What strange days we are living through. Quarantine, isolation, social distancing, and uncertainty make these tough times for us all. We here at TheOneRing.net are thinking of all our fellow fans, and hoping that you are all keeping safe and well. We hope you’ll join us on the message boards or in the chat room, on Twitter or at the Facebook group; perhaps you’ll enjoy a Happy Hobbit video, or play along when Middle-earth March Madness begins on Monday. However you choose to be together in the fandom, know that you are not alone; your friends are with you!
We know that many folks are struggling with loss of work at this time, and small businesses are fighting hard to survive. Badali Jewelry have been great friends and supporters of TORn since the First Age. They are a wonderful company, run by lovely people, who make beautiful things – including their licensed Middle-earth range. Now they, like lots of small businesses, are struggling to stay afloat. Please support them if you can, by donating to their GoFundMe, by making a purchase from their website, and/or by helping to spread the word.
We stand together in these strange and bewildering days. As Samwise tells us, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow; the sun will shine out the clearer when all this is over.
Tomorrow is Tolkien Reading Day! And as so many of us are social distancing and staying at home right now, let’s get our copies down off the shelves and share some favourite paragraphs together. Farmer Giles, Roverandom, Father Christmas Letters, The Hobbit – whatever works by the Professor take your fancy, head on over to the message boards or the Facebook group, and post a passage for us all to enjoy.
Our good friends at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt have put together an online kit to inspire you, including maps, trivia, and a complete list of Tolkien’s works. Check it out, here. Let’s escape together into the pages of a book by our favourite author!
Once again, we face that eternal question, “What gift can I buy for the Tolkien fanatic in my life this year?” As always, we here at TheOneRing.net have provided answers to this question, to help make it as easy and painless as possible. So, without further ado, welcome to TORn’s Holiday Gift Guide 2019.
From everyone at TheOneRing.net, we wish you all a safe and peaceful Holiday season.
greendragon recommends: Letters from Father Christmas. A must have for every Tolkien fan. Click here to order.
35 BAGSHOT ROW – CHRISTMAS EDITION. From New Line Cinema, Peter Jackson and Warner Bros. comes J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, brought to the big screen in an epic trilogy. Weta Workshop was thrilled to return to Middle-earth once again, contributing design, specialty props and specialty costumes to all three films. Click here to order.
deej recommends: Badali Jewelry’s The Rings of Men: Umbar. Click here to order.
Weta Workshop; Arwen and Frodo on Asfaloth. Click here to order.
Garfeimao recommends: “Tolkien”, biopic that came out earlier this year. It is a lovely film with some really nice acting and moments of humor that brings J.R.R. Tolkien’s younger years to life. Click here to order.
grammaboodawg recommends: Gandalf Deluxe Statue by Iron Studios for Sideshow. Click here to order.
Frodo Statue by Iron Studios for Sideshow. Click here to order.
Nazgûl Deluxe Statue by Iron Studios for Sideshow. Click here to order.
“Attacking” Nazgûl Deluxe Statue by Iron Studios for Sideshow. Click here to order.
Balrog (Deluxe Version) by Star Ace Toys Ltd. for Sideshow. Click here to order.
Kelvarhin recommends : Funko Pop! Rides: Lord of The Rings – Gwaihir with Gandalf and Funko Pop! Rides: Lord of The Rings – Witch King with Fellbeast. I absolutely love these two collectibles from Funko Pop! I’d be a very happy little tiger if they were left under my tree this year. Click here and here to order.
Kristin recommends: Catherine McIlwaine’s Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth as a great gift for Tolkien fans. Click here to order.
Joel recommends checking out the Bodleian library website for that extra special gift.
All prices are in US dollars, except for the items from the Bodleian, which are in UK pounds.
If you haven’t already, make sure to mark your calendars for this Thursday, October 10th. That’s the day we can finally order the beautiful Minas Morgul environment we saw at Comic-Con this past July. Unlike previous items, this will have a unique way to determine the edition size. When orders open on Thursday they will begin calculating the edition size, and when orders close on the 23rd of this month they will finalize the number. So we, the fans, will determine just where this ends up; and it also allows us to show bad we want this piece. So mark your calendar now.
Here is what time Minas Morgul will go up based on your location:
· 12.30 p.m, October 10 – 12.30 p.m, October 23 (PDT)
· 9.30 p.m, October 10 – 9.30 p.m, October 23 (CET)
· 8.30 a.m, October 11 – 8.30 a.m, October 24 (NZT)
Today sees the Digital Release of Dome Karukoski’s biopic “Tolkien”. Available now on all the usual digital platforms, the film is also set to be released on Blu-ray & DVD on August 6.
If you purchase the digital release from iTunes, you will own the film in both High Definition and 4K Ultra HD (although you will need an Apple TV device and a compatible 4K television to watch it in the latter format), along with all the bonus features that will also be available on the Blu-ray.
These include an Audio Commentary by director Dome Karukoski, a First Look Featurette, Photo Gallery and Deleted Scenes with Commentary by Karukoski.
When our friends from within the Tolkien Community heard we’re having a special birthday they sent us these lovely messages as part of our celebrations. So Happy 20th Anniversary TORn! Here’s to many many more!
Kia Ora TORn,
Happy 20th Anniversary, well done on making this wonderful achievement! We have been involved with TORn through one of your founding members Erica Challis, from New Zealand since 2002. We have enjoyed the fantastic Premier movie parties that Red Carpet Tours has provided and TORn attended, along with the stars from the films. Looking forward to future calibrations and hopefully a great Lotr TV series for all the fans. Congratulations again on 20 years! Best regards, Julie James and the team at Red Carpet Tours.
Happy 20th Birthday to TheOneRing.net from The Brisbane Tolkien Fellowship. We hope you continue to have another successful 20 years at least sharing the news of all things Middle-earth.
TORn 20th Anniversary Message from Gamling, Bruce Hopkins
Dear Friends at TheOneRing,
Congratulations on reaching the ripe old age of 20 ; ) Thank you for all the support and love you’ve given us all.
When I took the job of playing Ori in The Hobbit, I didn’t think I’d collect so many chums. Like the cast, you too are part of my extended dysfunctional Tolkien family!
Have a great celebration – drink, be merry… and avoid the green food! See you all soon. Adam x
A big happy 20th anniversary to TheOneRing.net ! All this time you have been delivering to us critical and wonderful news regarding the world of JRR Tolkien, from the books to the films to the Collectibles and everything in between. May 20 more years be forthcoming!
Cheers, Jerry Vanderstelt
Our good friend Donato Giancola also has given us a mathom to offer to you all! For the next ten days, you can get 50% (!!) off on all of Donato’s incredible art prints. Just use the coupon code TORN at checkout. Take a look at the wonderful prints on sale, here. Thanks so much, Donato!
I can’t believe it’s been 20 years already – it’s been an amazing community to have been a part of, and all good wishes to everyone involved, from everyone at Welly-moot!
Jack Machiela Welly-moot.com
We will be adding more messages to this post as and when we receive them, so do check back! Thanks to everyone who has sent greetings and anniversary messages!
We know that many folks are struggling with loss of work at this time, and small businesses are fighting hard to survive. Badali Jewelry have been great friends and supporters of TORn since the First Age. They are a wonderful company, run by lovely people, who make beautiful things – including their licensed Middle-earth range. Now they, like lots of small businesses, are struggling to stay afloat. Please support them if you can, by donating to their GoFundMe, by making a purchase from their website, and/or by helping to spread the word.
