We’re happy to announce as a surprise tomorrow our friends Diamond Select Toys will be launching series 4 of their awesome The Lord of the Rings figure line.
Gandalf the Grey makes his debut in the line, with his staff and his sword Glamdring, and the other figure in the assortment is a customizable Uruk-hai, including multiple interchangeable heads and weapons. Each features over 16 points of articulation, and each comes packaged in a full-color window box. Designed by Eamon O’Donoghue, sculpted by Gentle Giant Studios. These figures go up for pre-order tomorrow and with a price tag of $29.99.
Like last year, there will be no in-person San Diego Comic-Con this summer. That hasn’t stopped our friends DST from creating something very cool! This exclusive two-pack of Lord of the Rings action figures lets the cat out of the bag, showing Frodo in his completely invisible mode, wearing the Ring of Sauron. Standing right next to him is Gollum, who looks upset about someone stealing his ‘precious’. Each 4-inch action figure features multiple points of articulation, as well as detailed sculpting and paint applications. Limited to only 4,000 pieces, the pair comes packaged in a replica of an opening book, along with Gollum’s boat. Designed by Eamon O’Donoghue, sculpted by Gentle Giant Studios. This item can be pre-ordered right from Gentle Giant’s website for $49.99.
Chinese The Lord of the Rings Trilogy fans were highly anticipating this past weekend as Peter Jackson’s ‘The Fellowship of the Ring‘ was due to re-release nationwide – in glorious remastered 4k.
Unfortunately, due to the last second approval by government officials, many Chinese venues did not get the print in time and screenings had to be canceled. Here’s the wrap up from The Hollywood Reporter:
It was another bizarro weekend at the Chinese box office.
The long-anticipated return of Peter Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Ring finally arrived Friday in vividly remastered 4K. But official permission for the rerelease from China’s regulators came so late — just one full day in advance — that marketing for the movie was mostly nonexistent and scores of digital prints failed to reach cinemas on time, forcing a wave of cancelations and refunds to angry customers throughout Friday and into Saturday.
The article continues…
The Fellowship of the Ring, meanwhile, limped into fifth place with just $4.1 million. The opening results for the fantasy classic are a keen disappointment compared to the recent performance of James Cameron’s Avatar, which opened to $23.7 million when it was rereleased in China in March. The perennial appeal of the Lord of the Rings franchise could help Fellowship mount a healthy hold though, much as Avatar did (Cameron’s film has climbed to $60.2 million in second-run sales). Warner Bros. also will get a do-over later this month — assuming all goes to plan (always a big “if” in China) — when Jackson’s The Two Towers re-releases on April 23. Regulators have indicated that the franchise closer The Return of the King will also get a second run in China, but the film — worryingly — still hasn’t been given an official release date.
Guest writer Matthew Bossons brings us this fascinating look at how Tolkien fandom has made its way to China; and he reflects on whether Amazon’s upcoming Middle-earth series is likely to find fans there.
Panjiayuan is Beijing’s biggest and best-known antique market, regularly attracting orc-like hordes of tourists and locals alike to wander the warren of booths and stalls, both indoor and outside. All manner of old and made-to-look-old items are on offer here: jade carvings, stone Buddha statues, ancient coins, Chinese Communist Party pins and propaganda posters, replica Korean war medals and mounds of books.
On a brisk October day, while standing at a hawker stand specializing in old Chinese books – mostly Chairman Mao’s iconic ‘Little Red Book’ – I came across a curious title: The Art of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, in English-language and hardcover form. The book, a collection of sketches and maps made by Tolkien, was published in 2015 and compiled by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull – both well-known scholars of the ‘father of high fantasy.’
We’ve teamed up with our new friends at Numskull Designs to show off a couple of their very cool cosplaying ducks from TheLord of the Rings Trilogy. The subjects of this review are going to be the awesome-looking Aragorn and Sauron Cosplaying Ducks, as well as their very cool The Lord of the Rings pin sets.
You can get these two ducks for $12.99 each, and the pin sets for $7.99, from various collectibles stores on the net. However, we’re pleased to announce that starting tomorrow Friday 9th April, through Friday 30th April, if you follow TheOneRing.net AND Numskull Designs on Twitter, and like TORn’s tweet announcing the contest, you will be in with a chance to win a set of what you see in this review. (One lucky winner will be chosen at random, and contacted by Numskull Designs.) Good luck!
Exciting news: tomorrow, Tuesday 9th February, Viggo Mortensen and his son Henry will be joining Quickbeam on TORn Tuesday!
Last week saw the online release of Viggo’s powerful and moving directorial debut, Falling. You can rent or buy the movie now on Amazon or iTunes. It’s a profound, compelling piece about families, love, and dementia. Viggo and Henry will be chatting about the movie, and about the power of story telling, at 5pm PT/ 8pm ET tomorrow; find TORn Tuesday on YouTube or Facebook. Don’t miss it!
For those of you who may not have been exposed to this tidbit of shareable humor, we thought we’d start the week off with a bit of fun. YouTube user BurtBot asks, ‘What if Uruk-hai had normal voices?’
We’re happy to announce as a surprise tomorrow our friends Diamond Select Toys will be launching series 4 of their awesome The Lord of the Rings figure line.
