Join the LA area staff from TheOneRing.net on Sunday, September 21 at the Mineral Wells section of Griffith Park from 11:30am until about 6pm (gotta beat the sunset out of the park). There will be fun and games, maybe a few prizes and some very agreeable fellow Hobbits, Dwarves, Elves and all manner of MIddle-earth denizens enjoying the end of Summer and the start of Autumn.
If you know what you plan to bring, and how many folks are joining you, please mention it all on that FB Event page. Or, you can email me at Garfeimao@TheOneRing.net to RSVP and I’ll include your items on the Description section of the ABOUT page, itemizing all the things needed for the party and those that are coming. And remember, we do host a Middle-earth themed Cake/Cupcake/Cookie decorated desserts contest, and if enough come, that will be a prize.
Some of the games and contests may be Trivia, Costume Contest, Middle-earth themed desserts, Golfimbul, Dwarf Tossing, and Pin the Black Arrow on the Dragon. Not all are guaranteed to be played, as time, game supplies, and participants play a part in that. Also, if we have time, we like to give people a chance to either recite a poem or snippet from Tolkien’s works or act out a scene from the movies, so be prepared to take the stage. We have a microphone and speaker this year due to your generous donations last year. We do usually give people about 90 minutes to 2 hours to arrive before the games begin, mostly so people can eat and be social.
And finally, do remember that it is almost always sunny and warm, so hats, pop ups or a parasol, sunscreen and sunglasses will help you immensely. Also, bring some beach chairs or a picnic blanket and get ready for a delightful afternoon with fellow Tolkien fans.
Please do read the full Description found in the About tab for what is needed and what is coming, and also directions to the picnic area for people coming from any and all directions once you enter Griffith Park. We can’t wait to see you all in two weeks time.
It’s Thursday, and already the Marriott hotel in downtown Atlanta is pulsing with music, crowds and excitement. DragonCon is upon us! And staffers from TORn are looking forward to connecting with our fellow fans.
We’ll be at our ‘fan table’ in our usual spot (Hyatt Exhibition Level, opposite the entrance to the Art Show). We have some awesome new buttons for sale, as well as this year’s shirt designs – the Prancing Pony Club:
And Bilbo from the Rankin/Bass The Hobbit:
Please come by the table and say hi. As an added bonus – if you come and tell us something Boromir would have done (in the style of Denethor, a la ‘Boromir would have remembered his father’s need…’), we have a special secret prize for you!
Join us in Bree!
Friday night is of course the annual ‘Evening at Bree‘, starting at 8.30pm. We’re in the Grand Ballroom in the Courtland Grand (same venue as last year), and we’ll have the Brobdingnagian Bards and Beth Patterson playing again, as well as a new (to Bree) band this year, the duo Kinnfolk. The Elf Choir will sing for us, and of course we’ll have the costume contest. (If you’d like to enter, please sign up before the event, either at the High Fantasy Track room: Marriott L401, or at our table.)
Panels
There is lots to enjoy for Tolkien fans this year. TORn’s own panel, ‘An Hour with TheOneRing.net’, when staffers deej, Madeye Gamgee and greendragon will be joined by TORn’s good friend Knewbettadobetta, is Saturday 5.30pm in the Hyatt International South. You can also find greendragon on The Rings of Power Season 2 panel (Friday 1pm, Marriott A601), and join many excellent Tolkien scholars and friends of TORn for ‘Harmony and Dissonance: Creation in Tolkien’s Mythos’ (Sunday 1pm, Marriott L401). For those who stay right through the end of the con, come and Scour the Shire with us at 11.30am on Monday, Marriott L401.
Dance Party
The High Fantasy Track’s ‘Goblin Ball’ goes 90s this year – and our own deej will be DJing once again! Put on your plaid shirt and DMs, apply some frosty lipstick, and come and party 1990s style. We’ll be dancing in the Marriott A601 from 10pm on Sunday night.
As if that weren’t enough…
Tolkien lovers abound at DragonCon this year! Artist Donato Giancola is well-known to fans of Middle-earth, and he’s this year’s Guest of Honour in the Art Show – so be sure to stop by and visit him there. Another featured guest is singer, songwriter, actor and well-known Tolkien fan Jason Charles Miller, who will be performing and appearing in a couple of panels.
We have one more trip around San Diego Comic-Con 2025 for you. In this episode of the Collecting The Precious Podcast Jim and I, along with very special guest Matt from Nerd of the Rings, talk about the fun that was SDCC 2025. We cover how cool it was, and that despite there wasn’t a film or show coming out this year, that there was awesome stuff to be seen from Weta Workshop, Vanderstelt Studio, Middle-earth Enterprises, and Cliff Cramp Illustrations. That’s not to mention how freaking awesome our booth was.
This amazing piece by Weta Workshop was revealed to the world during Comic-Con 2023. After much turmoil for yours truly, I finally had time to sit down, open, and to review this awesome piece.
This is the limited version of the Fountain Guard statue. In this version you also get the White Tree of Gondor as we see it during much of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. The Fountain Guard of the White Tree is limited to 905 pieces and is sold out of course but if you’re willing you can snag this on the secondary market. It is, after having had time to stare at it, one of my new favourite pieces.
In this review/unboxing I try something different as we take a look at the very cool figures from Diamond Select Toys. These awesome figures come with 16 points of articulation and a price tag of $30. They do a great job of capturing some awesome details and likenesses of Frodo, Merry, and Pippin. I think if you’re a hardcore collector you will want some of these in your collection for sure, and if you collected the Toy Biz line they’re a must.
