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I'm quite looking forward to this challenge as I think tasks like this are fun when the reward is this cool. However, it seems their little sticker system is leaving a lot to be desired, by all accounts. People, like yourself, either reporting that some of the stickers are not in place during unpacking, and then others that don't want to put him together yet are rightly concerned about leaving the stickers on too long. Having said that, and given the complexity of this sculpture, I'm not sure how else they could have gone about doing this. :huh:
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I have put the branches on one colour at a time and taken a video of them when complete so I know where they are. Hopefully, I won’t lose the references cause it would be hard to put it together without it.

I seriously would hate to be buying this second hand. Imagine trying to work out the branches without the coloured sticky bits.

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No, unfortunately. I would have loved to have started collecting them from the outset but I'm afraid it would probably be near impossible to try to go back and find all of them now. There were so few made of each statue. I can't believe how fast the new ones sell out.
Probably for the best. I don't really have room to display them. It's easy to stick swords on a wall but these need space to be displayed nicely. It'd be a shame to buy these and let them sit in the box.
And they're not cheap. What are they made out of?

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Well, there's no need to collect them all unless you are a completist at heart and love each and every one of the characters, monsters, and environments. I didn't get into the game at the start either, so it took a bit of hunting and a fair bit of expense, but now I have 95% of what I set out to get. If there's other statues I don't own, it's because they don't interest me, and there's quite a few that don't. Then there's space; that always limits your ambitions.

They are made of polystone, which is composed of polyurethane resin combined with powdered stone additives, though of late Weta have been using a form of translucent resin to do some of the faces with great effect.
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You're right. I've been in the collecting mindset for a couple of years now and I really need to break out of it xP .

I'll tell you there's a few pieces I really liked. The Isildur statue for one. The sculpt on his face looks so well done. You can see his fixation with the One Ring.
Éomer on Firefoot is another awesome looking one as is the Ringwraith at the ford, really any of the ones that are on horseback look really nice. They're all nice (see, there I go :P ).

But here's my question...those are prototypes on the Weta site. Do the production statues come out looking that nice? I was interested in buying some Hot Toys Star Wars figures a few years back but it seemed like the mass-produced face sculpts never looked as good as the prototypes.

Edit: I should say the paint work on the faces never looked as good.
Last edited by Ronin on Tue May 07, 2019 11:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

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A very valid question,

Can't speak for companies' products that I don't collect, but for Weta, I can say (personal opinion here - some are more forgiving, some are not) that as far as the sculpture goes, what you see is what you get. By that I mean the statue the customer receives will be 100% identical to that which is shown on their website - in terms of sculpture! Where the variations begin to occur is the quality and accuracy of the painting. Weta does have a disclaimer regarding this, but despite that, it's not unheard of sometimes a statue going out where the majority consensus is that the painting was not well done overall, or there are specific mistakes that are easy to spot. Still, this is very rare, and I would say (again - personal opinion) Weta's track record on that is about 90%, which I would say is pretty darn good.
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Treebeard #84 arrived today. The boxes are truly enormous and I have no earthly idea where I'm going to store them. :(

I got the lights installed in the display case tonight. Unboxing, inspection, and assembly of Treebeard will take place sometime over the weekend.

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."

~~ Thorin Oakenshield

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My delivery was pushed until end of day tomorrow because despite me paying the import fees and taxes early morning yesterday over the phone, customs decided to hold onto the boxes an extra day for good measure, meaning the UPS truck had left today before receiving the all clear to deliver them. Sigh... this has been tiresome. He better be perfect out of the box because I'm so done with this.

My Haldir was supposed to be delivered today too and tracking said they tried and there was no one home... except I was home! When I dug into it, I found the package was delivered alright... to an address in a town in the interior about 4 hours drive from here. I called Canada Post immediately and they confirmed that it had gone to the address that was on the label, and that the name was not mine. Grrr! Contacted Weta already and they are looking into it. Meanwhile, the package is now sitting in a post office far away, awaiting pickup by some guy name Ryan.

So done. xP
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Blimey Val. That is beyond ridiculous.

Congrats Buckeye. Have fun with it but don’t set yourself a time limit. It will take some time.

I hope you get yours before the weekend Val.

I am feeling sorry for those who missed out on Treebeard. So many long time collectors now saying it is the ultimate and best thing EVER. Would leave you feeling quite sick if you missed him. And remember he was only available for 40 minutes

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Deimos wrote: Thu May 09, 2019 7:52 pm 40 minutes...wow.
So who on UCF scored one?.... You, Buckeye, Val, N2 (?), Kit(?) , moi....who else?
That's it. We are the few, we are the brave, we are the... broke? :embarasse

N2 got one, I know for a fact, and Kit was going to but decided to pass on it. No one else left around here except for our dear Arwyniel and she's far wiser with her money than all the rest of us put together... lol. :crazy:
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Valkrist wrote: Thu May 09, 2019 8:04 pm
Deimos wrote: Thu May 09, 2019 7:52 pm 40 minutes...wow.
So who on UCF scored one?.... You, Buckeye, Val, N2 (?), Kit(?) , moi....who else?
That's it. We are the few, we are the brave, we are the... broke? :embarasse

N2 got one, I know for a fact, and Kit was going to but decided to pass on it. No one else left around here except for our dear Arwyniel and she's far wiser with her money than all the rest of us put together... lol. :crazy:
:lol: I'm not sure about being wise, I find other things to spend my money on. Ever since Barad-dur, the price tag on Weta pieces has soured me. Hearing how bad customer service is has also swayed me from buying from them as well.
I'm glad you guys are enjoying your purchases though! It's always nice to see your collections growing.

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I'm happy and relieved to say that my Treebeard statue (#84) has no issues or items of significant concern. It was, though, the single most fiddly and nerve wracking experience I've ever had with a collectible.

I think I spent the better part of 4 hours unboxing, inspecting, and assembling Treebeard. The only way I was able to connect the head/torso was to first connect the right thigh to the body and then attach that assembly to the right lower leg and left thigh. Once that was done, the rest assembled fairly easily. As others have noted, the seam at the join on Merry's branch is noticeable but not enough to bother me. In my opinion, the eyes are just fine. The various mini-branches were a pain in the backside to attach and many of the holes were almost impossible to locate. In the end, I managed to get all but one of them placed. I do, though, currently have one yellow-sized branch without a home . . .

Treebeard is absolutely stunning, and is hands down the single most amazing piece in my collection. Photos do not do him justice. Unfortunately, it is another dreary and rainy weekend here, so any attempt to take pictures to share will have to wait.

I have zero regrets about buying Treebeard. The expense of the statue and the custom display case I commissioned were absolutely worth it.

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."

~~ Thorin Oakenshield

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Thanks, Idril.

I'm actually not super fussed over the problems with my statue. If I had serious paint flaws, breaks or cracks, badly warped bases, or missing pieces to contend with, I would be sending it back. Even the wonky eye issue would drive me batty, but thankfully I escaped that as well.

Yes, the ill-fitting Merry and Pippin is annoying but as it is something I'm confident I can fix easily enough, the blood pressure remains at a manageable level. It would just be comforting to know that Weta wouldn't allow things like this to happen, and if there was ever a statue that would be the litmus test for that, this was the one. Sadly, they failed abysmally.
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I am surprised about the difficultly some have had with Merry and Pippen fitting. I didn’t contemplate that being an issue cause mine were so easy. I think I removed Merry 3 times and Pippen once to put those fiddly little branches on cause that was the easiest way to do it.

I opened my Mother’s Day present this morning. The Tauriel statue. It is perfect. I really like it. Simple and lithe. I note the knives are not metal. Probably a good thing cause that one on the outstretched arm could take your eye out if it was.

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Yeah, as said, I'm convinced these parts are cast in a batch but not individually fitted to the remaining pieces, meaning there's is no #41 Merry to go with a #41 torso and that they've been tested to fit properly. There is a random Merry and a random torso that get packed into a box with a base that says #41 on it and that's it.

I love your picture of Tauriel over at FoU. I think it may have just tipped me over into buying it despite my hatred for the cheesy elf/dwarf romance. I'm displaying her as far away from Kili as I can. Guess someone lied in the other forum because they confirmed to someone else the knives were metal.
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Idril wrote: Congrats Buckeye.

Yes, it is very nerve racking and time consuming. I’m feeling sorry for you Val - I hope you get a good resolution. I can’t believe all these issues have occurred on this piece. I know there is a lot to fit together but as an MC piece - unacceptable.

Deimos - Have you received yours yet?
Yes , I received it Tuesday evening. I expected to begin the unboxing and assembling on Friday, but couldn't get to it.
The space problem is made worse by my pulling up the area rugs for cleaning... have to keep shifting things, and it is getting really cramped in the living room.
But I'll just have to throw caution to the winds and unbox it today, and begin assembly.

"Eternity is an awful long time, especially towards the end."

"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.” -- CSL

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Buckeye wrote: Sat May 11, 2019 11:17 am...I have zero regrets about buying Treebeard. The expense of the statue and the custom display case I commissioned were absolutely worth it.
Buckeye, what are the overall outside dimensions of your display case (H x W x D)?
If you had to do it over again, would you change any of those dimensions?
I know you sweated the height being right, but I'm more interested to know if you are happy with the side-to-side (W) and front-to-back (D) placement of the statue on the base.

"Eternity is an awful long time, especially towards the end."

"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.” -- CSL

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I'm just as happy with the display case now as the day it was delivered. The quality of Anthony's work is simply phenomenal and it was worth every penny! The exterior dimensions are 66.5" H x 26.5" W x 26.5" D, with the width and depth measurements including the one inch added by the molding around the top of the case.

The interior space is 43" H x 24" W x 24" D, and the bottom of the display area is approx. 23 inches above floor level. I have Treebeard placed almost, but not quite, diagonally inside the case, and the clearances range from almost 2 inches above Pippin to anywhere from 1 to 2 inches on each side.

I'm not very tall (@ 5'5") and my line of sight on the statue is roughly at Pippin's branch seat. I selected this height so I could look straight at the statue and see Merry, Pippin, and Treebeard's head equally well. I also wanted to have enough space on top of the cabinet to display another fairly tall statue (right now, Gandalf the White on Shadowfax). I'm still completely comfortable with that choice. In hindsight, the only measurement I might consider changing is the height of the bottom of the display area. It could be more like 25 or 26 inches above the floor, especially if didn't need/want sizeable display space on the top of the cabinet. (I must also admit to hoping for a specific future MC piece that I believe would fit wonderfully up there. :thumbs_up)

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."

~~ Thorin Oakenshield

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THank you, Buckeye.
That helps me a great deal in planning my display case.

"I'm not very tall (@ 5'5")"

I was 5-5, but have lost almost an inch over the years.
5-6 used to be considered an average height for a woman.
I guess now we must be considered midgets or something.... :-p

"Eternity is an awful long time, especially towards the end."

"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.” -- CSL

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I've been in touch with Moducase and my display case will be shipping in August. Works out nicely as I am putting the finishing touches on my new display room as we speak. A friend of mine who is a carpenter (we all seem to know carpenters... lol), is going to build a base for the case to sit on. I'm going to use Treebeard's box/stand as a guideline, which leaves his base at approx. 29" from the floor. I'm 6'1, and that places my eye level in the short space between Merry and Pippin's faces. I can't raise it much higher because the display cube itself is 52" tall and I only have an 8' ceiling clearance to work with in my display room. Having said that, I can afford a few inches and might have him raised a bit. I like Buckeye's idea of being eye level with Treebeard himself. :thumbs_up
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Valkrist wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 7:09 am I've been in touch with Moducase and my display case will be shipping in August. Works out nicely as I am putting the finishing touches on my new display room as we speak. A friend of mine who is a carpenter (we all seem to know carpenters... lol), is going to build a base for the case to sit on. I'm going to use Treebeard's box/stand as a guideline, which leaves his base at approx. 29" from the floor. I'm 6'1, and that places my eye level in the short space between Merry and Pippin's faces. I can't raise it much higher because the display cube itself is 52" tall and I only have an 8' ceiling clearance to work with in my display room. Having said that, I can afford a few inches and might have him raised a bit. I like Buckeye's idea of being eye level with Treebeard himself. :thumbs_up
Val, I thought you were short on space....and now you have a whole new display room???!!! :huh:
Unless you moved, which action I thought was on indefinite hold.

"Eternity is an awful long time, especially towards the end."

"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.” -- CSL

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Allow me to clarify: I did not move, but my below-ground basement did flood back in December (heavy rains, foundation crack, etc - all fixed now), which is where my display room is located. No collectibles were damaged, thankfully, but it did trigger a necessary renovation - new floor, walls, and baseboard. With those now in place, I took the opportunity to move things around and reconfigure the arrangement of things. So yes, it is a new display room in many ways, but it is still located within the old space - a 24' x 12' room.
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