In preparation for a product review, I found myself last night eagerly unboxing one of two upcoming The Lord of the Rings LEGO® Sets. I was pleasantly surprised to find this mini-teaser in the back of the instruction pack for the ‘Shelob Attacks’ Set and thought I should share it quickly…so I posted it on our official TheOneRing.net Facebook. Well, it has gotten quite a stir over there, so I figured I should share it with you this morning. The ad confirms the long assumed notion that we would see a The Lord of the Rings LEGO® Video Game from long-time LEGO game producers Traveler’s Tales.  So let this been 100% confirmation of the games existence, and I’d be willing to bet we’ll see a The Hobbit game in the future as well. As for my quickie review of the ‘Shelob Attacks’ LEGO Set: Building a gigantic realistic LEGO spider, complete with shooting string and eight extremely posable legs, was one of the most fun activities I’ve had in years! (Full review with pics will be coming soon!)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,as you all know, comes out in December 14, 2012. There is obvious build up to the movie ranging from the trailer, video blogs, the leaking of pictures, to random writings of what we think will happen, etc. Another aspect of the excitement for The Hobbit is collecting The Hobbit. This for me personally brings everything together, getting those awesome collectibles that tie my love for the book, movie, and the people I share that passion with together.

As of right now there are a few companies out there who have already announced products that tie into the movie or would fit within the movie. We know the folks at LEGO will be making those awesome sets for The Hobbit and have already showed some really great sets from The Lord of the Rings. Action figure collectors will have a chance to get the cast of characters from The Hobbit thanks to our friends at The Bridge Direct who have the license to create toys from the movie.  If you love plushies and bobble-heads then Funko will have you covered. If you visit their web page you can see a list of the products they will be selling but right now its just items of Gandalf, Bilbo, and Gollum.  We also hear that Warner Bros. Consumer Products have signed Ravensburger to create 2D and 3D puzzles and card games tied to the upcoming films, for distribution in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Collecting ‘The Hobbit’”

News crossed our screens, courtesy of Veldrin, that an international online War of the Ring tournament is currently accepting sign-ups. Sponsored by Ares Games, this is an annual event meant to bring novice and experienced players together and offers prizes for people in each category. The following is some of what they had to say:

“War of the Ring has a dedicated online community and every year they get together to run the largest War of the Ring tournament in the world! It brings together both veterans and novices alike, awarding victory plaques for the overall winner of the double elimination event, as well as the best performing novice player.” For full details, just click right here.

Hitting our inbox today was word that some Hobbit toys are available for preorder. This will happen – a lot – over the next few months but this provides some concrete details about what we can expect in stores in the holiday season while we lead up to the first of the two films based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit in December. Unfortunately, no visuals, but thanks to ringerspies Iain and Stormcrow for the heads up. The listing provides some very broad clues, none of them surprises. Most interesting is the “Beast Pack Series”. The items are likely sold to outlets in packs to be sold individually at retail but that is speculation. It looks like these will be available in October.

The product list is as follows:
The Hobbit 3.75″ Beast Pack Series 01 – Case of 4 – $87.99
The Hobbit 3.75″ Collector Pack – $29.99
The Hobbit 3.75″ Figure Series 01 – Case of 6 – $59.99
The Hobbit 3.75″ Figure Two-Pack Series 01 – Case of 4 – $67.99
The Hobbit 3.75″ Goblin Battle Set – $44.99
The Hobbit 6″ Deluxe Collector Figure 01 – $21.99
The Hobbit 6″ Figure Series 01 – Case of 6 – $99.99
The Hobbit Deluxe Sting Sword – $21.99
The Hobbit Dwarven Battle Axe – $14.99
The Hobbit Role Play Sting Sword – $10.99
You can see the listing right here. This is starting to get fun!

TheOneRing.net, along with 150 of our closest friends from the media and collector world, were granted access to a special Collector’s Party today at the International Toy Fare. Taking place at the Javits Center in New York City, this event showcased the entire 2012 line-up for LEGO, including their newly announced Marvel, DC and, of course, Lord of the Rings licenses. All we can tell you is…prepare for a hit on your bank account. Not because of cost, but simply because of the depth and breadth of the collection for Tolkien fans. Even more exciting…The Hobbit LEGOs have yet to be revealed!! Since we are reporting from NYC with limited time, I’m attaching the LEGO gallery below, and leaving you with some quick info. I’ll post a full report on each set later this week.

  • The Battle of Helm’s Deep and Attach at Weatherop sets mark the first time LEGO has created an articulated horse!
  • These sets will start hitting stores in June 2012
  • Hobbit sets/info will start hitting in the Fall with expected release of Nov/Dec 2012
  • Shelob Attacks is the first spider LEGO to feature a web function.
View the gallery after the break!

Continue reading “Lord of the Rings LEGO Revealed at Toy Fare 2012 at Collector’s Party”

Warner Bros. Consumer Products has partnered with Ravensburger, for the upcoming films, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again, productions of New Line Cinema and MGM, as well as The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Under the terms of the agreement, Ravensburger has the rights to produce 2D and 3D puzzles and card games based on the two films being directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, with product on shelves in time for the December 2012 film release and for The Hobbit: There and Back Again that will follow in December 2013.

The licence also covers The Lord of the Rings trilogy – The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. More..