In the last two days we’ve had three new items pop up from Weta Workshop as we head into Comic-Con 2014.
If you’re a fan of The Hobbit Trilogy then this item is for you. We see Bard checking this out in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and fans can now purchase their own copy of the Line of Durin art print. This replica, in smaller scale, looks just like the tapestry that Bard looks at as he figures out just who these Dwarves are. You can get this print right now for just $30 and it’s even in-stock! Also, from The Hobbit Trilogy fans can get a set of postcards with various moments from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey for only $22.50.
Fans of The Lord of the Rings won’t feel left out either as we also get a great set of postcards capturing moments from one of the best trilogies of all-time. The postcards for The Lord of the Rings also come in at $22.50 and are in-stock.
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Nori the Dwarf recently arrived to join our collections and brings us to nine of the thirteen Dwarves in Thorin’s Company.
The character design for Nori is one of the most unqiue that Peter Jackson went with when creating these characters for The Hobbit Trilogy. Our friends at Weta Workshop have done a fantastic job of taking that look and turning it into a great 1:6th scale representation of the character played by Jed Brophy. Nori is a limited edition piece with an edition size of just 1000 pieces world wide and can be purchased right now for $250.
Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Weta Workshop’s Nori the Dwarf Statue Review”
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I love Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins. He’s just simply been so outstanding in the role of Bilbo Baggins that jumping on a few collectibles of him playing this character was a no-brainer. Today, I have for you a review of the Mini-Bust by Gentle Giant of Bilbo from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
For me, this is a case of the production piece showing improvement over the pictures on the box, as well as what we saw of the prototype. You can still get this bust from Gentle Giant’s website for just $70, and with an edition size of just a little over 500 pieces, it won’t last for long.
Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Gentle Giant’s Bilbo Baggins Mini-Bust Review”
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One of the best statues from The Lord of the Rings Trilogy statue line is The Balrog of Moria statue. This amazing piece came out in 2001/02 with a retail price of $300 and an edition size of a 1000 pieces worldwide. It is one of the most amazing statues to represent any character in Middle-earth and if you have the cash on the secondary market I would strongly recommend getting it. So I thought for the first video review I’d do this statue, since I have just succeeded in getting it back into my own collection. Let me know in the comments below what you think of the video review as I do these in conjunction with some of my written reviews.
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*Update – Saruman the White Collectible is now available to Pre-order*
Today, via their official site, our friends at Sideshow Collectibles released a full preview of their upcoming Saruman the White Premium Format. This Premium Format is going to be an outstanding addition to our Middle-earth collections with a fantastic likeness to Sir Christopher Lee in his role as Saruman the White. Fans will be able to Pre-Order this Premium Format this thursday in Sideshow’s weekly newsletter for a solid price of $399.99. If you’re into the exclusive options as I am, this collectible comes with switchable hands. One of these will have him holding the Palantir, which appears to light up and another with his hand stretched out. As soon as it goes up for order on Thursday we will let you know. Enjoy this little gallery below and if you want more pictures you can check out the full preview at Sideshow Collectibles.
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One of the showstoppers at Comic-Con 2013 was a character I had been looking forward to seeing since the The Hobbit Trilogy was announced. Being pretty pleased with how this character was done left me looking forward to finally adding a statue of him to my collection. Thankfully that wish came true when I made my voyage to the Weta booth during Comic-Con last year. I was really blown away by the job done on the Radagast the Brown statue and just how spectacular a job was done to translate the onscreen character into a 1:6th scale statue.
PACKAGING
The overall graphic layout for Radagast’s box stays the same as we’ve seen with previous entries in the line. Per the format we’ve come to know, the front of the box gives you a great shot of Radagast, graphic work for the title of the movie, and of course the Weta logo. The sides of the box for Radagast also present a familiar format with different looks at the statue. While the other side of the box presents some of the various products you can get for The Hobbit line of collectibles. The back of the box contains a great story on Radagast as well as information regarding details of the character and statue. The Styrofoam on the inside is typical with what we’ve come used to getting with these statues.
SCULPTING
The task of sculpting Radagast the Brown was handed to the ultra talented Steven Saunders. He has once again shown why he is a master of his craft with the skills needed to bring the movie to life within your collection. The Istari would be proud to have Mr. Saunders sculpting them I believe.
I personally think the likeness to actor Sylvester McCoy with all the makeup he wore is pretty much spot on. You’re going to be hard pressed, I think, to deny that this isn’t an excellent reproduction of the character. This goes all the way down to his nose being just a little crooked. As we know Radagast‘s appearance is a total mess, which is wonderfully shown on this statue with his beard going every way possible.
One of the things I love the most about Radagast is the unique look he has with his hodgepodge of an outfit. It is one of my favorite things about him. His coat has some amazing details in it with little plants or flowers on the back of his coat, which just happens to be fraying at the ends of it from the constant wear and tear. His vest and undershirt appear to be the same type of material along with looking exactly the same. Both of these are also fraying/tearing at the end from him wearing them all the time, as is the case with Radagast’s entire outfit. One small detail I love on the vest is it being held closed by just one simple button, which has some nice details within those buttons. Radagast’s pants which now resemble capris from most likely being the only pants he wears as he roams Mirkwood. The one detail that I think I love the most about his outfit and did not notice until after seeing the movie is he wears two different shoes. This reminds me of a neighbor that used to live by me that always had on two different pairs of shoes. They’re totally different designs with one having fir at the top and leaves while the other is a plain black leather looking shoe. He also carries with him a worn out bag that appears to be made out of the same material as his coat.
Radagast lives a simple life style so he doesn’t really have weapons or jewelry that we’ve seen on other statues from this line. He does have his unqiue hat that like the rest of his outfit is made of cloth with the little cloth fiber details that make up the hat. Wizards really don’t need too many weapons, but one you can bet they will have is a staff. The staff has the little wood grain details put into it, which when painted help create a real wood looking staff. It also at the top of it has the crystal that he used to help save his little pal Sebastian when we first meet him in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Speaking of Sebastian he joins Radagast on this statue climbing the log that has fallen on the ground making up part of the base. This little addition may be the part I love the most as that moment when Radagast saves Sebastian made me think of how much I love my puppies. Those are not the only animals that help make up this statue with a cute little mouse and robin that is landing on Radagast’s outstretched hand.
I think Weta has done an excellent job with the poses on these statues allowing them to gives us a look inside these characters. As I mentioned in a previous review the Elves have both a power as well as a beautiful elegance. The pose for Radagast shows his care of nature and love of the animals that make up his world. As an animal lover myself it really is the cherry on top of this statue.
PAINT
The streak continues by Weta with how the factory paint came out on Radagast. The overall skin tone on Radagast I think is really well done, and very much looks like a healthy human should look. The one issue with my statue is the redness is a little on the strong side but overall doesn’t take away from the statue. The grey coloring of his beard does a great job highlighting the hair detail and matching what we saw on screen. When put into my collection cabinet his paint apps look great along with the rest of the collection.
As I mentioned earlier the outfit is really exceptional. I love the way they used the various shades of browns to help create the worn look of the clothes. It’s also great that the browns highlight the detail within the outfit and don’t hide the details that were sculpted into the outfit. His shoes have a great paint job with the one having some cool gold painted leaves on the shoes while the other does have the old worn leather look. The animals and parts of Mirkwood that make up the rest of the statue stays at the high level as Radagast himself when it comes to paint detail. They even did a nice job on my least favorite part of the character with the bird poop in the proper spots.
Overall
Radagast retails for $275, which puts him inline for the non-Dwarven characters. I really love this statue! I love the character and just how well done this statue is. Again, I think this is a statue you must see in person to appreciate how beautiful this statue really is. I was also lucky recently to get Mr. McCoy’s autograph here in Kansas City’s Comic-Con to add something to my Radagast statue.
SPECIFICATIONS
Radagast is limited to just 1000 pieces worldwide and is ready to order now from our friends at Weta. As we wind down The Hobbit Trilogy this is going to be a hard statue to get a hold of so don’t wait an let it pass you by.
Dimensions:
11.8″ x 9.1″ x 5.5″ (H x W x D)
30 cm x 23 cm x 14 cm
Weight:
5.1 lbs (2.3 kg)
PHOTOS
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In the last two days we’ve had three new items pop up from Weta Workshop as we head into Comic-Con 2014.
