Statue Weta - Azog the Defiler on Warg

[The Josh]

The original Balrog is a great piece, but by the time I was looking at Weta the price on that was just getting higher and higher. I considered the smaller one a numbers of times but just didn't get it. Hopefully if they do they'll figure a way to do it without the problem of breakage. Like I said, better than before... AND more expensive!

I had the original for a long time and even though I don't have it I'd say its still my top piece that I loved and miss. So I'm totally ok with them making another.

 

[cstojano]

Meanwhile Sideshow recently came out with a Snow Troll the same size as the Weta Cave Troll, ES of only 500 and for only $325 .....the deal of the century and it took many months to sell out

Ah yes another great decision by our friend's at SS.

 

[Adolfo]

Ah yes another great decision by our friend's at SS.

That was a great piece...I liked it...If it was a Cave Troll it woulda sold out in under a week

 

[The Josh]

Yeah, I don't see any kind of an issue with the Snow Troll. Its a really awesome piece.

 

[Adolfo]

The beautiful huge and heavy Weta King Kong vs V-Rex was $360 almost 8 yrs ago. Today it would be $699 as another example of price changes. Barad-Dur was the game changer for Weta prices

 

[Pork Chop Express]

The beautiful huge and heavy Weta King Kong vs V-Rex was $360 almost 8 yrs ago. Today it would be $699 as another example of price changes. Barad-Dur was the game changer for Weta prices

Yah, I was very surprised at the price of BD, but there was no way I wasn't going to have it. Great great piece, the top environment. Though I am looking forward to getting Rivendale.

 

[The Josh]

The beautiful huge and heavy Weta King Kong vs V-Rex was $360 almost 8 yrs ago. Today it would be $699 as another example of price changes. Barad-Dur was the game changer for Weta prices

That's another badass piece. I actually might still try to get that someday its that good.

 

[The Josh]

Yah, I was very surprised at the price of BD, but there was no way I wasn't going to have it. Great great piece, the top environment. Though I am looking forward to getting Rivendell.

I was hoping Barad-dur would be cheaper but man there is just so much tiny detail in the end the price makes total sense. Rivendell is really every bit as good as Barad-dur.

 

[Pork Chop Express]

I was hoping Barad-dur would be cheaper but man there is just so much tiny detail in the end the price makes total sense. Rivendell is really every bit as good as Barad-dur.

Riverdale is such the opposite of BD with so much detail and color throughout the entire area. And the fact that I'll get it half off is even better.

 

[The Josh]

Riverdale is such the opposite of BD with so much detail and color throughout the entire area. And the fact that I'll get it half off is even better.

Yeah, it is the polar opposite for sure. Both I amazing for different reasons. Getting it for half off is a damn good deal if I don't say so myself.

 

[cstojano]

Sure the snow troll came out great but it was high on exactly NO ONE'S want list. With so many characters and creatures to choose from you can't help but see pieces like this as sucking up valuable resources in terms of development time and money. Sorry that's just the reality of it. For everyone surprise piece like this there's an unfulfilled potential there. I agree Adolfo, a regular troll would have been awesome, so why waste time on this?

 

[cstojano]

The beautiful huge and heavy Weta King Kong vs V-Rex was $360 almost 8 yrs ago. Today it would be $699 as another example of price changes. Barad-Dur was the game changer for Weta prices

I think the first WTF piece for Weta pricing was the Prancing Pony Inn environment. That piece was tiny for 200 dollars. Tiny. But then Rivendell was a dream at 400, people were calling for near double that in the lead up to its PO.

 

[Adolfo]

I think the first WTF piece for Weta pricing was the Prancing Pony Inn environment. That piece was tiny for 200 dollars. Tiny. But then Rivendell was a dream at 400, people were calling for near double that in the lead up to its PO.

Prancing Pony had an ES of only 500.

 

[The Josh]

Sure the snow troll came out great but it was high on exactly NO ONE'S want list. With so many characters and creatures to choose from you can't help but see pieces like this as sucking up valuable resources in terms of development time and money. Sorry that's just the reality of it. For everyone surprise piece like this there's an unfulfilled potential there. I agree Adolfo, a regular troll would have been awesome, so why waste time on this?

I think it depends on where you're coming from if you look at a piece like this as wasting time.

 

[Adolfo]

I can only pray that PJ brings Snow Trolls to fight in the Battle of the Five Armies....That would kill!!!

 

[cstojano]

I think it depends on where you're coming from if you look at a piece like this as wasting time.

Josh any R&D they invested in this could have been spent on any number of other products that would have appealed to a broader range of collectors. In that sense it was time that could have spent elsewhere. Its great that you like the product, most seem to. But that doesn't consider the invisible opportunity cost.

Adolfo, ES of 500 is fine but that piece was a shocker at 200 dollars. Its miniscule, regardless of how few they produced. I guess what amazes me is that people thought 399 was too much for the Howe pieces. The Nazgul one is enormous for that price.

Will Azog be a grail in the near future? Maybe. I think it has some things going against it, the sheer terror and gore of the piece for example. Didn't stop the Berzerker PF from soaring but some people (I should say their spouses and children) won't buy this for that reason. Amazing to see people say stuff like this but I do see it in the Horror sections.

 

[The Josh]

You could say that with any piece to be honest. Especially a piece someone doesn't care for. Its a cool piece and I like it so I don't look at it as a waste. There's not guarantee that just because they didn't do the troll they would have done one more statue.

As far as Azog goes I think he will be one people track down over time. Its a pretty damn impressive piece. I don't find it to be too scary or have too much gore. A lot will depend on how into the character people get.

 

[FrodoEyes]

Sure the snow troll came out great but it was high on exactly NO ONE'S want list. With so many characters and creatures to choose from you can't help but see pieces like this as sucking up valuable resources in terms of development time and money. Sorry that's just the reality of it. For everyone surprise piece like this there's an unfulfilled potential there. I agree Adolfo, a regular troll would have been awesome, so why waste time on this?

Because the games company gave them one hell of a wad-full of money?

It was a waste of time and took ages to sell out cos it was based on a video game. A good statue sure, and a good game, but there we are. Also it was such an obvious cash-in of the SSW cave troll

 

[Pork Chop Express]

I wouldn't describe Azog (on warg) as gore, intimidating sure but not gore. Bezerker yes and for obvious reasons. Azog on his own is no worse than Lurtz. Detail, size and the dynamic pose is what sold this out in short order despite price. To try and pull off somthing like this with a much higher edition size would have been to much for anyone I think.

 

[DaveMac]

When (not if) the WETA LOTR/ Hobbit range dries up, then who will you look to for ME collectibles that are high end and impressive?
SS and WETA and all the other major players are licence bound and it's a fairly tight licence to work to. The Snow Troll is a fantastic edition to my ME collection and the fact it was based on WETA's imaginings of trolls is a major plus

The films are a big hurdle to cross for getting alternate pieces from different sources that blend in, but if someone made a 1/6 scale Tom Bombadil based on the books description, or a large eagle with a crown, then it would be a buy for me as the films could only represent so much of a small piece of ME history. The cost of everything is going up, if secondary market prices are influencing pricing, then we are all to blame. And once you start going down the road of 'It's not worth it' , then maybe it's time to change collecting habits