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willb2064 wrote:

 Ghaz wrote:

willb2064 wrote:
Possibly. The late decisions to turn the Hobbit into 3 movies over 3 years rather than 2 movies over 2 years, then 3 movies over 2.5 years screwed up everyone's merchandising plans though, so could be down to that.

Moving from 3 movies in 2.5 years to 3 years should have given them more time.

The studio has a 2+ year lead time. Pretty much everything was already completed and staff moved on to other projects (or in the case of the Perry's, left the company).

Except for the stuff that Peter Jackson had to add to stretch out two movies to three.

Well I really can't tell by just the picture but so far I am a bit disgruntled. I had high hopes that he would be standing on a pilar or flapping his wings angrily, not just sitting there lazily. That is not worth almost $500...

Seeing the actual model might change my mind some but since its a direct only model I doubt I ever will.

 jonolikespie wrote:
Man talking about this is actually reminding me, I need to scour GWs webstore for old LotR models that are still metal. I can't imagine them still selling either line by the middle of next year.

They pulled the LOTR casualties a couple of weeks ago. Those were still metal. So if you want a direct order only model that's still metal, get it quick before it's gone forever.

i like everything about the sculpt, except the head...
hopefully a different angle will show a head that looks more menacing, because this pick shows a very bland looking face...
the size is impressive, though...

happy to see it is actually been made, and didn't turn out to be a rumor...
can't say i'm tempted to buy him...
i'd rather paint Cang...

cheers
jah

I think the price point is ok if Benedict Cumberbatch, builds and professionally paints it for each of us.

Spaz431 wrote:
I think the price point is ok if Benedict Cumberbatch, builds and professionally paints it for each of us.

And comes round our house to voice it.

I think he looks awesome, but size wise... There's nothing in the photo to really show scale but it doesn't look 300 quid sized...

I also do think he's pretty sweet.

But mother of good... 500$!

He's resin I take it?

I haven't actually seen it mentioned here but there is a different photo making the rounds which is the same page but includes more of the text.

It lists him as 'resin' the same way all finecast is now labeled as 'resin'.

 jonolikespie wrote:
I haven't actually seen it mentioned here but there is a different photo making the rounds which is the same page but includes more of the text.

It lists him as 'resin' the same way all finecast is now labeled as 'resin'.

Damnit.

I've also seen some people mention a £153 price tag, which is high, but not as high as some of the other suggestions.

The price has already been said though? It's like $490. Which doesn't convert to £153 (although £153 is a lot more doable...)

 jonolikespie wrote:
I haven't actually seen it mentioned here but there is a different photo making the rounds which is the same page but includes more of the text.

It lists him as 'resin' the same way all finecast is now labeled as 'resin'.

I don't think you'll be able to spin-cast something this big unless it comes in hundreds of pieces. There's a possibility it'll be vacuum cast and come in one of the FW resins. But I'd want to poke at one in the flesh, so to speak, before comitting to that. It's online only though, so I'll never find out.

I would also guess it'll be a limited quality release especially as casting that sized resin model will be time consuming so it would be next to impossible to try before you buy as they'll likely sell out of him the moment he goes up for pre order.

 Looky Likey wrote:
I would also guess it'll be a limited quality release especially as casting that sized resin model will be time consuming so it would be next to impossible to try before you buy as they'll likely sell out of him the moment he goes up for pre order.

I think you're overestimating the amount of interest in the Hobbit.

Me too, you can still get the LE Goblin Town sets from 2 years ago.

Isn't it like 2 years 11 months now?

 jonolikespie wrote:

 Looky Likey wrote:
I would also guess it'll be a limited quality release especially as casting that sized resin model will be time consuming so it would be next to impossible to try before you buy as they'll likely sell out of him the moment he goes up for pre order.

I think you're overestimating the amount of interest in the Hobbit.

I think with Goblin town GW over estimated the amount they would sell so they made far too many. They won't make the same mistake with Smaug unless the deal with New Line dictates that GW must make at least x many.

Smaug is going to be difficult and time consuming to cast in resin, no way are they going to be making thousands upon thousands of him. I'm also counting on scalpers buying a big chunk of these to resell on ebay, I hope they catch a cold with it though as I hate scalpers.

I think unless they are numbered LE's, the scalpers are going to be staying away.

If it's getting hard to shift Space Hulk, people aren't going to want to sit on £100's worth of Smaugs.

That said, I can see them casting maybe 100 of them to satisfy the license and selling out pretty quickly.

 pantheralegionnaire wrote:

 Accolade wrote:
Alas, it saddens me how GW snuffed LOTR/Hobbit out as a popular-ish gaming system. Seeing that dwarf set at $190 just made me shake my head.

Well, I'm sure GW will be glad when the Hobbit is over and they can gut the game off their fancy new website.

I agree with this. Does anyone even play LOTR or the Hobbit anymore? quote]

Yep! Its a great little system and useable for so many types of game. I tend to make my stuff using historical models rather than GW's offerings, but I have a few here and there.

Best thing GW could do at the moment is complete the range and then leave the game alone, seeing as its all in place already. Tinkering rules endlessly will only end up with 7th edition 40K.

I would kill for some scale here. I love playing rings, its by far my favorite GW game, and will be adding this monstrosity to my shelves!

Herzlos wrote:
I think unless they are numbered LE's, the scalpers are going to be staying away.

If it's getting hard to shift Space Hulk, people aren't going to want to sit on £100's worth of Smaugs.

That said, I can see them casting maybe 100 of them to satisfy the license and selling out pretty quickly.

My guess is it'll depend on the numbers cast, I can see this being very limited numbers for a number of reasons. This is a very different proposition from Goblin Town and even Space Hulk as this has appeal, if the face isn't as goofy as the low res pic makes it look, as a display piece outside of the hobby and a gaming piece for the tiny of number who still play LotR. Not many would buy with Goblin Town or Space Hulk as a display piece.

I can't see GW wanting to do a proper LE again for models, it makes it harder to re release the exact same model later in the EU as we have laws about LE numbering that GW have been burnt over in the past.

Very true, this will be more collectible, but bear in mind it's still a unassembled kit that almost no-one is going to know about. It's more likely to be put on display than GOblin Town, but it's less likely to be bought by collectors/film fans as a display piece than the Weta version which is already painted and is a (numbered?) limited edition of 2000.

 jmpnfool wrote:
I would kill for some scale here. I love playing rings, its by far my favorite GW game, and will be adding this monstrosity to my shelves!

That thing on the right of the base is likely to be Bilbo. Not that it helps with scale too much, but it's big.

Even if they stop supporting the system I hope they don't stop making and selling the models. Even if it's just on-line. Some of them are lovley. I'm using LOTR minatures for Song of Blades and Heroes and really enjoy painting them.

[

 jmpnfool wrote:
I would kill for some scale here. I love playing rings, its by far my favorite GW game, and will be adding this monstrosity to my shelves!

That thing on the right of the base is likely to be Bilbo. Not that it helps with scale too much, but it's big.

 LuciusAR wrote:
Even if they stop supporting the system I hope they don't stop making and selling the models. Even if it's just on-line. Some of them are lovley. I'm using LOTR minatures for Song of Blades and Heroes and really enjoy painting them.

I hope they do drop the LOTR entirely, so that someone else can pick up the franchise and do it properly. That would be amazing.

LuciusAR wrote:Even if they stop supporting the system I hope they don't stop making and selling the models. Even if it's just on-line. Some of them are lovley. I'm using LOTR minatures for Song of Blades and Heroes and really enjoy painting them.

I'm using them for D&D and there are some that are just amazing for it.

Herzlos wrote:I hope they do drop the LOTR entirely, so that someone else can pick up the franchise and do it properly. That would be amazing.

That actually would be amazing if handled reasonably well.


As for Smaug himself, I can't see it selling at all. It's only appeal at this point is to older hobbyists who can afford it and are massively into the Hobbit game, and honestly I doubt there are very many of them left after the poor support for the last 3 years. Collectors will have no interest in this as it will be finecast. I do enjoy collecting models that I know I'll never game with but I don't want his head faceplanting into my shelf on the first hot day.

I'd be surprised if worldwide they sell 100.

There's guaranteed to be some uber Tolkien nerd who wants this lol.

My favourite models from the Middle Earth stuff GW's done would probably have to be the following:

Durin's Bane
Ring Wraiths on Winged Beasts
Sauron
Mumakil
Mordor Trolls
Cave Trolls

I'm not an uber Tolkien nerd but I want a Smaug model. Maybe not this one, though.