Ultimate Collectors' Forums

N2darkness wrote: Sun Sep 11, 2022 9:54 am I assume that New line/Warner Bros sent you all the DVD appendices photos in full resolution for reference and promotional use as part of the licensing process?

It would be wonderful if those were all released someday for fans and prop makers to have access to. I've asked Daniel Falconer at Weta about a book with all the high-res props and armor a couple of times. But nothing is in the works.

I wish I had the entire library. What you see in the DVD appendices is only a fraction of the prop and costume photography. New Line only sent me what they thought we needed or what I requested. It's mostly weapons and armor in my photo library, but I did luck out when they accidentally sent me some complete disks of photos for a few dozen characters. It was meant to go to one of the toy companies, and included all their clothing, weapons, armor, and miscellaneous props.

John Mayo at the old New Line did an excellent job of putting all that material together for licensees, but when the transition to WB happened, a lot of that stuff was either packed away or lost. Unfortunately, other than the Wingnut/Weta production archives, there are only a few of us out here that have these hi-res photos. I usually only post images that I know are already out there on the DVDs or are already in print in the various LOTR books that have come out over the years.

Maybe one day someone will put a book or two together of just those photos, but a lot of it is not very good photography. It was just quick photos shot for reference by the production or New Line. I know the die hard collectors would love it, but I'm not sure a book company would see the appeal without making all new photography. But that opens a whole other can of worms.

Thanks for more of the background information. It's a shame that all of that great reference is kept behind lock and key or buried away and forgotten about.

I think if there was ever to be a book made, Weta would have to initiate it. They have a bulk of all the props already on display in either the cave or the workshop. They had a nice selection of some of the items they made on their website for awhile, but removed them.

I'd be curious to know how many items 3foot6 kept after production or Peter Jackson owns.

Well???....
Anyone pull the trigger on Elendil yet?

Deimos wrote: Mon Sep 12, 2022 2:04 pm Well???....
Anyone pull the trigger on Elendil yet?

I did, been waiting 20 years and happy to finally have it pre-ordered. Bring on Gil-galad!

N2darkness wrote: Mon Sep 12, 2022 3:47 pm I did, been waiting 20 years and happy to finally have it pre-ordered. Bring on Gil-galad!

Do you think Weta will fix the scabbard?

Deimos wrote: Mon Sep 12, 2022 8:43 pm
Do you think Weta will fix the scabbard?

Idril just confirmed that they are fixing it.

She knows... people.

Valkrist wrote: Mon Sep 12, 2022 11:48 pm Idril just confirmed that they are fixing it.
She knows... people.

It's always good to know...people

So, Val, have you ordered yours yet?

Deimos wrote: Tue Sep 13, 2022 12:00 am
So, Val, have you ordered yours yet?

You're joking, right? You must be. Yes, that's it. Of course you are...

Valkrist wrote: Tue Sep 13, 2022 12:21 am

Deimos wrote: Tue Sep 13, 2022 12:00 am
So, Val, have you ordered yours yet?

You're joking, right? You must be. Yes, that's it. Of course you are...

Well, no, I wasn't....
There isn't a preset limit of the number that will be made, so there's no reason (imo) to jump on this immediately.
I haven' t...so I was just, you know, kind of wondering....

I will order, but I am not happy about the price, I don't see any logical reason for Elendil to be priced 150$ more than the most recent CS GtW. Thankfully the pre order window is open for 4 weeks and I will use some WB from the Argonath to pay for a good chunk of the deposit.

OK...what is CS GtW?
I suppose I should know....but I don't.

Deimos wrote: Tue Sep 13, 2022 9:29 am OK...what is CS GtW?
I suppose I should know....but I don't.

Classic Series Gandalf the White

TMcLim wrote: Tue Sep 13, 2022 8:35 am I will order, but I am not happy about the price, I don't see any logical reason for Elendil to be priced 150$ more than the most recent CS GtW. Thankfully the pre order window is open for 4 weeks and I will use some WB from the Argonath to pay for a good chunk of the deposit.

I'm pretty sure this comes down to complexity of the statue, number of individual pieces, number of molds, and paint applications. More labor more money. I'm sure the classic series is stream lined to keep with a certain price point.

N2darkness wrote: Tue Sep 13, 2022 9:55 am

Deimos wrote: Tue Sep 13, 2022 9:29 am OK...what is CS GtW?
I suppose I should know....but I don't.

Classic Series Gandalf the White

Thank you....

[insert name of Weta's latest collectibles cash cow] Series....the ever receding horizon

Suaron arrived at the house today. It's going in my studio but I wanted to set it up tonight so I put it together in my laundry room. Excellent sculptural work from Weta. The intaglio detailing in the armor plates is incredible. There are a few fit issues I have to sort out, but for the most part, all the parts fit together well. For those of you that ordered one, take your time assembling it. All the parts fit well except the elbow parts. I put them before the cape, but the cape would not fit on with them in place. If I put the cape on first, it blocks them, so I have to figure that out. I have them on upside down for now, as they fit that way (EDIT - figured it out. They look the same but one is L and one is R.

I only have a few complaints. The gauntlet holding the mace has the One Ring, but the one holding the sword does not. I am going to display it with the sword, so I would like to have the ring. Looks like Il'll be cutting the finger off one and adding it to the other.
My other complaint is the blade. Weta has been doing the swords in cast metal for the past few years, but they went back to polyresin for this one. It's very bowed.



The illuminated base is cool. I had completely forgotten that they were doing that, so it was a surprise when I found a USB power chord when I was unpacking the parts!

Kit, the reason Sauron does not have the ring on his sword hand is because the sword is from the ROTK deleted scene of the Black Gates battle with Aragorn. Sauron did not have the ring at that time in the story.

Deleted

I had all sorts of issues with my cape fitting on Sauron. It would not go in far enough and extremely difficult to remove. After contacting Weta I ended up sanding and filing both the keyed pin and hole to get it to fit.

As for the elbows, they are marked left and right, maybe you have them reversed? But they go on before the cape. My sword blade is also bent and can be fixed with a hair dryer, but it is rather thin and flimsy.

Detail is amazing, but I wish mine had more darker oily spots like the Weta paint job. Seems like the factory hit it fairly hard with drybrushing the last step instead of a heavy dark wash.

Do any of you folks who ordered (or already received) this Sauron have the other Weta one (below)?
If so, what are you planning on doing with the other one?
(Or maybe it will be as with the Aragorn and Gandalf statues... you can't have too many! )

Valkrist wrote: Tue Sep 13, 2022 5:19 pm Kit, the reason Sauron does not have the ring on his sword hand is because the sword is from the ROTK deleted scene of the Black Gates battle with Aragorn. Sauron did not have the ring at that time in the story.

That scene does not exist in the actual film, nor should it have. I imagine this as an earlier or alternate Sauron, so I will be adding the ring.

Deimos wrote: Wed Sep 14, 2022 1:15 am Do any of you folks who ordered (or already received) this Sauron have the other Weta one (below)?
If so, what are you planning on doing with the other one?
(Or maybe it will be as with the Aragorn and Gandalf statues... you can't have too many! )

I never cared for the paint job on the one I own, and a guest knocked the helm off several years ago, breaking it into a dozen pieces. I plan on sculpting a new helm and repainting it one day.

N2darkness wrote: Tue Sep 13, 2022 7:04 pm I had all sorts of issues with my cape fitting on Sauron. It would not go in far enough and extremely difficult to remove. After contacting Weta I ended up sanding and filing both the keyed pin and hole to get it to fit.

As for the elbows, they are marked left and right, maybe you have them reversed? But they go on before the cape. My sword blade is also bent and can be fixed with a hair dryer, but it is rather thin and flimsy.

Detail is amazing, but I wish mine had more darker oily spots like the Weta paint job. Seems like the factory hit it fairly hard with drybrushing the last step instead of a heavy dark wash.

I found the elbows had to be reversed to fit on mine. I'm sure Weta does not test fit any of the parts for each specific statue due to the labor involved. When you have this many parts, it is inevitable that some pieces will not fit.

The dry brushing was not too heavy on mine, but the paint could have used more of the oily blue coloring. It's there in places, but barely. That was one of my issues with the first Sauron statue. It was just flat black with a bit of silver dry brushing.

As for the blade, it's much too flimsy in poly. The cast metal was an improvement, so they seem to be going backwards. I hope that's not the case with future statues, but I suspect it will be.

Nasnandos wrote: Wed Sep 14, 2022 2:15 am ...As for the blade, it's much too flimsy in poly. The cast metal was an improvement, so they seem to be going backwards. I hope that's not the case with future statues, but I suspect it will be.

So do you think Narsil on the Elendil statue will be poly?

Deimos wrote: Wed Sep 14, 2022 2:49 am So do you think Narsil on the Elendil statue will be poly?

I hope not. The only reason I can imagine they went back to poly on this one is that the sword option was a last minute addition. Making steel molds to cast it takes a few months, much longer than rubber molds for polyresin, which can be done in days.

I was actually surprised when it was announced that the sword would be included, but there was a buzz online a few months before that about UC making a sword replica that got interest in that prop started again. Perhaps that inspired it. Whatever the reason was, I'm glad they did it.

Nasnandos wrote: Wed Sep 14, 2022 1:55 am
That scene does not exist in the actual film, nor should it have. I imagine this as an earlier or alternate Sauron, so I will be adding the ring.

Oh I'm well aware of those facts, and thank heavens PJ had the wisdom to leave the scene on the cutting room floor. I was merely pointing out that the inclusion of the sword with this statue was meant to represent that scene for those that wish it. It sounded like you were taking Weta to task for not including the ring on his sword hand, but it wouldn't have made sense to do so because of the moment in the timeline the sword would have come into play. I guess in order to satisfy all display possibilities, they would have needed to included a third hand.

Valkrist wrote: Wed Sep 14, 2022 4:05 am

Nasnandos wrote: Wed Sep 14, 2022 1:55 am
That scene does not exist in the actual film, nor should it have. I imagine this as an earlier or alternate Sauron, so I will be adding the ring.

Oh I'm well aware of those facts, and thank heavens PJ had the wisdom to leave the scene on the cutting room floor. I was merely pointing out that the inclusion of the sword with this statue was meant to represent that scene for those that wish it. It sounded like you were taking Weta to task for not including the ring on his sword hand, but it wouldn't have made sense to do so because of the moment in the timeline the sword would have come into play. I guess in order to satisfy all display possibilities, they would have needed to included a third hand.

If I take them to task for anything, it's using the same hand and finger mold, which clearly has a seam where the ring is supposed to be, and a gap on the sides and back that was not filled.

N2darkness wrote: Tue Sep 13, 2022 9:58 am

TMcLim wrote: Tue Sep 13, 2022 8:35 am I will order, but I am not happy about the price, I don't see any logical reason for Elendil to be priced 150$ more than the most recent CS GtW. Thankfully the pre order window is open for 4 weeks and I will use some WB from the Argonath to pay for a good chunk of the deposit.

I'm pretty sure this comes down to complexity of the statue, number of individual pieces, number of molds, and paint applications. More labor more money. I'm sure the classic series is stream lined to keep with a certain price point.

You're probably right, but it's no more complex than CS Aragorn. It is a pretty static pose. But yes likely less streamlined.

Received my Argonath yesterday. Such an impressive and beautiful piece. My only nit pick would be the gap filler near the waters edge they used looks like caulking and not sculpted material. Something you only see up close. Could have a bit more color on the greenery as the moss is fairly muted. My trees are a bit bent over, but they are soft and rubbery and can be bent back straight.

Excellent! My Argonath is scheduled to arrive on Thursday.

No email from the warehouse for me yet.

Got the ship notice on my Argonath yesterday (Monday).
Scheduled to arrive Wed.

Levidas wrote: Sun Sep 18, 2022 11:19 am It look majestic!!
N2D, Is the blue of the water as blue as the promo pics? And can you discern anyone on the tiny boats?
Also, are you considering colour-touching up the trees?

The blue is pretty good, light and darker in the areas it should be.

There is enough detail in the boats to make out each member of the fellowship.

I may do a bit of a touch up to the tree and maybe even a bit of flocking to the rocks in a few areas.

Looks pretty good! As for the trees that is unfortunate, but trees do grow at funny angles especially where it is windy.

N2darkness wrote: Tue Sep 20, 2022 8:59 am

Levidas wrote: Sun Sep 18, 2022 11:19 am It look majestic!!
N2D, Is the blue of the water as blue as the promo pics? And can you discern anyone on the tiny boats?
Also, are you considering colour-touching up the trees?

The blue is pretty good, light and darker in the areas it should be.

There is enough detail in the boats to make out each member of the fellowship.

I may do a bit of a touch up to the tree and maybe even a bit of flocking to the rocks in a few areas.boats.jpg

@N2... My Argonath just arrived, and WOW! ....I'm sitting here looking at....the mailing cartion

Anything to know about unpacking it? Anything to be careful of?
Any particular way to upack it ?(how to stabilize the carton etc while removing the insides, and then the insides of the insides)
THanks

Deimos wrote: Wed Sep 21, 2022 8:38 am @N2... My Argonath just arrived, and WOW! ....I'm sitting here looking at....the mailing cartion

Anything to know about unpacking it? Anything to be careful of?
Any particular way to upack it ?(how to stabilize the carton etc while removing the insides, and then the insides of the insides)
THanks

It's fairly easy as far as large statues go. I never remove the box from the mailer. I open the top, unfold all the flaps and lift straight up by the handles in the foam and use my knees/legs to hold the box. If that's too heavy for you, lay it down and just slide it out.

There is a side labeled "TOP" which should be facing up when you cut the tape. As the statue is in 1 large piece you can just lift it out by the rocks on the base. Mine was fairly tight and left some some paint smudges on the tissue paper.

Hope that helps.

@N2 ...Yes , yes it does help. Thank you very much.

That the statue "was fairly tight and left some some paint smudges on the tissue paper" does not speak very well for current Weta quality.
Not the "fairly tight" part...it's that it didn't take very much friction for the paint to rub off.
It seems we are paying more and more for less and less *sigh*

I blame that on rushed production and packing by uncaring slave-wage workers somewhere in China. If these pieces were given a proper overcoat and then allowed to properly air dry before packing, we wouldn't be seeing this. I know you buy far less Weta statuary than we do, but sadly, this is a more common occurrence than you probably think

Oh, and yes... we are paying more for less with each day that passes.

I was pretty surprised that there was no finger groove in the packaging for Saurons base, the only thing to grab that I could get to work was the rock work which I was worried I would break. Could have been avoided with just a simple groove in the styrofoam.

HAHA... Weta just added another teat to its cash cow's udder.

The 1:6 ents are coming...you will be able to buy Lifelock...or is it Flintlock...
To be followed by Shinbark and then Skinflint.

Such an easy, easy pass

Very, very easy pass.

Don't get me wrong, it's exciting to see pieces like this come to life no matter what, but I really do wonder who the audience is here. Extremely obscure character by any stretch, and the sheer size and titanic cost at 1:6 will drive away any but the most fanatical, rich, insane, or all three, of collectors. I hope this is a set edition size that will eventually sell out one day because if it's a timed edition pre-order, Weta may have misjudged the depths of people's pockets with the dire predictions of a major economic recession already looming.

There seems to be some interest, at least on the FB comments, but I guess that only goes so far. Anyone can go goo-goo ga-ga on comments, but are these people actually going to buy? Guess WETA will find out.

BladeCollector wrote: Tue Sep 27, 2022 10:51 am There seems to be some interest, at least on the FB comments, but I guess that only goes so far. Anyone can go goo-goo ga-ga on comments, but are these people actually going to buy? Guess WETA will find out.

Yeah... this is always the typical reaction requiring a mop and cleanup on aisle 7, and then people see the price. That's the moment when you can literally hear the quickly deflating balloon whiz about the room with a dying whimper.

Valkrist wrote: Tue Sep 27, 2022 11:05 am ...then people see the price. That's the moment when you can literally hear the quickly deflating balloon whiz about the room with a dying whimper.

Sometimes it's just a very loud "POP"! followed by moaning (or cursing) ...

TMcLim wrote: Tue Sep 13, 2022 8:35 am I will order, but I am not happy about the price, I don't see any logical reason for Elendil to be priced 150$ more than the most recent CS GtW. Thankfully the pre order window is open for 4 weeks and I will use some WB from the Argonath to pay for a good chunk of the deposit.

Price difference is based on the classic series being digitally sculpted I believe. Cheaper than having to pay an artist to sculpt by hand.

Idril wrote: Tue Oct 18, 2022 7:34 pm

TMcLim wrote: Tue Sep 13, 2022 8:35 am I will order, but I am not happy about the price, I don't see any logical reason for Elendil to be priced 150$ more than the most recent CS GtW. Thankfully the pre order window is open for 4 weeks and I will use some WB from the Argonath to pay for a good chunk of the deposit.

Price difference is based on the classic series being digitally sculpted I believe. Cheaper than having to pay an artist to sculpt by hand.

I'm afraid that's not the reason Idril, since Elendil was also digitally sculpted. It says right there on the product page: Digitally sculpted by Fabio Paiva with reference from the original movie costume

So... I just got an email (and I'm pretty sure most of you did also) announcing the next bucket of milk from the Weta cash Cow:

Mini-helm of Theoden's Coronation. Actually that is pretty nice...wouldn't mind having it in a 1:1 version (especially if it were metal)

And..... AND....... Drum roll, please, spotlights correctly aimed.... I present to you one of the most requested collectibles never even seen in the movie:
The [mini] helm that Arwen would have worn at Helm's Deep , if PJ had his way .

Dear god, that is all we need : a collectible to remind us of how far PJ sought to update Tolkien to conform to [some] present day sensibilities and expectations.
I consider this item to be on a par with the all the evil collectibles I won't have in my house.
It isn't evil... it's just the daily reminder of PJ having her in the final version that induces violent cringes in me. And the faints. I might need a day to recover every time I looked at it.

No way, no how that thing makes it into my collection.

While I certainly appreciate the beauty and craftsmanship of the piece, its character and scene association are non-starters for me. Had they simply released it as 'Generic Rohirrim Helm', I would have been all over it, but knowing that the box and stand will say Arwen's Helm on it are things that would eat away at my soul until the end of days.

Hard pass.

By the way, the Theoden Crown *is* made of metal, but it is 1:4, of course, not 1:1. I wish Noble had released one back in the day, but that ship has sailed.

Valkrist wrote: Fri Nov 18, 2022 7:00 am ....

By the way, the Theoden Crown *is* made of metal, but it is 1:4, of course, not 1:1. I wish Noble had released one back in the day, but that ship has sailed.

Oh.... I didn't read all the copy because I don't do mini-helms.
I thought I read somewhere that the newer minihelms were being made from resin.....?
Agree with you on the NC wish-it-had-made-it.
Just received the paper copy of the NC Christmas catalog. Do you know that NC is still selling its version of Sting and Glamdring?
I wonder who can be buying them when the UC versions are still available and very affordable.

You read correctly, the mini helm line disappointingly switched to polystone some years ago, so it's a nice surprise to see a return to metal, even if I suspect it will be limited to this one piece due to the miniscule amount of material required.

I haven't looked at Noble's site in a long time, but I'm not surprised they still find buyers for Sting and Glamdring. I think there's a large portion of US-based casual collectors out there that are generally not aware of more specific options like UC or Weta, and get all their stuff from places like Danbury, Franklin Mint, or Noble Collection, all of whom have a broad range of stuff to pick from for every taste.