreated using the Unity engine – more typically used by game developers than book publishers – THE HOBBIT: OFFICIAL VISUAL COMPANION APP is designed to enrich users’ experience of the films, enabling them to navigate a map of Middle-earth in its entirety, while discovering facts about the characters, locations and artifacts recognizable from the films and book. The app also features interactive trivia, allowing users to unlock additional app features.

THE HOBBIT: OFFICIAL VISUAL COMPANION APP will be updated with a rolling schedule of content for the next two years, including cast interviews, content for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is the official U.S. publisher of film tie-in books for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, directed by Peter Jackson.

THE HOBBIT: OFFICIAL VISUAL COMPANION APP is available from Samsung’s Apps Hub (Samsung Web, Samsung Mobile) and Apple’s App Store (Premium, Lite).

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT TRADE PUBLISHING

MapFor nearly two centuries, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Trade division has published some of the world’s most renowned novels, non-fiction, children’s books and reference works in hardcover, trade paperback, and eBook formats. Its distinguished author list includes eight Nobel Prize winners, forty-seven Pulitzer Prize winners, thirteen National Book Award winners, and more than one hundred Caldecott, Newbery, Printz, and Sibert Medal and Honor recipients. HMH publishes such distinguished authors as Philip Roth, Temple Grandin, Tim O’Brien, and Umberto Eco, and a celebrated roster of children’s authors and illustrators including Lois Lowry, Chris Van Allsburg and David Wiesner. HMH is also home to The Best American
series®; The American Heritage® and Webster’s New World™ dictionaries; Betty Crocker®, Better Homes and Gardens®, How to Cook Everything®, The Gourmet Cookbook, and other leading culinary properties; the Peterson Field Guides®; CliffsNotes; books by J.R.R. Tolkien; and many iconic children’s books and characters including Curious George®, The Little Prince and The Polar Express. For more information, visit www.hmhco.com.

THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG
From Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson comes “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” the second in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. The screenplay for “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” is by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro, based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. Jackson also produced the film, together with Carolynne Cunningham, Zane Weiner and Fran Walsh. The executive producers are Alan Horn, Toby Emmerich, Ken Kamins and Carolyn Blackwood, with Philippa Boyens and Eileen Moran serving as co-
producers.

New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Present a WingNut Films Production, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.” “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” is a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), with New Line managing production. Warner Bros. Pictures is handling worldwide theatrical distribution, with select international territories as well as all international television distribution being handled by MGM.

Production Video Howard Shore
Just a couple of hours ago, the Hobbit Production Video #14 popped up on Peter Jackson’s Facebook page. This final video blog covers the recording of Howard Shore’s magnificent musical score for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The score was recorded by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and conducted by renowned orchestrator/composer Conrad Pope. We’ve got the video for you just below in HD, courtesy of Peter Jackson’s YouTube page. Enjoy! Continue reading “Peter Jackson releases final Production Video of 2013!”