It seems ages already since this beauty was shown off at Comic-Con, but Weta’s finally put up their first Halo piece for order- Cortana.

As I was prepared for a price of $250-$300 from what seem to be ever-rising cost of collectibles, the $225 ’special’ pre-order price comes as a nice surprise. There a certain element of beauty here that sets it apart from the other Chief / ugly space creature pieces, which the masses have definitely responded to. Edition size to be determined.

• Pre-order Cortana at WetaNZ
• See our Cortana photos from Comic-Con 08

I had always held out some hope that Peter Jackson’s Halo film project would see the light of day, despite its vanishing act. I saw the Halo short films by Neil Blomkamp as a reel to the studios, as assurance that it was safe to put the money back on the table. On the other hand, the possibility of the scenario being “Well, the film’s not happening, what should do with all this stuff?” also seemed equally real, but my optimism held. News of other Halo film projects proceeding ahead be damned!

As you’ll hear in the latest Weta Cast from Richard Taylor himself:

As everyone listening in knows, we very sadly had the Halo film that we had been working on for so many months disappear. For various reasons, it didn’t get made last year.

With the man’s remarks on the situation, I can finally put that idea to bed. Hollywood, that was as good of a chance as you’d ever had with Halo (which in itself had a great chance of being the first ‘good’ video game movie), and you blew it, nice going guys. The interview is centered on Mr. Taylor’s art direction role on Weta’s new Halo collectibles, but it branches off in all sorts of interesting directions.

There’s also a nice interview (and if you’re like me– an introduction) with Weta Workshop designer Paul Tobin conducted by Daniel Falconer. You’ll not find better designer on designer action for the money!

And finally, a few of the miniature Goliathon 83 Rayguns are now available to order from their site, should you be in the UK or NZ.

• Check out Weta’s latest podcast
• Get thyself a mini Goliathon 83

It’s just not fair. Not only do they have life-size Warthogs, they get to whip them out willy-nilly to use as backdrops for statue photos. Do you think that’s fair? Tell them it’s not fair.

They’ll probably listen to you. You griped about edition size, Weta Collectibles listened. Yes, there was the sharply reduced ES’s for Prince Caspian, but now they’ve truly gone off their Kiwi rockers and begun offering one-of-a-kinds.

The first auction for the edition-of-1 Sterling Silver Halo statues began tonight with the Master Chief and Grunts statue, and it’s gone swimmingly already with bids in excess $300 in under 2 hours. Yours truly was outbid several times already. If I were a rich man….

• Auction 1: Master Chief and Grunts (ended $3050)
• Auction 2: Master Chief and Arbiter (ended $2113)
• Auction 3: Master Chief and Flood (ended $1843)
• Auction 4: Cortana (ended $2,358)
• See our photos of the Silver Halo statues at Comic-Con

High resolution pictures direct from the show floor of Comic-Con 2008 featuring the Master Chief and Flood statue from Weta Collectibles.

A point of contention I have read amongst the reaction from gamers hinge on the appearance of the muzzle flash from the dual-wielded Spikers, going so far as to compare it to ‘corn on the cob’. It’s an honest, if blunt observation.

As a collector, it calls out to me less, but the opaquely bright colors certainly tend to make them a focal point. Weta has previously utilized this technique even more dramatically on their Disaster Averted statue from the Superman Returns line.

I do wonder how it would manage with translucent resin, but that’s the rub however, as they are supports for Master Chief and therefore likely to be run through with reinforced elements. At any rate, the statue surely cannot be faulted for shortage of dynamism as a result of this device.

What do you think?

High resolution pictures direct from the show floor of Comic-Con 2008 featuring the Master Chief and Grunts statue from Weta Collectibles. What’s great about Weta Halo range thus far* is that, in relatively few pieces, they’ve managed to cram in a great many characteristics that seasoned fans will come to recognize.

Here Master Chief asserts dominance over the lowly but endearing grunts. Weta did not squander the opportunity to showcase the familiar arsenal, as MC sports a different weapon on each statue. In this particularly case, he makes pancake batter out of the grunts whilst dual-wielding a pistol and energy sword.

*As seems to be the usual case, if, and how many more Halo pieces Weta intends to pursue is contingent upon how the initial release is received. So if you want to see more Halo, best get you one or four…

High resolution pictures direct from the show floor of Comic-Con 2008 of the Sterling Silver Halo collection from Weta Collectibles. These are one-offs created to commemorate the launch of the company’s Halo range, and will be made available only via Ebay auctions. In addition to being plated in sterling silver, a subtle, but distinguishing feature is that each statue contains an element in solid silver.

I probably would not have noticed this had Weta Collectibles GM, Tim Launder not kindly pointed it out to me. There is a definite difference in the luster in these special parts. Go to WetaNZ for a listing solid silver parts on each statue– and be sure to sign up for the mailing list if you are interested in the auctions, of which the start dates are TBA.

High resolution shots from the Comic-Con show floor of Weta Collectibles‘ Cortana, from the Halo range, which is slated for pre-sale in August. There is no light-up mechanism in the sculpture, however the clear resin emits a convincing luminous quality, even in the dim of convention lighting.

Can you believe it’s been a full year since Weta announced their intentions for Halo collectibles? Even more difficult to believe is how much has transpired in the Halo-verse since that time. Follow me down memory lane:

• Halo 3 released for the Xbox 360. To no one’s surprise, moves a gazillion copies.
• Bungie, creators of Halo, severed ties with parent company Microsoft (who now own the intellectual property)
• Peter Jackson and his Wingnut Interactive announced and are still in process of crafting a new game in the Halo universe with Microsoft Game Studios, which may or may not be called Halo: Chronicles
• The Halo movie, with Peter Jackson as producer and first Guillermo Del Toro* then Neil Blomkamp to direct, stalled in production indefinitely.

It’s a wee bit amazing that the Halo range somehow managed to emerge unscathed; Perhaps it was never in jeopardy, but Weta’s air-tight silence did little to inspire much confidence to the contrary.

Announced on Weta’s inaugural podcast with marketing manager, Magnus Hjert and Daniel Falconer (who should need no introduction here!): we will finally get to see their take on Halo at Comic-Con 2008.

This is for me, the most appealing of Weta’s current licenses and I cannot wait to see just what they have up their sleeves. Stay tuned here for coverage of Weta’s Halo line, direct from the show floor!

*(see what Guillermo Del Toro had to say about Halo in our Q&A transcript!)

The hilarious, affable and sincere key holder to the Tolkien film franchise discusses Hellboy, Halo, Weta, The Hobbit, how Pan is a fraud and why he’s on edge when having tea with Doug Jones!

Guillermo Del Toro: Thank you very much, here I am to answer anything you want to ask or throw shit at me, whatever you want. I’m here. Thank you very much for coming, and let’s proceed. Read the rest of this entry »

Collector’s Edition. Those words are irresistible to us hardcore geeks. Well that’s what they think anyway. That’s why every DVD is a “Special Collector’s Bonus Wonderful” edition, when it’s not. Now pony up the goods, and we get more interested. Packaging DVD’s in extravagant boxed sets is now commonplace, and it’s getting that way too with videogames. Enter the Halo 3 Legendary Edition.

When it hits in Sept. 25, Halo 3 will come in 3 flavors: plain vanilla ($59.99), “Limited Edition” ($69.99), and Ultra-Geek, I mean, “Legendary Edition” ($129.99). For $130 buckaroo’s, you of course get everything in the Limited Edition- which comes in a tin case– and a bunch of other crap you don’t care about if you’ve never played Halo- but it does come with a cool collectible: Master Chief Spartan Helmet replica (and some sort of thing that looks like a disc holder, that probably serves as a base).

Was not really planning on buying this (and if they can’t sell it to me– avid Xbox 360er and collector, who can they sell it to?), but now that I have this blog I feel some odd sense of obligation to investigate. I guess I have about a month to decide. It could be a fine starter course to the Halo collectibles feast that is about to hit from all fronts, including Weta.