Statue Weta Announces Barad-Dur

[The Josh]

How big will this be compared to Orthanc?

I would expect it be at least as big.

 

[Bucky Underbelly]

I'm okay with this being monochromatic. Bag End and Rivendell bring the pop of color to my enviro collection. This one should be black and evil and pointy! If I want to add some extra lava glow, I'll do it with lighting.

 

[Bucky Underbelly]

I would expect it be at least as big.

Yup. Easily. My prediction is maybe six or eight inches taller.

Maybe more? Can't wait to see this thing!

 

[The Josh]

You're telling me

 

[Moriaman]

Yup. Easily. My prediction is maybe six or eight inches taller.

Maybe more? Can't wait to see this thing!

A Quote from Dave Tremont over on S&F

"The Barad-dur ‘making of’ clip in the news letter seems to have gone down well. There is more to come. I started this journey at Comic Con 2011 but had no idea it would go this long. We have actually made other collectibles during this process. At the time I thought it a good idea to keep a diary of notes describing the process, well, it grew and grew and now, with Comic Con 2012 at the door step, seems the perfect place to end it…. the final reveal. The detail was a big challenge, but no more complicated than other collectibles just that there was considerably more of it. There was close to one hundred small patterns made (some ‘one offs’ and the rest castable) and then around one thousand tiny cast pieces to build the main structure. Then it had to be put into an environment. This has, by far, been the most challenging and time consuming collectible we have produced. I thought Rivendell was complicated… phew!!! A doddle. I thought Orthanc was a bit of a challenge… phew!!! A doddle. Tape these, and several other together, and they would barely reach the first balcony."

I guess that means big!

 

[Invictus Sol]

Holy, this is shaping up to be incredible. I love LOTR but haven't been tempted with any of the previous offerings only because I didn't want to get roped-in to collecting another line. I did resolve that I'd get Barad Dur (with eye) if someone knocked it out of the park. Looks like this will be my one piece to represent LOTR. Can't wait for this to be revealed. Hope they go for an unlimited run. Would hate to miss out on it (not so concerned about any possible exclusives).

 

[Justified]

I think we can forget about the eye on barad-dur because weta has just released an app which creates a virtual eye of sauron when you direct your camera to the environment.

 

[cstojano]

I can't even get this app to work, tried on my computer and an iphone, reviews are lackluster but it seems people arent' sure what its supposed to be for.

 

[The Josh]

It's to use with the actual environment. It's supposed to give a cg like eye to the environment.

 

[gagaliya]

i hope it comes with a physical eye...at lease the exclusive version..

 

[The Josh]

I would expect it will.

 

[DaveMac]

I is for the 'eye' mon!

(help see me through the week )

 

[cstojano]

I'm even more confused now, how does an app on the computer interact with a polystone statue? I clicked it after downloading and nothing happened at all.

 

[The Josh]

I'm not sure but I guess I'll find out next week.

Also when the app opens does anyone else think that we might be getting a sneak peek of the enviro?

 

[Boromir]

Have we discussed the price tag yet?

My guess is depending on the size for sure but somewhere around Rivendell is realistic to me, hoping for 300-350$.

 

[The Josh]

I think $300-325 is a safe bet.

 

[Anubis]

I'm even more confused now, how does an app on the computer interact with a polystone statue? I clicked it after downloading and nothing happened at all.

You can't use it yet, you will need the enviro in hand. You will point the app at the statue and an eye will appear on the phone.

It's not a big thing, but i'm sure it will look cool for what it is. And also gives the hint the actual environment won't have the eye. Which would be my preference.

I'm not sure but I guess I'll find out next week.

Also when the app opens does anyone else think that we might be getting a sneak peek of the enviro?

Exactly what I thought Josh!

Now I think we might be getting a sneak peek here too....

 

[Invictus Sol]

Despite all the issues with attempting to make a static eye of Sauron, I still think one should be included (make it removable to please both camps). Having no eye would make Barad-Dur appear dead, in my opinion. As someone else said, it would remove all sense of menace from the tower. Hopefully the app is just something fun Weta cooked up for kicks and not an indication that the statue will have no eye. Get the idea behind it, but I can't imagine using it more than a couple times.

 

[Bucky Underbelly]

The app idea is really clever. But I hope it works on other stuff, too, and not just when you point it at the environment. It would be really fun to be able to add a pulsating Eye of Sauron to all sorts of photos or videos! I can easily see me losing whole afternoons to that kind of delightful silliness!

 

[cstojano]

Latest FB post from Weta suggests it won't work until you are at their booth at SDCC.