John Alvin Prints
If you are a fan of the late John Alvin’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’ masterpieces, you’ll want to check the fine art giclée’s at SideshowCollectibles.com. There are three prints being offered: An Aragorn themed print titled ‘A Fierce Legacy‘; A Gandalf themed print titled ‘Fate’s Wizard‘; and a larger print featuring many characters from the film titled ‘The Fellowship.’ Each print is intricately framed and features the authorized signature of the artist John Alvin. [A Fierce Legacy] [Fate’s Wizard] [The Fellowship]

Battle Above the Black GateSideshow Collectibles is honoring the memory of a fallen co-worker by holding a charity auction to benefit the Diane Kamahele Memorial Fund – a fund set up to support Diane’s four children. One of the items will be of particular interest to LOTR fans:

This auction is for a one-of-a-kind treasure, an early sample of the faux-bronze version of the Battle Above the Black Gate Diorama. Our product development team tested several engineering solutions for this product, to ensure the product could be properly packaged for safe shipment. In this sample, the Fell Beast’s wings were designed to be detached from the body, intended to be packed separately for shipment to the collector … This is the only ‘detachable wing’ engineered sample of the Battle Above the Black Gate Diorama that exisits, or ever will exist, and you have the opportunity to own this archive-quality piece, which nicely illustrates the design & engineering present in every Sideshow product.

If you are a LOTR collector, this is a one of a kind item that you may not want to miss out on! And if you are simply feeling generous, the Memorial Fund accepts donations. [Black Gate Diorama Auction] [All Auctions] [Memorial Fund]

Toy Fair 2008 at Sideshow Collectibles
Today marks the first day of Toy Fair 2008, a large-scale trade show for the toy industry held in NYC. While Sideshow Collectibles is not in attendance this year, they are running an ‘online’ Toy Fair. Among their other offerings, Sideshow has announced the latest edition to the LOTR 12-inch figure collection, and it is Gandalf the Grey. The first is more expensive than previous figures, but it looks like it has the accessories/costuming to match the cost. Sideshow has also posted the new Legolas Legendary Scale Bust and the ‘Battle Above the Black Gate’ diorama for pre-order. Make sure to check out the ‘Backstage Pass’ videos for the LOTR pieces to see the full details. [Gandalf the Grey] [Legolas Legendary Scale Bust] [Battle Above the Black Gate Diorama] [Backstage Pass Videos]

Fell Beast VS Eagle DioramaSideshow has been teasing this Lord of the Rings polystone diorama since Comic-Con 2007. During their panel presentation, they showed an impressive unpainted version of what looked to be a very dynamic battle in mid-air. Jump ahead a half year, and on professor Tolkien’s birthday, we got an even clearer picture of the unpainted Fell Beast portion of the statue. Today (finally!), we get the official preview, complete with a glimpse of the fully painted Fell Beast and Eagle head sections. With the official preview now launched, we can guess that pre-orders will begin next Thursday, February 7th. Click on the image or the link below to visit Sideshow’s preview for the Fell Beast vs. Eagle – ‘Battle Above the Black Gates’ Polystone Diorama. [View the Preview]

Ringwraith QTVRA few more updates from Sideshow Collectibles this week. Sideshow has released a QTVR (360° view) of the recently released Ringwraith Legendary Scale Bust. Currently the third most popular item at SideshowCollectibles.com, this polystone bust captures the Ringwraith attack at Weathertop. [Ringwraith] They have also updated the photography of the Gandalf the White Premium Format figure. This item, previously sold out after Comic-Con 2007 is now shipping and they found a few more exclusive editions to offer to the public. If you wanted to get one, act now! [Gandalf the White – Sideshow Exclusive] And not to be forgotten, one of the best collectibles of 2007 is still available for order, the Lurtz Premium Format figure. [Lurtz Premium Format Figure]

Aragorn TurnaroundAlong with the pre-order of the Ringwraith Legendary Scale Bust, Sideshow also posted a few other LOTR updates with their newsletter launch last night. In their production blog, Sideshow posted of a few official reference shots of the Witch-King in Twilight Form – something we had not seen before. It is pretty cool to see this digitally manipulated character, which appeared so blurred on the screen, in crystal clear photography. The images were posted to show how they finished the sculpt for Sideshow’s Witch-king Legendary Scale Bust. The second update is a 360° view of the Aragorn Premium Format Figure with one of the best Viggo likenesses we have ever seen. To see this file, you need to click on the icon below the feature image at Sideshow’s website. Now if only I could save up enough to get all this stuff! [Witch-King Imagery] [Aragorn PF]