Peter Jackson, director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, has been working hard over in New Zealand over the last few weeks finishing up on the filming of his most recent Tolkien trilogy, The Hobbit. The director has posted photos to his Facebook page of the final days on The Hobbit set, including one of star Martin Freeman‘s last day on July 12 (here below), and then the final shot done on July 26, 2013.

One of the last pictures of the filming that Jackson posted on Facebook was taken two weeks ago of Sherlock stars Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch together on set. Freeman has the lead role in the film trilogy as the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, while Cumberbatch is voicing the dragon Smaug, who is the center of attention in the second film, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, due out in theaters on December 13, 2013. In the photo, shown here below, which Jackson titled “Smaug admires Bilbo’s feet,” Cumberbatch is touching Freeman’s prosthetic Hobbit feet. Check out the photo here below.

The $10 t-shirt deal of the day over at RIPT Apparel today is The Hobbit-themed design called “There and Back Again” by GreenHRNET.

The shirt went on sale at RIPT today, Sunday, May 5, 2013, at midnight CST, and will continue for 24 hours from then, and once it’s over, it will not be sold on the site anymore.

The t-shirt is available in men’s (through 3XL), women’s, and youth sizes for $10 each. Kids sizes are $10 (Girls, Toddlers, and Onesies); Hoodies for $38 (in Men/Unisex sizes). Shirt colors are in navy blue (see images on product page). You can also get the design on coasters for $25; iphone (4/4s) cases for $18; and prints (18″x24″) for $20.

On Sunday, March 24, 2013, Peter Jackson hosted an exclusive live online event to premiere new footage from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – the second film in his trilogy inspired by the classic J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy novel – and answer questions from viewers and a selection of special surprise guests. This event was open only to those who had purchased The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on Blu-ray and received a unique passcode to access the live feed.

Today, Jackson has released a 6-minute edited excerpt of the event on his YouTube channel. You can watch the video here below.

On March 19, 2013, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey comes to DVD ($14.99), Blu-ray (for $25.99), and 3D Blu-ray Combo Pack (for $27.99). If you pre-order now, you’ll lock in those lower prices (the retail price is 28%-48% higher than the pre-order prices); Also, if you purchase the Lego Lord of the Rings video game for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 or Nintendo Wii, you can receive $15 off your pre-order purchase of The Hobbit 3D Blu-ray or Blu-ray editions. Visit the Sale page to make your purchases.

To coincide with the release of The Hobbit, Amazon has The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy Extended Edition Blu-ray box set on sale right now for only $49.99 (that’s 58% off the list price of $119.98 and $30 less than the usual discounted price at Amazon).

The 15-disc extended edition LoTR Blu-ray set box contains the extended versions of all three of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films “” The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King “” along with over 26 hours of behind-the-scenes and making-of bonus material, including the Costa Botes documentaries. It also comes with the digital versions of the films.

The official Facebook page for The Hobbit film trilogy has posted a photo of a DIY project from their selected “Fan of the Week.”

The fan, named Lauren, created a crocheted doll in the likeness of Bilbo Baggins, the title Hobbit in the films.

Check out the photo of the doll here below.