(VIDEO) For the 20th Anniversary of TheOneRing.net, our panel at San Diego Comic-con ventured back into the past (No time machine involved, but wouldn’t that be fun!) to look at TORN’s roots and how we grew from our early beginnings into arguably the world’s premiere J.R.R. Tolkien fansite. From fan clubs to card games and Oscar parties, no stone was left unturned. And for the crowning moment, we invited Sir Richard Taylor, Co-Founder and Creative Director of WETA Workshop, onto the stage, and he entertained us with fascinating and funny tales of how WETA grew right along with TORn.
And so it begins! The first news of who will be cast in the Amazon series set in Middle-earth was announced yesterday. According to Variety.com, actress Markella Kavenagh is in talks to join the cast. Kavenagh is best known for her parts in several Australian TV series, including Picnic at Hanging Rock, and in 2018, won the Best New Talent award from the AACTA (Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts).
The name of the character Kavenagh’s is set to play is rumored to be Tyra. This has some fans around the internet fretting due to 1) similar to Tauriel of Hobbit fame, the name Tyra isn’t found anywhere in Tolkien’s published literature, and 2) it sounds too much like Arya. However, as our sources tell us, it’s not uncommon to use code names for characters during the auditioning process. Still, even if the character’s name really is Tyra, character names outside of Tolkien’s legendarium are probably inevitable (Lurtz, anyone?), and don’t necessarily reflect badly on the entire endeavor.
Comic-Con 2019 has come and gone. However that doesn’t mean our coverage of the show is done. Today we have our booth tour coverage of all the goodies that our friends at Weta Workshop brought with them to Comic-Con 2019.
Minas Morgul, Dark Galadriel, and Gandalf and Frodo riding on Gandalf’s cart are not available for order yet. But once they are, you can count on us to let you know. Hope you all enjoy the booth tour and corresponding pictures.
If you’re one of the lucky fans attending San Diego Comic-Con this weekend, don’t forget to swing by our presentation tomorrow night, July 20, from 6:45 to 7:45 p.m. in room 6DE. The room is already filling up, so be sure to get there early! For all of you Hobbits, Elves and Orcs who attend in costume, directly after the panel there will be a group photo taken on the steps behind the convention center, facing the Bay and the Coronado Bridge. In true Hobbity fashion, after the Cosplay photo, we’ll also be having in ice cream social at Ghirardelli, 643 Fifth Ave., San Diego, CA 92101. Show up between 8:15pm through about 9pm or so and there may be a few little mathoms handed out as well.
More details about the panel below, and don’t forget to RSVP on the SDCC SCHED page for the panel linked below.
*** TheOneRing.net (TORn) staffers Josh “Elessar” Long (host of Collecting the Precious), Jon “Tookish” Ben-Asher (former associate editor for TORn), Hannah “Took” Greenwood (co-host of TORn Tuesday, associate staff at WETA Workshop), and Josh “Sarumann” Rubinstein (former host of TORn Bookclub) celebrate 20 years of talking Tolkien and all things Middle-earth. They will be discussing all the current known news and maybe a rumor or two, reminiscing about some of their biggest stories and events in the past, and laying out a schedule of some of their 20th anniversary events. The Tolkien movie has already hit theaters, but the Amazon Lord of the Rings (LOTR) series is full-steam ahead in preproduction and this panel’s got some tantalizing news on that front. Bring your favorite stories about a TORn event or story they posted to discuss-they really want to focus on the community that TheOneRing.net has created these past 20 years. Costumes are welcome and encouraged. Cathy “Garfeimao” Udovch (special events coordinator) moderates.
Out latest review covers not one but two statues from out friend at Weta Workshop. The two statues we will be looking at come from The Hobbit Trilogy and specifically The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. During the final sequences of the film, we get to see some Elves and Dwarves joining forces. To depict this, Weta made individual statues covering a single Mirkwood Elf as well as a pair of Iron Hills Dwarves– but the two statues come with a twist. You can switch out the shoulder armor of one of the Dwarves and combine them to make one massive statue. You can also get both statues individually for $449 with an edition size of 750.
One of the many great things about The Lord of the Rings is the extreme depth of characters you will find. For some collectors their favorite character may just fall into a secondary character status. Our friends at Weta Workshop know this and aren’t afraid to tackle someone who didn’t get a lot of screen time. Today’s review is a perfect example of this with Haldir. While Haldir didn’t get a lot of screen time his impact on the story shouldn’t be thought of as minor. This statue was done right and fans of Haldir should be proud to own him. You can still get him for $399 from the US and EU warehouses and with an edition of 750 there aren’t going to be too many of him left.
