Big thanks to everyone who entered the contest run by our good friends at Oscha Slings, to come up with a new Middle-earth design! We hear there were many lovely entries, and it was very hard to make a choice; but we can now announce the winner. Here’s what the folks at Oscha tell us:
‘We’d like to thank everyone who entered the competition, it was wonderful to see the range of ideas and talents! The winner is *drumroll*….
‘Cari Johnston with her (yet unnamed) mirrored depiction of the journey to Lake-town and the Lonely Mountain, from The Hobbit. It’s such a clever design, with so many story-telling elements, that has been well executed to work as a baby sling.
‘We could see a lot of enthusiasm for designs that were already on our list, so hopefully you will eventually get something that you’ve been dreaming of, for instance horses, eagles, and Gandalf!
‘We hope you can agree that Cari is a worthy winner, and that you will look forward to seeing the design woven!’
Congratulations to Cari, and thanks to all who entered. Don’t forget to check out the many wonderful Middle-earth goodies (including face masks!) at Oscha Slings.
Daedalic Entertainment’s upcoming stealth-based game “The Lord of the Rings: Gollum” had its first teaser trailer drop a couple of days ago on gaming and entertainment company IGN’s YouTube channel.
It’s been a while since we’ve had a decent LOTR game and while this upcoming release focuses on the non-hero non-Fellowship type character, it’s nice to see Tolkien’s world getting some mainstream gaming action.
Also unlike previous LOTR games, Gollum will take on a different play style, moving away from swords, bows and arrows etc in favour of stealthy traversal. Stealth and vertical parkour-style movement will be familiar to fans of game franchises like Assassins Creed, Prince of Persia etc.
It’s not all stealth-play though as lead game designer Martin Wilkes describes the combat “Gollum doesn’t use weapons, but he can distract enemies with throwables. In parts of the game, he will also profit from the abilities of special allies and can use the environment to his advantage.”.
Outside of gameplay mechanics, the game will focus more on Tolkien’s original story and drawings along with some common themes shared with the movies. “Peter Jackson’s movies are fantastic but our game is based on the original book license,” continues Martin. “Our world follows the same descriptions and is also in parts inspired by the same artworks as were the movies. Their influence on popular culture has been tremendous, so we have to be mindful of players who might only know Middle-earth from the two film trilogies.”
What about the story and Gollum himself? “Gollum’s overall goal in the game?” adds Wilkes. “Well, that’s a bit more complicated. Obviously, Gollum wants to escape his captors and retake the Ring (and hopefully get his hands on some nice fish along the way). After some time, though, the Sméagol-side causes trouble and distractions and opens up new, conflicting goals that we cannot talk about yet.”
“The Lord of the Rings: Gollum” is releasing in 2021 for PS5, Xbox Series X and PC.
The awesome folks at Star Ace Toys have announced two new Middle-earth Defo-Real figures.
The first is the Dark Lord himself, Sauron, which can be pre-ordered right now at Sideshow Collectibles for $90. This figure, unlike others in the series, has a limited edition run of only 500 pieces.
The other new figure was announced during Sideshow Collectibles Comic-Con at Home. Fans can keep informed about this new figure, via an RSVP link, which will place them on a list to be notified when the Morgul Lord himself is available for order.
That’s not all! If you need an extra Balrog in your life, and who doesn’t, you can order the light-up version for $96 which will be shipped during the fourth quarter of this year.
Our friends at Weta Workshop have created a fun line of collectibles called “Figures of Fandom”. To date it has only included characters from other franchises and didn’t include any characters from Middle-earth. Today this has changed, and I think all of you will love these new collectibles.
This line takes Middle-earth and adds a fun twist on the collectibles we’ve previously seen from Weta. These collectibles are made of PVC and should be priced in a range of $100-$120. The first two Middle-earth characters from this line, that Fans will be able to add to their collections, are Gandalf the White and The Witch-king of Angmar, which are expected to become available later in 2020. Once we have more information, about the pre-order for these two collectibles, we will let you know. Edit: Our friends at Weta surprised us and these two are now up for pre-order at $120 and shipping in Jan 2021.
It has been 20 years since a Cave Troll statue was available for fans to purchase without having to search the secondary market. Today our friends at Weta Workshop have unveiled a brand new Cave Troll statue in conjunction with the 20th Anniversary of The Fellowship of the Ring. This statue is off the freaking charts awesome! If you’re like me, and had a Cave Troll sized hole in your collection, that problem is now solved.
Today’s artist corner video allows folks to get to know a pretty awesome guy, Leonard Ellis, who is the Collectibles Team Leader at Weta.
If you’re fond of the Mini Epic line of collectibles from our friends at Weta Workshop then today is your day. Fans can expect to see three new Mini Epics, which will be available to order in the next few months.
The second character from The Hobbit Trilogy will be Radagast the Brown with his friend Sebastian.
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy will be getting two new amazing epics characters today. Collectors can expect to add Eowyn and Arwen who, as you can see, both look awesome. As soon as we have firm pre-order dates we will let you know.
