Yesterday, July 7, 2012, Peter Jackson at last wrapped principal photography for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.  And the 158 day clock to the film’s premiere continues.

The New Zealand workshop Weta will be returning to Comic-Con this week and announced today it is previewing the initial collectibles and prop replicas their artists have created based on the New Line Cinema/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (December 2012) and The Hobbit: There and Back Again (December 2013).  Weta will be set up at Booth #3513B at San Diego Comic-Con from July 11-15, 2012.   The full line of products from The Hobbit will be available for sale later in 2012.

However, Weta is offering two exclusive items for sale at Comic-Con:

Thorin Oakenshield – with shield.   The first in a series of 1:6 scale polystone statues.   The statue will be sold  for $249 each – limited to 2 per person.  This limited edition collection will have a run of 700 pieces, 500 of which will be available for purchase at San Diego Comic-Con only. (The remaining 200 statues will be reserved for sale in October at the Weta Cave in New Zealand and at Ring*Con in Germany.)   There will be a separate version of this statue, without shield, available at www.wetaNZ.com in October 2012.

The second limited release at Comic-Con will be this great print, An Unexpected Journey, by Weta Workshop Conceptual Designer Gus Hunter.  100 signed copies will be available at the show for $60 each and 400 unsigned copies will be available for $50 each–limit 2 per person.   If you miss out on these in San Diego, Weta says that there will be additional copies available at www.wetaNZ.com in October 2012.

Weta will release a limited number of these items each day (Wednesday through Saturday) to ensure distribution over the entire show.  Weta also announced that it will be revealing its most complex collectible created, Barad-dûr – Fortress of Sauron, the newest piece in Weta’s The Lord of the Rings collection, which debuted back in 2001:

You might also check out this book available at Weta’s website www.wetaNZ.com for $25, chronicling 10 years of Weta Workshop art:

Since little to no screenused pieces from The Lord of the Rings are on the market, Weta’s replicas are the closest you can get to the real thing today.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com