That's very good news, Kit.

I'm definitely ordering both as I want the Indy scabbard also. Are you still getting Indy's Guthwine or did you pull out from the list once UC gave the project the green light? Also, I know it's very early in the process but since you design the plaques, can you confirm that it will match the old Herugrim and Eowyn plaques?

Valkrist wrote: Tue Jan 22, 2019 1:41 pm Kit, I've just heard that the Moria Staff has been pushed into mid-February. This really comes as no surprise if true, I can't remember the last time UC stuck the landing on their announced release dates. Having said that, have you heard of any reasons for the constant delays? Factory issues? Late shipments? China vs. US trade war?

The first load or Moria staffs already arrived at United. I received my shipment this week.

To my knowledge, UC never announces release dates, and I'm not sure what constant delays you are referring to. Where are the "announced dates" ?

Valkrist wrote: Thu Jan 31, 2019 8:33 am That's very good news, Kit.

I'm definitely ordering both as I want the Indy scabbard also. Are you still getting Indy's Guthwine or did you pull out from the list once UC gave the project the green light? Also, I know it's very early in the process but since you design the plaques, can you confirm that it will match the old Herugrim and Eowyn plaques?

No. Honestly, I was not that thrilled with the photos I saw. The shapes were off and the finish looked rough. Maybe it will look better when his China factory gets the run going.

Regarding the plaque, I hope so. The silk screen will follow the same style of art, as will the shape, but I'm not sure the wood grain color will be an exact match to the ones from the original runs. That wood factory no longer exists.

Ouch, not exactly a ringing endorsement. I know he struggled for a long time to get the hilt shapes correct and I guess that's the best he could do. I also agree that the final photos weren't the clearest, but I'm holding out hope that it will look good in person, At any rate, once the UC one arrives, that will be the one I display alongside the others. I want the scabbard, even if it is missing the fullers.

On the Moria staff dates, I should have clarified the release date changes were being posted by BudK, and I have to assume they were getting them directly from United:

Original date - 1/14/2019
First change - 1/15/2019
Second change - 1/16/2019
Third change - 1/22/2019
Fourth change - 1/30/2019 actual arrival in stock at BudK

Anyway, it's a moot point since, as you said, the staff is shipping now.

I'm sure I have said this numerous times here before, but those dates dealers or distributors get when they call in to United are not real. Ignore them. They are automatically generated from the date the original PO is cut and have nothing to do with how long it actually takes. The only time they know for sure something is coming is when they are in the shipping container and on the boat, which I assume is what Budk was posting. Even then, the time to actually get to the DC varies from 4-6 weeks, depending on weather, how booked US customs is, trucking time from the west coast, et cetera. UC has no control over that.

Trust me, I wasn't losing sleep over it - not really in any rush to receive the staff, just found it odd that the date kept changing in such small increments. Everything you say makes absolute sense, and yes, you have mentioned it several times before, but as I always connect BudK to UC in my mind as one owning the other, I thought perhaps BudK knew something the other dealers didn't.

I'm guessing by what you're saying that United works pretty much independently from BudK as a business entity, so while I've heard rumours in the past that BudK uses this position to get the lion's share of stock shipments, they really have no more clue on release dates than anyone else.

My apologies for making you repeat yourself.

Completely separate, but the same person owns both companies. They probably place their orders in before anyone else, which means they are fulfilled first. I'm sure they also know within days of the container arriving because they share the same loading docks as UC, and the two warehouses are connected.

I still have not opened my staffs. Best to wait until the temperature inside is the same as outside, so no shrinkage cracking occurs. It seems the new staffs always arrived during the coldest month of the year!

My staff shipped yesterday and with the extreme cold out East it does make me worry a little.

I'm looking forward to your impressions of a production piece Kit. Does the Moria staff have a metal rod inside like the pipe staff? I hope so as that would really help with the rigidity and hopefully keep it prone to cracking. (I've not had an issue with any of the other UC staves, knock on wood)

It's supposed to, but I have not cracked one open to find out!

I just opened one of the two I got. The staff and display look good. The paint job on the staff is not quite as nice as the one I painted and the prototype I approved, but that's going to vary from piece to piece. The LED light and crystal all fit like they are supposed to. The LED is not as bright as the one in the approved sample, but not bad. The only thing I don't like is the weight. I thought they had the weight perfect, but this is around 6lbs - twice as heavy as the approved sample. They must have filled more of the interior solid in production. Not that I will be walking around with it., but it feels too heavy. I suppose that means less crack defects for United.

I think I am going to modify the one I display and put an AC powered LED in it so it can be always-on.

Thanks for your thoughts on the staff. I'm fine with it being heavier and paint variation is to be expected. I don't mine doing touch ups on mine if needed.

Someone just posted on the FOU that the light is rather difficult to remove and suggested tying a string to it first.

As for an always on modification, would you use a wall adapter and socket into the staff? or make some metal contacts on both the staff and the wall plaque that would turn on when placed together?

N2, I read that post about the light not coming out without a fight. I find it odd that the staff would come with such an obvious flaw... did the guy even think to just tip the staff upside down for the light to jiggle out easier? His photos do show a pass-through hole in the light's on-off button. Is that really for a string? I feel that if you obstruct that hole somehow, that turning the light on and off might be a problem.

Kit, can you shed some light on this since you designed it? (yes, horrible pun fully intended)

I awaken from my long slumber with a whole lot of joy, I've been wanting a Moria staff ever since I was a kid and could never get my hands on the Noble version. https://imgur.com/a/5my0JwY

You turn the staff upside down to remove the light. I just tried it on both production staffs I have and the lights dropped right out. They were not even tight. Let me know if you guys have an issue with yours being tight

N2darkness wrote: Fri Feb 01, 2019 8:42 am As for an always on modification, would you use a wall adapter and socket into the staff? or make some metal contacts on both the staff and the wall plaque that would turn on when placed together?

Probably just a wall adapter - run the cord up behind the display and splice it to a thinner gauge wire, then come in behind the staff and down the crystal hole. I don't take my staff off the stands, so I'm not worried about having to unhook it. I have a moving, multi colored LED behind the Arkenstone in my Thror statue that is always on too, wire in a similar manner. I'm going to do the same under the Dreamsphere Arkenstone too. It's going to sit in my chest of gold coins, so I'm going to wire a color changing LED inside a tube under it. It will have a moving rainbow effect that will appear to be coming from inside it.

Thanks for clearing that up, Kit. I did feel it was just a case of letting gravity do most of the work for you. Speaking of gravity, the next complaint I read is that the crystal doesn't appear to sit very firmly or deeply in its socket, and thus can tip over or fall out quite easily. Not really an issue for me as I don't plan to re-enact any scenes from the movie and usually leave my replicas well enough alone on the wall, but it does concern me that the crystal might fall off with the barest amount of handling. Do you feel this concern is justified?

My Moria staff arrived today. I plan to unbox it in good daylight tomorrow.

Valkrist wrote: Fri Feb 01, 2019 10:29 am the next complaint I read is that the crystal doesn't appear to sit very firmly or deeply in its socket, and thus can tip over or fall out quite easily.

The crystal seats in perfectly on the two I have, but I'm sure the fit will vary slightly from piece to piece due to the nature of rubber molds and polyresin shrinkage. It's not supposed to lock in. If you face it the wrong direction, it will be very loose and if the staff is tilted sideways, it will fall out. If someone is planning on swinging it around, rub some paraffin wax on the end so it has something to make it stick. That's how I made the crystal in my Radagast staff stay in, as I display it sideways.

I received my staff on Friday and opened it up today . It was packaged very well , better than the past few staffs . I also thought it was on the heavier side , but very well built and the details are well done . My light comes right out when turned upside down, and the crystal fits well for a wall hanger . Overall very pleased with it , as it's been on my want list for many years . Thank you Kit for a job well done on design .

Congrats, Mag.

Still waiting on Rev to ship mine. Hopefully he got them in already.

My Moria staff survived its journey undamaged. I am very happy to finally have this iconic item in my collection. It will displace Thranduil's staff in my staves display rack.

In anticipation of the Moria staff, I finally unboxed by other staves the other day only to discover that my AUJ staff has some cracks in it. Not so bad as they're noticeable at a distance, but it's a little disappointing. Any tips on reducing or preventing any further expansion of the cracks...?

Hoping to snag the Moria staff in the next few months...gotta find the $ first...

A little side-step - My love of Haldir's sword has been rekindled by finding this photograph when searching for Weta's Narnia props on google images Still holding out hope that one day this sword will be made or the Rivendell infantry version of it from The Hobbit.

I love that sword but your pic is not showing, Lindir. Might be easier to post the link to where the photo is hosted than trying to paste the picture directly into the post.

Edit: nvm, just figured out why - it works in Chrome, but not IE.

Sorry Val, I’m away from my computer. I’m on my mobile and edited my post and included it as an attachment so hopefully that should work

Received my Moria staff yesterday #0073. Arrived in great condition, the light fits in and out freely. The crystal fits in well and snugly if you push it down a bit and won't fall out even tipped upside down.

The paint could use a little work, there were a lot of brush bristles stuck all over the piece and a few of the deeper crevasses that don't have any paint at all. I also haven't seen it mentioned anywhere, but I do have 2 spots where light seeps through when turned on due to the inside of the hole where the light goes not being painted. Should be easy to fix. Overall I'm very happy to have this piece finally in my collection. Thanks again Kit for all the hard work!

Congrats N2D. It looks great!

Can’t wait to see mine.

Still waiting for a shipping notice...

Anyone else order theirs from Rev?

Yep me. He is beginning checking them today and posting them out in order of payment.

Good news then, thank you Idril.

Nasnandos wrote: Sat Dec 22, 2018 1:13 pm There is only one version of the staff. No point in having two as the only difference would be the little LED flashlight in the hole under the crystal.

Here are some pix of the final prototype.

Hey Kit,

Any recommendations for the colors and paint types used on your prototype? I'm doing some touch ups on mine now, but thinking the whole thing needs to be lightened up a bit. From screen grabs of the movie it either looks rather dark in the Council of Elrond and the Mines of Moria and can't find any other pictures with correct lighting.

Finally got my shipping notice, yay!!

Kit, is there a reason UC numbers nearly everything now even if the item is not part of a Limited Edition? Seems strange that they are serializing things this way. Other than being able to tell which production run things are from, I'm not sure of the purpose.

Hey everyone! I'm mostly active in the Flame Of Udun forum, but wanted to try this one out as well. I just finished a review of my Staff that I got today. This is actually my 2nd staff because my 1st actually arrived cracked but my new one is perfect. I have lots of pics of my original one here

https://www.flameofudun.net/forum/cross ... f-uc/page6

I hope this can hold some of you who are waiting on yours to arrive over until it does & for anyone weighing getting this, I think this is a pretty good representation of what you can expect. Enjoy!

LOTR Illuminated Moria Staff Review:
https://youtu.be/s5GyZ4KKQXY

Hi, Darthveezus, and welcome to UCForums.

You'll find the pace here a lot more relaxed and things are a little quieter, but we're always happy to have a new fellow collector in our midst.

I enjoy reading your posts over at FoU and look forward to your contributions here.

My Moria staff is tracking to arrive any moment now. It's already at the local post office but as Monday is a holiday up here, looks like I'll have to wait an additional day.

N2darkness wrote: Fri Feb 08, 2019 1:28 pm Hey Kit,

Any recommendations for the colors and paint types used on your prototype? I'm doing some touch ups on mine now, but thinking the whole thing needs to be lightened up a bit. From screen grabs of the movie it either looks rather dark in the Council of Elrond and the Mines of Moria and can't find any other pictures with correct lighting.

There are not really any good prop photos in natural light. These are the original prop master pix from FOTR.
...which is pretty close to the prop color on the COE set before it was color graded.

The whole COE segment of FOTR was color graded warm yellow, which made the staff kind of mud / baby poop colored.


In most of the Moria scenes the staff looks grayish brown because the color was de saturated, but there were a few that scenes that were color graded warm yellow or reddish yellow.

http://www.kitrae.net/fantasy/images/Ho ... 39065c.jpg


I went with something in between the prop color and the warm yellow color-graded tint. It's a bit tricky doing touch ups because the United replica is a light brown/ochre base coat with a series of darker paint washes applied over it. Here are the colors used.
They are all custom mixed, but the two on the bottom left are close to what is commonly called raw sienna and burnt sienna. The whole staff was painted in the top left base coat color. Then a series of diluted paint washes were applied over that using the sienna colors. Then a very diluted paint wash was applied using the top right color, which is a flat black mixed with about 50% brown. I also did a little bit of semi-dry brush touch ups using the sienna colors.

I'm not sure how much help this is since what you see depends on your monitor - most monitor colors are all over the place unless they are color calibrated.

Valkrist wrote: Fri Feb 08, 2019 5:48 pm Finally got my shipping notice, yay!!

Kit, is there a reason UC numbers nearly everything now even if the item is not part of a Limited Edition?

The don't. They only serialize some of the polyresin replicas currently. It has been 10 years or so since a bladed replica was serialized.

Valkrist wrote: Fri Feb 08, 2019 5:48 pm Other than being able to tell which production run things are from

That's the main reason - and people like to have serial numbers, for some reason. It's all a bit silly.

Nasnandos wrote: Sun Feb 17, 2019 8:38 am
They are all custom mixed, but the two on the bottom left are close to what is commonly called raw sienna and burnt sienna. The whole staff was painted in the top left base coat color. Then a series of diluted paint washes were applied over that using the sienna colors. Then a very diluted paint wash was applied using the top right color, which is a flat black mixed with about 50% brown. I also did a little bit of semi-dry brush touch ups using the sienna colors.

I'm not sure how much help this is since what you see depends on your monitor - most monitor colors are all over the place unless they are color calibrated.

Thank you very much for the info regarding the paint colors and applications. I've been trying to just add colors over the existing paint job to help even out the stark contrast the was used, but that is essentially just dry brushing over the dark base. It has helped make it more even, but I think to get a more accurate representation I'll have to start over and repaint the hole thing with your recommenced base color. I wonder if I can find something similar in a spray can?

My Staff arrived on Saturday and I let it sit in the box for three days before opening it in the house. Very happy to report that it is, at least to my thrice-over inspection, defect free. The paint looks great to me although I confess I don't have Kit's or N2's discerning eye in that category to pick out the subtleties. It looks awesome to me, and that's what matters. Thank you, Rev, for your diligent inspection before shipping.

The flashlight slides in and out with no issues, and the weight of the staff does not bother me one bit. If I have on minor complaint it's that the crystal doesn't seem to have that one perfect orientation that makes it not jiggle around at the slightest movement. It sits in the cradle well enough, but even looking at the box art to get the correct orientation and placement, it's still a bit loose for my taste. Having said that, it won't come off the top of the staff unless you tip the thing over nearly to the horizontal mark, so points there.

Overall, I'm extremely happen to finally own this grail item, and want to thank UC and Mr. Rae in particular for his hard work in making this possible at last.

Congrats Val. That all sounds fantastic really.

Mine is still finding its way across the big pond.

Hi All! Another newbie here checking in. I don't have a massive collection, just a few swords and now my Gandalf Moria staff which arrived today. I haven't opened it up yet but will be doing so tomorrow in the daylight. Like most, have wished for this staff for many years and can't believe it's finally arrived!

On a side note, it got me thinking... I don't know if it's been discussed but is there any chance of UC re-releasing Saruman's staff in the future? I know Weta made one as well, but it's one I missed out on originally and I'd love a new one (similar wall mount to the new staffs and all). Any rumblings?

Thanks!

Hi SteveA, and welcome to UCForums!

Congrats on receiving your Moria Staff, hope you like it.

As for a re-release of the Saruman Staff, I would think the chances of that are slim and next to none and I certainly haven't heard anything, although only Kit could say for sure at this point. If UC re-releases anything these days, it is either a high-sales popular item like Glamdring, Anduril, or Sting, or finishing an uncompleted Limited Edition, like Isildur's Helm. With Weta having done the Saruman Staff recently, I don't think UC would take such a big risk, and even if they did, it would likely be a copy of the old one, which was not very accurate to begin with. Having said that, I own one and it does the job well enough for me.

Valkrist wrote: Tue Feb 26, 2019 11:12 am If UC re-releases anything these days, it is either a high-sales popular item like Glamdring, Anduril, or Sting

Those have been in continuous production for about 16 years, so I don't think they qualify That's the core line, although it looks like Orcrist is part of the core too. It has never stopped selling.

SteveA wrote: Tue Feb 26, 2019 8:14 am On a side note, it got me thinking... I don't know if it's been discussed but is there any chance of UC re-releasing Saruman's staff in the future? I know Weta made one as well, but it's one I missed out on originally and I'd love a new one (similar wall mount to the new staffs and all). Any rumblings?

Thanks!

Welcome to the forum. The only discontinued LOTR staff I know they are planning on doing a new production run of is the Gandalf the White staff. The Weta version of Saruman's staff is not metal like the UC version, but it's far more accurate looking. That's the one I would try and find.

Good to see you as always, Kit.

I asked a question over in the Weta thread but perhaps you didn't see, but it has to do with what we normally call the "Witch-king sword". Was this blade meant to be unique to the leader of the Nine? I ask because there are a few moments in the movie where more than one Ringwraith is seen holding that sword, as opposed to the other two sword types that we normally ascribe the title of "Nazgul blades".

Just hoping you could shed some nugget of insider knowledge on this. The question came up while discussing Weta's Ringwraith on Steed statue which holds the Wiki sword, but the gauntlets don't match the Witch-king's and the sword doesn't match the scene with the Hobbits hiding under the tree. Thanks in advance.

Since there were nine wraiths and only three swords designed they had to duplicate some. I always looked at them as standard stock swords in the 'Nazgul armory', not exclusively made for an individual. That said, the labels in the FOTR prop master photos always identified that sword as the 'Witchking sword' and the others as 'Ringwraith sword #1' and 'Ringwraith sword #2'.

Ah, that makes sense... kinda how there were only six unique designs for the Nazgul in the Dol Guldur battle scene and the remaining three were just doubled up from the others. I can understand doing this in the latter production when they were a bit rushed, but it's a bit odd that given all the attention to minute detail that was lavished upon the LOTR movies, that the Witch-king was not given a unique blade given his importance as a character.

I got my Moria staff yesterday. It is perfect. I really love it. Looking forward to putting it and the other Gandalf light up staff each side of a doorway.

Question though: I was under the impression that pushing the crystal down would turn the torch on/off. Am I wrong? Cause this doesn’t happen with mine.

Idril, I was under the same exact (apparently false?) impression. There is no way pushing down on my crystal will ever turn that light on. That's my criticism of this staff is that the crystal should sit a little more snuggly, and that could have been achieved by elongating the bottom tip so that it could indeed be used to turn the light on and off while providing additional stability.

As it is, I just remove the crystal and use my pinky finger to reach in and push the light.

Either that or we both have small crystals and we're the exception rather than the rule?

Idril wrote: Thu Feb 28, 2019 2:28 pm Question though: I was under the impression that pushing the crystal down would turn the torch on/off. Am I wrong? Cause this doesn’t happen with mine.

No, you just use a finger to switch it on or off. Since the torch is the same height when switched on or off, and the crystal sits in a fixed cavity, there is no way to press the crystal down. I suppose you could place something in the torch hole to make it seat high enough so the bottom of the crystal can be used to press it instead of your finger, but then the crystal would be pushed up out of the cavity and be very loose.

Thanks Kit. All good then. You did an amazing job with it. Loving it.

Edit: Val - so perhaps I got the idea from you? You and your wild ideas......

No, it wasn't me, though I could swear I read that somewhere and perhaps you saw the same thing? Either way, great minds think alike. I still feel the crystal could have had a narrow bottom part that made contact with the light and killed two birds with one stone, but what do I know?

Since Guthwine is in progress, it looks like United is considering a few more Eomer replicas too - His Helm and the spear he took the Mumakil down with. It may never happen if the sword does poorly, but I am going to start work on them soon.

Wow, after all this time. I'd like to see both of these done by United. Are they going to be done in metal or poly resin? I've also been curious as to the sales of the Moria staff and if that has also renewed interest in more items as well. I'm down with the Lothlorien bow and pretty much any LOTR sword their willing to make.