Bag End Miniature - a first look, straight from the Weta Cave

I was at the Weta Cave yesterday with a group of people, about 20 minutes after the first two Bag End Miniatures were put on display. I'm trying to get a link here to the Weta Workshop's page on it but their site is currently down, so this will be updated later.

I "happened" to have a camera with me, so I thought I'd share some close up photos of this totally stunning, gorgeous piece of art. This is what it looks like from the front.

The front door is opened - there will also be an "open edition", which won't have the inside sculpting. So, perversly, the open edition will be a closed sculpure, while the closed edition (individually numbered) will have the open sculpting, viewable from the rear. These photos show the limited edition.

Here's the view from behind:

There are six rooms in total, no more than about an inch tall, and totally filled with Bilbo and Frodo's clutter. The detail is absolutely amazing. It must have been tough getting paintbrushes in there! My photos don't do it any justice at all, but take a look.

From the left, we see the bedroom:

The Hallway, with open door:

The Lounge(*):

The Dining Room(*):

A Reading Room(*):

And a Rumpus Room(*):

I think this is possibly one of Weta's finest miniatures. I understand this edition will be limited to 111 only (Eleventy-one), but I may have misheard that - I was too entranced with the piece to pay much attention to the information provided.

The other edition will be unlimited, which I think is also a first for Weta - they will be able to reproduce it in unlimited numbers. Unfortunately, that won't of course include most of the detail above (really just the top photo), but it'll be a great piece in your display cabinet (and mine)!

  - Jack M.


(*) I've probably totally misnamed the rooms - if anyone knows the actual names, drop me a line?