Comic-Con 2011 - Latest updates

We will update this page regularly with announcements / news about the upcoming show at San Diego Comic Con on 20-24 July, 2011

20 July

It all happens at San Diego Comic Con tomorrow. New announcements, new reveals, books signings and MORE ...

A brand new The Lord of the Rings envronment !

What surprising announcement does Dr Grordbort have in store ?

Thundering Typhoons, what is next for The Adventures of Tintin ?

A message of Peace from the Red Morevekian King.

Are you a collector ? Have you ever bought a Weta collectible ? Tomorrow is your day.

BRING IT ON !!!

19 July

Whew ! We made it to San Diego just in time. The team spent the day setting up the booth. Here is a sneak preview of some of our Comic Con SPECIALS :

Dr Grordbort's Victorious Mongoose - US$200 off + free shipping in Mainland USA

Dr Grordbort's Pearce Atom - US$200 off + free shipping in Mainland USA

Dr Grordbort's miniature rayguns - US$10 off + get a mini Victorious Mongoose for US$20

Dr Grordbort's Satchel - US$40 off

Dr Grordborts Dingus Directory + VICTORY books for US$30

The Lord of the Rings - Prancing Pony - last 4 pieces available in the US

The Lord of the Rings - Miniature Shields - any 2 for US$60

District 9 - Mini Arc Generator - US$30 off

District 9 - Mini Assault Rifle - US$30 off

T-shirts - Any 3 for US$50 

18 July

The Weta crew all leave New Zealand today, beginning our long swim over the Pacific Ocean to San Diego. And of course we still have a few sneaksy surprises up our sleeves ...

17 July

A very limited number of the official The Adventures of Tintin movie posters will be on sale at the Weta booth

15 Jul

Two unmissable events :

Our friends from theonering.net are holding a panel at Comic Con on Thursday 21st between 10-10.45am. 

Steven Spielberg will be at Comic Con for the first time, and he'll be bringing footage of The Adventures of Tintin !! Be there 11am on Friday 22nd in Hall H.

14 Jul

Gandalf is coming to Comic Con! Just launched today, Weta's latest fine art sculpture from The Lord of the Rings. Come and see him up close at the Weta booth

8 Jul

We have several artists attending this year, so we'll have a signing schedule on display each day to show signing times (artists get feisty if they have to batlle over their signing stools!). Here's a list of who will be at the Weta booth each day (you can read their profiles further down this page) :

Greg Broadmore - Wed to Sun

Daniel Falconer - Wed to Sun

Paul Tobin - Thu to Sun

Claire Hackett - Thu to Sun

Stephen Crowe - Thu to Sun

Stuart Thomas - Thu to Sat

Jeremy Bennett - Fri to Sat

Rebekah Holguin - Sat to Sun

Jeffrey Lai - Thu to Sun

7 Jul

The District 9 Exosuit is arriving in our US warehouse in late July. So we will be delivering pre-orders to our US customers in early August. Stocks are now running low, so come check out this incredible piece of model making at the Weta booth, before it sells out. 

6 Jul

Weta will have more staff attending Comic Con this year than ever before (nine, we think ?) ! Shari Finn and Sam Mott are both coming to Comic Con for the first time (after visiting New York on holiday!). Shari is a Model Maker and Sam a Technician in the Workshop. What does that mean ? They get involved in making lots of different stuff ! models, props, costumes, sets, etc.  Please come and say Hi

5 Jul

Have you ever made chainmaille before ? We will have a limited amount of Weta chainmaille making kits on sale. These are the same materials we invented to use in movies like The Lord of the Rings, Kingdom of Heaven and Robin Hood. Come try it out and tell us what you think ? If you like them, we'll make more!

4 Jul

Happy Independence day to all our friends in the United States!

Weta's booth will be in a different position this year. We are still sharing with Dark Horse Comics at booth # 2615, however we will be on the opposite corner of their booth space. Sadly, our space has ben reduced a little, so it will be a bit squishy. It will be increased next year.

25 Jun

Comic Con fan favourite, Greg Broadmore will be coming to San Diego again this year. The Bearded One is the creator of Dr Grordbort's Infallible Aether Oscillators and Conceptual designer at Weta Workshop. Greg will be signing a range of books which he has either written or contributed to : Doctor Grordbort's Contrapulatronic Dingus Directory, Victory, The Art of District 9, White Cloud Worlds and one other to be announced !

Greg will also be speaking at a Steampunk panel "Steampunk ... it's varied influences on the Arts and Entertainment industry" on Saturday 23 July at 10-11am in room 23 A,B,C on the top level. Huzzah ! 

24 Jun

If you attended the special screenings of The Lord of the Rings Extended Edition in the US in June, you may have noticed a short video clip from Weta prior to the movie. Was there a new collectible revealed ??? Find out at Comic Con.

23 Jun

Weta will be showing off our brand new range of merchandise from The Adventures of Tintin including the just announced Captain Haddock, and the cover art for The Art of the Adventures of Tintin ! What else could be in store !

14 Jun

Weta Conceptual designer Daniel Falconer will be coming to Comic Con this year. Daniel is a long time LOTR fan favourite, having worked extensively on the Trilogy and attended many Middle-earth conventions all around the world. He has played a leading role in the creation of so many of our collectibles, including the new Rivendell environment. Daniel is also the authour of The Art of District 9, which he will be signing at Comic Con. Please come and say Hi to Dan.

 13 Jun

We will have a limited number (4) of the SOLD OUT The Lord of the Rings Prancing Pony available for purchase at the Weta booth. 

 6 Jun

The following Kiwi artists are all featured in the White Cloud Worlds fantasy art book showcasing the best of New Zealand's talent. And guess what, they will all be coming to Comic Con this year to sign copies at the Weta booth ! Make sure you come and chat with them

Claire Hackett

Claire Hackett is a freelance illustrator currently working at Weta Digital.  She graduated from the Massey School of Design majoring in animation.

Claire started drawing on, well, anything when she was very small. Usually, these neophyte scrawlings were an impassioned attempt at replicating childhood whimsies - ballerinas, mermaids and mermaid ballerinas ad nauseum - yet as time went on she became inspired by RPG games and comic books.

After a while the bejewelled piscine performers morphed into something much more angular, androgynous and far less frilly, and the unusual result is showcased in White Cloud Worlds.

Jeffrey Lai

Jeffrey is a freelance illustrator based in Wellington. Jeffrey is influenced by the natural world and likes to paint fantasy-themed illustrations that are set in forests he populates with imagined creatures and societies.

His advice to budding artists is to work hard, draw and paint like there is no tomorrow!

Jeremy Bennett

Jeremy Bennett is an art director and conceptual artist for gaming heavyweight Valve in Seattle. He has worked extensively on the Half-Life series, Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 and Portal2.

Jeremy is originally from Wellington and although he is now based in the States, he still looks to our countries natural landscapes for inspiration. The paintings he has featured in White Cloud Worlds are inspired by both his time living on the south coast of Wellington and obviously his time as a visual effects art director for The Lord of the Rings trilogy and conceptual designer on King Kong.

Rebekah Holguin

Rebekah was a conceptual designer at Weta Workshop for four years working on The Adventures of Tintin and The Lovely Bones before moving to her new home in the United States.

She loves drawing character and costume pieces and experimenting with how ordinary things can be spectacular in the right light. She still hasn't realised her child-hood dream of drawing princesses for Disney but thinks that actually being able to simply draw for a living is pretty cool. And her career is still young!

Stephen Crowe

Stephen is a freelance concept designer and illustrator based in Wellington. He works for a variety of clients both here and overseas, most recently illustrating a graphic novel for Montreal based Meduzarts.

Stephen's work in White Cloud Worlds comes from what he plans will be his own graphic novel. It is a world he has been creating for the last few years now, work squeezed into the few gaps left by the practical realities of a busy modern life. The story of an engineer caught up in a battle to free her world from the grip of a bloodthirsty tyrant, an underground militia searching for survivors of a murdered royal family, and a royal guardsman prepared to sacrifice everything for redemption.

Stuart Thomas

Stuart hails from 'The Naki' originally but now spends his days as a concept artist at Weta Workshop. The detailed illustrations of Jeff Axers art inspired him to give drawing a go and create his own collection of characters.

The cat character shown in the book is one of his earliest characters who rides a V-Twin circular saw.

5 Jun

Over 10 new, yet to be announced products will be on display at the Weta booth. Plus a new brand, due to be announced this week !

30 May

The award winning The Art of District 9: Weta Workshop book will be available at Comic Con for the first time. Get your copy signed by some the designers involved in the creation of this iconic Sci-Fi movie.

26 May

Dr Grordbort's are delivering a shipment of the brand new Saboteur 66 Ultra-Wave Equalisers just in time for purchase at Comic Con. The incredibly clever scientists at Grordbort's Industries have noticed a steeply growing demand for assasination accessories in the 25 to 40 year old raving mad, murderous bastards percentile and have responded to customer demand in style!

25 May

Paul Tobin will be coming to Comic Con this year for the first time. Paul works in the Weta Design team and will be signing the White Clouds Worlds book which he organised, as well as making some of his fine art prints available. He can't wait to get there

21 May

We will be bringing limited copies of White Cloud Worlds  to Comic Con. This gorgeous new book brings together a collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artwork from 27 artists across New Zealand (including some who work for Weta). It is not currently available in US stores, so this is a unique opportunity to see them first hand. And even better, we will have a bunch of these Kiwi artists at the booth to chat with and get your copy signed. Which artists will they be ? Stay tuned to the updates on this page to find out ...

19 May

Rivendell, the brand new environment sculpture from The Lord of the Rings will be on display at the Weta booth at Comic Con

17 May

Weta Workshop's Senior Model Maker, Dave Tremont, will be at the Weta booth. Dave has been creating miniatures, models and collectibles in the movie industry for 30 years. His hands have touched nearly every Weta collectible created at Weta Workshop. So please come and chat with him about "making stuff" !

15 May

Just over 2 months to go to San Diego Comic Con 2011. Weta has just packed and shipped out 2 pallets of goodies from the Workshop here in Wellington, New Zealand. There was much debate as to how we should transport our supplies to San Diego this year. In the last few years we have had limited success with different modes of transport; paddling by War Canoe, flying via Nazgul Air, and shipping on The Venture. So this year we have settled upon Submarine Shark !