Weta John Howe Lord of the Rings Eowyn vs the Witchking Bronze Statue

The world grail is thrown around lot in the collectible hobbies. This picture is from Weta's booth around 2007-2008 when they first announced the John Howe line of bronze statues. I was in awe. I only had money for one statue and decided Smaug was the better investment so I grabbed the number 1 of 20 of that statue. The economy took a hit and Weta stopped production of these bronzes.

I emailed them repeatedly over the next 5-10 years asking them to restart. I found other collectors willing to put down a deposit. We did so. A year passes and Weta decides they cannot make the statues anymore and refund the deposits. They told me at the time that they made about 7 or 8 of the Smaug and only 3 of the Eowyn vs Witchking statues. Who had 7k to spend during the great financial crisis?

I have been looking for the Eowyn piece for nearly 20 years. Then one day it appears on eBay. Its quite remarkable that: 1) one was being sold at all, and 2) that it was THE NUMBER ONE statue I was promised by Weta so many years ago. I paid a ton for it (worth it), one of the most gut wrenching eBay snipes ever. I forget what my max was but it much higher than the closing price.

Sadly the piece hasn't been kept in the best of shape (see pic of base) but its the only # 1 in the world and 1 of only 3 of this amazing statue. That the original painting was infamously stolen adds to the allure.

Maybe one day I will grab a Sideshow/Weta Gandalf the Grey bronze. I am less enthused by that piece because I generally don't collect movie related material and I think they ruined the piece when they made the sculptor turn the sword downward for safety reasons.