Frodo Baggins

Image: Hake’s AuctionsExpected to fetch $10,000-$20,000, this Mattel playset is in exceptionally good condition (according to the auction house, a less-pristine version sold for just over $13,000 last year); bid here by March 20 if you are powerless to resist its charms. According to the lot description, “upon its release in 1986, Eternia was sold at an extremely high price for a toy at the time, which led to few being sold. This large and impressive playset is often referred to as the ‘holy grail’ of Masters Of The…

Image: Magic The GatheringNext month Magic: The Gathering heads to Middle-earth for an all-new set based on the world of The Lord of Rings. While we’d previously gotten hits at some of the new artwork coming in the set, lead art director Ovidio Cartagena has now lifted the lid on even more of Tales From Middle-earth’s glorious new art.Created in collaboration with Middle-earth Enterprises, the new artwork for Tales From Middle-earth was commissioned over the course of three years while the set was in development.Some…

Earlier this year, Warner Bros. announced it would be making new Lord of the Rings movies and the collective response was, “Wait, what?” Director Peter Jackson already made six of those—and with an animated film on the way, as well as a TV show at a competing studio, it was hard to have any perspective on what these films could possibly be.Exclusive Lord of the Rings Featurette on Composer Bear McCrearyOne person who does have that perspective is Elijah Wood. Wood, who played Frodo Baggins in the original Lord of the…

One does not simply walk into Mordor; instead, one might opt to climb up a wall of vines or jump from platform to platform. That’s the crux of what The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is all about. The game positions the player as the classic Lord of the Rings villain, shining light on his previously unexplored backstory, which includes his capture and subsequent escape from the clutches of evil. It’s a novel concept that I wasn’t exactly sure would work before trying it out for myself. Given all that, I knew I needed to…

Before this month, it had been years since Lego had made any sets based off the Lord of the Rings movies. But the iconic brick maker came to us at the turn of the tide with the latest adult collectors set—a recreation of Rivendell from The Fellowship of the Ring as epic as an extended edition trilogy marathon, and just as satisfying.Lego provided io9 with access to a copy of the new set, and after a few days of furious building—and cursing of 1x1 tile pieces—we’ve got our extensive impressions ofwhat it’s like building…

Image: Magali Villeneuve/Wizards of the CoastMiddle-earth is about to join the multiversal planes of Magic: The Gathering. While the next set in Wizards of the Coast’s Universes Beyond crossover sub-theme is still a few months away, we’re already getting a look at some of the icons of Tolkien’s fantasy world coming to the set.Revealed by IGN this week, Wizards of the Coast has given us our first look at some of the cards coming in Universes Beyond: The Lord of the Rings–Tales of Middle-earth. The set, a full release akin…

Image: Jordan Strauss/Invision (AP)Peter Jackson’s original Lord of the Rings movies are acclaimed to this day for many reasons, with its cast chief among them. It’s the series that helped introduce audiences to longtime actors such as the late Christopher Lee or Ian McKellan, and greatly boosted the profile of relative unknowns like Orlando Bloom or Elijah Wood. Now imagine that cast is largely the same, except instead of Sean Astin in the role of Frodo Baggins’ longtime BFF Samwise Gamgee, it’s current late night talk…

Welcome back to Toy Aisle, io9's regular round up of all things wonderful and plastic. This week, Lego returns to Lord of the Rings with some unlikely new sets, Hasbro’s Power Rangers Lightning Collection goes ninja-mad, and our first look at Transformers: Rise of the Beasts toys rolls in. Check it out!Image: LegoLego BrickHeadz The Lord of the Rings Aragorn & Arwen, Frodo & Gollum, and Gandalf & BalrogWith the Rings of Power recently wrapping up its first season on Amazon, there’s a renewed interest in The…

Photo: Ben Rothstein/Prime VideoAnyone who’s seen the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings movies will recall that for all their creatures and battle scenes, one of their niftiest special effects—showing the height difference between wee Frodo and towering Gandalf—was always one of the most visually striking. That’s also the case with Prime Video’s new Middle-earth Tolkien prequel, The Rings of Power.Speaking with IndieWire, the series’ showrunners explained how they shot the scenes showing characters of different sizes,…

Here’s the long and short of it, or Ent and Hobbit of it if you’re already packing your bags to be whisked off to Middle-earth again: The Rings of Power is The Lord of the Rings through and through. It looks incredible, it bursts with hope, and, above all, it’s very long and takes a bit of time getting going.This is said with all the love and affection the world has had for Peter Jackson’s original Lord of the Rings films—and their slightly-less beloved successors in the Hobbit trilogy—themselves known, especially in…