One of my favorite lines our friends at Weta Workshop produce is the environments line. Why? Well, I’d love to actually visit Middle-earth, but being a fantasy world, that seems unlikely. I’d love to visit New Zealand –  and that may happen someday, but getting there from Missouri isn’t cheap. So collecting these amazingly well done pieces of the places we love is as close as I can get for now; as I’m sure is the case for many of you as well. We now can add three new environment pieces to our collections.

The first is a massive Bag End with that awesome green front door that opens and closes. When you open this door, you’ll be able to peek in and see the main hallway. That’s not all though! It also has a light up feature, giving the feeling that Bilbo or Frodo is at home. You can pre-order this right now through December 22nd for $1,199(USD),  with the edition size being determined by the numbers of orders placed. If you want something Bag End but maybe slightly cheaper, there is a hobbit hole sized piece of Bag End for only $99(USD). Both of these pieces ship during the fourth quarter of next year.

Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Weta Workshop’s Bag End on The Hill and Doors of Durin Pre-Orders”

A look at the various Lord of the Rings and Hobbit DVD sets currently on store shelves.

'Ultimate Collector's Edition' set - the box, enclosed art work, and 31 discs (in a variety of colours) are shown, together with a description of the contents of the set: '31 Discs Include Theatrical and Extended Versions of all 6 Films on 4K, Newly Remastered Blu-ray and an Exclusive Special Features Blu-ray. Digital Code for All Films, 64-Page Booklet, 7 Travel Poster Art Cards'.

LATEST EDITION: The 2021 Remastered 31-disc 4K box set. $250

  • 3 Hobbit Theatricals 4K
  • 3 Hobbit Extended 4K
  • 3 LOTR Theatricals 4K
  • 6 LOTR Extended 4K
  • 3 Hobbit Theatricals 1080p
  • 3 Hobbit Extended 1080p w/ commentary
  • 3 LOTR Theatrical 1080p
  • 6 LOTR Extended 1080p w/ 4 commentaries
  • 1 Bonus Feature (NEW) – 3 cast reunions + Cannes 2001 preview

Head on over to The Digital Bits where they have a long, deep review of this new set worth reading. Remember, the new 4K looks stunning but requires a new 4K disc player + 4K TV.

Can an equivalent set be assembled piece by piece? Let’s shop:

LOTR 4K (2020) $75
Includes Theatrical & Extended in 4K
– 9 Discs

LOTR Extended Edition BluRay 1080p Remastered (2020) $45
Includes Extended in Remastered 1080p
– Commentaries
– Appendices
– Costa Bottes Documentary
– 15 discs

Hobbit 4K (2020) $70
Includes Theatrical & Extended in 4K
– 6 Discs

Hobbit Extended Edition Bluray 3D (2016) $60
Includes Extended Edition in 3D
– Extended in 1080p 2D
– Commentaries
– Appendices
– 15 discs

For $250 you can get the new 31-disc box set with some pretty postcards + Cannes reel + 30 minute reunions…

Or for the same price you can get all 45-discs INCLUDING all the Appendices + Remastered 4K editions + 3D Hobbits!

Is it worth buying a whole new set just for the Cannes footage? Watch our reunion of that momentous occasion as we assemble Producers, Press, and Fan Blogs to remember what Lord of the Rings at Cannes 2001 was like.

For all the completionists out there, fill out your Middle-earth collection with the other versions of Peter Jackson’s movies.

LOTR Theatrical BluRay 1080p Remasters 3-Disc Set (2020) $20

LOTR Bluray + Appendices + Costa Bottes Documentary GREEN TINT edition (2012) $65

6-film Hobbit & LOTR Bluray THEATRICAL Editions (2016) $40

6-film Hobbit & LOTR DVD Theatrical Editions (2016) $20

A final reminder that Peter Jackson has said on occasion that he wants to do a 25th anniversary “Unicorn Edition” with all the extra stuff that we haven’t seen yet – Frodo turning into Gollum, Faramir & Eowyn’s wedding, and a warts-n-all BTS documentary that goes even deeper into the drama of making these films. No announcements have been made that this is even in the works, but PJ is a billionaire now, so anything is possible!

At the start of August, we told you about NZ Post’s beautiful stamps which were being issued to celebrate 20 years since the release of Peter Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Ring movie. Now NZ Post have shared with us EXCLUSIVE news about their next new release – a set of commemorative coins. Here’s what they tell us:

Presentation case for the 'Fellowship' coins, featuring Sacha Lees' artwork of Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf, and holding three NZ Post coins: Frodo, Gandalf and Boromir.
Continue reading “20th Anniversary celebrations continue with NZ Post – EXCLUSIVE”

The awesome folks at Asmus Toys are up to some more fun with their 1:6 figure line from The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. They’re very excited to announce that the next figure – or figures – is Gollum and Smeagol. Fans can get either of these very well done and seamless figures; or if you want both, you can get the luxury version. Either way you go, this is an absolute win for fans, as you’re getting what is the best version of Gollum we’ve seen done in a 1:6th scale figure. Fans ordering a single Gollum or Smeagol can expect to pay $130; or you can get the luxury version for $270. (This version also comes with a rock base.) This very well done figure will be shipping between April-June of next year; so you have time to save, or use Sideshow’s payment system to break down the price a little more.

Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Asmus Toys Gollum/Smeagol Figures”

Today’s the day! Our friends at Weta Workshop’s latest Master Collection statue goes up for order today at 2 p.m. PST. This is yet another amazing statue from the Master Collection line, as we’ve seen for several years now. This superb looking piece recreates the sequence where the Hobbits have to get off the road as the Nazgul track them. All we know right now is that this piece will be limited to 500 pieces world-wide. Price and shipping timeframe won’t be unveiled until this goes live; so we absolutely suggest standing by, ready to order this piece as soon as it goes up, because there is virtually no chance this makes it through the day.

Our friends at Weta Workshop had themselves one heck of a Comic-Con at Home 2021, with the goodies they’ve unveiled for us. We have a new Mini Epic, helms, a premium statue, a new master collection statue – and that’s just from Middle-earth! The new Mini Epic is this year’s Comic-Con Exclusive. It’s a variant of Saruman, but this time holding his staff and Gandalf’s staff as well. This piece comes in with a price tag of $49.99(US), and an edition size online of only 400 pieces.

If you’re a fan of the helm line then this Comic-Con was for you, as you got three new additions: two from The Hobbit Trilogy and one from The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. The two from The Hobbit represent helms we saw on the Ringwraiths during the Dol Guldur sequence. Fans can add the helm of the Ringwraiths Khand and Harad, with both pieces coming in at $79.99(US). The Lord of the Rings is being represented by the Uruk-hai Captain’s Helm, which also comes in at $79.99(US). The edition size of these three pieces will be set by the number of orders placed by August 5th.

This year’s premium statue is the Lord of the Rings himself, Sauron. This statue is a monster in size, and amazing in paint as well as detail. Fans who order him will get – for the first time ever – alternate weapons, with one of them being from a deleted scene! He also comes with a base which contains led lights, to give a glowing lava effect. Sauron comes in with a price tag of $999(US), and fans have time to save for this superb piece as he’s not shipping until 2nd quarter of next year. Like the helms, Sauron’s edition size is being set by orders received through August 5th.

Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Weta Workshop’s Comic-Con 2021 Goodies”