4-23-01 Latest News

The Price of Collecting...
Calisuri @ 9:49 am EST

For the past week I have been communicating with Chris Z about Sideshow WETA collectibles and the potential of going broke buying their products. Chris did some research and sends us this article:

Author: Chris Z

For several months now, we have been teased with the upcoming Lord of the Rings polystone scuptures from Sideshow Toy of California. Since they are working directly with the WETA artists who designed the material for the film, we were promised the highest level of accuracy and quality ever seen in film merchandising product. This week, Sideshow placed their catalog on their website with full photographs of the initial series to be released this fall.
( Sideshow LOTR website: http://secure.sideshowtoy.com/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/sideshow/cgi/web_store.cgi?page=poly/lotr_home.html)

They did not disappoint and perhaps even exceeded many of our hopes. The quality is amazing. Perhaps the best ever seen in mass produced items of this kind. Every Sideshow sculpture certainly promises to be highly collectible and extremely desirable for the Tolkien collector.

There is however just one problem. These items must be purchaed with hard cash. And their pricing is certainly not at bargain basement levels.

Figures with the smaller sized characters (which looks to be hobbits and dwarves) start at $100.00 each. The larger characters (which I imagine is everyone else) goes for $125.00 each. They list 24 different figures that will be available and that does not include the one everyone is wondering about - the Balrog. Perhaps that will have an even more "special price". That comes to $2,800 for the set of figures.

There are a series of 32 busts that start at $55.00 each and go up to $60.00 each. That works out to nearly $2,000.00 for the set.

They have sixteen different helmets, or helms, with the first four priced at $100.00 each. That would make the entire set worth $400.00.

Months ago,they originally listed 57 different weapons tht they would be selling but now list 14 "weapons sets". Since none are in the first series and there is no price listed, it is impossible to say what these weapons sets will cost. But you can probably figure on something in the four figures.

Sideshow has seven different environments with no price listed but each look to be again in that $100.00 range.

If you add all these figures together you get a figure that is somewhere between $7,000 and could run as high as $9,000.00. And that is just for the items for the first film, FELLOWSHIP. Sideshow will have two more such series for the next two films.

Questions for Sideshow. Who is the target market for these items? Do you expect collectors to purchase entire series or sets? Are we to forgo our college education or the college education of our children to afford these items? Are we to get second or third jobs to buy your lovely items? Are we to ignore every other LOTR item that will flood the market over the next three years and give our money exclusively to Sideshow? With the economy going south and stock portfolios taking it on the chin, it will be a bit difficult to come up with ten, twenty or even thirty thousand dollars over the next three years for polystone scultpures as beautiful and desirable as they are.

Sideshow executives responded to my inquires several months ago and said they were considered some type of collectors program which may offer discounts and payment plans for the hardcore fanatic who wants entire sets of these items. In a phone call on Thursday, April 19, I was told by Shere in retail sales that there is not such program.

This is sad news for me and I assume others. If I have to pay full price I will limit myself to what I truly love. I will shepherd my financial resources and be selective. If I have to go without a Barliman Butterbur bust, well, I will have to live with that. I will buy the obvious- figures of the Fellowsship and the ones that just scream out at you like the Lurtz from the first series. I will forgo the helmets altogether and settle for the weapons that come with the full figures.

Perhaps Tolkien fans can get together and flood Sideshow with emails for a discounted collectors program. If someone wants to purchase an entire set of something or the entire line or figures or busts or helms, a discount of 25% would seem to be reasonable. The other alternative is to form a company and get yourself a wholesale license and go into business. That is a bit more than I desire to do.

Please email (sales@sideshowtoy.com) or write Sideshow expressing support for their product but dismay with their decisions about no discounts for collectors sets. We just may have some power in this. After all, who are they going to sell these things to if not us. And what was that line from th trailer about "even the smallest etc....."

The Melkor-Bradley LOTR Board Game, Part II
Tehanu @ 6:24 am EST

A few people wrote in to tell me that the LOTR board game designed by 'Melkor-Bradley' was a joke, and part of the Tolkien Sarcasm Page I like it that people could enjoy the Tolkien Sarcasm Page but still not recognise a Tehanu Irony Posting. Please readjust your irony detectors, as you may be suffering a malfunction.

However, I'm not the all-knowing source of all wisdom, and I have Androg to thank for this further bit of information: Although the game DOES NOT EXIST, a full set of rules etc. has been drawn up so you COULD make your own copy and play it - mostly by printing out the rules, map and 'plot complication cards' on the LOTR Board Game page. Androg says he's done this, and the result is a really hilarious game.

At the end of the page they say they'd be very interested to hear from anyone that has actually made and played the game. So would we. It could put you in strong contention to win our "Greatest Tolkien Fan Search" Contest.

Weekly Cast Watch
Xoanon @ 4:52 pm EST

Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn)

28 Days (2000)

Walk on the Moon, A (1999)
Thin Red Line, The (1998)
Perfect Murder, A (1998) UK
Psycho (1998) UK
Portrait of a Lady, The (1996) UK
Passion of Darkly Noon, The (1995)
Prophecy, The (1995)
American Yakuza (1994)
Boiling Point (1993) UK
Young Americans, The (1993) UK
Ruby Cairo (1993)
Two Small Bodies (1993)
Indian Runner, The (1991)
Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990) UK
Young Guns II (1990)
Fresh Horses (1988) UK
Witness (1985)

Liv Tyler (Arwen)

Dr. T and the Women (2000)
Plunkett & Macleane (1999) UK
Inventing the Abbotts (1997) UK
Stealing Beauty (1996)

Ian Holm (Bilbo)

Joe Gould's Secret (2000)
Bless the Child (2000)
Simon Magus (1999/I) UK
Animal Farm (1999) (TV)
King Lear (1997) (TV) UK
Fifth Element, The (1997)
Madness of King George, The (1994) UK
Hamlet (1990)
Henry V (1989)
Dance with a Stranger (1985)
Time Bandits (1981)
Chariots of Fire (1981) UK
Alien (1979) UK
S.O.S. Titanic (1979) (TV)
Shout at the Devil (1976)
Robin and Marian (1976) UK
Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)
Mary, Queen of Scots (1971)
Bofors Gun, The (1968) UK
Fixer, The (1968) UK

Sean Bean (Boromir)

Airborne (1998)
When Saturday Comes (1996) UK
GoldenEye (1995)
Stormy Monday (1988)

Hugo Weaving (Elrond)

Matrix, The (1999) UK
Bedrooms & Hallways (1998)
Babe: Pig in the City (1998) UK
Babe (1995) UK
Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, The (1994)

Karl Urban (Eomer)

Heaven (1998)

Miranda Otto (Eowyn)

What Lies Beneath (2000)
Jack Bull, The (1999) (TV) UK
Thin Red Line, The (1998) UK

David Wenham (Faramir)

Molokai: The Story of Father Damien (1999)
Boys, The (1997/I) UK
No Escape (1994)

Elijah Wood (Frodo)

Black and White (1999)
Faculty, The (1998) UK
Forever Young (1992) UK
Avalon (1990) UK
Internal Affairs (1990) UK

Cate Blanchett (Galadriel)

Pushing Tin (1999) UK
Ideal Husband, An (1999) UK
Talented Mr. Ripley, The (1999) UK
Elizabeth (1998)

Ian McKellen (Gandalf)

Apt Pupil (1998) UK
I'll Do Anything (1994)
Shadow, The (1994)
Six Degrees of Separation (1993)
Last Action Hero (1993) UK
Plenty (1985) UK
Scarlet Pimpernel, The (1982) (TV)
Alfred the Great (1969) UK

John Rhys-Davies (Gimli)

Au Pair (1999) (TV)
Secret of the Andes (1998) UK
Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996) (V)
Bloodsport 3 (1996)
Sunset Grill (1993)
King Solomon's Mines (1985)
Nairobi Affair (1984) (TV) UK
Victor/Victoria (1982)

Andy Serkis (Gollum)

Topsy-Turvy (1999) UK
Among Giants (1998) UK
Mojo (1997) UK

Bruce Spence (Mouth of Sauron)

Sweet Talker (1991)
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

Sean Astin (Sam)

Kimberly (1999)
Bulworth (1998) UK
Dish Dogs (1998)
Long Way Home, The (1997) UK
Teresa's Tattoo (1994)
Low Life, The (1994/I)
Encino Man (1992) UK
Staying Together (1989)
War of the Roses, The (1989)
Like Father, Like Son (1987) UK
Goonies, The (1985)

Christopher Lee (Saruman)

Sleepy Hollow (1999) UK
Jinnah (1998) UK
Tale of the Mummy (1998) UK
Mio min Mio (1987) UK
Howling II (1985)
Safari 3000 (1982)
Last Unicorn, The (1982)
1941 (1979) UK
Arabian Adventure (1979)
Return from Witch Mountain (1978) UK
Wicker Man, The (1973) UK
Nothing But the Night (1972)
Scream and Scream Again (1969)
Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968)
Five Golden Dragons (1967)
Amère victoire (1957)
Battle of the River Plate, The (1956) UK
My Brother's Keeper (1948) UK
Scott of the Antarctic (1948) UK

Bernard Hill (Theoden)

Criminal, The (2000) UK
True Crime (1999) UK
Midsummer Night's Dream, A (1999) UK
Ghost and the Darkness, The (1996) UK
Mountains of the Moon (1990) UK
Shirley Valentine (1989) UK
Bounty, The (1984)
Runners (1983) UK
Gandhi (1982) UK

Brad Dourif (Wormtongue)

Bride of Chucky (1998) UK
Urban Legend (1998) UK
Best Men (1997)
Death Machine (1995)
Amos & Andrew (1993)
Child's Play 3 (1991)
Hidden Agenda (1990)
Spontaneous Combustion (1989)
Blue Velvet (1986)
Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980) (TV)

Jim Rygiel (SFX)

Anna and the King (1999)
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) UK
Cliffhanger (1993) UK
Last Action Hero (1993) UK
Last of the Mohicans, The (1992)
Alien³ (1992) UK
Batman Returns (1992) UK
Solar Crisis (1990) UK
Ghost (1990)
2010 (1984)

Howard Shore (Composer)

High Fidelity (2000)
Analyze This (1999) UK
Game, The (1997) UK
Striptease (1996)
Truth About Cats & Dogs, The (1996)
Before and After (1996)
Se7en (1995)
Ed Wood (1994)
Guilty as Sin (1993)
Prelude to a Kiss (1992)
Single White Female (1992) UK
Silence of the Lambs, The (1991)
Postcards from the Edge (1990)
Innocent Man, An (1989)
She-Devil (1989)
Big (1988)
Moving (1988)
After Hours (1985) UK
Places in the Heart (1984) UK

Peter Jackson (Director)

Contact (1997) (as additional visual effects supervisor)

To get more information, use the sites I use like:

mydigiguide.com, tv-now.com and IMDB.com

An interview with two musicians from the Rings soundtrack!
Tehanu @ 7:46 pm EST

This morning there was an interview on Radio New Zealand with two of the musicians who will be featured on the 'Lord of the Rings' soundtrack. I've transcribed the parts of the interview that concerned the movies; sometimes the speech on the interview wasn't clear so I'll have to apologise for any inaccuracies that might cause.

RNZ: Technology might have made the filming of 'The Lord of the Rings' possible, but it's good old-fashioned music that'll bring Tolkien's creatures to life.

Alan Kelly: My name's Alan Kelly and I'm the guitarist and singer with the group 'The Barleyshakes. I'm over here with Alan Doherty, a great flautist. In the last months we arranged...that we'd come over here this week to record with 'The Lord of the Rings.' ...for a small piece of the music they needed...one of the pieces of music...I think they call it 'The Theme" [this I couldn't hear clearly] ...it's for the opening scene ... so we'll be recording that with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
I'll just be playing the Irish drum, the [bodhran?] which means 'deaf ear' or 'dull sound' - that's the Gaelic for that.
Alan will tell you a bit about the flute playing...that's Alan Doherty to my right here....

We played one concert last time when we were here which was for the Hutt Valley Art Association at the Sacred Heart School at the Hutt...that enabled Howard Shore [the Rings composer - T] to come and see us and liase with...
Alan Doherty: - He's the composer of the music...
Alan Kelly: - and he was happy with what we did, so that's basically why we're here. We came out under our own steam last time, this time they helped us out.

RNZ: So you must be familiar with the kind of tunes that are going to be involved in the music for 'The Lord of the Rings?'

Alan Doherty: We got a bit of a shock 'cos I got a recording of the piece of music that I thought was going to be the piece of music, so I learnt it off, and me not being able to read music I'd have to rewind and play it a lot of times on tape and try and learn it by ear - which I did. And then I come over here, and went into the hotel room, and get handed the CD of this kind of music, and it's changed a bit....

RNZ: What's this music like?

Alan Doherty: It's a classical piece of music - it's kind of Celtic but it's not really ...I'm going to be the soloist and that's - the lead bit is a Celtic kind of tune -
Alan Kelly: It's classical-based...

Alan Doherty: It's classical-based, with an orchestra.

Alan Kelly: It's to represent when the Hobbits are walking through the forest. So bits of it are dark, bits of it are bright, [...] leaves the sun coming through the trees...it's kind of neat[?]

RNZ: Why is there the Celtic connection? Is it a kind of myth and fantasy kind of sound?

Alan Kelly: Yeah, it sits into that type of world. Celtic music's very old, it's the ancientest type of music.

RNZ: When you were recording with the NZSO, as you say, you were given a CD and you... have to learn it and you have to go perform it - you can't improvise. How do you feel in those situations?

Alan Doherty: Well, I was told to improvise, actually.

Alan Kelly: I can't improvise.

Alan Doherty: He's got to stick to a certain beat but..He [the composer] basically said to me - 'There is the basic music.' I won't go off the rails with it - I just put in a couple of trills in there.

Alan Kelly went on to discribe the drum he used in the recording. It's a circular hand-drum made with a goatskin stretched over a round frame. It's played with a small stick. The pitch is altered with the right hand while playing. Alan Doherty talked about the tin whistles and flutes that he played, which most people will be familiar with.

These excerpts are from a National Radio programme supplied by Replay Radio, RNZ Ltd. You can order a copy of this programme by calling 0800 REPLAY (737 529) within NZ.
The Radio NZ website is Radio NZ

Brad Dourif Talks LOTR...Plus
Xoanon @ 5:11 pm EST

Brad Dourif (Wormtongue) talks LOTR in this RealAudio file. Click on it to hear Dourif's thoughts on LOTR, the filming process and what scares the be-jesus out of him! (you will need the latest version of Realplayer to listen). Click here to listen to Brad Dourif.

LOTR Poster at my local Cinema
Xoanon @ 10:27 am EST

Many of you have written in expressing great joy at seeing the LOTR poster at your local cinema. It just makes the whole event so much more REAL when you see it outside the confines of cyberspace. These movies are REALLY going to happen! and soon too!!! So when word got to me that MY local cinema had the LOTR posters, I had to get some photos of them and show them to you!

The manager at Famous Players Kirkland was kind enough to allow these photos to be taken. He's so very pumped about the films as well!

Elfenomeno article - a brief translation.
Tehanu @ 2:46 am EST

The latest Aragorn picture showing a little more of Viggo on horseback comes as the illustration to an article that is on the Spanish Tolkien website Elfenomeno. Under it is a long article which mostly talks about things we know (and the writer's got his facts straight, too, unlike some of the magazines we see!)

My Spanish isn't great, but I thought this seemed unfamiliar news, or maybe it's just worded differently to how I've seen it before:

Firstly they describe the release dates of the three movies as being dependent on each other: the first film comes out when the second is ready, the second when the third is ready, in order to ensure there won’t be an enormous lag between them. The writer says that, as filming has stuck to schedule “with military precision” there is no fear that the films won’t be released as expected, a year apart starting this coming December. I haven’t heard it put in those terms. As I understand it, all three films have finished principal photography; there would logically be the most pressure on post-production work for the first film throughout this year, combined with getting the actor’s voices and any pick-up shots finished before they have moved on too far from their current age and appearance.
The other interesting thing is where Peter Jackson talks about how long before they started filming, they made a kind of sketch of the movie using animated storyboards with a bit of music and dialogue. “In this way we have the film already made in a very basic form which serves as an orientation. It gives us a very good idea whether a scene is long, if the camera angles are right or whether the screenplay works. It allows us to see the whole film without filming it and feel whether we are on the right path or if the structure is right or if the characters are working well.”

Marton Csokas' Latest Projects
Xoanon @ 6:56 pm EST

Marton Csokas (Celeborn) has been a busy Kiwi. He's starring in a new TV Movie as well as one for the silver screen.

'The Farm' is a TV mini series which as Csokas as Adrian Beckett. The story tells the tale of a long-established grazing family in central west New South Wales, Australia who get into trouble in the early 1980s when they finance their development plans with a foreign currency loan the full dangers of which neither they or their local bank manager is aware of.

'Down and Under' is a Castle Rock/Jerry Bruckheimer Films action comedy set in Australia as well. It tells the tale of two childhood friends, a New York hairstylist and a would-be musician, who get caught up with the mob and are forced to deliver $100,000 to Australia, but things go haywire when the money is lost to a wild kangaroo. This film has no release date and is currently shooting in Australia.

Weekly Cast Watch
Xoanon @ 6:47 pm EST

Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn)

28 Days (2000)
Walk on the Moon, A (1999)
Perfect Murder, A (1998) UK
Portrait of a Lady, The (1996)
Passion of Darkly Noon, The (1995)
American Yakuza (1994)
Boiling Point (1993)
Ruby Cairo (1993)
Young Americans, The (1993) UK
Two Small Bodies (1993)
Young Guns II (1990)
Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990) UK
Witness (1985)

Liv Tyler (Arwen)

Dr. T and the Women (2000)
Cookie's Fortune (1999)
Plunkett & Macleane (1999) UK
Onegin (1999)
Empire Records (1995) UK

Ian Holm (Bilbo)

Bless the Child (2000)
Joe Gould's Secret (2000)
Miracle Maker, The (2000) (TV)
Simon Magus (1999/I) UK
eXistenZ (1999)
Life Less Ordinary, A (1997) UK
Big Night (1996)
Henry V (1989)
Dance with a Stranger (1985)
Chariots of Fire (1981) UK
Time Bandits (1981)
Alien (1979) UK
S.O.S. Titanic (1979) (TV)
Shout at the Devil (1976)
Robin and Marian (1976) UK
Juggernaut (1974) UK
Mary, Queen of Scots (1971) UK
Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)
Fixer, The (1968) UK

Sean Bean (Boromir)

Airborne (1998)
When Saturday Comes (1996) UK
Shopping (1994) UK
Jacob: A TNT Bible Story (1994) (TV)
Stormy Monday (1988)

Hugo Weaving (Elrond)

Matrix, The (1999) UK

Karl Urban (Eomer)

Heaven (1998)

Miranda Otto (Eowyn)

What Lies Beneath (2000)
Jack Bull, The (1999) (TV) UK

David Wenham (Faramir)

Molokai: The Story of Father Damien (1999)

Elijah Wood (Frodo)

Deep Impact (1998)
Faculty, The (1998) UK
Forever Young (1992) UK
Avalon (1990) UK
Internal Affairs (1990) UK

Cate Blanchett (Galadriel)

Pushing Tin (1999)
Ideal Husband, An (1999) UK
Talented Mr. Ripley, The (1999) UK
Elizabeth (1998)
Paradise Road (1997)

Ian McKellen (Gandalf)

X-Men (2000)
Gods and Monsters (1998)
Apt Pupil (1998) UK
Shadow, The (1994)
I'll Do Anything (1994)
Last Action Hero (1993) UK
Walter and June (1986) UK
Plenty (1985) UK
Alfred the Great (1969) UK
Touch of Love, A (1969) UK

Mark Ferguson (Gil Galad)

Every Woman's Dream (1996) (TV)

John Rhys-Davies (Gimli)

Au Pair (1999) (TV) UK
Secret of the Andes (1998) UK
Cats Don't Dance (1997)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam (1987) (TV)
Firewalker (1986) UK
King Solomon's Mines (1985)
Nairobi Affair (1984) (TV) UK
Victor/Victoria (1982)

Andy Serkis (Gollum)

Topsy-Turvy (1999) UK
Among Giants (1998) UK
Mojo (1997) UK

Bruce Spence (Mouth of Sauron)

Sweet Talker (1991)
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

Sean Astin (Sam)

Kimberly (1999)
Icebreaker (1999)
Bulworth (1998) UK
Long Way Home, The (1997) UK
Safe Passage (1994)
Teresa's Tattoo (1994)
Encino Man (1992) UK
Toy Soldiers (1991) UK
Staying Together (1989)
War of the Roses, The (1989)
White Water Summer (1987) UK
Goonies, The (1985)

Christopher Lee (Saruman)

Sleepy Hollow (1999) UK
Tale of the Mummy (1998) UK
Jinnah (1998) UK
Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
Mio min Mio (1987) UK
Safari 3000 (1982)
Eye for an Eye, An (1981) UK
1941 (1979) UK
Return from Witch Mountain (1978) UK
Airport '77 (1977)
Three Musketeers, The (1973) UK
Wicker Man, The (1973) UK
Horror Express (1972) UK
Scream and Scream Again (1969)
Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968)
Night of the Big Heat (1967)
Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966)
Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965)
Cockleshell Heroes, The (1955) UK
Crimson Pirate, The (1952)

Bernard Hill (Theoden)

Midsummer Night's Dream, A (1999) UK
True Crime (1999) UK
Mountains of the Moon (1990)
Shirley Valentine (1989) UK
Gandhi (1982) UK

Brad Dourif (Wormtongue)

Bride of Chucky (1998) UK
Nightwatch (1998)
Urban Legend (1998) UK
Best Men (1997)
Death Machine (1995)
Amos & Andrew (1993)
Exorcist III, The (1990)
Hidden Agenda (1990)
Blue Velvet (1986)
Ragtime (1981)
Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980) (TV)

Jim Rygiel (SFX)

Anna and the King (1999)
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) UK
Desperate Measures (1998)
Cliffhanger (1993) UK
Last Action Hero (1993) UK
Alien³ (1992) UK
Batman Returns (1992)
Last of the Mohicans, The (1992)
Solar Crisis (1990) UK
Ghost (1990)

Howard Shore (Composer)

Cell, The (2000)
Analyze This (1999) UK
eXistenZ (1999)
Game, The (1997) UK
Truth About Cats & Dogs, The (1996) UK
Crash (1996) UK
Se7en (1995)
Guilty as Sin (1993)
Prelude to a Kiss (1992) UK
Silence of the Lambs, The (1991)
Postcards from the Edge (1990)
Moving (1988)
Big (1988)
Places in the Heart (1984) UK

To get more information, use the sites I use like:

mydigiguide.com, tv-now.com and IMDB.com

Aaaargh! At last it begins...the nightmare journey through the Valley of Merchandising.
Tehanu @ 4:04 am EST

Matt sent me a link that quite frankly came close to making me lose my dinner suddenly. It could be a joke...I mean, we've all made jokes about things like the Arwen doll with light-up Evenstar and poisoned Frodo....the Asfaloth with custom galloping action...but could these things ever become reality? According to the news at Elostirion, they could! Well, there's never been a proven limit to bad taste, otherwise after 30 years of giggling at flares, people wouldn't be wearing them again.

I know I know, in a free country it's not actually a crime to suffer from bad taste, (shame, that) and the toys people play with in the privacy of their own homes is nobody elses business but their own.... but really, you have to marvel at this. Don't miss the link at the bottom to the LOTR marble bag . Collect and trade! (You WILL be assimilated. Where's the little marble that says "All your base are belong to us"?) (More.....ARRRGH!)