For your viewing pleasure: some fabulous images of individual character posters for the first Hobbit movie. Some of these have been seen before, as the covers for Empire’s latest magazine; it’s certainly worth feasting your eyes on the new, hi res images of the assembled group.
Category: Merchandise
TheOneRing.net Emporium of Goods and Sundry Somethings is open for business! You can order our very popular OBEY Eye of Sauron shirt, and check out our latest design – coincidentally timed with the news from Lucasfilm this week! ‘May the Dwarves be with you’ – featuring a glowing Sting! Look good for all three Hobbit movies AND for Star Wars Episode 7 in 2015!! We ship globally – you can place orders here. Thanks for supporting TOR.n!
News is out on the internet about Howard Shore’s upcoming soundtrack for the first of Peter Jackson’s three Hobbit movies. The release date is given as December 11th – so no month-in-advance November release this time, alas. As with the three Lord of the Rings soundtracks, there will be a regular edition and a special edition; you can see the artwork and read the track listing here. Neil Finn’s ‘Song of the Lonely Mountain’ is confirmed as the closing credit number, as we reported here. The track listing is interesting as it seems to confirm what has been speculated for a while about where the first movie will end; but I’ll say no more on that, for those who wish to stay spoiler-free! Hop on over to Fandango.com to read for yourselves, if you wish!
Thanks to johobbit from the Silver Leaves journal team, who let us know that their journal issue number 4 is available now. She tells us, ‘Silver Leaves Issue 4 is hot off the press. The theme is Dragons and we are very excited about getting into the hands of Tolkien and fantasy fans. This is another superb issue, with contributors including Jef Murray, Colin Duriez, Alison Baird, Doug Adams, Tim Kirk, Peter S. Beagle, Constance Wagner, Anna Repp, and Ted Nasmith, among many other talented folk. Ordering information is available here. And always remember, ‘It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him!’ ‘
If you enjoy the journal and would like to contribute, they are currently accepting submissions for Issue 5, which is themed on The Hobbit. Deadline for submissions is 1st February 2013; further information here.
Kiwi 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
