LotR: THE WITCH-KING & FRODO AT WEATHERTOP

Limited edition #538 of 700
Scale: 1/6
Dimensions: 41 x 36 x 24 cm (HxWxD)
Weight: 6.16 kg
Materials: Polystone, resin
Previewed: June 4, 2020 *
Pre-order: July 7, 2020
Sold out: July 16, 2020
Released: November 2020
Sculptors: Jane Wenley

Hunted by Sauron’s Ringwraiths, Frodo and his Hobbit companions flee into the wilderness, led by the mysterious Strider. By secret ways, the ranger guides them across country to Amon Sûl, a lonely hill east of Bree where long ago his Númenórean ancestors built a watchtower. Known as Weathertop, the bare, ruin-studded hill affords a wide view of the lands about, and the companions had hoped to find signs of the missing wizard Gandalf.

Any hope of rest is soon shattered when a Nazgûl scream pierces the air: the enemy has found them! Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin are surrounded by five black-cowled Ringwraiths as they huddle amid the broken stones, swords drawn. But the Halflings are no match for the Wraiths, who bat Frodo’s companions aside with disinterest as the Witch-King, their lord, advances on the stumbling Ringbearer.

Unable to resist, Frodo thrusts the One Ring onto his finger and is plunged into the grey spirit world of Ring-sight. No longer an empty black robe, the Witch-King is revealed to Frodo in his true form, fell and terrible to behold. Beneath a bladed crown he glows with an unearthly light; a tall white being of ghostly skin drawn about sunken features, wispy hair whipped by an ethereal tempest, and a long, jagged blade in his luminous hand as he reaches for the Ring.

Elements whipped & distorted by Wraith-world effects create the sense the Witch-King is in a different elemental space, distanced from the Hobbit - prototype sculpted by Jane Wenley. Made from high-quality polystone with environmental resin. Captures a critical moment in Tolkien’s story, where we almost lose our hero.

"As a sculptor this piece was really interesting to work on. There’s so many elements that you have to think about: the flowing of the fabric, the otherworldly mist, Frodo’s intense expression on his face and the tension between him and the Witch-King. It made it a really great challenge and also stretched me as an artist."
Jane Wenley - Sculptor, Weta Workshop

* Packing an armature into her San Diego Comic-Con suitcase, Weta Workshop sculptor Jane Wenley began the piece in the thick of the action in 2018. The sculpture evolved over a period of two years, with the statue’s composition and detail undergoing an evolution driven by co-founder and creative director, Richard Taylor. Watch our creative journey unfold in our two-part series on the making of this collectible.