Statue Weta Announces Barad-Dur

[RyanGabriel]

Oh man, I'm really looking forward for this environment but for $700 I'm passing. There are lot of good stuff coming in such as the rider, TWK not to mention pieces from DC and Marvel, i Think ill be find with my DM version for now.Congrats for all fellow ringers who are getting this, please post a lot of pictures when you get yours. Thanks

 

[FrodoEyes]

I have both the Danbury Mint Barad-Dur and Minas Tirith, and Minas Tirith is better. Barad-Dur isn't great, Moe, and i'm not a whinger, i have it in person and can look at it now. I'd prefer a Weta one, if i could pre-order one.
And i don't care if it LOOKS like an authorisation or not - the fact is that money IS taken from your acccount for a while, and that isn't on for a pre-order, especially when we didn't know how much this would be so couldn't save up for it.

 

[Adolfo]

This one will not sell out fast...plus retailers I'm sure will have some in stock...all due to price...IMHO...and for those who own the DM version...nothing wrong with those pieces...for the price they were awesome

 

[Vasher]

WOW, $700! Good luck with that. I can't fathom this being 7 times better than the DM piece. I actually just sold both my BD and MT pieces as i thin out my collection. I still can't believe how detailed the Minas Tirith piece is (probably the best small scall collectible I've ever owned).

 

[Mr Fell Beast]

I have both the Danbury Mint Barad-Dur and Minas Tirith, and Minas Tirith is better. Barad-Dur isn't great, Moe, and i'm not a whinger, i have it in person and can look at it now. I'd prefer a Weta one, if i could pre-order one.
And i don't care if it LOOKS like an authorisation or not - the fact is that money IS taken from your acccount for a while, and that isn't on for a pre-order, especially when we didn't know how much this would be so couldn't save up for it.

What is so bad about it??

 

[DaveMac]

The DM versions are good for what they initially cost. Having owned both I can say that from following the production pictures of WETA's version of BD, then there is going too be a vast difference in detail, alignment, colour and of course, size. They are not bad pieces and the light up feature on MT added a great look, but comparing the BD's now shows up their cost

The price point on all collectables has gone up a lot. Wether it is justifiable is a mute point as long as there are sold out 'grails' fetching far more on the secondary market and people are willing to pay it.

Maybe it's this factor that has pushed up prices from all the big manufacturers knowing that people will always pay that bit more to get there limited edition piece. So why not grab a piece of that pie now of the 'flippers' whose mark up will be hit by initial high pricing

 

[Matner77]

Check my account yesterday. I have total amount & an amount available which is about £500 less then the total amount. So it seems they've taken the amount from my account temporarily. It's a good job I used my savings account. Does anyone know how long it takes to have the money put back in?

 

[Mr Fell Beast]

The DM versions are good for what they initially cost. Having owned both I can say that from following the production pictures of WETA's version of BD, then there is going too be a vast difference in detail, alignment, colour and of course, size. They are not bad pieces and the light up feature on MT added a great look, but comparing the BD's now shows up their cost

The price point on all collectables has gone up a lot. Wether it is justifiable is a mute point as long as there are sold out 'grails' fetching far more on the secondary market and people are willing to pay it.

Maybe it's this factor that has pushed up prices from all the big manufacturers knowing that people will always pay that bit more to get there limited edition piece. So why not grab a piece of that pie now of the 'flippers' whose mark up will be hit by initial high pricing

So two wrongs make a right??

Not a good way to run a business....

 

[Invictus Sol]

Check my account yesterday. I have total amount & an amount available which is about £500 less then the total amount. So it seems they've taken the amount from my account temporarily. It's a good job I used my savings account. Does anyone know how long it takes to have the money put back in?

I guess 3 or 4 days is the norm.

 

[Darth Rage]

Will the app that only worked at SDCC work with this statue when it ships?

 

[Bucky Underbelly]

Will the app that only worked at SDCC work with this statue when it ships?

They said the app works by recognizing the shape of the tower (there's no electronics inside the statue). So it should work. Apparently it even works on random pictures of Barad-dur. As long as the background doesn't throw off the pattern recognition.

 

[DaveMac]

So two wrongs make a right??

Not a good way to run a business....

What are the two wrongs?

The price could be double what it is and it is still personal choice, whether you buy from source or even more from flipper. Nothing wrong in any point if a company chooses to sell at inflated prices or someone chooses to buy limited editions at these prices knowing there are others desperate to get one, then banging on a profit to resell.

 

[DaveMac]

Will the app that only worked at SDCC work with this statue when it ships?

Yes. But it shouldn't be limited to i-phone/ apps. I wanted a physical eye on the tower, but the virtual app is a good alternative to only 50% of people

 

[FrodoEyes]

Ok, i'm officially out. For now anyway, unless i can somehow save enough money over the next few months and this doesn't sell out!

It's the first environment i'm going to miss. It's a shame, as i have them all and love them, but the asking price, on reflection, IS just ridiculous. I put it through the currency converter - £450! I envy all of your disposable income, but just think about that figure.... and all the things you could buy with it, the things you could do....

The reason i've been in on this line from the beginning, as well as admiring the beauty of the environments, has been affordability. This was ALWAYS a line that was $150 - $200. The Stone Trolls at $300 was a big ask - at the time i guess. Recently with Orthanc, Rivendell, and now this, Weta are getting more ambitious, which people may applaud, but they're getting further away from affordable environments and into 'exclusive collector' territory, pricing out the normal collector.

These were ALWAYS affordable 'miniature' environments, but that is no more and i simply cannot afford it. Oh for the days of Amon Hen, Weathertop, Helms Deep etc sized / priced environments.
Hopefully Weta will now go back to this, although i know the prices even for these smaller items will be like the Argonath, but i can stomach that..... but not £500 after shipping...

I could get an original balrog or cave troll for that!!!

 

[Adolfo]

Ok, i'm officially out. For now anyway, unless i can somehow save enough money over the next few months and this doesn't sell out!

It's the first environment i'm going to miss. It's a shame, as i have them all and love them, but the asking price, on reflection, IS just ridiculous. I put it through the currency converter - £450! I envy all of your disposable income, but just think about that figure.... and all the things you could buy with it, the things you could do....

The reason i've been in on this line from the beginning, as well as admiring the beauty of the environments, has been affordability. This was ALWAYS a line that was $150 - $200. The Stone Trolls at $300 was a big ask - at the time i guess. Recently with Orthanc, Rivendell, and now this, Weta are getting more ambitious, which people may applaud, but they're getting further away from affordable environments and into 'exclusive collector' territory, pricing out the normal collector.

These were ALWAYS affordable 'miniature' environments, but that is no more and i simply cannot afford it. Oh for the days of Amon Hen, Weathertop, Helms Deep etc sized / priced environments.
Hopefully Weta will now go back to this, although i know the prices even for these smaller items will be like the Argonath, but i can stomach that..... but not £500 after shipping...

I could get an original balrog or cave troll for that!!!

sorry to hear that but youre right in regards to what you said...my bank account has the 700 shown as being deducted...by next week if it's not back in my acct I will cancel this order and get it another time

 

[cstojano]

I hear you FE and I think a lot of pre-orders will cancel if this is still for sale come ship time.

 

[TURINS~BANE]

$700.. _____* that.

 

[Adolfo]

$700.. _____* that.

I'm sure many have said that....IMHO this will not sell out until late in the year or even early next year...who knows, maybe it will even take longer than that...one thing I do know...those who get this IMHO will be happy...and that is what is important

 

[V-Raptor]

Outrageous!

Fellow-freaks, be careful!

I've PRE-ordered the new Barad-Dur Env. and they've WITHDREW ‑856.16 USD from my account!!! Payment status is: 08.08.2012 ‑856.16 USD on HOLD by NZ Weta Collectibles. I'm using debit MasterCard.

After this happened I've got the pre-order confirmation on my e-mail with the order number and some nice text: "No payment has been taken. The amount will be charged prior to dispatch when the items are in stock." No payment? Really? Tha-a-a-anks for telling me that! -___-

Than I'm reading here:

Debit Cards
We understand that some people had concerns about debit cards, so we investigated further and these do work somewhat differently. Each bank (card issuer) may have different rules with regard to debit cards. That's your bank or card issuer. We were advised by Paystation and our website developers that some banks will put a "hold" on a pre-authorised amount for a number of days. This is of course not in our control and we strongly recommend you speak to your bank about it. We have no influence at all over how your bank manages your debit cards. I want to emphasise once again, Weta is not taking any payment at all from you for this Barad-dur pre-order at this time. We will only charge your card, when your order is in stock and ready to ship.

We do apologise if we haven't communicated this well enough and we do appreciate that you get in touch with us about these issues - of course the best and fastest way is to contact Darren on [email protected] if you ever have any concerns. There is a risk we'll miss it if you only voice your concerns in the forums.

I don't know what to do now: to laugh, to be angry (on them or on my self?) or to cry. I need those money by this Friday, it's actually some debt in return. Even if I will unlock them today - the bank system will process it within 14 days only. And I need them after tomorrow!

I don't care if it's some system problems on their side or some system issue, I really don't give a s--t about it!
I'm totally screwed with their act and nothing can help it. They've let me down very badly.

It's some horrific behaviour to the client!
I will send the army of my HotToys figures to punish them!

PS And no Eye on the tower, btw. This release and this purchase is one big disappointment for now. I don't have any I-gadgets and don't need one, gimme the Eye of plastic.

 

[The Josh]

It's just a preauth. It will fall off in a few days there is nothing and I mean nothing fishy about what's going on.