[mark12_30]

I liked it well!

There was lots of orc-armor and Uruky stuff, plus a Treebeard display, and a pretty cool Mo-Cap station (I tried archery-- I can shoot, honest-- but the Mo-Cap was 2D, says the guy, and you have to do your archery side on, holding the thingies front-on. ) I gave up. I'll shoot for real instead.

Oh, and the store: totally lame. Nothing you can't get elsewhere much cheaper.

The room with the Ring in it was pretty cool. I was lucky enough to go in alone, and it was kinda neat to just stand there and listen to all the voices and ring-phrases.

Major Highlights:

Many have marveled at Boromir-in-the-boat. I must agree. The first few moments I spent looking at him, I could see he was artificial, wax; his hands were clearly waxen, more so than his face. But the more I looked, the more detail I saw. His constume; his eyelashes; the uneven-ness of his feet , one pointed more than the other; the smudges of dirt on his face. His hair looked untidy, and (I thought) blonder than usual. But what really got me-- Sean Bean as Boromir basically wore sort of a broad blond goatee-type beard, or something like that; just the moustache, the chin & mouth area. So he would have shaved his upper cheeks. The closer I looked, there was blonde down, or stubble, on his cheeks. He had clearly shaved just prior to setting out from Lothlorien, and they gave him four or five days' blonde beard growth. Invisible, unless you really look hard. Astounding.

It was around that moment I began to think I saw him blink.

More highlights: I am no fan of the XenArwenRanger approach taken between The Trollshaws and The Ford. That said: Arwen's riding habit was... just... amazing. I wanted one. Incredible. Why would I ever wear it? I wouldn't. But it was incredible.

Likewise: Galadriel's beaded white dress and cloak. Stunning. And the brooch, to my glee, looked like it surrounds a shell. How very elvish, especially for one who hails from across the sea!

Nenya was my favorite (it's big! And I've wanted one since I first saw it on screen so long ago.) Narya and Vilya were also pretty cool. The red-stoned ring, the ring of fire, impressed me the least. Next to Nenya... whatever.

Bilbo's red leather book. (I want one.) (Why? I never journal anymore.) (It's just gorgeous, that's why.) ( Covetousness....)

Frodo's Mithril shirt. Lovely.

I'm not sure about the Mithril shirt; but the rest of the hobbit-props and clothes were for the scale-double, the small guy. The brooch clued me in; it was half the size of mine (which I was wearing.) Sting was smaller, ditto the scabbard, and ditto Bilbo's red book. And the map, too (Bilbo's charred map of Erebor.)

All the fellowship brooches (they had three sizes, mini, huge, and man-sized) were in a much softer green than the ones the rest of us owned. I think I like ours better. THe rich green was a good choice.

Crowns... cool.

The Evenstar pendant: Yeah. I like it. I was unimpressed when it first "came out", but THAT one-- now that's nice.

Gondorian saddle: very spare! I hope it's more comfortable than it looks.

Theoden's armor: gorgeous and incredibly detailed.

In a glass case with several other helmets: Eomer's helmet!!!!! Can't I touch it? Pleeeeease? Oh, please please please?

Anduril-- cool. I wish they had translated the runes that ran all down the blade.

With gloves and limitations: Got to hold a copy of Glamdring, heft some genuine chain mail, a helmet (they wouldn't let me out it on), a gauntlet and a vambrace.

Aiglos! Gil-Galad's lance. Way up high. (That I would have liked some detail on... no cameras allowed, of course.) I stood there and sang "GilGalad was an elven King" under my breath. The guy next to me was saying "The countless stars of heavens filed were mirrored in his silver shield."

Aragorn's costume. Golly, it's almost all leather! I had asumed that it was half cloth. Nope; leather leather leather, tunic, coat, ties, everything. Very rugged.

And Legolas's costume... *shakes head* ...incredible. Silk shirt, fine leggings of course; then the boots (double-wrapped and laced, as best I could tell) and then -- the tunic. Incredible. (want one want one want one.)(When would you wear it?)(Every day, so there.) Soft bluish grey suede, finely tailored and carefully sewn, fitted to the shoulders (fitted everywhere) with layers wrapped across the shoulder and bicep to allow for freedom of movement. And an amazingly delicate tracery up the center to the neck and branching out over the shoulders-- faded, thin, and in places rubbed or worn completely off.

I stayed for two hours, lingered for another twenty minutes pondering, and then I was done. I am quite glad I went.

Oh, and before I forget-- how could I forget!-- it was quite hot, so the brown cloak and green vest got left in the car. And nobody was really costume-watching anyway, although there was one girl in a lovely foor-length royal purple cloak. A few people noticed taht I was dressed in 'forest greens and browns', I think, but I kept my brooch hidden most of the time. However, I did wear Rae's pendant and earrings; and ate Rae's 'lembas'-brownies, too. Rae, interesting Mallorn leaves you wrapped those in!