100_percent_middle_earthA very unique art installation is about to open in LA, brought to you by Whybin/TBWA, Tourism New Zealand and 3 Foot 7 Ltd. The concept is that of a Pop-up book that shows four different New Zealand filming locations, along with the four corresponding actual film sets from the upcoming film ‘The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug”. This event is mostly by invitation only, with a big Press Opening on Saturday, November 30 and running for 5 days. Luckily, on Wednesday, December 4 there will be a Public Day for fans to see. The point of the whole art installation is to show off the beauty of New Zealand, the fun to be found in New Zealand, and on occasion, the Middle-earthness of New Zealand. To see more details regarding this event, you can read more about it at: Yahoo NZ

So far, the only way to get into that public day appears to be by heading over to the TCL Chinese theater box office and uttering the ‘secret password’. This will get you an entry to win a pass to the event. Make sure to head over this weekend because they will do the drawing on Monday and contact winners then. See the image below for details.

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Its always nice to hear from Weta Workshop, but its especially nice when they drop something beautiful in our mailbox. This time it is concept art work from “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Chronicles: Art & Design,” book. Written by Daniel Falconer, this is likely to be an amazing book. TORn got its first look at a similar book by Falconer for the previous movie and it turned out to be as stunning as we imagined it might be. Those who have had occasion to meet the author, who does extensive design work for Weta, know that he is gracious and smart and passionate about the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Click for much larger version
Click for larger version
While the masses in the U.S. are out shopping, you can order one of these now and during the pre-order phase, your book gets signed by the concept artists and comes with a “Dragon’s Gold” for Weta discounts and prizes. As you can see above, the image we received is of Lake-Town, from the desks of Alan Lee (who writes the book’s introduction) and John Howe. And please click for the larger version, it is definitely worth

They also included some previously released Elf concept art which you can see below. You can order the book RIGHT HERE. Expect this art to pop up in other places soon and more will be released as Weta and HarperCollins see fit, but for Hobbit fans, this may be among the very best of seasonal gifts.

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Dennys DofS menuHere’s something we don’t find ourselves posting every day! As part of their ‘Hobbit menu’ fun this year, Denny’s are holding an eating contest at their restaurant in New Haven, Connecticut!  And they’d like some fans to come along and show that they can eat like hobbits; or dwarves; or even a bear…

The contest is the suggestion of one ‘Jamie the Bear’, a competitive eater who made headlines nationally last year for attempting to eat Denny’s entire Hobbit menu. This year he wants to take on some fans, to see if they can beat him! If you’re in the area and you’d like to go along, here’s what you need to know:

Continue reading “Denny’s invites fans in Connecticut to eat like hungry dwarves!”

SauronhelmHave you ever wanted to be Sauron? Well, if you have now is your chance to at least have his helm. That’s right! We’ve teamed up once again with United Cutlery to give away another fantastic replica from Middle-earth. Starting today and running for one week only you can enter and roll the dice you just may bring home this $350 item. Thanks to United Cutlery for allowing us to give this awesome item away.

Enter to win your own: Helm of Sauron

radLate last night our friends at Weta Workshop sent out a special email with information regarding the details on the final new collectible from Comic-Con 2013. The last of the characters fans will be able to get their hands on is the loveable Wizard himself Radagast the Brown. Radagast was sculpted by the amazing Steven Saunders who has already turned out multiple winners from both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. The Wizard comes in with a price of $275 and an edition size of only 1,000 pieces worldwide, with expected shipping in February 2014. Having seen this in person at Comic-Con this past July I really think fans are going to love having this in their collections. Its a superb looking statue.

Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Weta Workshop’s Radagast the Brown Pre-Order Information”

hobbitgloinblrg2One of the last remaining products from Comic-Con 2013 and one of the Dwarves I’ve been most looking forward to, has finally come up for order. As we know, Gimli Son of Gloin was a member of The Fellowship and had his own statue during The Lord of the Rings statue line. Now, after more than a decade fans of Gimli can add his dad Gloin, who is one of Thorin’s companions in his quest to take back Erebor. Gloin is a limited edition statue of only 1,000 pieces worldwide and comes with a price of $249. You can order him now and expect him to ship in December/January according to his product page. Also, if you’re a fan of Black Friday here in the United States stay tuned to the Weta website for deals starting from November 29th at 12am.