BEVERLY HILLS, CA.- Julien’s Auctions, the world’s premier entertainment and music memorabilia auction house, has announced an exclusive auction event of unprecedented historical film value. The Trilogy Collection: Props & Costumes from Middle Earth will include exclusive props and costumes created for the production of the trilogy of blockbuster films directed by Peter Jackson and based on the J.R.R. Tolkien best-selling fantasy novel, The Lord of the Rings. The collection of extremely rare memorabilia from a private collection will be auctioned on Thursday, December 5, 2013 at Julien’s Auctions Beverly Hills gallery located at 9665 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California. Fans, collectors, and film enthusiasts will have the chance of a lifetime to bid on some of the most sought after memorabilia from one the biggest trilogies of films in entertainment history.

The memorabilia which has been assembled over the past decade by a single, passionate collector is second only to director Peter Jackson’s official archive in scope. The collection boasts iconic examples of props and costumes from major characters and memorable scenes from the trilogy. It also includes an array of prosthetics, miniatures, and pre-production items originally used to bring the film franchise to life on the big screen.

Frodo’s Sword StingThe award-winning film established the inhabitants of Middle Earth, the Rings of Power and the fellowship of hobbits, elves, dwarves and humans. These amazingly colourful and ambitious forces were led by a wizard and a hobbit that together had to battle evil forces on their treacherous journey to destroy the One Ring. The films present us with heroes, tales of loyalty and most importantly an emotional journey of our own.

“The Trilogy Collection: Props and Costumes from Middle Earth promises to be an epic event and one that will definitely make history,” said Martin Nolan, Executive Director of Julien’s Auctions. “It has been more than a decade since the first of the trilogy films was released and in that time only a handful of items from these films have ever been publicly offered for sale. Demand for this memorabilia is extraordinarily high and the scale and quality of this remarkable collection is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity for fans and collectors.”

Samwise Prosthetic Hobbit FeetHighlights of The Trilogy Collection: Props and Costumes from Middle Earth include Frodo Baggins’ Sword “Sting” with an estimate of $100,000-$200,000, Aragorn’s Sword (Estimate: $50,000-$70,000), Gimli the Dwarf’s Battle Axe (Estimate: $50,000-$70,000), Gandalf the White’s Wizard Staff (Estimate: $50,000-$70,000), Ringwraith Costume Display (Estimate: $80,000-$100,000), Samwise Gamgee’s Prosthetic Hobbit Feet (Estimate: $15,000-$30,000), Samwise Gamgee’s Prosthetic Hobbit Ears (Estimate: $5,000-$8,000) and an extraordinary array of many more collectible pieces of rare memorabilia. Fans and collectors can view the entire collection at www.juliensauctions.com.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings fantasy novel (released in three volumes in 1954-1955) was originally written as an ambitious sequel to his 1937 children’s book, The Hobbit. It was J.R.R. Tolkien who wrote “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit,” and indeed, hobbits immediately conjure up imagery and thoughts of fantasy and adventure.

Samwise Prosthetic Hobbit EarsIt went on to become the second best-selling novel ever written with over 150 million copies sold. It was adapted into three epic fantasy/adventure films directed by Peter Jackson and distributed by New Line Cinema: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003). Considered to be one of the most complex and ambitious film projects ever undertaken, production lasted eight years and filming for all three movies was shot simultaneously throughout New Zealand. The film series is the highest grossing worldwide film trilogy of all time and tied a record with Ben Hur and Titanic for the total number of Academy Awards won for a single film with The Return of the King receiving eleven Oscars.

In advance of the auction, an exclusive worldwide exhibit of The Trilogy Collection: Props and Costumes from Middle Earth will be on display at Newbridge Silverware Museum of Style Icons (MOSI) in Kildare, Ireland. The exhibit will open at 9am on Wednesday, October 23rd, 2013 and end on Thursday, November 17th, 2013 and will close at 5pm each day. The Newbridge Silverware Museum of Style Icons (MOSI) is located at R445 and Main Street in Kildare, Ireland. This will be the only worldwide exhibit of the collection prior to it being displayed and auctioned at Julien’s Auctions Beverly Hills.