Late last night Amazon.com added a price and the option to pre-order the The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Gift Set. This gift set comes with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in 3D Blu-Ray, 2D, appendicies disc, and like The Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Gift Sets, a special statue. This statue captures ‘The Riddles in the Dark’ sequence of the film featuring Gollum coming over a rock while Bilbo stands a bit scared of what is going on around him. The statue has been created by the amazing folks at Weta Workshop and was sculpted by Gary Hunt.You can get this set from Amazon for only $69.99 which is a great deal considering the regular 5-disc set is $38.99. [Gift Set] [Blu-Ray 3D + Blu-Ray + Ultraviolet] [Blu-Ray + Ultraviolet]
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Gentle Giant brought a few of their Mini-Busts for The Hobbit Trilogy to this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. Fans got a chance to see their Azog, Goblin King with Scribe, Bilbo Baggins, Gollum, and the 2013 PGM Exclusive Dwalin Bust. It was pretty awesome getting a chance to check out all of these busts, but I particularly liked Azog and the Goblin King with Scribe. Both of these busts are massive and looked superb! They are currently available right now from Gentle Giant. So make sure to get your orders in, so you can add these fantastic items to your collection.
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Gentle Giant has announced the next mini-bust in their line of collectibles from The Hobbit Trilogy. After a couple of bad guys in a row, they’ve now gone back to adding another of the good guys to the growing collection that Gentle Giant is creating. The next character to come into our homes will be our favorite burglar himself, Bilbo Baggins. As you can see from the pictures, we get Bilbo holding Sting on the same great marble-like base used with the other releases in this line. Bilbo comes in with a price tag of $70 for non-PGM members and $63 for PGM members. You have time to save up for ordering Bilbo as he isn’t due to ship until the second quarter of 2014.
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Weta Workshop has a couple of really neat items for you with their latest releases. These items are fantastic and they allow you to stretch that collecting budget all at the same time. The two newest collectibles from Weta are a very cool prop replica of Bilbo’s Acorn Buttons and a pin celebrating Durin’s Day. The buttons are an exact replica of the buttons used on the jacket by Martin Freeman. You can order one of these buttons for $11 or you can order them as a set of 5 for $45. The Durin’s Day pin celebrates the day that will be of the utmost importance to Thorin and company for getting into Erebor. The pin has some great looking Dwarvish script and a Thrush on it. Fans can order this pin from Weta’s website right now for $11. All of these items are in-stock right now and will be shipping from the New Zealand warehouse.
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The Summer of Smaug is in full go, as we get closer to Comic-Con 2013. We have had the first teaser poster, first trailer, and the first of Sir Peter Jackson’s Vlogs for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Now, we get the first product for the second film capturing a key moment in the Traveling Party’s journey to Erebor. The moment captured in this mini-statue is one of the participants in the barrel escape. The first character to be done in this series of mini-barrel riders is our loveable Hobbit Bilbo Baggins. This statue is a pre-release before the movie and shows the awesomeness of the collectibles to come from what we will see in the second film.
PACKAGING
The overall graphic for this mini-statue box is the same as we’ve seen from other statues for The Hobbit be it smaller than say a normal 1:6th statue box. Per the format we’ve come to know the front of the box gives you a great shot of Bilbo, the title of the movie (now saying though The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug), a special wax looking stamp saying it’s a preview collectible, and of course the Weta logo. As we’ve seen before you get a couple of shots of the statue on one side of the box. However, the other side gives you information about the statue and how it’s tied to the second film. While the back of the box gives you a look at a couple of items that you can buy from Weta.
SCULPTING
Brigitte Wuest is a name many fans that have collected statues based on the characters of The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit should know quite well. Ms. Wuest is back with another amazing piece. Doing a statue of this size and its smaller than even some of the previous mini-statues you’ve seen reviewed here before is a challenge. Well, the job done to make this statue detailed and capture a likeness was a successful one. When you look at this piece you see Martin Freeman and at a full 1:6th scale that’s a great thing, but even more so when you look at the size of this statue. Ms. Wuest did a superb job of making sure that we are able to have a great likeness of Mr. Freeman as he plays Bilbo in this moment.
The outfit is also very well done and there is great amount of detail within what you do see with this statue. His jacket very much looks like its real cloth, as do his pants. His hair also has some great detail in it very much looking like the hair he has on his head as we see it on screen. The barrel Bilbo is holding on to is a very detailed piece with all the little bits and pieces we see in barrels here in the real world. You also get the rushing water of the river, which we will see all these barrels making their way through. There is quite a bit of detail here when you examine the statue seeing how it’s made to look as if the water is a treacherous ride for the company.
PAINT
The skin tone on this piece is well done as usual by the folks at Weta Workshop. You look at Bilbo and you see someone who very much looks healthy and alive, which is something you want in your collectibles. Aiding the sculpting detail of the clothing is the paint job, which puts the final touches to create the cloth look we expect. The barrel as I said has a great sculpting job done to give it the proper details, but the job to put the cherry on top comes with the paint job. This allows for the barrel to look like its truly made of wood and something you would see in the real world. Of course you have the water, which is, has a great blue paint job creating the illusion of water. However, the coolest aspect of the paint job is the clear lacquer that’s been applied to this statue. In order to give it the proper wet look Weta applied a clear lacquer to the Bilbo, the barrel, and the water. Weta did a fantastic job of doing this so it has the proper wet look but not something that looked slimy.
Overall
Bilbo retails for $65, which is a fantastic price along with something most collectors can fit into a tight budget. The price will also make it much easier for collectors to get all the members of the Traveling Party. As I said the sculpt and paint on this statue is really well done and even more so when you factor in the size of the piece. I want to add that with every release in this line Weta is just continuing to show how great they with these statues.
SPECIFICATIONS
Bilbo is the first in this series of mini-barrel rider statues. He is an open edition and can be purchased for just $65.
Dimensions:
2.7″ x 4.1″ x 4.1″ (H x W x D)
6.8 cm x 10.5 cm x 10.5 cm
Weight:
.7 lbs (320g)
PHOTOS
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Comic-Con 2013 is just a few short weeks away and many of the exclusives to this years event are being announced. As we reported a couple of weeks ago, The Bridge Direct is going to once again delight fans with another exclusive figure from their amazing line of figures for The Hobbit Trilogy. Last year they did a really great Invisible Bilbo Baggins figure as we see him when he uses the Ring in Gollum’s Cave. This year they’re giving us one of the coolest looking characters from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey with their Azog 7” figure. We’re pleased to give you all an early access look at the figure you can get during Comic-Con 2013.
Azog is a really fantastic figure and he’s going to give fans that buy this figure multiple display options. Actually, I think fans are going to want to buy multiples of Azog just to have all options available to them. Its going to be a must have exclusive at Comic-Con.
PACKAGING
The outer graphics of the box mirror the look we saw on the Bilbo figure from last year as well as the look of the special edition original score. This is simply a fantastic look but this one differs in that it has a bit of a worn Orcish look to it. You also have a little slider piece that goes over the outside of the box with Azog’s symbol in the middle of it, a Comic-Con sticker in the lower front, and a sticker with the edition size on the back.
On the inside left of the box you have a graphic of the Azog figure and a blurb about the character himself. While the inside of the right side of the box gives you a look at the actual figure itself with everything you get. These are not the only cool things about the inside of the box which also uses a picture of The Battle of Azanulbizar.
Accessories/Articulation
Azog comes with several items allowing fans to choose how they want to display this huge Orc. As you see him in the package he is holding Thror’s head and holding his sword. You also get an empty right hand, his giant bone mace, and the severed left arm with that nasty metal claw.
The articulation on this figure is great. You’re able to create multiple poses and show off the action Azog gave us during The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The joints are also very tight allowing the figure to stand on its own and you do not lose any articulation with the switch out parts. The switch out parts are also easy to take off allowing for a frustration free change out experience.
SCULPTING
The sculpting job done on Azog is really quite good. He looks every bit the part of what we saw on screen and very detailed for being only seven inches tall. The likeness to Azog is fantastic and you can tell they really worked to make sure this looks like what we saw during the movie. He’s also got all the scars we saw on the character only adding to the great job done by The Bridge Direct. His weapons are very well done and look great when you’re creating the multiple looks this figure presents. The rest of his outfit from the metal pieces screwed into his stomach and wrappings on his arms are great. These are the types of details show why The Bridge Direct is the company to do Middle-earth figures.
The two coolest jobs done I think with this figure in the sculpting department are Azog’s skirt and King Thror’s severed head. During the film I did not notice that his skirt is made out of what appears to be the faces of dead Dwarves. Well, The Bridge Direct was able to bring that cool but creepy detail to life. It adds such a great evil detail to this massive figure. The other very cool bit I want to mention is the severed head of King Thror. This piece is superbly detailed looking like the King as we saw him in the movie making it cool and creepy since it’s a severed head. I also love that when you flip this piece over you see the spinal column sticking out from it.
PAINT
As I’ve said before in other reviews the paint can make or break the sculpt work done. Well, the paintwork done on Azog is really good making this one of the best-looking action figures I’ve owned. The skin tone looks like his movie counter part, as does everything else with The Pale Orc. You get the proper amount of wear on the leather, weapons, Thror’s head, and Azog himself.
Overall
Azog is a fantastic figure. You get a great sized figure, tons of detail, and multiple display options. He’s also going to be limited to 2600 pieces worldwide so he’s going to go pretty quickly. Make sure you stop by their booth 3513B, which they’re sharing with Weta Workshop. We also want thanks The Bridge Direct for this chance to give our readers a chance to look at this figure before the show.
SPECIFICATIONS
Azog comes in with an edition size of 2600 pieces.
PHOTOS
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Late last night Amazon.com added a price and the option to pre-order the The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Gift Set. This gift set comes with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in 3D Blu-Ray, 2D, appendicies disc, and like The Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Gift Sets, a special statue. This statue captures ‘The Riddles in the Dark’ sequence of the film featuring Gollum coming over a rock while Bilbo stands a bit scared of what is going on around him. The statue has been created by the amazing folks at Weta Workshop and was sculpted by Gary Hunt.You can get this set from Amazon for only $69.99 which is a great deal considering the regular 5-disc set is $38.99. [Gift Set] [Blu-Ray 3D + Blu-Ray + Ultraviolet] [Blu-Ray + Ultraviolet]
