Valkrist wrote: Sun Mar 24, 2024 5:03 am The MC line is fully advertised as using different materials.

The regular line is too, although Weta is not consistent in specifying materials for either line. Sometimes they say polyurethane or polyresin is used for some parts, in addition to polystone. Other times they nothing at all, like in the Gil-galad copy. They have also indicated when they have used cast metal for blades in the past, but not consistently. The new Witch-king says it is polystone and polyresin. The Salvation eagle description only says polystone, but it clearly has some polyurethane parts.

Valkrist wrote: Sun Mar 24, 2024 5:03 am It's the same as all the leaf branches on Treebeard. Those would be a nightmare if done in polyresin, though in that case, they are very much plastic

I remember the description on those said something like "artificial greenery", but I think those were probably polyurethane, not plastic. I suppose some people call all polyurethanes and polyresins "plastic", but in the industry we do not consider those plastics. Polyurethane is pour or roto cast just like the resins, but it's an elastomer. It's more like what Weta uses for the stunt props. They seem to be using it more and more for fine parts these days, but it's not what I would call cheap.

When I originally wanted the Legolas Lothlorien bow replica to be made in one piece, I had it costed out in polyurethane. Since that material is more flexible than polyresin/polystone, I thought it would be a better option because. I can actually get some draw on the string of my polyurethane bow props. It was much more expensive than polyresin!

N2darkness wrote: Sun Mar 24, 2024 6:10 am I definitely can't have them all due to space, but the White Tree and Fountain guard is piece that screams "Middle-Earth" and feels like a must have.

It definitely looks like a needed addition to your collection.

Are the small branches the more flexible material? Mine should be here today or tomorrow so I am debating where it will go. I really have no space for it, so I am going to move a few things around to make room. I have a great center space for it in my living room, but it's in a danger zone for breakage.

I ended up getting an extra fountain guard and the King Aragorn statue to go with the tree. I had to get the Arwen statue to go along with it to make the wife happy.

N2darkness wrote: Sat Mar 23, 2024 7:49 am I received Gil-Galad yesterday.
Very detailed piece and painted beautifully.
Few very minor nit picks. The piece is extremely light, most of it is made of some sort of plastic and not polystone. Mostly to cut down on breakage of all the cloth elements. Even the base feels hollow cast. Aeglos also has a slight bow.

Mine just arrived. The base is actually quite heavy on this one. I think the only parts that are the heavier polystone are the base and the core figure. The rest of the parts do not seem that flexible, so I don't think those are polyurethane. Probably just a lighter weight polyresin. They will probably shatter just as easily if banged or dropped. The cloth parts are definitely thinner and more to scale than the thicker polystone cloth capes of previous figures, but it does feel a bit cheap when touching them. Visually the casting and paint job are excellent though.

My spear shaft is warped too, but when assembled to the statue you can't really see it. The shaft is missing the taper at the end, but I guess that is sort of film accurate since the screen prop shaft was cut off before the bend and taper. I do like that the entire blade and shaft post are cast metal.

N2darkness wrote: Sat Mar 23, 2024 7:49 am
And also the protective tip on the shield is a removable piece and can be displayed either way.

That detail was hilarious. I wonder if they made it a separate part after it was pointed out that it was a tip protector for the prop, not actually something intended to be seen on screen.

Nasnandos wrote: Tue Mar 26, 2024 3:41 am It definitely looks like a needed addition to your collection.

Are the small branches the more flexible material? Mine should be here today or tomorrow so I am debating where it will go. I really have no space for it, so I am going to move a few things around to make room. I have a great center space for it in my living room, but it's in a danger zone for breakage.

I ended up getting an extra fountain guard and the King Aragorn statue to go with the tree. I had to get the Arwen statue to go along with it to make the wife happy.

I had to back and check, the branches are attached to the main trunk magnetically and then the branches are made of multiple parts. The thicker polystone base and then the thin flexible branches.

I'll definitely be picking up the Arwen on a sale and all 3 of these pieces next to each other will make for an amazing display. Just need a constant flow of falling white pedals to complete the look.

I put my OG Elessar on the White tree base as it's detachable from the base. Could also make for a great display.

Nasnandos wrote: Tue Mar 26, 2024 4:29 am Mine just arrived. The base is actually quite heavy on this one. I think the only parts that are the heavier polystone are the base and the core figure. The rest of the parts do not seem that flexible, so I don't think those are polyurethane. Probably just a lighter weight polyresin. They will probably shatter just as easily if banged or dropped. The cloth parts are definitely thinner and more to scale than the thicker polystone cloth capes of previous figures, but it does feel a bit cheap when touching them. Visually the casting and paint job are excellent though.

My spear shaft is warped too, but when assembled to the statue you can't really see it. The shaft is missing the taper at the end, but I guess that is sort of film accurate since the screen prop shaft was cut off before the bend and taper. I do like that the entire blade and shaft post are cast metal.

They aren't flexible, but they do move a bit. A few parts of mine actually touch and rub together. Notably the robes from the arms and the shield.
I was wondering if the spear tip was cast in metal and then joined to the pole as that is were mine seems bent the most.

But as you said, none of this distracts from the piece at all, it displays beautifully!

After looking at the statue a bit more, the only weak area I can see is the orc blood. Not a lot of effort was put into painting it, especially on the spear blade. The sculptural detail and accuracy to the costume is incredible however. The dead orc and severed limb on the ground was a nice touch.

I'm not crazy about the unrealistic billowing cloth, but I knew the sculpt was like that before getting it, so I can't complain. That's the main reason I passed on the twirly ballet dancing Elven Warrior statue a few years back.

N2darkness wrote: Tue Mar 26, 2024 5:49 am I was wondering if the spear tip was cast in metal and then joined to the pole as that is were mine seems bent the most.

That joint is straight on mine, but poly shaft is bent in the middle. The cape covers that whole area, so you don't really see it when assembled.

N2darkness wrote: Tue Mar 26, 2024 5:41 am I put my OG Elessar on the White tree base as it's detachable from the base. Could also make for a great display.

Are you going to upgrade goofy claymation-faced Elessar with the new one?

Nasnandos wrote: Tue Mar 26, 2024 11:12 am

N2darkness wrote: Tue Mar 26, 2024 5:41 am I put my OG Elessar on the White tree base as it's detachable from the base. Could also make for a great display.

Are you going to upgrade goofy claymation-faced Elessar with the new one?

My spear looks just like your just a slight bent in the other direction, but nothing major.

As for the new Elessar, probably will pick it up. Weta has just proven to put all of their OE and Classic Series on sale at some point and I won't pre-order anymore. I got the CS Gandalf for 50% off on the last sale.
But would like to get Frodo, the Witchking, Arwen and Elessar eventually as they all look very well done.

And this trio of the Last Alliance is very cool, just takes up a bit of space if you want to display them together.

Guys, have either of you tried the blow dryer trick on the spear shaft? Curious of that will work. It worked like a charm for me on Sauron's helm spikes.

Valkrist wrote: Tue Mar 26, 2024 1:50 pm Guys, have either of you tried the blow dryer trick on the spear shaft? Curious of that will work. It worked like a charm for me on Sauron's helm spikes.

Yes, and it would be easy to correct. I think it would just bend the same again over time though. It's the cape wrapping around it that that forces it into the bent shape. Weta actually shipped it in place like that, rather than packed separate from the character like they typically do.

Thanks Kit. Ok, well that's dumb of Weta, but oh well.

Valkrist wrote: Tue Mar 26, 2024 3:25 pm Thanks Kit. Ok, well that's dumb of Weta, but oh well.

Probably, but if you can't see the warp when it is assembled, it does not bother me. Unlike the mini arrows on nearly every Weta statue I purchased that had a bow and arrow. I had to re-bend and correct all of those except the one that came with the Legolas and Gilmi combo statue.

When you get that thin with poly, it's nearly impossible to get a decent quantity out of the molds that do not warp when curing. Even at full sized it's a problem, as UC found with the full sized arrows included with their Hobbit bows.

N2darkness wrote: Tue Mar 26, 2024 1:07 pm And this trio of the Last Alliance is very cool, just takes up a bit of space if you want to display them together.

Very cool. I wish I had the space to put all three together like that.

My White Tree arrived today. Perfect condition. I opted for the extra fountain guard, but even facing it a different direction, it's obvious that both are the exact same statue. I think I will modify the head on one so it is turned a different direction. Weta could have made a different head and arm part easily, but I think the decision to offer the guard separately was made late in the process after the master molds had been made.

I know roughly what that massive color box costs to print. It is really impressive with that spot UV gloss prinitng, but I think I would have preferred several extra branches added to fill out the tree more by moving that cost to the statue itself. Can't complain though, as it is very impressive.

Nasnandos wrote: Thu Mar 28, 2024 6:28 am
My White Tree arrived today. Perfect condition. I opted for the extra fountain guard, but even facing it a different direction, it's obvious that both are the exact same statue. I think I will modify the head on one so it is turned a different direction. Weta could have made a different head and arm part easily, but I think the decision to offer the guard separately was made late in the process after the master molds had been made.

I know roughly what that massive color box costs to print. It is really impressive with that spot UV gloss prinitng, but I think I would have preferred several extra branches added to fill out the tree more by moving that cost to the statue itself. Can't complain though, as it is very impressive.

I'm not sure why they don't offer additional swap out options for different display options. Seems like fairly simple thing to do when so many pieces are assembled with magnets.

Personally, I never remove the box from the shipper it comes with, I just open the top and slide out the styrofoam and put it away. I own hundreds of statues and could care less what's on the box, as long as it's sturdy and has sufficient support and padding for all the pieces. I know it creates the sense of more of a premium product (like the MC line with fabric lining for individual pieces) but feel it could either be used toward making the statue better or reduce the costs to the customer.

But, as you said it doesn't matter as it is a very impressive piece. I know it's one of the newest pieces and we always fall in love with what we just got, but this piece is easily a top 10, maybe even top 5 must have in a collection.

So what are everyone's thoughts on Theoden? I personally think the details are great, but I don't love the pose of Snowmane, especially the tail.

Yeah, it's not perfect, but darn close. The problem is we build these things up so much in our minds that reality, when it finally arrives, can almost never live up to the anticipation. Still, it's pretty cool and I'd get if not for the expected knockout punch that the price is going to be.

It's a beautiful piece and highly detailed. I agree on the pose and could definitely have been a bit different. I'm sure the price will be high just like most of their recent offerings.

The weight only being 12 lbs is a bit of a shocker as the description says mostly polystone, with metal and polyurethane. I sense a common theme here.

But what has got me most concerned is the size, mostly the height at almost 2 feet tall. If the pose was slightly more movie oriented or even "museum" would have been better for me.

I guess I've got a week to decide, but right now I'm a bit hesitant.

Update:

Weight on the Weta site has been updated to 21 lbs and is closer in line to other rider pieces

Ya I think his arm is a bit to high and straight and not quite accurate to the film, which would have been nice because like you said would have been easier to display.

I was very disappointed in the pose. All they had to do was replicate any one of those iconic film poses and it would have looked great. I was hoping for the pose he had just before the charge in ROTK, or the riding pose when he was raking his sword across the spear shafts of the front line. I think this is supposed to be the yell he does just before the charge, but he looks straight ahead to the battlefield in that scene. This pose with him leaning back and yelling to the sky is just awkward looking. Something about the way the armor lays on the horse looks off to me too. I think the armor formed to the horse body shape more in the film, and the horse head looks a bit small or short here too.

I suppose at certain angles it looks OK, but I really had high hopes for this one. The detailing does look really good though.

Yeah, it's really weird when they have these picture (literally) perfect moments from the films for reference, yet still opt time and time again to go with 'interpretations' and variations on poses that don't match what we see and have etched in our memories. Didn't notice anything amiss with Snowmane other than the awkward pose from the side, and the odd swishing tail.

I think it's the tail pulling the horse cover up in the back that makes the rear of the horse look off to me. They also got the color of the leather on the horse head wrong, but the other colors look really close.

Valkrist wrote: Wed Apr 10, 2024 5:57 pm Yeah, it's really weird when they have these picture (literally) perfect moments from the films for reference, yet still opt time and time again to go with 'interpretations' and variations on poses that don't match what we see and have etched in our memories. Didn't notice anything amiss with Snowmane other than the awkward pose from the side, and the odd swishing tail.

I agree that is frustrating, and it irks me.

So, who ordered Theoden?

I did not.

Valkrist wrote: Wed Apr 17, 2024 11:55 am So, who ordered Theoden?

I did not.

Either did I.

I pass the test. I will diminish....
and go into the west.... and remain N2Darkness.....

for now.....

N2darkness wrote: Wed Apr 17, 2024 12:52 pm
for now.....

Everyone here knows my love of all things Rohirrim. My order is in.

Buckeye wrote: Wed Apr 17, 2024 5:45 pm Everyone here knows my love of all things Rohirrim. My order is in.

This was....









... expected.

Ordered. I was going to pass, but my wife wanted this one.