WTF?! This year marks a quarter of a century since a heroine named Lara Croft arrived on the PC, PlayStation, and Sega Saturn in the first Tomb Raider game. To mark the occasion, Academy Award-winning special effects company Weta Workshop, famed for its work on The Lord of the Rings movies, among many others, has created a $1,499 limited edition figure of the cultural icon.
As reported by VGC, the model, titled Lara Croft The Lost Valley, has seen pre-production prototype images and a video released this week ahead of pre-orders opening on May 3. The 1:4 scale figure, made from high-quality polystone and sculpted by Gary Hunt, captures Lara taking on two Velociraptors while wielding her dual pistols. It measures a massive 31.5 inches in height and weighs almost 30 pounds.
"The design that we did choose depicts the scene in the level titled The Lost Valley which is considered one of the most memorable levels in gaming history due to the T-Rex and the Raptors," said Weta co-founder and CEO Richard Taylor.
If you do want to pre-order the Lara figure, a 15% non-refundable deposit ($224.85) is required at the time of purchase. The finished item is estimated to arrive in October this year. Exactly how many of these Limited Editions will be created is yet to be confirmed.
Expensive models depicting famous video game characters have long been popular among fans who can afford them. Back in December, a 57-pound statue of the Witcher 3's Geralt of Rivia went on presale for $1,300, and that was just for the standard edition. The deluxe version cost $1,450.