Lord of the Rings Sauron Scaled Helm by Sideshow Weta

Sauron 1/4 Scale Helm from the Lord of the Rings Review. Made by sideshow & weta for the release time of the original film trilogy, these piece by far have been some of the best created. Yes granted maser replicas did an amazing work on the .45 scale Star Wars helmets. But these helms take the scaled replica universe to the same level of quality (made even better). Each of these helms from the collection are made of metal. This makes each heavy and really amazing to behold.

The Sauron Helm is probably the most recognized of he entire franchise. Hence why we are doing this one first. The piece weighs roughly around 3-5 pounds and measures almost 16 inches tall. The piece like all the other pieces in the helm collection has been given a wore weathered use to depict what they would have looked like in the film.
The Sauron helm has amazing scroll work detail on the entire helm, despite being small weta did not take a break on making each of these screen accurate replica's.

 From Left to Right: Sideshow Helm of Sauron Front View, Side View, 3/4 view, Back View

 From Left to Right: Box art Front View, Side View, Back view with Story panel

My only issue was that the helm looks like it will be either a grey colour or a black colour. Strangely though my copy has sort of a hint of purple in the dark areas on the sides of the helm. It takes a real long inspection to see it. If you look at the helm and compare that black to the black of the stand in the same picture you'll notice the helm is lighter, and sort of an in between colour of black and he actual box art colour. Overall though this is stunning and is a keeper. Normally around $100 i would say its worth the price, but if you are patient you may be able to find one for a little bit less. Any fan of the Lord of the Rings or just really cool pieces needs to have this.

Score 4.5 Rolled "R's" in Morrrrrdor out of 5

Thor Hammer & helmet Sideshow Archive set

Thor Archive Set Hammer & Helmet by Sideshow Collectibles

What is an archive set? That was my first question about 6-7 years ago when I first heard about these. Basically it's a pure display piece (in every sense of the word)  it captures everything to do with the character without the character. For me it is pretty awesome because you get to see the weapons up close. What makes the hero or villain you can literally hold in your hand.
The sideshow pieces are made to a 1/4 scale meaning perfect for you budget and small enough to save you a ton of space instead of dealing with super large life size prop replicas. First of the detail is fantastic the amount of time and effort to design and mass produce these is unheard of. I'll let the pictures explain, down to business. I'm Going to do a reverse order this time bring the suspense to the front instead of making you all wait. Let me know if you like this method better.


The Goods What you care about:
The Archive set (the piece): The paint job is stunning, the piece looks like it's straight out of Thor's Asgarian utility room. The wood display is not actually wood, the paint job makes it look so real. As well the base isn't stone, both the base and the wood display are made out of polystone and probably metal on the inside to make the frame. The stone base has rune like markings on each side with the classic Thor logo on the front (even the shading is done in the paint job). The hammer (Mjolnir) is heavy the entire piece is made out of solid metal (probably weighs about 1lb) with the handle wrapped in leather (just like the comics). His winged helmet is also made out of solid metal (probably about 1/2 pound) with an awesome silver sparkle flecked paint job and hand painted feathers. Each then mount on to the wood display part (the winged helmet mounts with a peg in the middle and the hammer just rest on the 2 horizontal dragon looking pegs.

 Sideshow Thor Archive Hammer and Winged Helmet Front view, Side view, Back View and the under side Numbered edition

The Winged Helmet and Hammer (Mjolnir): the up close look at both the winged helmet and hammer reveals an amazing amount of detail given to each individual piece. Quality control must have been really strict. I'm more amazed at the helmet than the hammer due to the fact that the detail required to pull off the helmet was actually thoughtfully designed and then exceptionally executed. Sideshow didn't just have the feathers painted, they had them machine stamped into metal and then hand painted. They did that on the outward and inward facing parts of the helmet. The Hammer WOW a solid piece of metal with a textured paint pattern and to top it off, the embossed inscription of what it takes to wield Thor's hammer (Mjolnir). The leather wrapped handle looks great as well the little detail at the bottom of the handle. Sideshow there's really no one out there that comes close to your attention to detail and price point.

Thor's Hammer and Helmet up close. You can see the detail and the quality of workmanship

The 4 Colour Box: looks great and really shows off the piece. Even before opening and seeing the piece you know what you are getting into. The excitement just grows from there.

Sideshow Archive Thor Hammer and Helmet set 4 colour box front, back and side

Styrofoam Packing

The Styrofoam: Packed well and to save space this piece should save you a bit on shipping but the weight alone will probably make that saving negligible. Trust me though the weight is what makes this piece ever penny.


The Verdict: the fully metal pieces, life like wood and stone base give this the look of fiction really becoming reality. Get you hands on one of these comic fans, especially you Thor guys. You won't regret it.

5 Thrown Hammers out of 5

Inception Steelbook Limited Collector Edition Metal Briefcase Review

Inception. Steelbook and Metal Briefcase Review.
Whats inside, is it worth it?
First the Movie. What a great concept and story, originality is truly born out of thought. Here's the review of the Limited Edition Metal Briefcase set that was released. I ordered the UK version one hoping for the Steelbook to be included. Which leads me to probably my only complaint WHERE IS THE STEELBOOK and WHY WASN'T IT PART OF THE COLLECTORS SET? Not much of a limited edition without the steelbook. So to remedy the situation I ended up buying the steelbook copy. So this will be a combined review of the Briefcase and Steelbook.






What you care about:
The Outer Box: It's made of sheet plastic which if hit to hard will crack to just be careful when handling. Window Box on the front to let you see the briefcase.

Inception Colllectors edition Briefcase, Front, sides and back view

The Briefcase: First it's small, just slightly bigger then a blu-ray case. You won't be getting a full size briefcase. Also they didn't bother to put a handle to carry the thing.

 Inception Briefcase Front, back and side views

The inside: Grey hard foam was used to hold everything together. On the left is the spot for the Blu-ray and the right is for the the art cards and the PASIV manual. As well a working totem that Cobb uses is included. The totem is pretty cool.

 Inception Art cards, Scenes from the movie and the 2 verticals are movie posters

Portable Automated Somnacin IntraVenous (PASIV) device Manual

 read it here and Cobb Totem

The Steelbook (Sold Separately): The cover is of one of the theatrical posters (my favorite one). The great thing about steelbooks is that they are like virgin comic covers. They aren't cluttered with writing, it's all about showcasing the artwork. I'll let the pictures let you decide what you think about it.

Inception Blu-ray Steelbook Artwork on both sides. Front and inside view also a view of the movie disc.

The briefcase gets a 2 out of 5 (no steelbook included and kind of cheap materials used)
The Steelbook gets a 4 out of 5 (Artwork on the box makes its a favorite)
The movie a 5 out of 5 (Great writing, directing and concept)

Star Wars Clone Trooper Helmet Master Replicas .45 Scale

Clone Trooper Helmet Star Wars Master Replicas collection
Once again great value for such a small piece amazing.

 Clone Trooper Helmet Side view, Front and back view

Clone Trooper Inside Views Side, Back and Front (visor is see through)

501st Legion Trooper Helmet .45 Scaled Master Replicas

Master Replicas 501st Legion Trooper Helmet .45 Scaled AKA Vader's Fist. Those blue helmets always wondered what clone commander they belonged to. Turns out its not a commander it's actually Darth Vader's Legion. Just beware if you see the blue just run fast.

Master Replicas 501st legion trooper .45 Scaled Helmet's front, side and back

Master Replicas 501st Legion trooper .45 Scaled Helmet inside Front, inside side, inside back