Statue Weta - Azog the Defiler on Warg

[SurlyJ]

Hope my method helps others

I showed her Azog tonight and got an immediate "whoa... I don't know what's cooler, the dude or the wolf"

So I went all in with an "I need to have this next to Sauron". No objection.

Now hopefully my wait list converts. I don't want to pay aftermarket prices.

 

[cstojano]

Mine arrives today, would consider trades for classic SSW pieces (witch king, troll, balrog) as I don't expect to keep it (sold off most of my Hobbit stuff). But then maybe I will be wowed by it.
Chris

 

[masterside]

bring pics!!!!

 

[Adolfo]

Mine arrives today, would consider trades for classic SSW pieces (witch king, troll, balrog) as I don't expect to keep it (sold off most of my Hobbit stuff). But then maybe I will be wowed by it.
Chris

You will be wowed...I think

 

[The Josh]

You will be wowed...I think

I would think so. As far as trades I think its too early in the game to expect those three classic pieces to be traded for Azog. Maybe in a few years it might be possible but not just yet.

 

[Fritz]

Mine arrives today, would consider trades for classic SSW pieces (witch king, troll, balrog) as I don't expect to keep it (sold off most of my Hobbit stuff). But then maybe I will be wowed by it.
Chris

You probably wouldn't find any takers for the Cave Troll or Balrog but any of the Witch-King items aren't really as valuable as Azog (other than the crown maybe).

 

[Adolfo]

Not just the sculpt... Wait till folks in hand see the size of it, this will Dwarf all those older pieces.. Plus ES of only 500 makes it a near perfect collectible that has become an investment too

 

[The Josh]

Not just the sculpt... Wait till folks in hand see the size of it, this will Dwarf all those older pieces.. Plus ES of only 500 makes it a near perfect collectible that has become an investment too

It will be larger than a lot of those pieces. As someone who has seen this in person I can assure you its larger than a fair number of pieces in the SSW line. Its ES of 500 is a much smaller number than we've seen in quite some time. As far as an investment I don't think collectibles should be looked at like that. Its a risky business going at it like that. The market is different today than it was when the SSW pieces were coming out, LOTR was a hotter property than The Hobbit is now, and those pieces cost half as much at the time. Its going to be hard I think for quite a while to see something as amazing as Azog is to hit the same percentage increase as say you've seen with The Balrog.

 

[NAZGUL-KING]

Just waiting for BBTS to take my money and hand over the Pale Orc.

 

[Adolfo]

It will be larger than a lot of those pieces. As someone who has seen this in person I can assure you its larger than a fair number of pieces in the SSW line. Its ES of 500 is a much smaller number than we've seen in quite some time. As far as an investment I don't think collectibles should be looked at like that. Its a risky business going at it like that. The market is different today than it was when the SSW pieces were coming out, LOTR was a hotter property than The Hobbit is now, and those pieces cost half as much at the time. Its going to be hard I think for quite a while to see something as amazing as Azog is to hit the same percentage increase as say you've seen with The Balrog.

over $1k this year...If Weta makes a 1/6 companion piece to this like a Dain on Wild Boar or Orc on Reg boar this will go thru the roof! $1500 plus in 2015...Sauron PF will be at $899 in 2015

 

[SurlyJ]

With statues I find myself not caring about increased value as I do with other figures. These are true art pieces, and you buy art because it speaks to you and means something to you and is something that will make you happy to have in your home. If my Sauron PF plummets and is worth $100 in 3 years, I will still love it. If it becomes worth $3000, I will still keep it. I dunno... With my transformers, figuarts, gokins, 1/6, etc the value matters to me, that stuff has a play value and has ,ore turnover for me so value means something. I just don't view these big, detailed statues the same way.

 

[The Josh]

over $1k this year...If Weta makes a 1/6 companion piece to this like a Dain on Wild Boar or Orc on Reg boar this will go thru the roof! $1500 plus in 2015...Sauron PF will be at $899 in 2015

Totally possible. I don't think its likely but its possible. In time I think its far more likely you could see that as people realize how good a piece Azog is, its rarity, and as people come to really enjoy The Hobbit films even more. As far as Sauron goes if he stays at his current value that's fine with me its simply an amazing piece.

 

[The Josh]

With statues I find myself not caring about increased value as I do with other figures. These are true art pieces, and you buy art because it speaks to you and means something to you and is something that will make you happy to have in your home. If my Sauron PF plummets and is worth $100 in 3 years, I will still love it. If it becomes worth $3000, I will still keep it. I dunno... With my transformers, figuarts, gokins, 1/6, etc the value matters to me, that stuff has a play value and has ,ore turnover for me so value means something. I just don't view these big, detailed statues the same way.

That's how I feel as a whole. Its nice to see them increase in value but owning them is worth so much more as a whole. In the end I'd trade owning the Original Balrog statue again over the money I sold it for years ago.

 

[SurlyJ]

Yeah, I also don't understand the notion that if something doesn't INCREASE in value, somehow that is viewed as a loss of value. That's a very capitalist viewpoint I guess, where things have to always go up, stagnation is death, lol. There's nothing wrong with enough of something being made to meet demand at the original retail level.

 

[The Josh]

Yeah, I also don't understand the notion that if something doesn't INCREASE in value, somehow that is viewed as a loss of value. That's a very capitalist viewpoint I guess, where things have to always go up, stagnation is death, lol. There's nothing wrong with enough of something being made to meet demand at the original retail level.

Agreed

 

[Adolfo]

Does anyone here think that I buy because of Value...If I did that I would buy multiples...I did buy the sceond Azog because I just knew...I've never yet made a mistake when buying multiples of a piece(I dont do that too often)....I buy what I like...and bought many things I knew I never would get my money back...Secondary market value is a plus...and from a economical point of view its nice and allows us to even get more things if we want or god forbid something negative happens in our lives where we have to sell, it is always nice to make a profit...Without that point of view I never could have afford what I have/had

 

[SurlyJ]

Does anyone here think that I buy because of Value...If I did that I would buy multiples...I did buy the sceond Azog because I just knew...I've never yet made a mistake when buying multiples of a piece(I dont do that too often)....I buy what I like...and bought many things I knew I never would get my money back...Secondary market value is a plus...and from a economical point of view its nice and allows us to even get more things if we want or god forbid something negative happens in our lives where we have to sell, it is always nice to make a profit...Without that point of view I never could have afford what I have/had

I wasn't really directing my comments towards you specifically, which is why I didn't quote or directly address you. You just brought up some points that made me think of general sentiments I have read where people say "no way this goes up in value" like that's some huge insult, or complain about an ES being open or too high, lots of that in regards to Sauron too.

I've also bought multiples here and there of things to sell. Statues are too expensive for me to take the gamble, but I've messed up with buying multiples before and had to wait a while just to get my money back. I've also made money on several purchases. Hell, I only have my dx07 luke because I bought a $200 limited 3rd party transformer knowing it would go up... Sold it for $500 a week later. We almost all do it.

I love it when value increases on my stuff, it's nice to know even when I don't want to sell. Sometimes I've sold things I never intended to sell, but saw the prices people were paying and said "well I like this, but I don't like it THAT much." Typically I take the attitude that if I don't like something enough to pay the secondary market price if I didn't already own it, then I sell it. I just don't understand people that won't buy something to keep if it doesn't go up in value or has an open or too high an ES.

 

[The Josh]

I wasn't really directing my comments towards you specifically, which is why I didn't quote or directly address you. You just brought up some points that made me think of general sentiments I have read where people say "no way this goes up in value" like that's some huge insult, or complain about an ES being open or too high, lots of that in regards to Sauron too.

I've also bought multiples here and there of things to sell. Statues are too expensive for me to take the gamble, but I've messed up with buying multiples before and had to wait a while just to get my money back. I've also made money on several purchases. Hell, I only have my dx07 luke because I bought a $200 limited 3rd party transformer knowing it would go up... Sold it for $500 a week later. We almost all do it.

I love it when value increases on my stuff, it's nice to know even when I don't want to sell. Sometimes I've sold things I never intended to sell, but saw the prices people were paying and said "well I like this, but I don't like it THAT much." Typically I take the attitude that if I don't like something enough to pay the secondary market price if I didn't already own it, then I sell it. I just don't understand people that won't buy something to keep if it doesn't go up in value or has an open or too high an ES.

I would give you positive rep for this if it didn't tell me I couldn't.

 

[Adolfo]

there are many variables that go into making decisions for purchasing a statue...The Azog has all the variables in its favor...Low ES, awesome sculpt, awesome dynamic action/pose, great paint job(hey it's Weta),a creature(warg),A villain, huge size and terrific representation of a beloved franchise...all the variables I use if I think this will be a grail or not....This piece is close to perfection in my eyes...I got all of that just from photos...I can only imagine in person what this will look like in a few days, and grats to anyone who got this....Another variable I forgot to mention...How 500 of these very expensive $700 sold out quickly(4 weeks)...Thats a good/great sign...

 

[The Josh]

This has all the potential to be a grail. A lot of that will depend on how collectors as a whole feel about The Hobbit movies as time goes on.