DJEWoodSALT LAKE CITY — Elijah Wood isn’t joining fellow Fellowship actors Billy Boyd, Sean Astin and John Rhys-Davies for autographs and panels at FantasyCon July 3 – 5, but he is joining the adventure in other ways. The Daily Herald broke the news yesterday that Wood will DJ an evening event the night before it all starts to get FantasyCon rolling.

The event follows an invite-only charity event that same evening for seven different children’s charities that helps kids get access to FantasyCon that otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend an event like a big public convention. You can read more about Wood’s event RIGHT HERE and read more about the guests at FantasyCon here. Those who purchase VIP tickets (ticketing here) to FantasyCon look to have access to the event that will likely have very limited availability to the public. Continue reading “DJ E-Wood? FantasyCon lands Elijah Wood for its opening night party”

CookBombur Courtesy of those talented folks at Weta Digital, we’re delighted to bring you this fantastic behind-the-scenes video of Bombur’s bouncing barrel.

Weta Digital presents a peek inside the world of the animation team as they work out how to solve one of the most complicated shots in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. As part of an epic seven-minute action sequence, Bombur’s bouncing barrel shot required an elaborate approach.

See how our animators suited up and used their own performances as part of the animation process.



IMG_9385I’ve put together another video review for you all today, this time it’s of the second member of the Hot Dwarves duo, with Fili joining the previously released Kili in our collection. Fili, as has been the case with the other statues in this line, came out really well done with a superb overall paint/detail-work as well as a great likeness to Dean O’Gorman. Fili like most of the Dwarves is a limited edition piece with just 1000 pieces worldwide and comes in with a price tag of just $249. He is in-stock so you can get him right now if you’re looking to add another piece from The Hobbit Trilogy. Fili is the eighth Dwarf to be completed in this line of statues and ninth overall to be completed, which is not what I say in the video a couple of times. Nori the latest release is on his way and we should have a review of him up soon!
Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Weta Workshop’s Fili the Dwarf Statue Review”

John Howe. Photo: Fataneh Howe.
John Howe. Photo: Fataneh Howe.
Check out this interview with interview that Ethan Gilsdorf conducted with John Howe over two sessions in January and July last year. It’s a corker.

Howe is, of course, a long-time Tolkien illustrator and is currently working with Alan Lee as Conceptual Designer for The Hobbit movie trilogy.

Continue reading “Meet the man whose illustrations have helped define Middle‑earth”

IMG_8805We’ve got another video review for you today, of the one environment I’ve been waiting to get my hands on since I saw The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in theaters. One of my favorite things about this particular environment was the front part of it that you could see standing outside the mountain, with that great Dwarven design, as well as those amazing Dwarven Guards. Finally, after a long wait we can now add at least this part of Erebor – with hopefully more to come, with something similar to the Moria Environment from The Lord of the Rings statue line. The Front Gate of Erebor comes in at $199 as well as being an open edition, so if you need to save a little you have some time. The size of this environment comes in at 10.6″ tall x 8.9″ wide x 5.7″ deep and weighs 6.9lbs.
Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Weta Workshop’s The Front Gate of Erebor Review”

Smaug detail FBOur friend, Artist Jerry Vanderstelt, has a brand new print ready for fans to add to their growing Middle-earth collections. If you’ve been wanting to own something Smaug specific, after seeing just how great he was in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, then today is your lucky day. You can now order an amazing print capturing Smaug the Terrible in this stunning portrait. This print gives incredible detail of the face of Smaug, with such great attention paid to the eyes, teeth, scales, fire, and even the gold being flung around by Smaug as he deals with Bilbo Baggins. As always Jerry offers this print in various sizes ranging from a 16×20 print for $35 to a Canvas Gallery Wrapped Giclee for $280. No matter which choice you go with you’ll be adding the best Smaug-centric piece on the market!