Somewhat on topic: Weta's involvement with Narnia was nothing compared to that on LOTR. I was reading in the latest Cinefex about how Weta designed and fasioned the Narnia weapons and armor, and did design work for the creatures, but it stopped there. They did not actually produce the effects, just did the preliminary creature design work and turned it over to the practical and visual effects teams from other companies like KNB EFX Group for the practical creature effects and Sony Pictures Imageworks and Rhythm & Hues, who did most of the effects shots.
Anyway, Weta was able to commit so much to the ongoing LOTR line with Sideshow because they were actually working on the films throughout the entire four year span of time. They are now attempting to go it alone producing collectibles for the films they work on, but the time spent on each line will be limited to the few months devoted to each single film. If any line becomes successful, they will face the same challenge as with the LOTR line--they will be forced to work on merchandise from an old movie while they are supposed to be focusing on their current projects instead. If they are going to do that anyway, they should have just stuck with a proven seller like LOTR. I am interested to see what happens to Weta Collectibles in the future.
