This is the year of Smaug for fans of Middle-earth. We’ve already had a great trailer giving us a solid look at the head of the Dragon and cool teaser poster. Weta Workshop has produced another exclusive again for this years Comic-Con and it follows the Dragon theme I previously mentioned. This year for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug they will have a T-Shirt with the title of the movie on the front and the eye of Smaug as we see it at the end of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The shirt will be limited to only 500 shirts and can be had at their booth 3513B.
Category: Collectibles
Comic-Con 2013 is just a few short weeks away and many of the exclusives to this years event are being announced. As we reported a couple of weeks ago, The Bridge Direct is going to once again delight fans with another exclusive figure from their amazing line of figures for The Hobbit Trilogy. Last year they did a really great Invisible Bilbo Baggins figure as we see him when he uses the Ring in Gollum’s Cave. This year they’re giving us one of the coolest looking characters from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey with their Azog 7” figure. We’re pleased to give you all an early access look at the figure you can get during Comic-Con 2013.
Azog is a really fantastic figure and he’s going to give fans that buy this figure multiple display options. Actually, I think fans are going to want to buy multiples of Azog just to have all options available to them. Its going to be a must have exclusive at Comic-Con.
PACKAGING
The outer graphics of the box mirror the look we saw on the Bilbo figure from last year as well as the look of the special edition original score. This is simply a fantastic look but this one differs in that it has a bit of a worn Orcish look to it. You also have a little slider piece that goes over the outside of the box with Azog’s symbol in the middle of it, a Comic-Con sticker in the lower front, and a sticker with the edition size on the back.
On the inside left of the box you have a graphic of the Azog figure and a blurb about the character himself. While the inside of the right side of the box gives you a look at the actual figure itself with everything you get. These are not the only cool things about the inside of the box which also uses a picture of The Battle of Azanulbizar.
Accessories/Articulation
Azog comes with several items allowing fans to choose how they want to display this huge Orc. As you see him in the package he is holding Thror’s head and holding his sword. You also get an empty right hand, his giant bone mace, and the severed left arm with that nasty metal claw.
The articulation on this figure is great. You’re able to create multiple poses and show off the action Azog gave us during The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The joints are also very tight allowing the figure to stand on its own and you do not lose any articulation with the switch out parts. The switch out parts are also easy to take off allowing for a frustration free change out experience.
SCULPTING
The sculpting job done on Azog is really quite good. He looks every bit the part of what we saw on screen and very detailed for being only seven inches tall. The likeness to Azog is fantastic and you can tell they really worked to make sure this looks like what we saw during the movie. He’s also got all the scars we saw on the character only adding to the great job done by The Bridge Direct. His weapons are very well done and look great when you’re creating the multiple looks this figure presents. The rest of his outfit from the metal pieces screwed into his stomach and wrappings on his arms are great. These are the types of details show why The Bridge Direct is the company to do Middle-earth figures.
The two coolest jobs done I think with this figure in the sculpting department are Azog’s skirt and King Thror’s severed head. During the film I did not notice that his skirt is made out of what appears to be the faces of dead Dwarves. Well, The Bridge Direct was able to bring that cool but creepy detail to life. It adds such a great evil detail to this massive figure. The other very cool bit I want to mention is the severed head of King Thror. This piece is superbly detailed looking like the King as we saw him in the movie making it cool and creepy since it’s a severed head. I also love that when you flip this piece over you see the spinal column sticking out from it.
PAINT
As I’ve said before in other reviews the paint can make or break the sculpt work done. Well, the paintwork done on Azog is really good making this one of the best-looking action figures I’ve owned. The skin tone looks like his movie counter part, as does everything else with The Pale Orc. You get the proper amount of wear on the leather, weapons, Thror’s head, and Azog himself.
Overall
Azog is a fantastic figure. You get a great sized figure, tons of detail, and multiple display options. He’s also going to be limited to 2600 pieces worldwide so he’s going to go pretty quickly. Make sure you stop by their booth 3513B, which they’re sharing with Weta Workshop. We also want thanks The Bridge Direct for this chance to give our readers a chance to look at this figure before the show.
SPECIFICATIONS
Azog comes in with an edition size of 2600 pieces.
PHOTOS
The Fellowship of the Ring is now complete. As you may know from following our news and reviews of this set, Weta Workshop created a three piece set of The Fellowship as they crest the hill from that memorable scene in The Fellowship of the Ring. You can still order Set 1 and Set 2 from Weta’s website. Tonight, we get to complete the trio of pieces with Set 3 going up for Pre-Order with this piece of the trio containing Samwise, Aragorn, and of course Bill the Pony. This set comes in at $200 like the other two sets and will be shipping in September/October of this year. Make sure to get your order in now to get yours in the Fall.
Today, our friends at The Bridge Direct have revealed the final look of their 2013 Comic-Con Exclusive figure! As you may remember, last year they did a 6″ Invisible Bilbo Baggins figure, as he would look while wearing the Ring. Well, this year they are bringing to fans a 7″ version of one of the coolest looking characters from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: Azog the Defiler. Azog comes with multiple switch out parts, in order to create him as we see him from ‘The Battle of Azanulbizar’, still with his left arm and holding King Thror’s head. You can also have him as we see him a little later in the film, no long having his left arm but with that gruesome metal object in its place. Azog will be limited to 2600 pieces world-wide, so he’s sure to go quickly. So if you’re at Comic-Con this year make sure you stop by the Weta/The Bridge Direct booth 3513B!
The big week in Middle-earth continues today, with a brand new product from the folks at Gentle Giant. Following up the massive Goblin King bust is another bad guy from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: the pale Orc himself, Azog the Defiler, will be the next bust for sale from Gentle Giant. Azog comes in at nearly 7″ tall, with a price tag of $85 for non-PGM members and $76.50 if you’re a PGM member. You have time to save the coin, with Azog not shipping until the first quarter of next year. You can pre-order Azog right now directly from Gentle Giant’s website.
Today, is a huge day! We’ve already gotten the first poster for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and of course today we got the first trailer for the movie.
Well, that’s not the only thing for the new movie that has made an appearance on this very special day.
Weta has just released the first product and it’s a special preview product for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug with this mini barrel-riding Bilbo Baggins statue. This statue fits in line with the mini-statues you’ve seen us review here from The Lord of the Rings. It’s the very first mini-statue for The Hobbit trilogy. This will also be the first in a line of barrel-riding pieces leading up to the release of the film in December. Bilbo is in-stock for $65 so get you order in now to enter for a chance to win 65 Weta dollars and add this amazing Bilbo statue to your collection.
