Smaug the Golden - Faux Bronze - NOW AVAILABLE

[woodsy]

True, I have a feeling it maybe dead, but still, I'll be very surprised if you can get it for 60% less, but I guess we will see.

So would I, but I don't think it'll be too hard getting one in the $300-$325 range eventually, and that extra $100 in my pocket is alot better than it being in Weta's pocket.

 

[theguru1]

True, unless you then buy something else from Weta with it
Then both win.

 

[woodsy]

True, unless you then buy something else from Weta with it
Then both win.

 

[Fubeca]

...and I have a feeling I'm going to save a ton of it when I finally do buy this one.

at least until The Hobbit comes out...

 

[Naugladur]

It's spectacular. This is the next Balrog.

 

[woodsy]

at least until The Hobbit comes out...

True, but at the speed the Hobbit's moving along it looks like I'll have somewhere around 2023 to find one. And who knows, at the rate this one is selling, I still might be able to pick one up directly from Weta.

It's spectacular. This is the next Balrog.

Spectacular, yes. The next Balrog...you've got to be kidding.

 

[Naugladur]

Well, you must know, you spent 15 pages going on about it. I simply bought it, and I consider it a more than adequate replacement for the Balrog I just sold.

But what makes you assume that this magnificent, low edition masterpiece is going to drop in value as the movie nears?

And why the assumption that there will be another, better, "movie Smaug"? Is Weta not doing the effects? Whose vision of Smaug are they going to use over John Howe's? Yours? It's called conceptual continuity.

Anyway, no offense, just askin'.

 

[cstojano]

Ok Woodsy I've been silent about your issues with this piece for a year. I just unpacked the faux bronze and am awaiting the true bronze edition. Needless to say I was totally destroyed by this piece at SDCC 09. Now that I have the faux bronze in hand I can say this is the finest statue I have ever seen. Why the ES of 300 has not sold out is beyond me. Yes the price is high but the piece is enormous, perhaps some can't quite grasp the scale of it until they see it in person. Also the base is solid wood, a huge plus. It is beautiful. The faux bronze paint job is really quite good, not cheesy, not high gloss like the CS Moore FBs tend to be. Its a flat matte finish with hints of green patina. The detailing is really top notch.

I have no idea whether this will be the next balrog. I have no idea whether this will decline 50% in value. I have no idea why it didn't sell out immediately. I do know that the 650 people that paid for the GTG PF exclusive or the 500 people who paid for the ML PF exclusive either have no taste or are teenagers. It boggles the mind really. What I do know is that this whole experience has confirmed that I am not the typical collector of these sorts of things.

Weta's major undoing may be completely miscategorizing their collecting demographic - people that value quality over comical exaggeration. I also think there may be some serious branding going on because if SS put this piece out it would have sold out in minutes, no question about it. Why the hate for Weta then?

Are people really looking to fill an Ikea curio cabinet with random ephemera, helms, shields, knick knacks rather than having a center focal point to their collection? If so, then I get the lack of interest in Smaug, it would break the glass of the Ikea cabinet

 

[BRFC]

I've had Smaug on order for nearly 10 months and can't wait, he seems to get better every time i see his picture (just ouzzes class). Not once have i thought about cancelling this piece, although i wish they had kept the teak coloured base, On the other hand i also have the Morgul lord and GTG on order with the ML being a 95% cancel and GtG a 50% cancel (probably pick up from retail later).

 

[woodsy]

Ok Woodsy I've been silent about your issues with this piece for a year. I just unpacked the faux bronze and am awaiting the true bronze edition. Needless to say I was totally destroyed by this piece at SDCC 09. Now that I have the faux bronze in hand I can say this is the finest statue I have ever seen. Why the ES of 300 has not sold out is beyond me. Yes the price is high but the piece is enormous, perhaps some can't quite grasp the scale of it until they see it in person. Also the base is solid wood, a huge plus. It is beautiful. The faux bronze paint job is really quite good, not cheesy, not high gloss like the CS Moore FBs tend to be. Its a flat matte finish with hints of green patina. The detailing is really top notch.

I have no idea whether this will be the next balrog. I have no idea whether this will decline 50% in value. I have no idea why it didn't sell out immediately. I do know that the 650 people that paid for the GTG PF exclusive or the 500 people who paid for the ML PF exclusive either have no taste or are teenagers. It boggles the mind really. What I do know is that this whole experience has confirmed that I am not the typical collector of these sorts of things.

Weta's major undoing may be completely miscategorizing their collecting demographic - people that value quality over comical exaggeration.- I also think there may be some serious branding going on because if SS put this piece out it would have sold out in minutes, no question about it. Why the hate for Weta then?

Are people really looking to fill an Ikea curio cabinet with random ephemera, helms, shields, knick knacks rather than having a center focal point to their collection? If so, then I get the lack of interest in Smaug, it would break the glass of the Ikea cabinet

Well you can start with the reasons I posted last Oct.:

Weta can set their prices however they wish and I don't have the slightest problem with that. It will be the market that determines whether those prices are reasonable or not. I think it's a fantastic sculpt [which is probably why I've ordered one], but a sculpt this good, with a low ES of 300 should have sold out by now. Unfortunately, the biggest reason given by collectors as to why they're not ordering this one is "it's out of my price range" so 2+ month's after pre-orders began it is still available. And I'm pretty sure the fact it's priced at 40% more than the average dio. or PF has something to do with that.

I do agree that good art doesn't have to be in colour but let's face it, FB is not the preference of most collectors. It can work really well on some pieces, but it doesn't work well on all pieces. And some people just don't like the bronze look, whether it be real or FB. I have read many posts since Weta announced this new line by people stating they won't buy it for no other reason than it is FB...when was the last time you read a post where someone refused to buy a statue because it was colour?

And yes, LOTR is more than just a film, but there are untold millions of people out there who were first introduced to the story through the movies. And when those people see the characters and creatures created by PJ and Weta that is what they relate to. I had never read the book, until after I saw the Fellowship, and it was quite awhile after that before I first saw Howe's work. And I seriously doubt I'm the only person in that boat. Quite frankly, even after becoming quite familiar with Howe's work I still greatly prefer Weta's vision of middle earth over his, and I suspect we will really see how popular this piece is once Weta produces their own colour version.

Now I don't have a crystal ball, but you don't really need one to figure out how ridiculous it is comparing a 300 ES statue that can't sell out after 11 month's, to SSW's "flagship" creation. The Balrog was the first ever SSW piece to sell out and it did so within a few month's, and this at a time when not only was $300 an obscene amt. to pay for a statue, it was long before the LOTR craze began. Within the first 11 month's of pre-orders beginning, the 1000 ES was not only completely sold out and shipped, they were selling for upwards of 4X the retail cost. So please, let's talk about Smaug vs the Balrog after Smaug actually sells out, and after it's secondary value starts going through the roof, OK?

You know, your shot at the collectors of the Gandalf and ML PF's, helms, shields etc....really isn't a reflection of how much you know about art, it actually shows how little you know. Having worked in a art gallery on and off for the better part of two decades I can safely say I've seen that elitist attitude of yours far too many times, and that attitude was never based on a knowledge of art, it was based on the insecurites of that particular individual. The idea that you, me, or anyone else knows what constitutes art and what doesn't, is ridiculous at best. Only you can decide which art "speaks to you", evokes emotions or memories, creates passion, etc.... But it isn't up to you to decide that for every other collector out there. We can all handle that on our own very well thank you.

And no, what Weta did was completely overestimate what people were willing to pay for a FB statue. That's what I believed, and said, nine month's ago and not a single thing has happened since then to disprove my theory. The fact this great looking statue still hasn't sold out yet only cements what I said previously. Now you, and other's may not like what I have to say, but I really don't care, the facts speak for themselves. It's also a fact that I have never said anything negative about this statue, or the Eowyn vs the Nazgul statue, and eventually, I will own both. But just as I blamed SS for their mismanagemnet of the LOTR LSB line, I blame Weta for the death of this line..... one I was extremely high on, and very much looking forward to.

 

[cstojano]

Well you can start with the reasons I posted last Oct.:



Now I don't have a crystal ball, but you don't really need one to figure out how ridiculous it is comparing a 300 ES statue that can't sell out after 11 month's, to SSW's "flagship" creation. The Balrog was the first ever SSW piece to sell out and it did so within a few month's, and this at a time when not only was $300 an obscene amt. to pay for a statue, it was long before the LOTR craze began. Within the first 11 month's of pre-orders beginning, the 1000 ES was not only completely sold out and shipped, they were selling for upwards of 4X the retail cost. So please, let's talk about Smaug vs the Balrog after Smaug actually sells out, and after it's secondary value starts going through the roof, OK?

You know, your shot at the collectors of the Gandalf and ML PF's, helms, shields etc....really isn't a reflection of how much you know about art, it actually shows how little you know. Having worked in a art gallery on and off for the better part of two decades I can safely say I've seen that elitist attitude of yours far too many times, and that attitude was never based on a knowledge of art, it was based on the insecurites of that particular individual. The idea that you, me, or anyone else knows what constitutes art and what doesn't, is ridiculous at best. Only you can decide which art "speaks to you", evokes emotions or memories, creates passion, etc.... But it isn't up to you to decide that for every other collector out there. We can all handle that on our own very well thank you.

And no, what Weta did was completely overestimate what people were willing to pay for a FB statue. That's what I believed, and said, nine month's ago and not a single thing has happened since then to disprove my theory. The fact this great looking statue still hasn't sold out yet only cements what I said previously. Now you, and other's may not like what I have to say, but I really don't care, the facts speak for themselves. It's also a fact that I have never said anything negative about this statue, or the Eowyn vs the Nazgul statue, and eventually, I will own both. But just as I blamed SS for their mismanagemnet of the LOTR LSB line, I blame Weta for the death of this line..... one I was extremely high on, and very much looking forward to.

Since you brought up the word "art" I assume this is why you workED in an art gallery ON and OFF, right

Insecurity would be me showing you my collection and us having a ____ wagging contest. Not my intent. I see a lot of people wasting a lot of money on made in china garbage (this applies generally not to statues specifically), they call themselves collectors but they have no sense of the true meaning of the word. If shooting for quality over quantity makes me an elitist and pompous well then I guess I am both. This isn't about telling people what to do or how to collect, but this "art is everything" "art is experience" relativity in which there is no standard I just don't buy. And its the damn academics and art elite that push this sort of nonsense. What the hell are we even talking about anymore?

Smaug is awesome, huge, as impressive or more than the SSW balrog. It has every right to become an instant hit and classic. Someone paid 700 bucks for an Argonath for crying out loud. The retail for that piece was 200 dollars. This things is easily worth twice that piece and yet it sits still available. I understand the price may be high but its not like people aren't willing to drop this for two maquettes (of characters done to death) or 1.5 PFs (also of characters done to death).

Honestly, I think most people don't even know about Smaug because they have never read The Hobbit. They have no idea what The Hobbit is all about because they haven't seen a movie version. That is sad. If prioritizing the original source material makes me an elitist then sign me up.

 

[Radagaster]

I believe the Balrog sold out after 2 events tooks place:
1) The FOTR film had shown (which showed the Balrog in all his awesome glory)
2) The FOTR Extended DVD came out which made Sideshow front-and-center to the collecting world.

I had been eyeing the Balrog after I saw FOTR, and I couldn't justify the price tag then. I believe this is indeed a case of not enough "collectors" being aware of the awesomeness of Smaug, nor the when-it-comes-out Hobbit movie. The folks in this thread should be aware of how much more awesome Smaug is, and to be sculpted based on Howe's rendition, so, ideally this will be an instant grail. But right now, that is not the case. It's too early to tell.

Woodsy, for the record, people balked (including myself) at the initial price of the Balrog back when it didn't sell out. I expect the same reaction is true for this Smaug piece.

 

[Blu Falcon]

I'll have to divert funds from my Bag End savings, but I think I will buy the Smaug piece. It's quite an original and one of a kind piece.

 

[Wetanut]

I hate being an enabler (especially with other people's wallets) but you will not regret it Blu. Just got mine and it's even more breathtaking in my house.

 

[cstojano]

In the light of day I did notice a but more greenish patina on mine, sort of thicker bands near the front of the dragon. I do love this thing. I don't see anyone regretting this purchase. Keep in mind as soon as this thing sells out I think demand will skyrocket as lots of people are likely sitting on the sidelines due to the recession and the general pace of new releases this year. I would bet that any announcement by Weta of low stock will push it to sell out quickly. I also doubt many will be selling this piece down the road and considering how rarely high ES pieces like Sauron and Morgul Lord (two great SSW pieces) hit eBay I suspect ol' Smaug will reach Balrog status (sought after but not exponentiating like the hey day of Balrog's value). Given the real bronze can be had for 4500 there is no way this piece will go from 300 to 3000 (if only for a short time) like the Balrog did.

 

[theguru1]

I hate being an enabler (especially with other people's wallets) but you will not regret it Blu. Just got mine and it's even more breathtaking in my house.

I want mine now

The waiting is the hardest part, tho funny enough, like I said long ago, once ppl start to receive it, and quality in hand pics show up, that's when it will start to sell out.

 

[Blu Falcon]

It's done. I might have to cancel a pre-order or two as result, but I think owning this will be worthwhile in the long run.

 

[Wish]

Still holding out for quality pictures to judge the wood color and to a lesser extend, paintjob.
I have a feeling that the darker wood worked much better in combination with the Bronze look but not sure if it's a dealbreaker or not.

 

[FrodoEyes]

Still holding out for quality pictures to judge the wood color and to a lesser extend, paintjob.
I have a feeling that the darker wood worked much better in combination with the Bronze look but not sure if it's a dealbreaker or not.

I definately preferred the old, darker base. We shall see.

 

[Eowyn_from_Rohan]

This looks really promising but had to pass on it, not enough money, too many awesome LOTR stuff coming out at the same time!