Middle Earth

The Maps of Tolkien's Middle-Earth
$29.95
Other than the fact that the maps are absolutely beautiful, the 80 page booklet by Sibley is alone worth the money. He offers detailed, yet summarized, histories of Beleriand and Numenor. As someone that loves Tolkien's work, yet couldn't finish The Silmarillion, I found this book extremely effective in finding out what happened to the tragic island of Men, and the downfall of the 2nd Age. The Hobbit map is particularly well-drawn, and a marvel to look at, even if you know where everything already is with your eyes closed. As for the Map of Middle-earth, it doesn't offer anything new as far as details of minute locations, but it does serve as a great tool to read along the Trilogy with. There is also some beautiful artwork around the bordering of the Maps. Overall, I would say that this my favorite purchase in Tolkien's realm, other than the Trilogy and the Hobbit.

Music Inspired by Middle Earth featuring David Arkenstone
$16.98
Fantastic CD, love it! Every song is great! A little pricey, but worth every cent!

The Lord Of The Rings - Giant Movie Poster - Map Of Middle Earth (Size: 54'' x 39'')
$21.99
This item is in new and mint condition. It has never been hung, used or displayed.

Secrets of Middle-Earth - Inside Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" (4-Pack)
$39.95
I'm gonna have to back up D. Kamionkowski and jp9999 on this one. Don't get this (I made the mistake of getting it, and I now tell friends that I'm trying to convert into Ringers to stear clear).

The one for THE HOBBIT was the only good one of the bunch. That DVD actually felt like they researched the book they were looking into, and words were consistantly pronounced correctly. And frankly, I liked the narrator on that one much better than the narrator on the LotR side. This one actually seemed as though he was a fan (or was really good at coming across as one).

The three for LotR whoever, are very lacking. D. Kamionkowski already pointed out some of the plot points that were incorrect, but what really got me was the mispronouncation of words. What really gets on my nerves is when people use incorrect syntax or grammer, or they mispronounce words, and this set drove me straight up the wall. The narrator kept pronouncing words that began with the letter "c" as though it were pronounced like an "s", instead of pronouncing it like a "k" (which Tolkien said to do in the appendix). It gets really irritating when you hear it pronounced "Selaborn" and "Sirith Ungul", and it should be pronounced "Kelaborn" and "Kirith Ungul". And what's even more fun than that is the pronouncation of "Minis Tirith". Whenever you get the voiceover, it's pronounced correctly (with the first "i" in "Minis" pronounced as a short "i"), and then, when he's actually in front of the camera it's pronounced incorrectly (with the "i" pronounced long). I ended up wanting to scream at the screen, "Just pick one!! If you're going to pronounce it wrong, then pronounce it worng ALL of the time!!"

Overall, it really did feel like they didn't check their facts before this set was made and really wanted to cash in on the new-found popularity of LotR.