Premium Format Sauron Premium Format

[Adolfo]

Sauron has already been announced as part of the LSF line, and I've heard rumours the RWOS might be as well, so I can't see how this would have taken anything away from the LSF news. Besides, if anything stole the LSF's thunder it was the DC announcement, which in my mind was the biggest news of the show, and one which is going to impact collectors alot more than the LSF line ever will.
The point is, it's been over two years since SS informed us a Ringwarith was in the works, and they told us to look for a big PF opportunity mid 2011.......and we got nothing. SS's biggest event of the year, and not even a hint or whisper concerning their biggest LOTR PF undertaking ever.......all I know is if I exclusively collected LOTR PF's I'd be royally pissed at the moment......And as if the lack of anything PF-related [pre-orders, previews, sneak peeks, or a single PF at the show!] wasn't enough.....the ONLY piece of news collectors received at the entire show, or during SS's month-long event was that the Sauron PF has now been designated a LSF......translation : It just went from expensive to "I'm gonna need a 2nd mortgage" expensive. Is that the kind of 'good' news anyone wanted to hear?

I told you it would be that expensive long ago if it is to be a quality statue!

 

[Seaward]

I would imagine any of the news from the rest of the month will be pre-orders of products that were debuted at SDCC, such as the Bespin Luke, Joker Premium Format, or stuff like that, but we won't get any surprise "new" pre-order, but I will still hold out hope for a product video for the Lord of the Rings Premium Format line.

As cool as Sauron looks in the films, and the previews we have seen up until now, I do feel a little disappointed that he moved from "an oversized Premium Format" to the Legendary Scale line. The size is certainly a factor, but the sculpt we have seen looks like he would fall more in line with the Premium Format line. I don't expect that the sculpts would be that much more detailed than what is already offered in 1/4 scale, and the materials don't seem to be different than polystone, at least based on what we have seen.

The Lord of the Rings excitement was certainly muted during this event, and maybe our expectations were too high, but given how well Sideshow has been communicating both the Premium Format and Maquette lines over the next year, I feel underwhelmed.

They had discussed Sauron, Saruman, and the Ringwraith on Steed as probable Premium Formats, with nothing shown. The maquette line also debuted the Snow Troll, but Arwen and Boromir have been seen for some time. Even the Snow Troll is a little strange, as he isn't even a movie character. Cool as he is, I would have preferred a movie based troll. Not a whole lot of news when compared to their other properties.

 

[fuzzylojiks]

Yeah, not much LOTR news this con.

 

[woodsy]

I would imagine any of the news from the rest of the month will be pre-orders of products that were debuted at SDCC, such as the Bespin Luke, Joker Premium Format, or stuff like that, but we won't get any surprise "new" pre-order, but I will still hold out hope for a product video for the Lord of the Rings Premium Format line.

As cool as Sauron looks in the films, and the previews we have seen up until now, I do feel a little disappointed that he moved from "an oversized Premium Format" to the Legendary Scale line. The size is certainly a factor, but the sculpt we have seen looks like he would fall more in line with the Premium Format line. I don't expect that the sculpts would be that much more detailed than what is already offered in 1/4 scale, and the materials don't seem to be different than polystone, at least based on what we have seen.

Well that's the thing.....the size hasn't changed. It was just under true 1/4 scale [approx 32"] when it was a PF and it's still just under 1/4 scale. As to somehow 'upping' the quality..... how on earth are they going to do that? Sculpted polystone is sculpted polystone and Sauron's cape, which is the only fabric on the entire statue, is hardly overly detailed or complex. Perhaps they could add a light-up feature to the base giving the lava a 'glowing' effect, but other than that I do have a clue what else they could consider.

The Lord of the Rings excitement was certainly muted during this event, and maybe our expectations were too high, but given how well Sideshow has been communicating both the Premium Format and Maquette lines over the next year, I feel underwhelmed?

They had discussed Sauron, Saruman, and the Ringwraith on Steed as probable Premium Formats, with nothing shown. The maquette line also debuted the Snow Troll, but Arwen and Boromir have been seen for some time. Even the Snow Troll is a little strange, as he isn't even a movie character. Cool as he is, I would have preferred a movie based troll. Not a whole lot of news when compared to their other properties.

Underwhelmed is certainly one word that applies. And as I alluded to in an earlier post, perhaps our expectations were too high, but based on the momentum LOTR has enjoyed in the past year I think we had every right to 'aim high' and expect more.

Last year the maquette line was just getting off the ground and the overall condition of the LOTR licence was not much to write home about, so I don't think most of us expected a whole lot. Yet in spite of that we received two pre-orders [Aragorn & Gandalf] in the weeks leading up to SDCC. We were also, via SS's LOTR video release during SDCC, given our first glimpse at some of the maquette excl's and we saw the Gollum and Mordor Orc PF designs for the very first time.

This year, in spite of a LOTR resurgence, we got one maquette pre-order, one preview, and zero maquette or PF sneak peeks. And I think most disappointing of all was we received absolutely nothing in regard to the RWOS PF...and any LOTR fan who says he/she wasn't expecting to see a least a glimpse, or get some kind of news regarding that PF isn't being truthful.

And yes, SS has provided us with information pertaining to future PF's such as RWOS, Sauron and Saruman. They've also informed us the designs for maquette characters such as Eomer, Faramir, Mouth of Sauron , and a Prologue Elven warrior are complete and the fact they showed us nothing in regard to these future projects is a bitter disappointment as far as I'm concerned.

 

[The Josh]

Sauron is gonna be part of the lsf line? That's news to me.

 

[woodsy]

Sauron is gonna be part of the lsf line? That's news to me.

Originally Posted by Anubis
According to Sideshows press release regarding the new Legendary Scale Figure line: https://www.sideshowtoy.com/?page_id=35929

Specifically:

"The Legendary Scale(TM) brand allows the artists at Sideshow the freedom necessary to explore monstrously large characters, like Neytiri from Avatar and Sauron from The Lord of the Rings, in a large-scale size that still comfortably lends itself to display in a home or office environment."

SS posted this while you were away.

.

 

[cstojano]

SS posted this while you were away.

.

I love their use of the word "comfortably". I got to thinking that this really works for linear characters in fairly upright poses. Wolverine must be a beast in terms of its floor space footprint, but a tall piece like Sauron may work well in a larger scale.

Are we sure the preview sculpt showed sculpted armor? Maybe the chainmail loin is real armor??? Like Woodsy said there isn't much else to "legendary scale" besides the size and the armor. Light up features just don't do it for me but given the inspiration from Jerry's piece perhaps this is it. Hardly worthy of the cost IMO.

 

[woodsy]

I love their use of the word "comfortably". I got to thinking that this really works for linear characters in fairly upright poses. Wolverine must be a beast in terms of its floor space footprint, but a tall piece like Sauron may work well in a larger scale.

Are we sure the preview sculpt showed sculpted armor? Maybe the chainmail loin is real armor??? Like Woodsy said there isn't much else to "legendary scale" besides the size and the armor. Light up features just don't do it for me but given the inspiration from Jerry's piece perhaps this is it. Hardly worthy of the cost IMO.

 

[The Josh]

I'm sorry this comic-con lotr wise was anything but disappointing. 3 new lotr items is awesome. Seeing in person helps and I mentioned we need a new concept video and it sounds like it will happen.

Edit: plus we got an amazing orthanc from Weta. Nothing but win for me.

 

[The Josh]

SS posted this while you were away.

.

Ah I'll get him just will have to flex pay.

 

[Seaward]

I guess they could conceivably plate that sculpt with acid-etched metal pieces to capture the intaglio detailing on the armor, but from that shot, it looks like he would be fully sculpted. Since we have no word on the price, speculating could lead to needless hand-wringing, but the comment that he is moving into the LSF line and other comments that the price point will be on the upper end of the Sideshow spectrum around $2000.00 are a little discouraging.

I am still hoping to see a preview video over the next couple of days. Didn't a Sideshow rep tell you to look out for some news today Woodsy?

 

[woodsy]

I guess they could conceivably plate that sculpt with acid-etched metal pieces to capture the intaglio detailing on the armor, but from that shot, it looks like he would be fully sculpted. Since we have no word on the price, speculating could lead to needless hand-wringing, but the comment that he is moving into the LSF line and other comments that the price point will be on the upper end of the Sideshow spectrum around $2000.00 are a little discouraging.

I am still hoping to see a preview video over the next couple of days. Didn't a Sideshow rep tell you to look out for some news today Woodsy?

My conversation with SS revolved around the disappointment of collectors over a lack of news or info regarding the RWOS PF and I was told that there might be something LOTR-related the week of the 25th, though the rep wasn't about to confirm or deny anything specifically. I guess we'll know for sure in the next few days.

 

[Bucky Underbelly]

My conversation with SS revolved around the disappointment of collectors over a lack of news or info regarding the RWOS PF and I was told that there might be something LOTR-related the week of the 25th, though the rep wasn't about to confirm or deny anything specifically. I guess we'll know for sure in the next few days.

Didn't they say the Arwen maquette would open preorders after the con? Maybe they meant RIGHT after the con?

But hopefully it's some kind of news about the RWoS or Sauron! I don't even need pictures. Just a status report would be nice.

 

[fuzzylojiks]

Wonder if they are really putting Sauron in the CSF line? They stated he was a PF in the Q&A. I guess it could be their change to make it a CSF and charge 'Legendary' prices.

 

[woodsy]

Didn't they say the Arwen maquette would open preorders after the con? Maybe they meant RIGHT after the con?

But hopefully it's some kind of news about the RWoS or Sauron! I don't even need pictures. Just a status report would be nice.

With both the Snow Troll and Arwen previews it states to watch for upcoming newsletters for pre-order opportunites so technically either one could become available this Thursday, the last Thursday in Dec., or anywhere inbetween......we just don't know.

Last year SS in their Q&A segment told us the Legolas maquette would be coming shortly after SDCC....6 month's later Legolas finally went up for pre-order.

 

[woodsy]

Wonder if they are really putting Sauron in the CSF line? They stated he was a PF in the Q&A. I guess it could be their change to make it a CSF and charge 'Legendary' prices.

On two separate occasions SS had the opportunity to confirm Sauron as being a PF.....and on both occasions they wouldn't quite say it. Now we know why.

Monday, April 11th, 2011

Regarding your upcoming Sauron piece in collaboration with Jerry Vanderstelt, I was wondering if you could comment officially on whether it will fall into the Premium Format category (even if not officially 1/4 scale), or if it will in fact be one of the first (if not the first) baddie in the new maquette line? This is easily my most anticipated piece, and I know everyone is eager to know more!

It’s going to be BIG. It will be done in approximately 1:4 scale, true to the Premium Format line. If all goes according to plan, this will be a major centerpiece for the LOTR line, a very singularly impressive statement piece.

Monday, January 10th, 2011

Is there any possibility of a Sauron Premium Format and/or a Saruman? I was unfortunate enough to miss all of your previous Sauron products because I just recently discovered Sideshow.

Yup. Saruman and Sauron have just officially graduated from the candidate list to the confirmed, planned, product line-up for 2012. We’ll be collaborating with Jerry Vanderstelt on Sauron, who may or may not end up “officially” in the PF classification, but will be BIG.

 

[NAZGUL-KING]

I guess they could conceivably plate that sculpt with acid-etched metal pieces to capture the intaglio detailing on the armor, but from that shot, it looks like he would be fully sculpted. Since we have no word on the price, speculating could lead to needless hand-wringing, but the comment that he is moving into the LSF line and other comments that the price point will be on the upper end of the Sideshow spectrum around $2000.00 are a little discouraging.

I am still hoping to see a preview video over the next couple of days. Didn't a Sideshow rep tell you to look out for some news today Woodsy?

My SSW Sauron is looking pretty good to me right about now.

 

[Bucky Underbelly]

My SSW Sauron is looking pretty good to me right about now.

Mine, too.

I'd love a PF-scaled Sauron, but since they've confirmed he'll be part of the Legendary Scale line -- (they name-checked him in the press release, after all) -- that will put him solidly outside of my price range.

I do wish all you lucky buggers with deeper pockets the best of luck in landing one, though!

 

[woodsy]

Mine, too.

I'd love a PF-scaled Sauron, but since they've confirmed he'll be part of the Legendary Scale line -- (they name-checked him in the press release, after all) -- that will put him solidly outside of my price range.

I do wish all you lucky buggers with deeper pockets the best of luck in landing one, though!

Yes, we've all seen that press release. It's SS's polite way of saying 'bend over......'. No doubt the pricing is going to eliminate alot of potential customers, but there's no way I'll be passing on it.

 

[NAZGUL-KING]

Yes, we've all seen that press release. It's SS's polite way of saying 'bend over......'. No doubt the pricing is going to eliminate alot of potential customers, but there's no way I'll be passing on it.

That's pretty much how I feel in regards to the RWOS. I'll most likely not be able to swing both Sauron and the RWOS, but it really all depends on how far apart they are released and what else is on the horizon. And as of right now it looks like I'll be hooked up on a steady flex-pay drip for quite a while.