What happened to Weta?

I just took a look at weta website and though it was rather nice but I can't help noticed that the range of products of their Prince Caspian line was not only overpriced but pathetically small.

I wonder if it is the direction that the company always wanted to take (i.e. they are NOT a collectible seller but a movie props maker).

The sculptors at Weta have realised my dream of LOTR collection with their collaboration with Sideshow... their skills in capturing the essence of characters had prompted me to collect the entire set of Muppets! (the first collaboration between Weta and Sideshow).

I wonder if this dream team will ever be regrouped when the Hobbit movie is released.

Well, given how 'well' the collectibles for LWW went I can see why their 'Prince Caspian' offerings are very small this time around. I think they have some good pieces but haven't done anything I've been interested in.

I'd be very surprised if Sideshow and WETA teamed up again for collaborative purposes of a hobbit line in the future. Very surprised.

I would welcome SS and Weta teaming up again with open arms.

The sculpts themselves are amazing for Caspian, but they aren't something I am after for my collection.

At least they learned their lesson with the ES this time.

GTD and PJ commented on Weta doing collectibles for the upcoming Hobbit films in their recent Q&A. They can do nice stuff, but the demand simply wasn't there for King Kong and Narnia. I would imagine that they are expecting to finally do some good business when Tolkien fever hits again in a few years, and I don't see them willingly sharing the spotlight with Sideshow, unfortunately.

tomandshell said:

GTD and PJ commented on Weta doing collectibles for the upcoming Hobbit films in their recent Q&A. They can do nice stuff, but the demand simply wasn't there for King Kong and Narnia. I would imagine that they are expecting to finally do some good business when Tolkien fever hits again in a few years, and I don't see them willingly sharing the spotlight with Sideshow, unfortunately.

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Agreed. WETA will likely be stand alone on the Hobbit collectibles. I can't wait to see what they come up with....ie...SMAUG!

Gondor59 said:

Agreed. WETA will likely be stand alone on the Hobbit collectibles. I can't wait to see what they come up with....ie...SMAUG!

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Smaug will be a immediate purchase for me
Lets just hope the line is bigger than the Prince Caspian line

In the mean time, it will be very interesting to see how they go with the Doctor Who line, I mean that Dalek just totally kicks arse.
The Hellgate: London line I don't think did the best, but then the game was a bit of a disapointment and its not like it was a long term establish license, even tho the statues are first rate. I own the female templar and she is totally amazing.

Even so, Weta are largely going to be a "boutique" collectables company (its not like they have the range/licenses of Sideshow), till the Hobbit comes around and they hit the main headlines again. However, I still wouldn't expect the massive line of statues, etc that was made for LOTR, I'd even be surprised if they do another Gandalf, etc.
But would you really want them too, it hardly makes a line "collectible" or limited, if a whole new line of the same character is made, even if it is a different pose.

Those guys are still in Buisness...

Of course Weta is. They are primarily a props and make up aesthetics company for movies correct? Making collectibles for us is secondary.

Eli26 said:

Of course Weta is. They are primarily a props and make up aesthetics company for movies correct? Making collectibles for us is secondary.

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I knew that Eli.....Thank you.

Shai Hulud said:

I knew that Eli.....Thank you.

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You're most welcome Shai.

Even though I love Weta, some of their offerings are pretty uninteresting for me. Both the sculpting and paint are top notch, though.

I have no interest in Doctor Who, I wanted to give it a try, but the seasons are just to darn expensive.

As guru said, the Hellgate pieces are beautiful, but because I didn't like the game, I wouldn't buy more than the two statues I already got (Male Tempelar and Hunter)

Zorro - blah

Narnia may be a kiddie story/movie, but I grew up with Narnia (the BBC version) and the new Disney movies reminded me how much i loved those stories. I have a lot of LWW pieces - many of them bought at bargain price because of the ES. I've also pre-ordered two of the three new statues from PC. The quality is close to perfection, the ES was an overkill.

I guess I was one of the few who liked PJ's King Kong. Only got a couple of statues from them, but as with Narnia there was nothing wrong with the quality, only the ES.

Ray-guns. I love them. Can't afford them (yet)

Superman was another movie I really liked. I think the difference in the scale of the different items put me off buying more than one. I landed on Danger Averted. Even though the sculpting isn't what I could expect after Narnia and Kong, it was still pretty good. And the whole statue is impressive (and huge)

Muppets - the good old times. Have no real interest in them, but they look well done.

Lord of the rings. A lot of detail - the likeness could be very shaky but I think the line improved as the time went on. If Weta combine what they learned from the ES of the later LOTR figures, Kong and Narnia, keep their incredible good eye to detail and paint and improve their marketing, I think the Hobbit collectibles could top the "iconic" LOTR line.

I would LOVE if WETA teamed back up with SS for distribution.
getting SS points for the $$ Ive dropped on the Rayguns would have been awesome...

I highly doubt we'll see Weta and SS team up again...too much bad blood. I imagine we'll probably have SS doing what they are now with their 1/4 scale PF's, dio.'s, and LSB's. And I see Weta doing 1/6 scale statue's and 1/4 scale bust's. And I think with such a huge variety of line's to choose from, the big winner's of course, will be us.

woodsy said:

And I think with such a huge variety of line's to choose from, the big winner's of course, will be us.

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And the big losers will be our wallets.

I would love to see the two companies work together but there's always the possibility that neither company would actually want to. Sideshow has grown immensely in the years since the SSW days and Weta seems happy, just having opened the WETA CAVE, even if they've had growing pains with Superman, Kong and Narnia products. Plus Weta is distributed by Dark Horse, who certainly is not going anywhere.

I wonder if Weta will do The Hobbit while Sideshow keeps on cranking out LOTR. The other option is that each companies pieces would be unique. Weta could do the 1/6 statues and 1/4 busts and SS could do PFs, LSBs, Dios and Figs like the current LOTR product.

Could there be simply too much? Never for my heart but perhaps for my wallet!

Well I just got the Female Templar by weta and I was just shocked by it.
It's big and just beautiful. I hope to pick up another of these hellgate weta pieces.

I don't play the game either, never heard of it before but what a piece of art!

Being in NZ where Weta is based it will be easier and cheaper to purchase collectibles that are sure to come when the Hobbit gets released

And Holy Moses
That Hellgate Female Templar Statue is sick I might have to pick it up