Would you really buy a ‘regular’ edition of the Moria Orc Premium Format? The variant helmed head will only accompany the exclusive editions of the statue. You can’t help but wonder if anyone who ends up with the lesser version will feel extremely shortchanged. In any case this PF has managed to pull quite a few collectors out of “LOTR retirement“, and you can’t give it a better compliment than that.

Sideshow’s offerings for Hellboy II continue to roll out, and they are even more exquisite than the original line-up– and that’s no slight on the oldies. They’ve simply made the best even better, and this looks like one investment that’s paying dividends for the company, as Del Toro and Hellboy’s stock has risen significantly since Big Red’s film debut four years ago.

New Pre-Orders:

• Moria Orc Premium Format
• Hellboy Lifesize Bust

Previewed:

• Big Baby (Hellboy) Prop Replica

Giveaways:

• Frodo and Sam Exclusive 12-inch figures

Just a day after Weta not so subtly teased us with a hint, comes the unveil for the Reepicheep statue in their Prince Caspian line. Sculpted by Greg Tozer and limited to 500 worldwide.

I love what Weta has done with their second go-round in Narnia, scaling back the scope, trimming the fat as it were, with the omission of static maquettes and a severe edition size revamp; 300-500 for Caspian as compared with the thousands of Wardrobe.

‘Listened to fans’, they’ve humbly suggested… I think that’s great fan service, but it wouldn’t surprise me that the decisions came internally as a more logical approach that makes more fiscal sense. In any case, what matters is that it’s resulted in a tighter lineup where every piece shines brighter.

Still, it’s not all peaches and cream in the state of the franchise. A too-long two and a half year gap and a bizarre summer slot amounted to major blunders on Disney’s part; A thumb-twiddling failure to capitalize on the massive momentum which amounted to a staggering lost of nearly half the audience. Caspian will end up grossing roughly 50% of what Wardrobe did, both domestically and internationally.

To say the least, this will not please many of those involved, least of all, the financiers. How much faith will Disney hold to Narnia?

• Reepicheep for pre-order at WetaNZ

One of the many perks of the screening was a promised ‘collectible from Warner Home Video’. It was unspecified before the event, so it added a nice little element of surprise. I suspected it would be something like a keychain or the DVD of the final cut– which makes less sense as this particular audience undoubtedly already owns it.

You can see here it was indeed a pewter keychain with a mini spinner and a Blade Runner: The Final Cut logo. I suppose they were created for the brief theatrical run last year as they are not included in the super filled-with-lots-of-things-you-probably-don’t-need version of the DVD/HD sets with Deckard’s briefcase. Couldn’t even find any listings on ebay so I really have no idea. If you know more than I know, leave a note won’t you?

The other cool collectibles connection of the day was hearing Sideshow and honcho Mat Falls mentioned at the start for donating a John Alvin Blade Runner poster to the high bidder of the charity auctions.

It is something of a rare treat to see a movie at Warner Brothers. I was fortunate enough to purchase a few tickets to a Blade Runner benefit screening right on the studio’s lot in Burbank for Paul Prischman, who among many other things, was associate producer on the Final Cut that film lovers like me salivated over last year when it was finally delivered to our grubby hands in gorgeous multi-disc DVD, HD DVD, and Blu Rays of all flavors under the rainbow. He’s also worked on another one of my favorite filims– Kingdom of Heaven. Bless him.

Paul is battling brain cancer. This screening is just one of the many promised fundraising events coordinated by his friends.

Although my brother lived in Burbank for a number of years, and therefore I’ve driven by the studio countless times, I’ve never been inside. This, is a good way to do it. Visitors were to park at a WB lot across the street from the actual complex. There a first wave of security checked your identity not long after you left your vehicle (paypal receipt and driver’s license were required), after which, you could cross the street and negotiate another security checkpoint before actually entering the lot. There, more guards greeted the attendees, while we filed through a metal detector. Cellphones weren’t even allowed, forget about cameras. They weren’t kidding around. (someone did get escorted out of the theatre for I assume, photography)

It was quiet on this weekend day, save for the security along the route that ushered the crowd along making certain nothing untoward was going on, I suppose. We had to literally walk across the Warner’s lot to get to the theatre— which might look like a detriment on paper, but was actually a helluva perk. You were walking through cinematic history, no doubts about it. Although it was mostly discrete, with closed off soundstages, I did spot a few interesting things like a parking space reserved for Zach Snyder (300, Watchmen), and a herd of Nerd Herd Toyota’s (NBC’s Chuck). Mostly I just soaked in the coolness of strolling on hallowed cinematic ground.

Eventually we hit the “New York Street” portion of the Warner’s lot, a street with buildings dressed to look the part of its namesake. Amongst countless other films, one called Blade Runner was filmed right here about two and a half decades ago. The Stephen J Ross theatre was here, and was absolutely gorgeous inside. Seeing a film here is certainly a wonderful experience. Blade Runner looked absolutely pristine. And barring the few shots where we see characters using flickery CRT tube screens, the world looks convincing even by today’s standards. The restoration coupled with the 4K projection made everything POP, and that’s no off-hand catchphrase.

The Q&A afterward featured concept artist Syd Mead, screenwriters Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, production exec Katherine Haber, producer Michael Deeley, replicants Joanna Cassidy and Nina Axelrod, and finally, Ridley Scott. It was both entertaining and informative with quite a few questions and subsequent answers regarding ‘Unicorn scene’ (of which Ridley chose to test for his next film that would feature the mythical heavily), and of course the whole issue of ‘Replicants’ and whether a certain character was or was not one.

To watch one of my favorite films, at this venue, with fellow die hards, and with so many of the crew in attendance was simply amazing on a personal level. It also felt good to contribute in some small way to a good cause. Although the mood of the event was at times subdued considering the circumstances, there was an amazing energy of support in the air. As aintitcoolnews puts it, Paul is “one of the good guys”. While I don’t know the man, one can easily see this to be true by the company he keeps.

• Donations accepted at Paul’s Brain Trust

As I read through the running tributes to Stan Winston on aintitcool, with words about the man– from the likes of Jim Cameron, Jon Favreau, Rick Baker, and Richard Taylor, to those who knew him even more closely– I remembered my own experience with this pioneer of cinematic special effects, as nothing more than a fan.

Back some years ago, I was at an event here in Los Angeles where Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines was being promoted. Arnold Schwarzenegger himself was there, which perhaps alone was worth the price of admission. Stan Winston was there too, along with director Johnathan Mostow, Nick Stahl (John Connor), and Kristanna Loken (T-X).

Actually, aside from Stan and Arnold, I couldn’t say for certain who was there and who wasn’t. I had to google it to confirm that my memories matched reality. There was a Q&A and maybe some clips shown, but I recall little of it.

The show organizers could not pin down which of the guests would be hanging around with us poor fans for a promised autograph session after the main presentation. It was sort of like, whatever happens, happens. The soon-to-be Governator jetted out of there promptly, which of course was a disappointment to all present, but at the same time you could hardly say it was unexpected. I believe the other cast members stayed along with the director, and Stan.

For a while, anyway.

By the time my and my brother had made our way through the long queue, they all had left too (not that I particularly minded, in this case). But Stan stayed. When it became apparent that he was the last panelist remaining, he assured us that he would stay, to meet and greet, and sign, and pose for photos. I wish I could remember his quote word for word, but he yelled out something to the effect of “I wouldn’t be here without you guys”.

No doubt you have read by now a plethora of wonderful things about Stan Winston these past few days. Here’s just one more personal confirmation that he cared about and respected us, the fans.

Thanks, Stan, we’ll never forget you.