Oh yes!!! That is good news. Very excited to get one of my original grails.

Just Borimirs shield and horn, and Gil Galad’s shield and spear. I could retire from collecting. .

That's GREAT news about the Moria staff! Huzzah!!!

Hmmmm. Forgot Guthwine. Another original grail of mine and I know I’m not alone

Last year when I was at Weta talking with head of special orders and Peter Lyon about possibilities for the next MSSC sword (only one Boromir sword left in the ED), Neither knew that NO ONE had EVER made Guthwine. I don’t think they look at what the competition make tbh.

Idril wrote: Wed May 09, 2018 2:50 pm Oh yes!!! That is good news. Very excited to get one of my original grails.

Just Borimirs shield and horn, and Gil Galad’s shield and spear. I could retire from collecting. .

Idril, if you ever come to visit, like you hinted you might one day, I'm gonna have to pat you down as you leave my house since I have three of those four items in my collection! If they go missing, I'll know where to find them.

Edit: Well, a MSSC Guthwine would equal zero consolation. I don't know about you, but I can't afford a $10k sword. Just hoping Thranduil comes through one day.

Can’t afford a 10k sword either atm but man! I would want too. My argument was based around providing something that would attract new sword buyers because you can’t get it anywhere else.

Also trying to convince Dan to look at releasing the Moria cemetery enviro from SSW says days. The one that was never released. I love it - but I’m weirdly into cemeteries. It could just be sent off to be made. No changes from the proto.

I don’t understand. Last thing Dan said on the subject was ‘perhaps we could do a very limited run’. I said ‘just do 5 if you like - as long as I get one’.

Canada is still on the cards too Val! And Air Canada now flies direct Brisbane to Vancouver. So maybe in the next couple of years I’ll definitely make time to spend at least an afternoon catching up with you and your wife.

Idril wrote: Wed May 09, 2018 3:41 pm Can’t afford a 10k sword either atm but man! I would want too. My argument was based around providing something that would attract new sword buyers because you can’t get it anywhere else.

Also trying to convince Dan to look at releasing the Moira cemetery enviro from SSW says days. The one that was never released. I love it - but I’m weirdly into cemeteries. It could just be sent off to be made. No changes from the proto.

I don’t understand. Last thing Dan said on the subject was ‘perhaps we could do a very limited run’. I said ‘just do 5 if you like - as long as I get one’.

Uhhhh....not to show my ignorance about this (except that I am ) ....what is the "Moira cemetery"?
Are you referring to the Chamber of Mazarbul where Balin is entombed?

Re MSSC Guthwine .... likewise not going to spend $10K on this...not even $5K. Hoping Thrandy can do it for under $1K.

No referring to the cemetery inside Moria. You never got a good look at it in the movie but it is the scene where Gandalf is trying to remember the path and is sitting talking to Frodo. Gollum is in the cemetery and they have just climbed the stairs.

https://goo.gl/images/Ky2pGf

Idril, I took the liberty of editing your last two posts to correct the spelling of "Moira" to "Moria", just to help dispel Deimos' confusion.

I like that sculpt. but to be perfectly honest, if they were going to release a single one of their discarded idea prototypes, my vote would be for the Ruined Tower and Peak of Zirak-zigil.

Thanks Val. I need to get off this phone and find my tablet.

As for the ZZ unreleased piece. It needs redoing. As it is TINY. The tower is about the size if the top of your thumb. The rock part fits in the palm of your hand. I have discussed it with Leonard. We are both in agreement it wouldn’t work as is. I’m keen for another focusing on just the ruined tower with a snow dusted Balrog carcass. Leonard liked the idea.

The other unreleased one - ruined Hobbiton Mill. Never released due to its fragility. I asked if with more advanced techniques they could try again. But it is a lower priority Im afraid. It is an amazing piece.

Valkrist wrote: Wed May 09, 2018 6:31 pm Idril, I took the liberty of editing your last two posts to correct the spelling of "Moira" to "Moria", just to help dispel Deimos' confusion.
....

I knew Idril was talking about Moria and I thought it was misspelled, but being too lazy to verify that, I spelled it the same way.
So I was not in doubt that she was talking about the "Mines of Moria" ...("a mine they call it, a mine....")... I just had no clue as to there being a cemetery in it.

Super awesome to hear about the Moria staff Kit! Val summed it up and a dream come true! As for the Weta staff with pipe, I'm sure the paint job will look very good as I really like what they did with the Radagast staff. I just worry about breakage in shipping. The pouch is a very nice touch and one I need to make for my UC version. The $400 price tag though? I'm sure that this one will find it's way to a flash sale fairly soon especially with an edition of 1500.

Idril: Yeah, that sounds so small that there would be almost no details visible, though they did not too bad with the DVD Minas Tirith and Minas Morgul, and the way you describe Z-Z, it sounds to be about the same size as those two.

Deimos: Don't feel bad if you missed the cemetery in the movie because, honestly, the two brief scenes in which it is shown, it is very hard to tell what you're looking at because of the lighting and angles used. I wasn't even sure myself until I read about it and saw the photos in the LOTR: Script to Screen book. I don't think there is even a single snippet of dialogue that addresses what it is they are climbing. It looks super cool, but for how little it was seen, I can understand why Weta decided not to go forward with it.

N2: Wanna make TWO tobacco pouches? I wish I was brave enough to drill my UC staff and make the hole for the strap. I just tied mine around the shaft. Works well enough for the strap but the pouch might look awkward or just slide down.

There is a new Rohan statue up for pre-order.

Gamling

Only a 375 LE $399

Very cool piece, but i'm going to have to pass on him. I'm still on the fence for Eomer though. I also saw the Guard 1/6 as well. Very interesting that they have the exact same statue with a different head and spear yet charge $399 each. Could have made a multiple display item from him with change out items. I still haven't even received my replacement for Isildur yet either. Right now I think there is only a handful of pieces I'd be willing to order at the moment. Any LOTR 1/4 helm and a 1/6 Gil-Galad or Elendil.

Yeah. Only just saw the Guard. You’re right. It is the same. I think I’d prefer the Guard. And since Thranduil is making that helm now, even more so

Expensive morning for Buckeye

Idril wrote: Thu May 31, 2018 11:28 am Yeah. Only just saw the Guard. You’re right. It is the same. I think I’d prefer the Guard. And since Thranduil is making that helm now, even more so

Expensive morning for Buckeye

I fought my instincts and it was a win for my wallet, but not for my Rohirrim collector soul.

I think it's a wonderful sculpt, and as a collector of all things Rohirrim I'm VERY happy to see both pieces. I would dearly love to own a generic Royal Guard figure, but even the completeist in me can't justify purchasing two statues having the exact same poses with different heads and spears. Too bad, too, because displaying the two statues together would have been terrific.

Because we'll probably never see another RRG figure with a different pose (I'd love to have one simply standing guard while holding a spear and shield), I may truly regret it later, but I ordered only Gamling.

I’m trying to not order either.

I prefer Gamling but I think the Guard will be my choice. Only due to Thranduils helm coming.

Pretty much a scam any way you look at it. I love how Weta saves a boatload of money by manufacturing a two-for-one statue and only switching the head and removing the flag, and still charging us full price for both. Not only that, the low ES all but guarantees a frenzy at the ordering button. I hope this doesn't become a trend but it's not like you can try and interchange Elendil and a Numenorean soldier, for example, as they are wearing completely different armour. I just think that for $399 each, that's a lousy move on Weta's part and a missed opportunity at giving us two unique statues that most would buy without a second thought.

I probably won't be buying either but if I did it would probably be Gamling as named characters trump generics for me any day. The Guard looks awesome too but the identical pose is just stupid. Also irritated that it's not even a decision one can hold off on, again due to the low ES all but guaranteeing that once retailers get their allotment, these two will be sold out in the blink of an eye.

Actually it is really starting to bug me that they are the same.

How good would a Royal Guard with a static pose have looked behind Eowyn.

Lost I’m afraid. A great opportunity we will never get

Agreed, but since there's no way these two nearly identical statues won't sell out, all Weta will learn from this is that people will continue to buy whatever they put out, while telling them it's ok to cut corners like this and still sell 750 statues at $400 a pop. Anyone that buys both statues had best display them very far apart or it's going to look like a pair of cheap action figures with switchable heads and weapons.

Although they might look good as bookends - expensive bookends. Would be better if one was mirrored.

Actually, it isn’t hard to mirror a sculpt. That would have been better than two identical poses.

Even as I continue to consider whether or not to pick up Gamling, the more I'm coming to the conclusion that the likeness is another fail for Weta. I'm sure many will disagree, but I don't think he looks much like (if at all) like Bruce Hopkins, but more like actor Garret Dillahunt.

https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/garret- ... 585464.jpg

versus:

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c9/c0/d6 ... ab1ddd.jpg

They even got the statue's hair and beard colour wrong.

All the photos I can find of Hopkins as Gamling have him as a blonde, not a redhead. They just basically painted him the exact same shade as the Royal Guard. 'A' for effort, Weta.

It's not the best likeness we've seen Weta do, but It's certainly better than Haldir. As for the hair color, I'd say it's darker than it should be yet not really red. I'll be interested to see it in hand. Weta tends to use (IMO) somewhat overly saturated product photography.

Lots of new information to unpack here!

I did see that Weta released their own Gandalf the Grey Staff, and quite honestly, I've been out of the game for so long that I had forgotten UC released their own version of that staff some time ago. I had a hard time tracking down information on that one online, as UC and BudK purge a lot of info from their websites these days. I do really like all the perks of the Weta staff, especially the rune and pouch, but at $400 I would have a hard time justifying that purchase. Doubly so, considering that Buckeye has made a wonderful pouch to accompany the UC staff. Congrats on the finished project, I think it looks fantastic and quite accurate!

Something was irking me about the two new Rohan statues and I couldn't put my finger on it until your comments revealed that the poses are in fact the same. I actually don't mind the fact that the likeness is a little off, because I think it makes it feel more like a work of art and less like a 3D printed action figure. The extreme accuracy of the pieces from The Hobbit are almost unnerving to me. Regardless, I'm officially priced out of the 1/6 market, as I have too many expenses to justify a $400 statue. I'm not sure I even have $400 to my name right now.

I also saw the Iron Hills Dwarves and Mirkwood Elf solider and feel similarly to Valkrist in that I think they're very neat but, if I were to ever actually sink that kind of money into those, I'd skip the dwarves and go for the Elf solider on his own just because of how pristine and striking the design and colors are. I'm glad that Weta sprang for making more generic soldier pieces like many of us collectors always asked for, but dropping $1000 on those bad boys after shipping and tax would be a no go for me, even if I had those kind of resources to spare. I'll have to sit back and enjoy the pieces that I do have for now.

Kill the fatted calf! The prodigal returns!....

Definitely picking up the new mini Sam. The likeness is good for something that small, the pose and environment are awesome, and it goes perfectly with the mini Frodo. Above all, the price is not absurd.

As for the 3:4 scale Deed of Contract, I'm not sure what the point is, to be honest. Seems like an odd choice of prop to offer at a reduced scale, especially when there are two full-size versions out there already, not counting custom ones.

I contacted Weta support today to inquire about my Torturer of Dol Guldur order, which was placed back in March. Though it had been stated previously that it would ship in June, I was just told that although it is indeed on the way to the warehouses as we speak, it won't be shipping until mid- to late July. I also asked about Haldir and Eomer, and they said they are on same container so they should be shipping as scheduled in July as well, just in case anyone has those on order and is wondering.

SDCC is almost here. Any hopes or guesses?

If a couple of things I've heard prove true, I'll be saving myself some serious cash this time around, which is a relief. However, beyond what I think we will be seeing for sure, I'm still holding out faint hope for a Gil-galad and a Minas Morgul. There's a lot of clamoring for a 1:6 Treebeard as well but I think people must be hitting the bottle really hard if they think Weta would ever put out something like that. The statue would be enormous, cost a small fortune to ship, and would be full of fragile parts that could suffer damage in transit. I just don't see it happening... ever.

I'll be happy with a mini version.

I doubt it will be this time around at SDCC, but I really want a 1:6 Merry and Pippin at Isenguard statue.

I dearly love Treebeard; those [book] chapters with him and Merry and Pip are among my favorite ones.
The sequences in the movie were well done, especially the way Treebeard was made (prop/special effects-wise...spot on.)
One of those times when PJ got it spectacularly right.

If there should be 1:6 statue made, it would likely be (as Val noted) large and expensive.
I'm already trying to decide which kidney I can do without... (just in case......)

Buckeye wrote: Tue Jun 26, 2018 10:56 pm I doubt it will be this time around at SDCC, but I really want a 1:6 Merry and Pippin at Isenguard statue.

That would be a cool statue but personally, I would prefer it as mini for two reasons: one, I think the 1:6 line is best suited for characters to be displayed individually and standing on their own; second, it would greatly decrease the chances of a standalone Pipin in proper Fellowship attire to complete the old SSW line. With a statue like that, it would make the current Merry standout oddly in a collection.

For whatever reason though, Weta seems determined to ignore this glaring omission in the character lineup and it is very likely they will release the double statue since so many people want to see it.

I’m only working part time atm while caring for my elderly mother - so hoping I don’t want much at SDCC.

I dearly want a mini Entmoot. Still trying to convince Dan Falconer it would sell.

I’ve heard recently there will be more than 3 reveals but I’m starting to think they may not all be ME.

A Treebeard I would have to get. Even if I have to sell older statues to get it. I’ve been harping on for a Treebeard for years. I can’t imagine how good his eyes would be with these new techniques let alone the twigs, leaves moss fungus etc.

New MSSC sword to ogle over and not afford. So Peter Lyon likely to be there.

Since they launched last years MSC with Andy - aka Gollum. If you hear of any lotr actor going.... might give us an indication.

Just 5 days to Christmas. Can’t wait to see the new pieces.

I’ve taken the day off work so I can enjoy the reveals. (It is midday here when VIP night starts)

It's the usual mix of excitement and apprehension for me.

Excitement at the possibility of maybe finally seeing a piece I've wanted for a long time: Pippin, Beorn, Gil-galad, or Elendil.

Apprehension at the continuously rising costs, and the inevitable eye-rolling moment and sigh of disappointment when they release some barf-worthy or head-scratching piece, like Arwen on Asfaloth, the awful Goblin King, or Stumpy the Troll.

Yes. I agree Val. It is almost a relief when they release something I’m not interested in.

Imagine looking at that god awful Goblin King in your home. It would put you off food. Then again........ might be better than going on a diet .

Idril... I've been keeping an eye on the SDCC thread at FoU and I gotta say... I'm starting to worry about you...

I Know right?!?

Min asked me to do an hourly count. I told her she would have to take over tonight cause I’m not staying up all night.

But it is Christmas Eve. So get excited Val !!

A long awaited item is soon to be revealed. I’ll be selling stuff to buy it if I have to

I do hope you get some sleep.

What worries me now is your statement that something is coming that could possibly require you to sell other items in order to afford it. What could it be and how much can it possibly cost!?! I think you just doused my excitement with a bucket of ice cold water.

Sounds bad I guess but I am on a budget atm. Only working part time so I can’t go crazy.

But it will be expensive I fear.

Use the Weta payment plan...it's for 18 months, I thought (or maybe more)

I highly doubt it, but if it's the GG Shield, I'll remortgage the house. Otherwise, I think I'm done with $1k statues. One was enough, payment plan or no payment plan.

I have not [yet] shelled out more than $450 for any statue or environment.
This might be the 'First' (and possibly the 'Only/Last') for me; i.e., paying more than mid 3 figures for poly.

I assume you are making that statement based on pure speculation only, right? As in, you don't really have a clue what they're unveiling this week, or am I the only one that doesn't?

Idril posted a link (or someone else did) to a Weta youtube ad of employees stealthily carrying around three cartons...and two looked not only intriguing, (what with the "visual clues" escaping the boxes) but also pretty big.
"Speculations abound!"
Just saying that IF one at least is what I'm hoping it is, and IF it looks good, and IF it isn't [too] outrageously priced, I will spring for it.
But spending close to (or more than?) 4 figures on a hunk of polyresin, will not, repeat, NOT become a habit, or even an occasional practice.

Ah yes, I know the video. I wouldn't put too much stock on the size of the cartons, they were likely just props, and I'm pretty sure the one with the golden light has already been revealed as being the vinyl Gandalf in gold. I see now both of you are guessing the leaves to be Treebeard. Yes, in that case I think it will be a bank account buster, whatever scale he's in, except maybe as a mini. That would be a tough decision for me: I like the character and PJ's interpretation of him, and would love an Ent for my 'races of Middle-earth' completion, but I fear he might be north of $1,500.

Fingers crossed Val.

I’m sure the showcase ones will be revealed tonight on VIP night.

Just seen a poster of Treebeard in the Masters range. Hobbits are riding on him.

Masters?!? Yeah... ok... so you have three sons. Which one of them is willing to donate a kidney to finance this? Or maybe all of them will have to.

Like I said Val. I’m selling stuff to get it if I have to. Wanted a Treebeard statue since TTT was released.

Idril wrote: Wed Jul 18, 2018 2:54 pm Like I said Val. I’m selling stuff to get it if I have to. Wanted a Treebeard statue since TTT was released.

That sculpt looks AMAZING. I shudder to think what the price will be. Has anyone seen a price . . . and I just missed it?