Today’s Sideshow Collectibles Newsletter provided a preview of the newest item to join the Premium Format line of collectibles for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Continue reading “Collecting The Precious- Sideshow Collectibles Saruman the White Premium Format Preview”
Tag: Gandalf the Grey
Two Great Eagles swooped into Wellington Airport’s main terminal building on Monday morning, giving Gandalf a glimpse of the runway.
The sculptures show Gandalf atop one of two Great Eagles, bringing news to the Middle of Middle-earth.
Weighing in at one tonne each with a wingspan of 15 metres, they have been developed by Weta Workshop and Wellington Airport to accompany Gollum in welcoming visitors to the Wellington region and New Zealand.
Continue reading “Two Great Eagles swooped into Wellington Airport”
We’ve started to see more and more products announced and launched tying into The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. One of the companies turning out some pretty cool stuff for film two is our friends at The Bridge Direct. The collectible we’re covering today is Radagast the Brown, from their 6” line of figures. After seeing this piece at San Diego Comic-Con this past summer, I was quite excited to get this; and I have to say this figure lived up to my expectations.
PACKAGING
The layout for the box design for Radagast is exactly the same as we saw with wave one of the figures, for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The new figures differ in the graphics, as well as the coloring of the box. The images show the company climbing what I would assume is the Lonely Mountain, with another view of that same Mountain in the background. You also have a blue tone to the coloring, which suggests the darker turn the movie will take, compared to how wave one and movie one matched up.
On the bottom of the box you have a cardboard slip with the character’s name and a picture of the character all rendered in the same coloring. The back of the box has a great little breakdown of the second movie. They not only do this in English but also in French, which I have to say I really got a kick out of. You also get a look at the three 6” figures in wave two: Radagast, Legolas, and Azog.
Accessories/Articulation
Radagast is simple when it comes to the number of items you get with him; he comes with his hat and his staff. However, this matches exactly what we see him with during the movie, so you get to create the exact look of what we saw.
The articulation on this figure as a whole is really good. You have great movement in the hands, elbows, shoulders, and ankles. The only area which I found had any kind of limited movement is the head, but that is due to his beard. Overall, you can have some real fun with this figure, creating some of the craziness we could imagine Radagast getting into.
SCULPTING
I love the sculpting job on Radagast. I really think the likeness on this figure is pretty darn close to a dead ringer for what we saw on screen. Within the facial likeness, the little bird’s nest is also there and can be shown or not depending on if you have him wear his hat. The detailing doesn’t stop there, as his outfit has some amazing fine points in it, even with little things I didn’t notice in the movie when I’ve seen it several times. Radagast comes with a couple of extras, which are the hat I just mentioned, and his trusty staff with the blue crystal that he uses to save Sebastian the hedgehog.
PAINT
As I’ve said before in other reviews, the paint can make or break the sculpting work. I really think The Bridge Direct nailed the paintwork on Radagast, giving the character the proper ‘on screen’ look. The skin tone looks like his movie counter part and has a nice natural, alive tone to it. His hair has the proper brown and grey mix as we saw on screen. That’s not my favorite part, though, of what was done to his hair. One of the things I don’t care for with Radagast is the bird poop in his hair – it’s just something I really wish they had left out. Luckily, the way it’s painted on the figure it just looks like a large area of grey hair, and I love it. Much better than what we actually got! His outfit is also painted very nicely, allowing for all the sculpted details to come screaming through.
Overall
Radagast is a fantastic figure. You get a great sized figure and tons of detail. You can get Radagast exclusively at Toys R’ Us for $14.99, along with Azog, Legolas, and the Mirkwood 5-Pack. We want to thank The Bridge Direct for this chance to give our readers a look at this pretty cool figure.
SPECIFICATIONS
Radagast costs $14.99.
PHOTOS
Our friends at Weta Workshop have released their latest newsletter and its jam packed with information. Tonight, we get two new pre-orders and a run down of when we will start seeing items for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The first item that came up for pre-order is the next Hobbit Hole helping fans create their own Hobbiton with Gandalf’s Cutting. This great little piece is named for being the Hobbit Hole that is nearest when Gandalf enters Hobbiton. The other item that went up for pre-order is a beatuiful art print capturing The Argonath. This stunning print was created by Gust Hunter and captures the Kings of Old as the Fellowship goes by. You can order Gandalf’s Cutting for $40 and it will ship in late November and you can also order The Argonath art print for $35 which is in-stock.
Also within tonights newsletter, Weta tells fans when they can expect to start ordering products that are tied in with the second film in the Hobbit Trilogy. These products will start to be released from next Monday afternoon here in the US, which is next Tuesday morning in New Zealand/Australia. So starting from next week fans can expect to order at least one new statue, which will be the Elven King Thranduil himself.
Here is the full comment from tonight’s newsletter:
Next week signals the launch of the first items from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
We have previously launched Bilbo and Bombur Barrel Riders as exclusive preview products, but 15 October signals the start of our range proper!
We have a range of products lined up for the next few months and while we want to keep some of them a surprise, one or two have seen the light of day at conventions and events.
King Thranduil 1/6 scale statue is one such piece and we will start taking orders for this striking Limited Edition piece:
Tuesday 15 October at 9AM NZ time!
Around the World that means the following times:
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US West Coast: Monday 14 October at 1pm
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US East Coast: Monday 14 October at 4pm
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Central Europe: Monday 14 October at 10pm
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Sydney, Australia: Tuesday 15 October at 7am
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An eagle-eyed reader let us know the other day about a very cool-looking art print of Gandalf the Grey called A Journey in the Dark.
This art print, inspired by The Fellowship of the Ring, captures the moment when Gandalf is trying to recall the right direction through Moria. The artist, Madison Gregory, offers a range of art prints from different movie franchises. Fans can get this print in sizes ranging from 4.5″ x 10″ to 21″ x 42″ with prices between $100 and $400. Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – A Journey in the Dark Art Print”
Our friends from The Bridge Direct had another great showing at Comic-Con this year with more of their great figures for The Hobbit Trilogy. This year at their booth The Bridge Direct had almost every new figure we’re going to see in the fall when wave 2 of their line ships. We got new 6″ figures of Yazneg, Radagast the Brown, Bolg, and Azog. This Azog figure is different than the Comic-Con 2013 Exclusive Figure. The 3.75″ line of figures had the rest of the Dwarves which we did not get in wave one and Thranduil to complete what they had at the booth. The 3.75″ line is also getting a couple of new multi-packs one will have all of the Dwarves and the one at Comic-Con is a Mirkwood pack coming with Thranduil Tauriel, Legolas, Fili, and Kili. There is a Beorn figure coming but as of right now he will have to remain a mystery for just a little while longer. We also get to see a Legolas figure in the new packaging that we will see for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Overall, as I said The Bridge Direct had another great Comic-Con and I can’t wait to see wave 2 hit the shelves.
