Weta and the Bridge! Sharing space with Gentle Giant was Weta, who in turn offered some space to the Bridge. The big push was, of course, for The Hobbit, the new 2-possibly-3-film series slated to hit theaters this December. Numerous high-end statues of dwarves, Hobbits, dragons, and wizards were quite literally dwarfed by a giant, life-sized trio of trolls on display.
New Lord of the Rings environments were on display, as expensive as they were gorgeous. The stunning replicas not only looked amazing, but employed some nifty special effects. For example, Sauron's all-seeing glowing eye in the Tower of Barad-džr was rendered through an iPhone app. Rather than the statue itself glowing or making noise in some wonky clear resin fashion, smartphones can display a digital special effect on a tiny screen. It's an interesting idea and a cute gimmick which no doubt helps keep some manufacturing costs down, but it does raise the question about functionality after this particular app, or smartphone operating system, inevitably falls out of favor. Having said that, it's exciting stuff.
Packaged The Hobbit action figures from The Bridge are due out around October, and the manufacturer showed some of its other big licenses like Tim Burton's feature-length Frankenweenie and the popular Annoying Orange. (Ask your kids.) Hobbit toys will, unfortunately, be produced in two scales: larger 6-inch figures are compatible (or close) to your Toy Biz Lord of the Rings collection, while 3 3/4-inch is more or less closer to the industry standard these days. Hopefully they fare better than the Playmates dual double-lines of Terminator Salvation and Star Trek with a clear winner emerging rather than two incomplete lines.
--Adam Pawlus
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