Ringers –  today is a good day! We are getting a preview of yet another The Lord of the Rings statue making its way into the que of items from the new maquette line. The newest piece that will be entering our collections is the Snow Troll. This piece will come from the upcoming The Lord of the Rings War in the North video game. As with the other maquettes announced this Troll gives us a look at different view of Trolls from Middle-Earth. As you will see in the video from Sideshow Collectibles this piece is huge and will draw some major attention in your collection. Also in the video we get a look at the announced Arwen and Boromir maquettes and an explanation of what the exclusives will be for each item. Stay tuned to TORn for more news when this goes up so you can add a Snow Troll to your collections! [LOTR Showcase Video] [Snow Troll Preview]

The awesome folks at Weta have a brand new The Lord of the Rings collectible for us today! Gandalf the Grey is going to be thenext item coming from Weta in a line of statues of characters from The Lord of the Rings. As many of you know the first statue done in this line by Weta was the Gollum statue which had two versions. One with the Weta Cave logo can only be bought at the Weta Cave in New Zealand and Gandalf will be the same here. However, there is a second version for those of us not able to make the trip to the Weta Cave and purchase the version with the logo on it.

Gandalf the Grey will come with a price tag of $69 US or $99 NZ and will be like Gollum an open edition size. That does not mean he will be around forever and with a piece that has such an amazing likeness to Sir Ian McKellen I implore my fellow Ringers to get this piece before its gone. Also, Gandalf the Grey will be making an appearance at Comic-Con starting next week along with yet another surprise from Middle-earth! [Order Today]

Claire writes: I don’t know how familiar readers outside the UK are with the goings on related to Rupert Murdoch, the News of the World newspaper and his bid for all the shares in satellite broadcaster B Sky B. However, a cartoon on the Guardian newspaper website makes much of Murdoch/Mordor(ch), Murdorc and casts Mr Murdoch as Gollum. The face on the ring is that of Rebekah Brooks, the CEO of News International, part of Mr Murdoch’s News Corp, who it seems is being protected at the expense of everyone and everything else.

When it comes to the fantasy realm of Middle Earth, the stories told in The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings barely scratch the surface. This mythology is full of characters and conflicts that span thousands of years, many of which are only mentioned in passing in these novels.

Even as LotR fans eagerly await for the debut of The Hobbit: There and Back Again in late 2012, a new video game promises to explore some of this little known territory. The Lord of the Rings: War in the North is an action-RPG that runs parallel to the events of the classic LotR trilogy. While the Fellowship seek to destroy the One Ring and beat back Sauron’s forces in the south, a trio of heroes fight an entirely different battle in the lands of Eriador and Rhovanion. More..

Lord of the Rings is the franchise that wouldn’t die.

A boxed set featuring extended versions of the three films on Blu-ray Disc debuted at No. 2 on the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert sales chart, selling nearly 80 percent as many units as Sucker Punch, which bowed at No. 1.

Never mind the fact that the trilogy carries a hefty suggested retail price of $119.98 – or that theatrical versions of the three films, also neatly bound in a boxed set, have been available on Blu-ray Disc for more than a year.

Not surprisingly, the Lord of the Rings set easily topped Nielsen’s dedicated Blu-ray Disc sales chart for the week ending July 3, with Sucker Punch – an action fantasy, starring Vanessa Hudgens and several other hot young actresses, that grossed $36.4 million in theaters – debuting at No. 2. More..

Sideshow Collectibles went double dipped yesterday for The Lord of the Rings fans in their maquette line. Arwen Undómiel will be the next character to join the parade of characters in the maquette line. In the teaser image we see that she is wearing the outfit during The Fellowship of the Ring when she catches a certain ranger ‘off his guard.’ As of right now, all we have is this teaser image but it does let us know that we will be getting a second maquette sometime after Comic-Con. So make sure you stay tuned to TORn for all the details when this beautiful piece goes up for order. [View the Preview] [Enter Collection]