I have to admit that I am seriously considering jumping ship on the UC line for a while and starting to collect the Weta stuff. As much as I complained back when I got my Radagast Staff from Weta, I now realize it is one of my favorite new collectibles. I really don't like the UC version of the Gandalf staff with the all the black spots on the knots, and plan to order the one from Weta. I really like my Orcrist from UC, but my Fili sword is being returned due to a loose grip. I have read far too many horror stories about the Kili sword to even consider it at this point, and I have my doubts about the consistency of the paint and fittings on the new Gondorian shield.

As for whether UC will potentially do the daggers and bow of Tauriel, I don't know how I feel about that. I'm sure any bow UC makes will also be "polyresin," or some other variety of "high-impact urethane." Regardless, I am certain it will not be done as an actual, functional bow. While I would be far more interested in steel versions of the daggers, I have my doubts about how well UC will be able to realize that concept in steel. The precise cutouts in the blades alone is rife for error. I have no doubt Kit and Co. worked out a way they can be done, but going from concept to execution is different matter entirely. So, in short, I'm seriously considering this bow as a fine compliment to my HCG Lothlorien Bow of Legolas. I think they would display very well together indeed! I'm not sure about the daggers because, like Val, I'm not that interested in the manufactured character they represent. The bow, however, stands alone as a beautiful piece of prop art IMHO!

[quote=""polyphemus""]Hi Kit...I'm guessing this means you ordered a set from Weta not that you are announcing that UC's version will be released in a few days?[/quote]

No, as I said before, I can't say what United is making or when anything will be released. I was responding to Fingolfin, who asked about the Weta replicas I ordered. Should be here today or tomorrow.

Looking at the photos of Tauriel's bow again, it looks like we could have a similar problem to Radagast's staff. It looks like you have to force the bow between the 3 holders, possibly rubbing a lot of paint off the bow. Same goes for the arrow.

UC will no doubt do a far better plaque when they bring out theirs.

[quote=""Lindir""]Looking at the photos of Tauriel's bow again, it looks like we could have a similar problem to Radagast's staff. It looks like you have to force the bow between the 3 holders, possibly rubbing a lot of paint off the bow. Same goes for the arrow.[/quote]

I looked at the Weta Tauriel bow & arrow as pictured on their plaque in super closeup. The 3 holders you mentioned are positioned just like the ones on my HCG Lothlorien bow. As such, I don't believe you would have to force it into place. The two sets of prongs that hold the arrow may be a little tight, but it looks like they are meant to attach to the shaft so it would likely be fine. I'm not crazy about Weta's decision to render their weapon plaques in black polystone with the Middle Earth map in relief, but I don't think this one is as likely to be problematic as the bracket for the Radagast staff in terms of potentially damaging the prop its meant to display.

Poly, you make some very persuasive points on Weta's behalf, but despite my astonishment and disappointment over UC's recent lack of QC, I am still willing to wait and see what they will do with this bow and daggers. Again, if I ever stray far enough from my already stated problems and have the space for them, these will go on my wall as 'wood elf' weapons, and that's that.

[quote=""Valkrist""]Poly, you make some very persuasive points on Weta's behalf, but despite my astonishment and disappointment over UC's recent lack of QC, I am still willing to wait and see what they will do with this bow and daggers. Again, if I ever stray far enough from my already stated problems and have the space for them, these will go on my wall as 'wood elf' weapons, and that's that.[/quote]

" 'wood elf' weapons" ....nice dodge.... I like it.

[quote=""Deimos""]" 'wood elf' weapons" ....nice dodge.... I like it. [/quote]

Thanks, I rather like it myself. Also, given that the first half of her name is 'Taur,' the elven word for 'wood,' it is rather fitting. By the way, 'iel' stands for 'daughter' or 'maid.' So, the literal translation of her name is Wood-daughter, or Wood-maiden. Not very creative, but it works.

I think Radagast staff is going to be my one and only WETA replica from the Hobbit, I might pick up a map or two... but as far as weapons, I just think WETA is losing it on the prices, I think they are trying to capitalize on the popularity of the Hobbit and charging the absolute maximum they can get away with.
WETA's price point lately is just waayy out of my comfort zone.

100% with you on that one, BC. I love that UC is still managing to remain quite affordable while using sturdier materials in their replicas. I sometimes wonder if Weta feels they can get away with the higher prices simply because of their name. I agree their replicas are uber-faithful, but given what they are made of, the prices are a high premium. Their statues are also creeping up on $300 for just normal characters without even a mount and that is simply too much. I just had to have Thranduil, but aside from Smaug and a Lonely Mountain enviro, I am pretty much done supporting this licensed extortion polystone business.

Looks like the Tauriel Bow and Tauriel statue are now shipping. Just got my notice from Weta.

Can't wait to see your opinion of the bow , do you think you will be able to post pictures ?

I can post pictures of the Weta replica, but I won't really be able to comment publicly about how it compares to the prop.

The Tauriel and Thranduil statues are already on low stock. That didn't take long!

[quote=""Valkrist""]The Tauriel and Thranduil statues are already on low stock. That didn't take long! [/quote]
That was e xp ected those are two beauties.

And speaking of... just got an email a couple of minutes ago from Weta informing me that my Thranduil statue has arrived at the US warehouse for dispatch.

That came a lot sooner than e xp ected!

Kit , I figured you wouldn't be able to really say anything about how it compares to the prop , pictures would be great . I am not sure what I am going to do in regards to the bow . Not knowing what UC's will look like , what the display will be like , nor what the price point will be . I just have a bad feeling on waiting too long to buy one with it being an edition of only 1000 pieces .

Just got mine this afternoon #77/1000. Very nice addition and details are fabulous, can't wait to pre-order Radagast.




also got my Balin's mace and has very bad paint bubbling near the top. I'll be emailing Darren here shortly.

That Thranduil statue looks awesome... it would be a lovely piece, although a bit much for my $$$ savings. I havent collected the statues, and I shouldnt start

I wasn't e xp ecting Thranduil to be here so soon. Great pictures N2! I love him, I hope Radagast turns out just as well. I also hope he's OE so I have a reasonable chance of getting him.

By the way, I also see your HEWS in your custom stand back there in the pictures. Very cool! I forgot that you did that.

As a blade collector, how do you like Balin's mace as a urethane replica, sans paint bubbles? How does it feel in the hand, especially compared to a UC blade? Is there ay give to the urethane, or is it pretty stiff?

Its pretty stiff and also very light. Colors and details are there, but the leather on the grip is a litte too shinny. Also its done in actors scale and not dwarf scale so its huge over 40 inches long. Looks out of place next to the UC items. Waiting to hear back about the replacement.

If your on the fence about Thranduil you better hurry up as its a limited edition of 1000 same with Taureil.

Yes , I do agree that it may look out of place with the UC items , however , if you look at Rosere's Weapons of Middle Earth Graphic it is the right dimensions . Both Balins Mace and Dwalins Axes are much larger than the basic Dwarf weapons like Kili and Fili Swords , and even Orcrist . Just as I thought the Warhammer of Fili was really large , it matches the dimensions in the Graphic , so I went ahead and bought one .

Interesting. So do you think the urethane props are worth the money?

As for Thranduil, there's no way I'll be getting him anywhere but eBay. I'm in college and have no source of income, so unless he shows up under the Christmas tree, there's no hope for me.

I personally do like the WETA props especially for the Christmas sale price , yes I believe they are worth the money . Understanding that they will not be done by UC , I just like to have any of the weapons if they are well made and detailed . This is why I bought Fili's Warhammer , knowing it was a LARP weapon , once I found out the dimensions were close , the price was right and with the other items , it looks great .

Weta has added a couple new items.

King Thror's Ring of Power
http://www.wetanz.com/ring-of-power-of-king-thror/

Mirkwood Gaol Key
http://www.wetanz.com/the-mirkwood-gaol-key/

Love 'em, don't want to pay for 'em. I might get that Mirkwood Key though, to go with my Erebor key. The Ring looks good, although I'm surprised that they're outright saying it's a ring of power. I wonder if that has anything to do with Sauron's involvement in the films?

Very nice! I'll be ordering them for sure. The patina on the key looks far more authentic than the one in the Noble Collection pics, although sometimes these things do turn out differently than photos. Still, I was very pleased with Weta's Erebor Key, so I'm sure this one won't disappoint. As for Thror's Ring, generally I lean to Noble for better jewellery replicas (except for the One Ring,) but their Dwarven Ring from the LOTR is long gone, and this is an opportunity to pick one up at last, even if made by Weta.

Fin, there should be no issues with them outright saying that it is one of the Seven. Sauron did try to retrieve them all once he found out they did not work as intended on the dwarves, although they did bring about the ruin of their kingdoms by enhancing greed and the lust for gold in their hearts. Thror's Ring was taken from Thrain while he was imprisoned at Dol Guldur, before Gandalf discovered him. I have no doubt it was the last of the Seven, belonging to Durin's House, and Thror's by birthright. This is one addition to the movie that I will welcome because it does follow canon, unless PJ mucks it up drastically somehow.

[quote=""Fingolfin""]Love 'em, don't want to pay for 'em. I might get that Mirkwood Key though, to go with my Erebor key. The Ring looks good...[/quote]

I took the plunge and ordered both items this morning. I love the key and just had to have it (surprise, surprise). Aside from the One Ring and chain, I haven't been much into the jewelry, but I like the look of Thror ring.

I'll post pictures once I have the key and ring in hand.

[quote=""Valkrist""]
Fin, there should be no issues with them outright saying that it is one of the Seven. Sauron did try to retrieve them all once he found out they did not work as intended on the dwarves, although they did bring about the ruin of their kingdoms by enhancing greed and the lust for gold in their hearts. Thror's Ring was taken from Thrain while he was imprisoned at Dol Guldur, before Gandalf discovered him. I have no doubt it was the last of the Seven, belonging to Durin's House, and Thror's by birthright. This is one addition to the movie that I will welcome because it does follow canon, unless PJ mucks it up drastically somehow.[/quote]

I don't know if you have received your copy of the extended edition Val but it's addressed at the White Council

I really like the look of Thror's ring, and it's made out of bronze. Tempting.


[quote=""Buckeye""]I took the plunge and ordered both items this morning. [/quote]

I'd be interested in seeing photos Buckeye when you receive them

I'll be interested to see if that ring actually shows up in one of the movies. I did not notice it in AUJ.

AAAHHHH too many collectibles too little money!!!

[quote=""Olorin""]I'll be interested to see if that ring actually shows up in one of the movies. I did not notice it in AUJ.[/quote]

Me too. It wouldn't make sense for it to show up now as Sauron already has it, but when has that ever stopped PJ. It looks a lot like the one Noble sold after FOTR so I'm guessing they reused the prop from that prologue, or just a new but identical one for Thror to wear in AUJ.

I forgot that Thrain had it stolen from him in Dol Goldur. I see that it is listed in the AUJ section on Weta's site, meaning that it probably won't turn up in DoS. I suppose that's a good sign, especially for Val's sake. Now I really need to get my hands on the EE to see what they have to say about the ring!

OK, I found it, and it is in AUJ. It's in the prolog; Thror is wearing it (along with several other rings). There's no mention made of it, and no really great closeups, but you can get your best looks at it in the scene where he goes to take his Saturday night gaze at his hoard (from some reason I picture that being on a Saturday night; dunno, just feel that's the kind of thing a guy like Thror does for fun on a Saturday night), when he's standing in the midst of his treasure, arms raised. A better look is a bit later, when he reaches out and flips the release on the setting of the Arkenstone in the back of his throne. If you pause your player just at the right time, it's definitely it, though the stone looks a much lighter, brighter blue than it does in the Weta link.

Nice catch, Olorin. Strange that they would bring this item so late into the product lineup, but I guess the extra e xp osure of the recently released EE warranted it. Great for me because I've always wanted that ring and the one from Noble for FOTR has been sold out for many years.

I would love to see a replica of Thror's helm, sword, and shield too. The weapons and arms in the Hobbit prologue are probably not as cool to most people as gear in the FOTR prologue, but I thought each of those were replica worthy.

My Weta Tauriel bow replica showed up in the mail today. The Tauriel and Thranduil statues should be here Monday.

The arrow has real feathers fletches attached with real thread, although oddly it is not the same arrow you can see her using in the still photos and trailers, or in the prop reference photos I have. I think this arrow is the one the other soldiers in the Woodland Guard use, so they may have not been trying to make it specific to her character, since some of the other Elves have this same bow design. It's about 8" shorter than the prop arrows too, but still looks good.

The bow is not identical to the prop shape and colors but very close. The bow string is way too slack, but they made it with the correct white, silver, and green threads like the prop. Everything fits on the display properly. Overall, a very good replica.

[quote=""Nasnandos""]I would love to see a replica of Thror's helm, sword, and shield too. The weapons and arms in the Hobbit prologue are probably not as cool to most people as gear in the FOTR prologue, but I thought each of those were replica worthy.

My Weta Tauriel bow replica showed up in the mail today. The Tauriel and Thranduil statues should be here Monday.

The arrow has real feathers fletches attached with real thread, although oddly it is not the same arrow you can see her using in the still photos and trailers, or in the prop reference photos I have. I think this arrow is the one the other soldiers in the Woodland Guard use, so they may have not been trying to make it specific to her character, since some of the other Elves have this same bow design. It's about 8" shorter than the prop arrows too, but still looks good.

The bow is not identical to the prop shape and colors but very close. The bow string is way too slack, but they made it with the correct white, silver, and green threads like the prop. Everything fits on the display properly. Overall, a very good replica.[/quote]

On the back of the box for the Thranduil statue it shows the Weta Staff of Thranduil:

http://i1313.photobucket.com/albums/t54 ... e94c29.jpg

I have heard that. There is no label whatsoever on the bow box. Just the brown cardboard.

[quote=""Nasnandos""]I have heard that. There is no label whatsoever on the bow box. Just the brown cardboard.[/quote]

I'm glad UC already have the staff ready for production. I really like the design but prefer to buy UC products as I have said before.

Was Tauriel's bow supposed to have a leather hand grip or was it all supposed to be one piece of wood?

Not quite. It is still going through approvals.

I have to be careful how much I say about the actual prop, but if you look at the high res photos of Tauriel WB has released on the web, or even the Weta bow replica and statue photos, you can see stitching on a reddish-brown leather grip. Although the grip is painted all green on the Weta bow replica for some reason.
[img]https://www.google.com/search?q=weta+ta ... B665%3B341[/img]

[quote=""Nasnandos""]Not quite. It is still going through approvals.

I have to be careful how much I say about the actual prop, but if you look at the high res photos of Tauriel WB has released on the web, or even the Weta bow replica and statue photos, you can see stitching on a reddish-brown leather grip. Although the grip is painted all green on the Weta bow replica for some reason.
[/quote]

Oh right, I assumed because it had been announced that it was ready to go

and yeh I have seen a few of the pics and thought it was leather but then looked at the weta version and it was just all one colour in the photos on their website. I know you can't comment, but it would be nice to see UC do a proper leather wrapped grip if possible

Will you be able to post photos of the bow Kit? the Weta one that is

Even though some of those items are more than six months away from shipping, I suggested they announce the next six items now so collectors could know ahead of time what was being made in case Noble or Weta decide to make the same item.

I don't think there is anything wrong with me posting photos of the bow. I'll shoot a few before I box it up.

My Tauriel and Thranduil statues arrived today. Good quality and painting on both. My only complaint is with the Tauriel arrow. The packing foam was jammed into it, mangling and bending in two places. One was almost 90 degrees. For anyone who ordered one, BE CAREFUL unpacking it. I almost realized too late that is was wedged into the packing foam that way and nearly broke the arrow unpacking it.

Unfortunately it stayed in that mangled shape. A bit of slow rebending and some heat got it back into a somewhat straight shape.

[quote=""Lindir""]On the back of the box for the Thranduil statue it shows the Weta Staff of Thranduil:

http://i1313.photobucket.com/albums/t54 ... e94c29.jpg[/quote]

I found a decent pic of Thranduil holding his staff. Very nice. It's definitely on my want list.

FYI. Weta is having a Black Friday (November 29th) sale:
http://www.wetanz.com/black-friday-2013 ... -292349173

Hmmm i wonder what will be one sale. I was looking at getting a few of the art prints from LOTR and Hobbit and maybe a middle earth map to put in my office at work.

Great, gotta love it when they announce a sale right after you've just bought a bunch of crap from them.

[quote=""Valkrist""]Great, gotta love it when they announce a sale right after you've just bought a bunch of crap from them. [/quote]

Did you get in on the Xmas sale?

[quote=""Aragorn""]Did you get in on the Xmas sale?[/quote]

No, the sale is for Black Friday and my purchases were made a week ago, well before the sale announcement was made. I'm not blaming Weta, as that would be extremely silly, just venting at my rotten luck with the timing. Of course, it could be premature frustration since I don't even know yet if any of the items I just bought will be part of this sale.

Has anyone seen the Gloin statue yet? I really like this one, shame I'll probably miss out becauuse of the LE. The likeness looks awesome and he's very dwarven: big orange beard, toting the axe. Probably one of my favorites so far from this line.

Yep, saw Gloin and really liked him as well. In fact, I pretty much like all the dwarves released so far, except maybe for the strangely-posed Bombur looking like Speedy Gonzalez.

Still, they are too e xp ensive for me as a whole at this time so sadly, I may be left hunting these down some day on eBay.

When do you guys suppose we will a Smaug statue released? Alongside DoS, which would make sense, or will they make us suffer until BotFA?

All the WETA statues are nice, but buying them and the weapons, I would need another full time job