Thank you, Mary, for super 2002 Premiere issue of LotR Magazine!!.....
~ Cover of the Premiere issue of the LotR fan magazine.
I said I'd not be posting for a while, but I can't resist making much of this: a new Frodo e-friend has surprised me by sending me a wonderful gift: a mint copy of the first issue of the Lord of the Rings Fan Club Official Movie Magazine.
What a source of beautiful, classic images (which I haven't let go to waste!).
Thank you, Mary!!!
Mary is a friend of jan-u-wine and fellow-fan of jan's poetry. Both are long-time fans of LotR, book and films. It was through jan that I met Mary. Jan-u-wine had suggested that Mary might enjoy my fic, as well as pointing her to my LJ, to see how the poems she liked looked presented in conjunction with Frodo images. This led to an exhange of emails about my fic, Jan's poems, Tolkien, Elijah Wood, and various other topics.
What a surprise when Mary wrote and asked, would I like her extra copy of the premiere issue of The Lord of the Rings fan club magazine? Would I?!? I had only recently learned of these magazines from jan-u-wine, who, like Mary, had become interested in the film project from its early days.
If you are a newer fan like me, you might like to read about these magazines and how they came to be published. Here's a copy of an article jan-u-wine sent me from the time the magazine was coming out:
The Lord of the Rings Director Honors Fans
with Their Names in Credits of film's DVDs
The Lord of the Rings Fan Club Launches Today
(NORFOLK, Va. October 17, 2001) - Inspired by the one hundred million readers of The Lord of the RingsTM, Director Peter Jackson has become the first person in movie-making history to simultaneously write, direct and produce three films at one time. In another pioneering and Middle-earth-shattering move announced today, Jackson has decided to immortalize the most ardent Tolkien fans - charter members in The Lord of the Rings Fan Club - by placing their names in the film's credits on the DVDs.
"This is an announcement unprecedented in cinematic history and of immense importance to The Lord of the Rings fans," says Dan Madsen, vice president of Decipher's Fan Club Studio. "Peter is honoring the role of the fans in this creative journey. The fact that these films are being made with such precision and care is exciting in and of itself. But, by agreeing to place fans' names in the credits of the films, Peter is demonstrating that he truly understands what it means to be a fan of this brilliant property. This is the first time a director has acknowledged the contribution of fans to the creation of a film in this way."
Charter Memberships
The Lord of the Rings Fan Club launches today with an innovative charter membership program on LOTRfanclub.com. In addition to having their names appear in the film's credits on the DVDs, charter members receive an annual subscription to the bi-monthly movie magazine; special-edition, widescreen-format collector's lithograph (featuring scenes from The Fellowship of the Ring); a 10% discount at the Fan Club's online store and catalog; preference (two weeks before the general public) in purchasing exclusive, limited-edition collectibles; a fan mail service to link fans directly to the stars of the trilogy; and more.
The cost of a one-year charter membership is $39.95US; $69.95US for two years; and $99.95US for three. Two-year charter members will appear in the credits of the DVDs for the first two films in the trilogy; three-year charter members will appear in the credits of all three films. International memberships will also be available.
Limited-Time Offer
Charter memberships will be available for a limited time only. To sign up, fans can visit LOTRfanclub.com, or go to the official Lord of the Rings web site at lordoftherings.net and click on "Fan Club." Regular Fan Club memberships are expected to be offered starting in December. Tolkien enthusiasts will also be able to join the fan club by calling 1-800-451-6381 (inside the United States only) or 303-856-2201 (from anywhere in the world) between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. MST.
Frodo Registers as First Member
Actor Elijah Wood, who stars in the trilogy as Frodo Baggins - the legendary Ring-bearer - has signed up as the fan club's first official member. "I think what they're doing with the fan club is really wonderful. Since I started working on these films, I've been amazed by how many people have been impacted by this story and how much they care about it at a deep, emotional level. The fan club creates one big, worldwide society of Lord of the Rings fans and I am proud to be part of that. Besides, I want to be sure Peter puts my name in the credits of the film's DVD," Wood quipped.
jan-u-wine said she barely made it into Charter membership, joining sometime after FOTR came out, the membership closing shortly after she joined.
She gave me this link to see the mags on line:
http://lotr.fanhq.com/Articles/LOTR/magazine3.aspx
Anyway....
Besides the sheer thrill of getting to own one of these magazines, which I was much too late arriving to the fandom to have known about or received, the thing that most wowed me about this issue is that it contains huge copies of images that I have come to think of as "classics" of Frodo and Sam publicity stills. These are images I have only ever found online in small sizes, in not very good shape.
Naturally, my immediate desire was to have good digital copies of these. I asked my husband to scan them (on the very good machine at his workplace). He did. I have now repaired them (even a magazine in *mint* condition has some bad spots from folds or imperfect printing), edited out superimposed text and superfluous images, tweaked them for exposure, contrast, and focus, and saved them.
Here is the first image:
Cover of the premiere issue, February - March 2002, actual size 8 x 10½ inches:
Just in case there are any among you who also would love to have bigger, better copies of these famous pics, I will be posting them here. I will do so in several posts, because they are large images.
Here are small versions of the other images I will be posting:
If anyone would like the full-size files for any of these, I will be happy to email them as attachments (my email address is on my User Info page). The full-size files are all over 1000kb and are too large even for my premium Photobucket account. These files would be good if you want to actually print them out.
The only exception is the famous Sam and Frodo close-up. The scanned image is still blurry enough that I did not think the full-size version worth keeping.
Again, immense thanks to Mary who made these possible.
~*~
ETA: jan-u-wine says one can still buy this mag through the Decipher site. "A bit pricey, but still...."
~*~
Other entries:
Frodo-by-firelight portrait here.
Frodo sitting by a tree, Frodo in road holding Ring here.
Cover image here.
Sam full-length portrait, Sam and Frodo portrait here.
~ Mechtild