Day 93 - treating myself

 Today is the 2nd day of the 14th week, the 3rd day of the 4th month, the 93rd day of 2023.

Last year I decided, on an impulse, to purchase a miniature from WETA celebrating JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth and the 20th anniversary of Peter Jackson's Fellowship of the Ring for my birthday.  I'm not at all sure why this particular scene caught my fancy.  This particular piece just spoke to me in a way that all the other pieces, despite my admiration for the all the things that I had seen them produce through the years.  

I was introduced to Tolkien when I was a junior in high school via a book review in the magazine Seventeen.  My godmother had gifted me with a subscription a couple of years ago; I think this was actually the last year I got it as I really found most of it pretty silly and uninteresting.  But Ballantine Books owned the magazine and brought out the first paperback of 'The Fellowship of the Ring', so they reviewed it.  I was intrigued by the review, bought and read the book.  I actually didn't like it much at the very beginning.  But I read on, telling myself I would give it 50 pages to see of all these needlessly complicated details meant anything, and by the time I reached that point, I had fallen in love with Bilbo, Hobbits, MiddleEarth, fantasy, and world-building. 

And so I pre-ordered this item on layaway, and arranged it so it would pay off by January 2023, thus guarantying I would get it in the spring.  I picked it up from the management office on Friday after work, and was stunned to realize just how big the package was - somehow the dimensions and the fact the piece itself before shipping would weigh over 33 lbs hadn't sunk in until I had to deal with getting it from the package room to my car and then from the parking garage to the apartment.  I had the help of two very kind men - the first saw me patiently "walking" the package I could not lift to the car, and he picked it up and put it in the car for me.  I got in out and onto a little hand truck I keep in the trunk, got it up the seven steps between me and the hallway, and one of the maintenance men saw me struggling to keep it going and kindly took it from me, escorting me to the door of my home.  I was much too played out to even think about doing anything with it Friday night.

Saturday was the grand unboxing.  The shipping box reached the top of Grandmom's table, and the box inside wasn't much smaller!

There were three panels of Styrofoam inside, taped tightly together.  Each panel revealed many small pieces, carefully wrapped, each in their own little pocket.  Each one had to be taken out and carefully unwrapped, and placed out to be added as details to the larger work.  That L-shaped base was the walls of the Bilbo's study, providing the backdrop for the smaller items, and it held a fantastic amount of meticulous detailing. 

I assembled what was unpacked, creating all of Bilbo's writing desk.  The flowers, the quills, the pipes, the map display, where all put together.  The walking stick would be placed next to the fireplace and I left the pile of papers together, altho I looked at them.  Every single paper is carefully printed on both sides and completely legible.  

I placed the base on Grandmom's side table in front of the balcony blinds, where it fit perfectly, stood back and studied it.  There are always new details to uncover!  Only thing is didn't do is properly scatter the papers all over the floor - I was afraid they would get lost too easily.  The details on the writing desk are exquisitely precise, and I was fascinated that once I had everything positioned exactly, Bilbo's hand holding the quill actually was resting on his journal, as he muses: 'Concerning Hobbits', an amused look on his face.

This side is the window looking out onto the garden - looks like Sam has some trimming to do on that one part.  And of course there are mushrooms...

The rear of the piece, facing away from the room, appears as soil, complete with tree roots and a resident mole - Bag End was built into the side of a hill after all - with the fireplace chimney carved out of it, bricks discolored by smoke.  

I don't know which number of the 1,049 pieces I received - I never turned the base over to look, even though I knew it was a limited edition collector's piece.  Nor did it come with any certificates of authenticity or anything like that.  I did not buy it as an investment.  I bought it as my birthday present because Mr. Bilbo Baggins, who we meet here preparing to celebrate his 111st birthday, has been part of my life for 57 years and counting