lotrWe’ve teamed up with our friends at HarperCollins to give away not one, but 10 of these awesome coloring books. Plus, not only are we giving 10 of these away, the contest is open to fans all over the world!

I’ve had a chance to personally look at one and it’s one of the coolest coloring books I’ve ever seen. Covering the entire The Lord of the Rings Movie Trilogy you can add your own spice of color to various scenes from the best trilogy ever put on film. Even if you decide not to color it, the book makes for one heck of a cool addition to any collection. So make sure you enter this contest that starts today and ends this Friday at midnight PST.

When filling out the contest form in the special notes section please make sure to give us your full mailing address and a contact phone number, and if you’re entering from outside the US, please don’t forget your international dialling code.

Enter: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Coloring Book Contest

The Nine Walkers PaperArtist Jerry Vanderstelt released four new items today covering both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. First up is the final entry of The Fellowship series with the fantastic Boromir print. If you’ve been holding off buying any of them you can now snag all nine of The Fellowship of the Ring set. Jerry is also unveiling one of the most beautiful prints I’ve ever seen: the print featured to the right that captures all nine members of The Fellowship in one amazing print. Finally, The Hobbit gets a little love with a print of Tauriel. The new prints range in size from 12×16 to 17×35 and prices ranging from $39-$325, depending on what print you get. Whatever your choice, you’ll be adding something to your collection that captures the heart and soul of Middle-earth.

Baby Samwise
Could these be Gamgees?

The first time I watched The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition, I mistook a hobbit in the marketplace scene for Sean Astin. Upon pausing the film, however, I realized it wasn’t Sean at all but rather an actor who strongly resembled him… holding a baby. I’m certain the filmmakers also noticed this resemblance, which begs the question: is this Gaffer Gamgee and Samwise?!

Remember, Hobbits are a longer-lived race than Men. They come of age at 30, after all. In The Fellowship of the Ring (book), Frodo celebrates his 50th birthday shortly before embarking on the Quest to destroy the One Ring. The events of The Hobbit are said to take place roughly 60 years before Frodo steps out his front door on that fateful day. Sam is stated to be younger than Frodo in the books, but given the altered timeline of the films, Samwise (who looks older than Frodo in FOTR) could be around 60 years old when he joins his friend on the adventure, which could justify this (possible) baby cameo.

sam
Samwise is ready for an adventure!

After all, Jackson’s Middle-earth films are a magical place in more ways than one: that stumbling man in Bree is still eating a carrot 60 years later, unchanged by time!

What do you think? Is this baby Sam Gamgee? Or perhaps baby Hamfast (Gaffer) and his father? At the very least, they must be some Gamgee relation!

sam and eleanor
Sam and his daughter Eleanor at the end of ROTK

Only one thing is abundantly clear: baby hobbits are adorable.

hobbitholeYellow1BagshotRowalrg2Have you ever wanted to visit Hobbiton? How about owning a place to live in Hobbiton? Well, our friends at Weta Workshop are going to give collectors just that chance with a series of highly detailed Hobbit Holes. 1 Bagshot Row will be the first Hobbit Hole in this series allowing fans to bring Hobbiton itself into their collections. This Hobbit Hole is the former home of Samwise Gamgee and Rosie Cotton before their eventual move to Bag End. You can get your Pre-Order in now for this piece which will be shipping towards the end of July to early August and can be bought for a great price of $40.

lotrfellowship3b2The Fellowship of the Ring is now complete. As you may know from following our news and reviews of this set, Weta Workshop created a three piece set of The Fellowship as they crest the hill from that memorable scene in The Fellowship of the Ring. You can still order Set 1 and Set 2 from Weta’s website. Tonight, we get to complete the trio of pieces with Set 3 going up for Pre-Order with this piece of the trio containing Samwise, Aragorn, and of course Bill the Pony. This set comes in at $200 like the other two sets and will be shipping in September/October of this year. Make sure to get your order in now to get yours in the Fall.

samwise gamgeeMost people think Frodo is the true hero of The Lord of the Rings. To put it another way: It is accepted by nearly all readers that the novel is about Frodo. It’s his quest, his burden, he’s the focus. The little blurbs in magazines that are designed for the non-initiate read like this: “The story of a hobbit, Frodo Baggins, who is sent to destroy an evil Ring of power…” Sound like a good pitch? Not quite.

The main character is really Samwise Gamgee, though you may not know it. I’m telling you now, it’s all about Sam.

You can safely argue Frodo Baggins should be the centerpoint of the tale. In The Hobbit Bilbo had the limelight for an entire book, and no one came close to grandstanding him (except maybe Smaug). Seems like Tolkien intended to chronicle the history of the Baggins family; first through Bilbo’s adventures–then with Frodo inheriting more adventures than he bargained for.

Continue reading “All About Sam – Why the Main Character of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ is Really Samwise Gamgee”

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