Late last night our friends at Weta Workshop sent out a special email with information regarding the details on the final new collectible from Comic-Con 2013. The last of the characters fans will be able to get their hands on is the loveable Wizard himself Radagast the Brown. Radagast was sculpted by the amazing Steven Saunders who has already turned out multiple winners from both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. The Wizard comes in with a price of $275 and an edition size of only 1,000 pieces worldwide, with expected shipping in February 2014. Having seen this in person at Comic-Con this past July I really think fans are going to love having this in their collections. Its a superb looking statue.
Tag: Radagast the Brown
We’ve started to see more and more products announced and launched tying into The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. One of the companies turning out some pretty cool stuff for film two is our friends at The Bridge Direct. The collectible we’re covering today is Radagast the Brown, from their 6” line of figures. After seeing this piece at San Diego Comic-Con this past summer, I was quite excited to get this; and I have to say this figure lived up to my expectations.
PACKAGING
The layout for the box design for Radagast is exactly the same as we saw with wave one of the figures, for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The new figures differ in the graphics, as well as the coloring of the box. The images show the company climbing what I would assume is the Lonely Mountain, with another view of that same Mountain in the background. You also have a blue tone to the coloring, which suggests the darker turn the movie will take, compared to how wave one and movie one matched up.
On the bottom of the box you have a cardboard slip with the character’s name and a picture of the character all rendered in the same coloring. The back of the box has a great little breakdown of the second movie. They not only do this in English but also in French, which I have to say I really got a kick out of. You also get a look at the three 6” figures in wave two: Radagast, Legolas, and Azog.
Accessories/Articulation
Radagast is simple when it comes to the number of items you get with him; he comes with his hat and his staff. However, this matches exactly what we see him with during the movie, so you get to create the exact look of what we saw.
The articulation on this figure as a whole is really good. You have great movement in the hands, elbows, shoulders, and ankles. The only area which I found had any kind of limited movement is the head, but that is due to his beard. Overall, you can have some real fun with this figure, creating some of the craziness we could imagine Radagast getting into.
SCULPTING
I love the sculpting job on Radagast. I really think the likeness on this figure is pretty darn close to a dead ringer for what we saw on screen. Within the facial likeness, the little bird’s nest is also there and can be shown or not depending on if you have him wear his hat. The detailing doesn’t stop there, as his outfit has some amazing fine points in it, even with little things I didn’t notice in the movie when I’ve seen it several times. Radagast comes with a couple of extras, which are the hat I just mentioned, and his trusty staff with the blue crystal that he uses to save Sebastian the hedgehog.
PAINT
As I’ve said before in other reviews, the paint can make or break the sculpting work. I really think The Bridge Direct nailed the paintwork on Radagast, giving the character the proper ‘on screen’ look. The skin tone looks like his movie counter part and has a nice natural, alive tone to it. His hair has the proper brown and grey mix as we saw on screen. That’s not my favorite part, though, of what was done to his hair. One of the things I don’t care for with Radagast is the bird poop in his hair – it’s just something I really wish they had left out. Luckily, the way it’s painted on the figure it just looks like a large area of grey hair, and I love it. Much better than what we actually got! His outfit is also painted very nicely, allowing for all the sculpted details to come screaming through.
Overall
Radagast is a fantastic figure. You get a great sized figure and tons of detail. You can get Radagast exclusively at Toys R’ Us for $14.99, along with Azog, Legolas, and the Mirkwood 5-Pack. We want to thank The Bridge Direct for this chance to give our readers a look at this pretty cool figure.
SPECIFICATIONS
Radagast costs $14.99.
PHOTOS
The folks over at United Cutlery and BudK have a new item for fans of Middle-earth to pre-order. The new item available for pre-order is a replica of the Morgul Blade Radagast discovers during The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. You can order this awesome collectible for only $129 and it will be in-stock in just 60 days. So you won’t have to wait long before you add this to your collection. Also, if you’re feeling lucky you can enter into a contest and you just might bring this item home. The contest ends when the Morgul Blade ships in 60 days.
We’re proud to bring you part three of our coverage of the amazing items that Weta Workshop had at San Diego Comic-Con 2013. This update comes from the most recent newsletter that landed in many of our in-boxes, bringing information regarding the pre-order for the Azog on Warg statue, as well as details on when all the items that were at Comic-Con will go up for order. Starting next Monday, July 29th in the US/Europe and Tuesday, July 30th in Australia/New Zealand, those interested in adding Azog will be able to do so. Azog is going to be limited 500 pieces world-wide and comes in with a price tag of $699. Do not wait to order this statue, as he’s going to be the most limited one so far in The Hobbit line! As you saw from the Comic-Con coverage in Part 1 and Part 2, Azog is no small statue. He’s going to come in at 2 feet long, 17 inches tall, and an amazing 35 lbs with a steel structure on the inside to ensure he can hold the pose.
This newsletter also gave information on when to look for many of the new items that did not go up for order during Comic-Con. If you’re waiting on Radagast, Thranduil, Tauriel, Gloin, etc then you will need the following information to plan out your spending:
Watch out for these items during the following months:
- Arwen miniature figure – August
- Bert the Troll – August
- 26 Gandalf’s Cutting Hobbit Hole – August
- William the Troll – September
- 40 Bagshot Row – Hobbit Hole – September
- Tauriel 1/6 scale statue – October
- Thranduil 1/6 scale statue – October
- Bow and Arrow of Tauriel – October
- The Daggers of Tauriel – October
- Gloin the Dwarf 1/6 scale statue – November
- Radagast the Brown 1/6 scale statue – November
Attendees of the Dr. Who Panel at the Armageddon Expo in Auckland yesterday are saying that Sylvester McCoy has confirmed that he has been cast in the role of Radagast the wizard in “The Hobbit.” Rumors have been flying about McCoy having auditioned, some thinking he might have even been cast as Bilbo. As early as August, McCoy started hinting that he had been been cast in a role that was not Bilbo. However earlier this week it started leaking in earnest (from McCoy himself), that he had been cast as Radagast. Confirming the news yesterday at Armageddon adds one more piece to the casting puzzle and confirms that Radagast the Brown, contemporary of Gandalf and Saruman and lover of nature and animals, will indeed be part of “The Hobbit” movies. Thanks to message board member, Earl, for the great tip!
UPDATE: Sylvester McCoy Cast But Not Signed Yet
Here’s more confirmation lending veracity to the above story.
The New Zealand Herald is reporting that Sylvester McCoy flew out to Wellington last Thursday to meet with PJ and Philippa about The Hobbit, and he confirms that he has been cast as Radagast the Brown, but he hasn’t signed any contracts yet.
His journey into Middle-earth began back in 2007 when he met Peter Jackson during the New Zealand tour of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of King Lear.
About the turmoil surrounding the location shooting for The Hobbit, Sylvester McCoy says, “Everybody wants to make it here [i.e., New Zealand]. It would be horrible if it was made anywhere else.”
For all the new viewers of TheOneRing.net, you’ll want to get yourself acquainted with the ‘spy reports’ we post from time to time. These reports usually come to use from everyday folks who just happen to come across some juicy tidbits. So while we can’t say for 100% they are accurate, we can at least whet your whistle!
And along those lines, we get this report from Ringer Spy Viggo Yearning:
My brother works at Katmandu in the city (Melbourne) and who should walk in looking for appropriate attire for New Zealand but Sylvester McCoy! He was more than willing to discuss The Hobbit, and is indeed playing Radagast the brown. He said he was “some wizard”, to which my brother offered up “Radagast the brown?” and Sylvester said “Yes, that’s it!”. He then confessed he couldn’t find him anywhere in the book. Unfortunately my brother isn’t as big a fan as myself, so didn’t give Sylvester the grilling I certainly would have! He did offer up this interesting tidbit, though: He was pipped at the post by Ian Holm to play Bilbo in the original lotr trilogy!
We reported a bit ago that we believed that McCoy would be playing this role, but it is nice to get additional ammo to make that claim! Radagast is not in the Hobbit, but in the scripts we have seen, he has an expanded role in the production.