Westlake Village, CA - July 1, 2005 - Sideshow Collectibles, specialty manufacturer of TV and Film Collectibles, and Weta Workshop, special effects studio involved in the LOTR trilogy, announced today that they intend to conclude their range of limited edition collectible products based on New Line Cinema's Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

Over the past four years, Sideshow / Weta Collectibles has developed, manufactured, and distributed over 180 different items through several different product lines, including; polystone statues, busts, wall plaques, environments, medallions, miniature metal helms and weapon sets, fine art framed collectibles, film frame collectibles, bookends, collectible DVD sets, and even bronze statues.

The partnership of these two companies allowed the most authentic representations of the movies' characters and places to be created for fans looking to continue the remarkable film experience created by Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema. "The partnership has been incredible. Although Sideshow and Weta are both eternally dedicated to Lord of the Rings, we've come to the mutual decision that it's time to end the Lord of the Rings collectible program. We've provided a very complete range of characters in the product categories for which we partnered," said Greg Anzalone, CEO of Sideshow Collectibles.

Sideshow Weta will conclude their journey of their Lord of the Rings collectible line where the vision of the films began, with director Peter Jackson. As a tribute to the director, the final piece of their line will be a statue of Jackson as a dreaded Corsair, from his cameo appearance in The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. "Peter Jackson brought Tolkien's world to life, faithfully and flawlessly," says Anzalone. "We feel it appropriate to end the line with a tribute to Peter Jackson, without whom the amazing experience of the past four years would not have been possible."

Before the Jackson Corsair piece brings in the finale for the Sideshow / Weta Lord of the Rings collectible line, they will also release a piece that has been the most requested by fans and collectors world-wide, the immense elephant-like Mûmak. "Fans have embraced the movies and the merchandise so fiercely and so loyally. We wanted to produce a piece specifically requested by them. This beast from the Return of the King, is Sideshow / Weta's thank you to its steadfast collectors and Lord of the Rings fans," Anzalone said.

All Lord of the Rings fans are invited to visit www.SideshowCollectibles.com to view the newly announced Mûmak and Peter Jackson statues, and to view the full range of Lord of the Rings collectibles.

About Sideshow Collectibles
Since its inception in 1994, Sideshow Collectibles has been a specialty manufacturer of licensed and proprietary collectible products that reflect a passion toward creating unique, highly sought after figure collectibles, as well as film prop replicas and fine art collectibles. The Sideshow artisans are renowned sculptors, experienced model makers, painters and costumers, whose collaborative efforts result in intricately detailed likenesses of popular characters, including film and television monsters, villains, heroes and mystical creatures of fantasy, as well as legendary figures from history. Sideshow artisans have regularly distinguished themselves for their ability to achieve a level of authenticity seldom seen in the figure collectible arena.

Sideshow is the premier source for highly collectible figures, statues, busts, framed art, prop replicas and film-study maquettes. Sideshow products are available online at: www.sideshowcollectibles.com as well as through specialty and collectible shops, comic book stores, and via collectible web sites worldwide.

ABOUT WETA Workshop
In 2001 Weta Workshop and Sideshow Collectibles formed a partnership to create collectibles of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Utilizing the technicians at the Workshop that designed and manufactured the original armour, weapons and creatures for the three films, and directly interacting with the wonderful cast, they were able to produce some of the most collectible sculpture accessible to the fans of the films and books.

Weta continues to provide beautiful pieces for the discerning collectors of fine art sculpture. Weta Collectibles is excited to be developing other work that will be seen shortly on its website, and in collectible shops around the world.

Please view our work online at www.wetaworkshop.co.nz

About New Line Cinema
Founded in 1967, New Line Cinema is the entertainment industry's leading independent producer and distributor of theatrical motion pictures. New Line licenses its films to ancillary markets including cable and broadcast television as well as to international venues. The company, which is a subsidiary of AOL Time Warner Inc., operates several divisions including in-house theatrical distribution, marketing, home video, television acquisitions, production, licensing and merchandising units.