“Strangers from distant lands. Friends of old. You’ve been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor. Middle-Earth stands upon the brink of destruction. None can escape it. You will unite or you will fall. Each race is bound to this fate, this one doom. Bring forth the Ring, Frodo.“
-Elrond at the start of the Council of Elrond October 25th, 3018 TA
Rivendell was one of the most demanded places in Middle-Earth to be made into polystone and now the long wait for this to happen as finally come to an end. Now, that it has ended and collectors are starting to receive this item, we are finally seeing why this might be one of the most difficult items ever made representing The Lord of the Rings. The folks at Weta, specifically Daniel Falconer and David Tremont, did an amazing job of capturing all that is special about Rivendell allowing collectors to own a piece of that.
During the third age, Rivendell was the home to Elrond Half-Elven where much of the history and lore of the Elves were stored. Gil-Galad and Elendil gathered at Rivendell during the second age and from there marched to Mordor for what would be known as War of the Last Alliance. This would not be the last council at Rivendell that would play a pivotal part in the fate of Middle-Earth. On October 25th, 3018 the Council of Elrond was held in which the fate of The One Ring would be decided, and two months later The Fellowship would leave on its journey to destroy The One Ring.
PACKAGING
The graphics on the front of the box for Rivendell have kept virtually the same design we’ve seen with previous environments from Weta. On the front of the box you have a screen cap of The Fellowship leaving Rivendell with the environment below that. Of course you also have the beautiful The Lord of the Rings logo in the left hand corner with the name of the environment to the right of the box. The sides of box also contain great images of the collectible, a screen cap, and some information on Rivendell. The back of the box contains multiple great images of items that you can find on Weta’s website.
SCULPTING
Over 1,200 hours were put into making sure every detail that could be put into this piece was put into it. All of those hours paid off in spades when you see the amount of detail that are within this particular collectible. Daniel Falconer and David Tremont made very sure each 
tree, brick, bridge, ornament, etc were there to help capture the beauty that Rivendell possessed on screen. For me one of the coolest things about seeing this piece is the little things like the gazebo, bridges, water falls, etc. You have the beauty that is the river running through the piece, which goes under the bridge you see The Fellowship cross as they leave Rivendell. Finally, all of the buildings are mind boggling in how they came out because of the nature of how the Elven stuff looked in the movie, and the fact that it could be shrunk down to collectible size is a monumental achievement by Weta.
PAINT
The paintwork on Rivendell is as exceptional as the sculpt work. Again, as much as the sculpt work gives you the Elven feel the paintwork allows that to come shining through. This in all honestly is what allows those 1,200 hours to really pay off and also allow collectors to say they have something that is truly special. Its not just the work done on the buildings that make this piece so amazing but the work done on the trees, rock, and water. The trees are not only sculpted well but they are painted and look like real trees within Middle-Earth. Like with the Argonath the water is done again to look like real water that would be running through this place, and the rock again gives the appearance of real rock. Finally, the roofs of each building are not painted but have vinyl decals, which are printed to work with the polystone. This move is genius by Weta because of the intricacy these roofs would require the paint jobs could have risked the whole piece.
Overall
Rivendell costs $400 retail but the money spent is short of how amazing this overall piece is. The first 300 pieces of Imladris, which were numbered, are gone but you can still get in on the open edition portion. Also included with the first 300 is a really fantastic art print that shows the path Weta took from conception to reality. While not a tradition art print I am so glad Weta included this with Rivendell and allow the fans to see what a journey it was. Finally, I cannot implore you enough if you are a The Lord of the Rings collector to find a way to get this piece into your collection.
[Purchase]
SPECIFICATIONS
Rivendell is numbered for the first 300 pieces and an open edition after that. Rivendell’s specs are as followed: 7.9″ x 18.1″ x 12.2″ (H x W x D)
20 cm x 46 cm x 31 cm
PHOTOS
