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Lee

WWE Wrestlepalooza takeaways: AJ Lee is back, Rhodes primed to follow Cena’s path

by admin September 21, 2025

More than 11 years since they last met in a singles match, Brock Lesnar dominated John Cena to kick off the first WWE Premium Live Event (PLE) on ESPN in the main event of Wrestlepalooza on Saturday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

The Vision tag team of Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker defeated Jimmy and Jey Uso in a match refereed by LA Knight, who did more than just … referee. And Stephanie Vaquer and Iyo Sky put on an all-action match that saw the Dark Angel claim the vacant Women’s World Championship.

CM Punk and AJ Lee teamed up to defeat Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch in a “couples clash.” Despite being away from the WWE for more than a decade, Lee looked impressive in a match that saw her use the Black Widow submission multiple times and the announcers’ tables destroyed.

A surprise moment happened before the main event when The Undertaker rode to the ring on a motorcycle to tell Stephanie McMahon that she will be the first Superstar to be inducted into the 2026 WWE Hall of Fame.

To end the card, Cody Rhodes defended his Undisputed WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre. Rhodes hit his Cross Rhodes finisher to win by pinfall.

Here are the biggest Wrestlepalooza takeaways from Saturday night:

Sept. 20 Wrestlepalooza results

Brock Lesnar def. John Cena
The Vision def. The Usos
Stephanie Vaquer def. Iyo Sky to win the vacant Women’s World Championship
CM Punk and AJ Lee def. Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch
Cody Rhodes def. Drew McIntyre to retain his Undisputed WWE Championship

With Cena winding down, Rhodes cemented as ‘the face that runs the place’

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0:45

John Cena receives a standing ovation as he leaves the ring

John Cena is cheered on by the crowd as he exits after losing to Brock Lesnar.

The juxtaposition was clear: This was a landmark event, one that many new or returning fans to professional wrestling would tune in to watch. Cena got absolutely dismantled — again — by Lesnar to start the show. Cena took almost double-digit F5s and was left motionless in the ring after the match. Eventually, Cena walked up the ramp under his own power while turning his head, as if to say goodbye to the Indianapolis crowd. Cena only has five WWE appearances remaining before he hangs up his jorts for good.

Editor’s Picks

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This match was only slightly more competitive than Cena and Lesnar’s famous one-sided beatdown at SummerSlam 2014. Cena did hit three Attitude Adjustments on Saturday, but it ultimately did nothing to help him in the match. Lesnar was exactly as advertised — a “Beast.” A fun moment was longtime manager Paul Heyman coming out to introduce Lesnar, including listing his athletic accolades such as former NCAA and UFC champion.

Rhodes, who defeated Cena for the Undisputed WWE Championship at SummerSlam last month, vanquished McIntyre to end the show. It was a competitive match that eventually saw the Scottish Warrior kick through an announcers’ table, injuring himself. McIntyre was unable to execute a Claymore Kick later in the match as a result, leading Rhodes to pounce and ultimately land a Cross Rhodes finisher to get the victory. The show ended with Rhodes holding the Undisputed Championship in the air.

If Cena passed the torch to Rhodes officially at SummerSlam, then this was the celebration. Wrestlepalooza cemented the “American Nightmare” as the “face that runs the place.” At the very least, to the new fans watching.

Next up for Rhodes is a match against World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins for the WWE Crown Jewel Championship in Perth on Oct. 12.

MVP of the night goes to AJ Lee

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0:44

AJ Lee, husband CM Punk come out victorious in mixed tag team match

AJ Lee and her husband CM Punk come out with a hard-fought victory over Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins.

Lee did not at all look like a competitor who left the squared circle for more than 10 years. She was sharp and ready, with the crowd rightfully chanting “You still got it” before she executed — her Black Widow submission on Becky Lynch. The couples clash of Lee and CM Punk vs. Lynch and Rollins was a fun one, especially the sequences involving all four competitors.

After her performance at Wrestlepalooza, Lee has every option available to her now — pretty much everyone in the women’s division is a fresh opponent. Could she face Lynch in a singles match first? How about Tiffany Stratton, Stephanie Vaquer, Giulia, or Asuka? I do think Lynch is in the immediate future and then the world is her oyster. To me, the more opponents Lee faces the better. She was a flag bearer for women’s wrestling before her departure, and there is a built in desire to see her face this generation’s talent.

The match of the night goes to … Vaquer vs. Sky

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0:38

Stephanie Vaquer receives standing ovation after winning title

Stephanie Vaquer defeats Iyo Sky to become the new champion and receives a big standing ovation.

This was a back-and-forth, technical and high-flying match. Vaquer won to claim the vacant Women’s World Championship. Could Rhea Ripley be next at Crown Jewel in Perth on Oct. 12 in Ripley’s home continent of Australia?

A clear Vision

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0:43

The Vision defeat Jimmy and Jey Uso

Bron Breakker spears Jimmy and Jey Uso through a table, then Bronson Reed hits a Tsunami to pin Jey Uso for the win.

Before the match, The Usos reunited one last time to face The Vision, who ended up winning the match. It was fun to see Jimmy and Jey competing together again, but this was a valuable win for The Vision and their ascension. LA Knight was the guest referee for the match, but there was no physicality between him and Jey Uso.

Next for Jey, I could see a singles match with Knight at Crown Jewel. For The Vision, we might have to wait until the tag titles are secured by a babyface team before we see Reed and Breakker challenging for them, potentially in a non-PLE match.

Surprise of the night

What a moment! 🙌

The Undertaker just revealed that Stephanie McMahon will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame next year in 2026! pic.twitter.com/3P7zuOSKah

— WWE (@WWE) September 21, 2025

This belongs to The Undertaker riding his motorcycle to the ring. He stopped ringside next to Stephanie McMahon and hopped the barricade to sit beside her, revealing the news that McMahon is the first person to be inducted into the 2026 WWE Hall of Fame class. It was a genuine and touching moment and McMahon seemed genuinely surprised by the announcement.

Another surprise was the arrival of ESPN host Pat McAfee, who hours earlier was on “College GameDay” in Miami jumping off a very high diving board. McAfee raced home to Indianapolis to make sure he could call a couple of matches.

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September 21, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

An AI Stan Lee Hologram Is Coming to LA Comic Con (Really)

by admin September 21, 2025

Los Angeles Comic Con is next week, and one of its big guests is, apparently, an AI hologram of Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee.

Per the Hollywood Reporter, the hologram will be part of the Stan Lee Experience at LACC. Along with the standard $15-20 experience fee to join the booth, fans can spend money to take selfies with the hologram or have one-on-one conversations with it for three minutes. It was created by Proto Hologram—the company that made an interactive mirror for malls to promote The Conjuring: Last Rites—and virtual production company HyperReal.

Stan Lee Legacy Programs head Bob Sabouni assured the trade that the hologram wouldn’t say anything that isn’t “in line with things [Lee] spoke about in his lifetime, [letting us] build a voice that stays true, not always word for word, but always faithful in spirit, context, and intent.”

Even so, that doesn’t take away from the fact that Stan Lee died in late 2018 months after reports circulated of people in his social circle trying to capitalize on his decades-long success for their own ends in very weird ways. (One source at the time described the whole ordeal as “a fucking mess,” which just says it all.) This can’t help but fall into that territory, compounded by the fact that he can’t say no or even be duped into consenting as he could’ve toward the end of his life—and that’s not getting into the recent controversies and concerns surrounding AI and its relationship to the dead.

In a statement to io9, Chris DeMoulin, CEO of LACC parent company Kamikaze Entertainment, said he previously worked with Lee in the 2010s when LACC had a license deal with Lee’s POW! company, and observed “how much Stan loved interacting with fans, being on panels, telling the Marvel story, and engaging future generations of fans. I met with Bob and pitched him the idea of working to create a hologram representation of Stan, which could faithfully represent how Stan used to interact with fans at cons, including [ours].” The hologram has been in development for “several months,” added DeMoulin, and has been “coming along great” in recent weeks.

“This is all about helping to extend Stran’s legacy — something he himself talked to many of us about when he was alive. […] We know that this hologram isn’t Stan, and can never be perfect. But we think it is fun, authentic, very accurate in terms of how it responds to questions, and gives the fans a look into who Stan was, kind of [like] an IRL documentary. And in that regard, it serves the mission of the Stan Lee Universe team to preserve and extend Stan’s legacy into the future. We invite everyone to come see it for themselves, and after you’ve actually experienced it, we’d love to get your feedback.”

io9 has reached out to LA Comic Con organizers for any additional comments or clarity on the Stan Lee hologram and will update if a response is given. Los Angeles Comic Con runs September 26 to 28.

Update (9/20/2025 @ 2:30 PM ET): This story has been updated with quotes from Kamikaze Entertainment CEO Chris DeMoulin.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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September 21, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

Lee Pace Reveals the Secrets of His ‘Foundation’ Bod

by admin September 13, 2025

Foundation season three has ended (we’re still reeling) and we are more than thrilled that a fourth season is on the way. Though Apple TV+’s Asimov adaptation has a lot of things to recommend about it—complex characters, dynamic worldbuilding, a plot that celebrates the wonders of math—you also can’t count out the Lee Pace factor.

The charismatic, cult-beloved actor has been a pivotal part of all three seasons. Though Foundation takes place across hundreds of years, the galaxy it’s set in is ruled by clones who are replaced over time. Pace plays the Cleon clone named Brother Day, and the iterations of him we’ve met across three seasons have been widely varied.

In season one, Cleon XIII underwent a grueling religious pilgrimage to prove he had a soul—and therefore cut off a would-be power grab from religious opponents. In season two, Cleon XVII toyed with the idea of ending the genetic dynasty, then escalated the conflict with Foundation and was undone by his own ego. Season three’s Cleon XXIV shirks his royal duties, preferring to hang with his lady friend and get high—at least until he discovers a more noble purpose.

That’s a too-brief summary of the various Brother Days Foundation has introduced over the years. But it’s important to note they all look like Lee Pace—and they’re forever popping up in various stages of undress.

In a new interview with GQ, Pace discussed the fitness routine he followed to be ready to leap out of Cleon’s robes at any moment.

“Every season I play a different character, and it’s very important to me to create physicality for the characters, to help tell that story, even though the idea is that they’re the same man cloned again and again,” he said. “I guess it’s important for me and my own sanity to know that none of us can actually be the same, that clones are impossible, that we are intrinsically individuals and unique from each other. So it’s important to me to make a very different body for these characters every season.”

Pace has worked with the same trainer for the duration of Foundation, he said, to help him embody each version of Cleon that he’s played. “In the first season, he was the strong emperor of the galaxy, eager to execute people. And in the second season, I guess I just went wild with this idea of his ego, that he actually believed he was the most important person in the galaxy.”

Season three, Pace said, was less about spending long hours in the gym. “It was important for me this season to think about the character as pretty relaxed—and you can still exercise in a relaxed way. I think that’s something that I very much appreciate because I don’t like feeling overly pressured. We also wanted to push a lot of weight with the character. We felt like there was a size to him that felt right.”

If you haven’t yet watched the season three finale, “The Darkness,” and you care about Foundation spoilers, stop here!

In the season three finale, Brother Day—who chose to have his royal self-healing nanites removed—is murdered by his older brother, Darkness, who then smashes all the tanks containing the backup Cleon clones.

Does that mean Pace won’t be back for Foundation season four? Demerzel, the robot who kept the Cleon conveyor belt moving, has herself been murdered by Darkness. And who knows how much of the equipment needed to clone human beings remains operational?

However, the youngest Cleon—Brother Dawn—is still alive and nearly of the right age to become Brother Day. (In Foundation’s suspension-of-disbelief dramatics, though Brother Dawn is played by Cassian Bilton, Brother Day always looks like Lee Pace.)

Also, the finale made sure to show us that the long-preserved body of Cleon the First is still hanging around. He’s the ruler who implemented the genetic dynasty generations ago, using his own DNA as a blueprint.

But the show’s trajectory toward the long-promised “fall of Empire” suggests that we’ve reached the end of the clone era, even if creating more Cleons could somehow be possible. A lot will depend on where season four picks back up with the story, though given how we left things, it seems likely there won’t be another 150-year gap.

All this is to say that we love Lee Pace and we hope Foundation finds a sci-fi way to keep him on the show. You can watch all three seasons of Foundation on Apple TV+ now.

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September 13, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

Lee Pace Has Big Hopes for the Fourth Season of ‘Foundation’

by admin September 13, 2025

You haven’t seen the last episode, have you?

No.

I didn’t give anything away just now, did I?

No, no, you were tending in the directions I think had been set up. I’m even more eager to see it now. I do have an acting question: How do you and your fellow actors play the same person who is not the same person?

In the very first season, we created this idea that they sit around dinner and they have the same movements—that that’s a cultural thing among these three people. We had these technical ways of making their shared consciousness visual and actable in. We just practiced it. We came up with this little dance that we would do with those dinner table scenes. In the second season, we did something different with it. We created this idea of one who’s not going to follow the rules, who’s just going to do it differently, whether the other brothers like it or not.

Oh, interesting.

I love working with Terry [Mann, who plays Brother Dusk] and Cassian [Bilton, who plays Brother Dawn] and Laura. It’s such a unique concept that [writer and producer David S. Goyer] had with these cloned emperors that are all living together as family, and there are lots of different ways to look at it. I think it’s a completely original idea, and in line with the questions that Asimov asks in Foundation and his other work.

Lee Pace with (hopefully fake) bloody knuckles and a red iPhone on the set of Foundation.

Courtesy of Lee Pace

Lee Pace working on Foundation.

Courtesy of Lee Pace

I completely agree that it’s a genuinely original idea. There’s always a new way to play basic blues, but this is a really new idea that I can’t think of an antecedent for. Maybe there is one.

It’s about time, too. It’s about time. You can do this thing with time and generations, and that’s what I feel like now we’ve done in season three. We’ve now covered 300 years, and we look back even further.

Much like Asimov did.

He worked on this story over so many different decades, writing the Foundation books, writing them with collaborators and finding ways to tie in other short stories and storylines that he had written in other books and series, and expanding this world of Foundation.

Yes, but I would also imagine that much source material can be overwhelming.

I really love how on this show we have not treated the making of the series like fan fiction, where we would be like, OK, now we do the scene where this happens and now we do the scene where this happens and this happens and this happens. But we let the hugeness of the story that Isaac Asimov left us be on the table, and we can explore the plotlines that he wrote, plotlines that are referred to, plotlines that happen offstage, the plotlines that he discovered later in writing and realizing about the story.

Right, it stays true to the shape of Asimov’s ideas without being beholden to them.

As a science fiction fan myself, I feel like that’s like a good opportunity taken when we could bring it to screen, to use and be inspired by everything we have in front of us with what he has achieved in writing Foundation and then tying in all of these other different stories and plotlines that he had created throughout. I mean, he’s just an incredibly prolific writer.

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September 13, 2025 0 comments

GameFi Guides

Tom Lee: ‘Bitcoin and Ethereum Are Friends’

by admin September 11, 2025

Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, who has emerged as the patron saint of the Ethereum community, has clarified that there is no rivalry between him and Strategy founder Michael Saylor.

Lee has posted a selfie with Saylor, stressing that Ethereum and Bitcoin are “friends.”

As reported by U.Today, Lee previously attracted criticism from members of the Bitcoin community for aggressively pivoting to Ethereum promotion with BitMine Technologies.

Lee became the chairman of BitMine, which specializes in immersive cooling technologies, in June and quickly turned the company into the leading Ethereum treasury vehicle.

Recently, Lee made some controversial statements, which have ruffled the feathers of the Bitcoin community. In particular, Lee predicted that the leading cryptocurrency could surpass Ethereum by market cap, forecasting that the latter could be a better macro trade over the next decade.

As reported by U.Today, the BitMine chairman has also attracted some criticism for fundraising off of Bitcoin’s logo, which some critics thought was rather misleading.

That said, the Bitmain chairman also remains bullish on Bitcoin, recently predicting that the price of the leading cryptocurrency could reach $200,000.

BitMin’e holdings nearing $10 billion

In the meantime, BitMine has now approached a total of $9.3 billion in total holdings after the company recently purchased another $200 million worth of the flagship altcoin.

This puts it well above Joe Lubin’s SharpLink, which has surpassed $3 billion.

Meanwhile, Saylor’s Strategy remains the biggest Ethereum treasury company by an enormous margin, currently holding a total of $3 billion worth of assets.

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September 11, 2025 0 comments

Crypto Trends

Ether can flip Bitcoin, BitMine chairman Tom Lee says

by admin September 6, 2025

The Ethereum/Bitcoin rivalry is real, according to Tom Lee, chairman of BitMine and co-founder of Fundstrat.

Lee, a key Ethereum stakeholder whose market influence stems from his institutional investments and public advocacy, claims that ETH can reach $60,000 in five years and has a 50% chance of flipping Bitcoin.

However, while Ether has been performing undoubtedly well this past summer, topping Bitcoin is a hot take.

Summary

After the immensely bullish summer for Ether, the “ETH will flip BTC” narrative is back.
Ethereum flipped Bitcoin in spot ETF inflows and demonstrates consistent growth.
Despite Ether’s success, it must reckon with Bitcoin’s status and so-called “Ethereum killers.”

Crypto influencers tend to argue, on X, that Ethereum earns extra praise when Bitcoin is down. A closer comparison between the two cryptocurrencies show that, in the long run, Ethereum is gradually going down against Bitcoin.

Ether was at its peak price against BTC in February 2018 at 0.13 BTC per Ether. In the spring and the fall of 2021, when Bitcoin was trending higher, the peak Ether prices were in the 0.08–0.09 BTC range.

Fast-forward to 2025: at 0.04 BTC per ETH, one Ether is worth 4 million sats — fewer than before. In other words, after the spring of 2021, Ether’s price saw no serious spikes against Bitcoin.

The ETH/BTC price chart | Source: TradingView

While Ether has gained price against Bitcoin since April — its price rising from 0.019 to 0.04 — in BTC terms, each unit of ETH is cheaper than it was in 2021 or 2017.

Therefore, despite Ether’s current price of $4,280 (a 92.5% rally from last year), Bitcoin maintains its position as the dominant cryptocurrency. As Jeff Embry of Globe 3 Capital put it:

“ETH has too high a hill to climb to surpass BTC, and the drivers of what creates value for both should keep BTC in the lead.”

Ether competition

Spot ETFs for Ether rivals are on the horizon, and treasury holdings in other digital assets could challenge Ether’s dominance. For example, Tron’s low-cost transactions may gain traction as stablecoins expand.

While Ether could outpace Bitcoin, it remains far below its 2017 highs, and its uncapped supply limits its potential to surpass Bitcoin.

Lee’s bold predictions come as BitMine Immersion Technology (BMNR) strategically shifts its focus to building a large Ethereum treasury.

Meanwhile, Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin-focused Strategy is facing challenges, having been recently sued by investors and snubbed from the S&P 500.

Ethereum: the bullish case

As of Sept. 6, Bitcoin’s market cap is over $2.2 trillion. Ether’s market cap is $515 billion. But, in April, the market cap of Ether was below $180 billion, so it grew considerably in the summer months.

Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin says it’s only a matter of time before his brand of crypto closes the gap.

“ETH will likely 100x from here,” he posted to X on Aug. 30. “Probably much more.”

Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin hinted on CNBC that he believes $ETH could flip $BTC within “the next year or so, especially with these treasury companies driving things.”

At bitcoin’s current market cap, ETH would need to be around $20,000 to flip it. pic.twitter.com/o3730nEmCY

— Satoshi Stacker (@StackerSatoshi) August 10, 2025

Before June, Ether struggled amid criticism of large sales by the Ethereum Foundation, which contributed to price declines.

Solana eventually surpassed Ethereum as a leading platform for memecoins. And this past spring, ETH was trading below $2,000.

The last thing your portfolio sees before the Ethereum foundation dumps 1,000,000 premined tokens on the marketpic.twitter.com/ipX0T593K9
— Mitchell Askew ✝️🇺🇸🌞 (@MitchellHODL) March 29, 2025

By July, Ether gained over 60% while Bitcoin gained only around 10%. Ethereum dominance doubled between May and August, going from 7% to 14%.

The summer of 2025 saw a lot of factors contributing to Ether’s bull run:

BitMine’s Ether pivot.
Massive Ether ETF inflows and intensifying stablecoin race.
The European Union plans to use Ethereum for a digital euro.

Under Lee, BitMine Immersion Technology turned into the second-biggest digital asset treasury in the world and the top corporate ETH holder. As of Aug. 25, it owns 1.71 million Ether units. The company aims to buy 5% of the Ether supply. At the current stage, it owns nearly a third of the needed amount.

Lee isn’t the only one who cares about BitMine’s success. Big-name investors like Peter Thiel, Cathie Wood, and Bill Miller III now hold large stakes in the company. The company announced its plans to issue $20 billion worth of BMNR stock to raise capital for further increase of ETH holdings.

ETFs

Spot Ethereum ETFs have outpaced Bitcoin ETFs, signaling strong institutional demand. In July, Ethereum ETFs saw $1.8 billion in inflows versus $70 million for Bitcoin ETFs. This surge in 2025 followed Circle’s successful IPO, the GENIUS Act enabling stablecoin issuance, and growing stablecoin competition, with Ethereum supporting roughly half of the stablecoin market.

On Aug. 22, the European Central Bank reportedly considered using Ethereum and Solana to issue a digital euro, potentially placing Ethereum at the core of a major economy. That same day, Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole remarks hinted at a possible September rate cut, boosting liquidity. Combined, these developments propelled Ether near $5,000 for the first time on Aug. 29.

Institutional investors are draining the Ether supply while drastically increasing demand for it. The amount of ETH held on exchanges has reached the lowest point in around ten years. These factors may contribute to the ETH price ascension.

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September 6, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

The Stunning Lord Of The Rings Collector’s Box Set Illustrated By Alan Lee Is 60% Off

by admin September 1, 2025

A beautiful box set of the best edition of The Lord of the Rings–the Centenary Edition illustrated by Alan Lee–is on sale for a fantastic price at Amazon and Walmart. Published last October with a lofty $325 price tag, The Lord of the Rings Deluxe Illustrated Box Set is discounted to only $135.37. The current price is roughly $1 higher than the all-time low ($134.25). In 2025, the price has generally hovered in the $180-$200 range, and the last discount as good as this one didn’t stick around for long.

The Deluxe Illustrated Box Set is is absolutely stunning. As someone who personally owns this edition of The Lord of the Rings–sadly, I paid considerably more for my copy–I think all big Tolkien fans would love to have this in their collection. So if you have a Lord of the Rings fan on your shopping list, the Deluxe Illustrated Box Set would make for a wonderful gift this holiday.

The Lord of the Rings Deluxe Illustrated Box Set (William Morrow, 2024)

You can read all about The Lord of the Rings Deluxe Illustrated Box Set below. The store pages at Amazon and Walmart only include one image of the books inside the display case, so I also included some of the gorgeous promotional images from Barnes & Noble’s store page.

We also included a look at the upcoming 2025 edition of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Illustrated Box Set, which is also illustrated by Alan Lee, and a list of deals on other collectible editions of The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and Tolkien’s other Middle-earth tales. There are some terrific deals, including a limited-time price cut on the brand-new Great Tales of Middle-earth Box Set.

$135.37 (was $325)

The Lord of the Rings Deluxe Illustrated Box Set is a revamped version of the gorgeous Centenary Edition from 1992. Across the three hardcover volumes–The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King–there are more than 50 new pencil sketches and full-color paintings by beloved Lord of the Rings artist Alan Lee. All told, the box set has 1,332 pages, which makes it longer than most, if not all, editions of LOTR currently in print.

The Lord of the Rings Deluxe Illustrated Box Set (William Morrow, 2024)

The top and bottom page edges are sprayed dark blue, while the side edges were designed to resemble billowing smoke from Mount Doom’s eruption. Lee created new artwork for the covers, too. Each cover has a framed rectangular drawing in the center. The illustrations are inset on gray cloth board and surrounded by an elegant, silver foil-stamped border. Each book is quarterbound in blue leather, and the pages are sewn into the spine. You can mark your spot using the attached ribbon bookmark.

The silver-foil text along the spine and on the covers was stamped onto each book. The custom display case was constructed from cloth board and features stamped circular emblems designed by Lee. The case has rounded front edges to make it easy to remove each book. With all three books removed, you can peer inside the fully illustrated interior of the case. Lee’s depiction of Mount Doom’s eruption covers every surface inside the lovingly crafted slipcase.

The Lord of the Rings Deluxe Illustrated Box Set (William Morrow, 2024)

Inside each book, you’ll find a large art card that can be removed and displayed separately. Along with three art cards, you get a pair of foldout maps of Middle-earth drawn by Christopher Tolkien, the author’s literary executor who edited, expanded, and organized many supplementary writings about Middle-earth, including The Silmarillion and Tolkien’s Legendarium, which became the foundation for the massive 12-part series now known as The History of Middle-earth.

2025 Edition: $139.50 (was $150) | 2020 Edition: $72-$126

William Morrow is publishing another Lord of the Rings box set illustrated by Alan Lee on October 14. It’s not nearly as fancy as the three-volume Deluxe Illustrated Box Set, but it comes with a notable addition: The Hobbit, also illustrated by Lee. This four-volume hardcover set features the Centenary Edition of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit’s 60th Anniversary Edition.

The dust jackets and display box have fully illustrated artwork by Alan Lee. Overall, the exterior design aesthetic is similar to the 2024 History of Middle-earth Box Sets and the recently released pair of box sets: Tolkien Myths and Legends and The Great Tales of Middle-earth.

You’d miss out on the exclusive paintings and sketches from the Deluxe Illustrated Box Set as well as premium features like quarterbound blue leather, cloth board covers, the custom case, etc. In return, you’d get The Hobbit with Lee’s wonderful illustrations.

Due to the deal on the Deluxe Illustrated Box Set, you’d actually pay more for this four-volume, $150 collection–unless you bought the 2020 edition.

It’s all a bit confusing, but this box set was originally published in the UK in 2020. The upcoming US edition appears to be the same as the old one. The 2020 version is available to buy from resellers at Amazon and Walmart for far less than $139.50. Strangely enough, Amazon actually has it in stock, too–sold and shipped by Amazon–for $126.67.

You can buy the 2020 set from a third-party seller for $89 at Amazon. Notably, your order will still be shipped directly from Amazon. You can buy the set from a reseller at Walmart for $72, and your order will be shipped from Walmart’s warehouse.

2025 Edition

2020 Edition

The History of Middle-earth Box Sets (William Morrow, 2024)

William Morrow’s ongoing series of hardcover box sets with decorative slipcases and reversible dust jackets kicked off last year with the publication of four box sets compiling The History of Middle-earth. Although originally a 12-volume series, the new box set series has 15 books and starts with The Silmarillion, which isn’t technically part of The History of Middle-earth–though you should read it before diving into the wide-ranging collection that further demonstrates Tolkien’s mastery of building fantasy worlds. All four History of Middle-earth Box Sets are on sale for huge discounts. Alternatively, the three-volume, 5,440-page Complete History of Middle-earth is on sale for $106 (was $250). All five box sets below include hardcover books and slipcases.

Tolkien Myths and Legends & The Great Tales of Middle-earth (William Morrow, 2025)

The most recent Tolkien box set edition is a new hardcover collection of The Great Tales of Middle-earth, which are considered the author’s final three novels and were published posthumously from 2007-2018. Released on August 19, this new box set is already on sale for 33% off, dropping the price to $84. It’s worth noting there’s a 2018 hardcover box set edition of The Great Tales of Middle-earth for $50 (was $100). You can also save $55 on Tolkien Myths and Legends, which includes two myths written by Tolkien as well as his personal translations of four epic poems, including Beowulf. The three box sets below include hardcover books and decorative slipcases.

More Tolkien Collector’s Editions & Hardcover Box Sets

Unfinished Tales Collector’s Edition / The Lord of the Rings Collector’s Edition /

We rounded some of the other notable hardcover box sets and collectible editions of Tolkien’s work below. This includes the beautiful Unfinished Tales: 40th Anniversary Collector’s Edition, a slipcased, limited edition of The Silmarillion, and Tolkien’s Collected Poems, which were published in a three-volume set last fall.

For a cheaper Lord of the Rings hardcover box set, we’d recommend the 2024 Collector’s Editions and the vintage set with cover art from the 1988 editions. If you buy the 2024 box set, you can also get matching editions of The Silmarillion and The Hobbit separately.

Tolkien Illustrated Edition Series

Tolkien Illustrated Editions

The Tolkien Illustrated Editions of LOTR, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion are probably the most popular hardcover editions of Tolkien’s three best-known works. These are unique because they are illustrated by the author himself. Each one has premium features like sprayed edges with Elvish, Dwarvish, or Tengwar script, gold- and silver-foil trim, stamped cover art, ribbon bookmarks, and two fold-out maps. The Deluxe Special Editions have quarterbound leather spines and cloth board cases. These editions also come with custom slipcases and additional collectible inserts.

If you’re interested in owning collectible editions of Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, all three movies will soon be available as standalone 4K Blu-rays with steelbook cases. The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers launched earlier this year, and The Return of the King’s Steelbook Edition is up for preorder for $30 (was $35) at Walmart.

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September 1, 2025 0 comments

GameFi Guides

Fundstrat’s Tom Lee Reveals Why Investors Left Ethereum For Solana, But What Does Wall Street Want?

by admin August 30, 2025

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Tom Lee, veteran trading analyst, Fundstrat co‑founder, and the strategist behind BitMine’s Ethereum treasury strategy, is once again championing Ethereum.

During an interview with Mario Nawfal on X, Lee acknowledged how the broader crypto community appeared to abandon Ethereum in favor of faster alternatives like Solana and Sui. However, institutional investors, particularly Wall Street players, value something far more important, which only Ethereum can provide.

Retail Chases Speed, Wall Street Favors Reliability

In the interview, Lee challenges the belief that blockchain networks must prioritize transaction speed above all. Rather, he argues that institutional investors, particularly Wall Street investors, place much greater value on uptime and reliability, qualities that Ethereum has despite being slower at its base layer.

Lee said that retail investors abandoned Ethereum because they thought faster was better, leading them toward high-throughput networks like Solana and Sui with seemingly superior economics. But according to him, Wall Street thinks differently. Institutions prioritize “100 % uptime,” because they can always deploy on layer‑2 solutions to compensate for Ethereum’s base-layer speed limitations.

Interestingly, Lee pointed to staking as another factor in which Ethereum is better than its counterparts. According to Lee, staking isn’t just about yield, but it’s about influence. “If Goldman stakes enough ETH, they have a positive voice on the Ethereum itself and how they upgrade,” he said. In short, institutional stakeholders like Goldman Sachs would care more about influencing Ethereum through staking, but this is not a weakness.

SOLUSD now trading at $202. Chart: TradingView

Lee noted that many veteran investors he recently spoke with still see Ethereum as underperforming, not because of any technological shortcomings, but because its price consistently lagged behind Bitcoin for months. However, this perception is now beginning to shift with Ethereum’s price action since July.

After Ethereum broke past $4,800, the strength in price is improving confidence among crypto investors, and this momentum could set the stage for much larger growth for its price action in the near future.

Ethereum Price Action

Ethereum indeed has been on a remarkable upward arc since July. In late August 2025, the Ethereum price smashed through its previous all‑time high and traded above $4,880 for the first time since 2021, before finally peaking at $4,946. This, in turn, saw the Ethereum total market cap almost hitting the $600 billion mark

The rally wasn’t just price action. It echoed structural shifts in the institutional inflow dynamics into large cryptocurrencies, especially as seen in the performance of Spot Ethereum ETFs compared to Bitcoin.

Although Ethereum has since entered into a correction path down to the $4,400 level, the sentiment surrounding Ethereum is still bullish. Analysts have raised year‑end forecasts of Ethereum from between $6,000 and $12,000, based on increased institutional engagement and a positive influence from the US Genius Act. At the time of writing, Ethereum is trading at $4,390, up by 1.1% in the past 24 hours.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Editorial Process for bitcoinist is centered on delivering thoroughly researched, accurate, and unbiased content. We uphold strict sourcing standards, and each page undergoes diligent review by our team of top technology experts and seasoned editors. This process ensures the integrity, relevance, and value of our content for our readers.

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August 30, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Scott Pilgrim EX Adds Lucas Lee And Roxie Richter As Playable Characters

by admin August 30, 2025

Scott Pilgrim EX, the beat-em-up inspired by the popular graphic novel series, is getting two more playable characters. Roxie Richter and Lucas Lee, two of the series’ iconic Evil Exes, join Scott and Ramona Flowers in their fight against the vegans, robots, and demons that have taken over the city. You can see them in action in the gameplay trailer below:

As you’d expect, both playable exes use abilities seen in their past appearances. Lucas Lee uses a skateboard as a weapon and summons his crew of stunt doubles, while Roxie Richter wields a katana with ninja-like agility. Their announcement brings Scott Pilgrim EX’s playable roster up to four, but developer Tribute Games has previously announced the game would have seven total playable options, so there are still three fighters we don’t know about yet.

Scott Pilgrim EX was announced at Summer Game Fest 2025. While it’s not a direct sequel, it continues the legacy of 2010’s Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game, which was infamously de-listed from digital marketplaces in 2014, but was re-released in 2021. Scott Pilgrim EX features a soundtrack by Anamanaguchi (who composed for this game’s predecessor) and an original story written by Bryan Lee O’Malley, the series’ original creator. EX’s developer Tribute Games is also known for its work on TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge and the upcoming Marvel Cosmic Invasion.

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August 30, 2025 0 comments

Crypto Trends

Tom Lee Destroys Ethereum Speed Myth, Wall Street Wants 100% Uptime

by admin August 29, 2025

Tom Lee, the cofounder of Fundstrat, has debunked an assumption that has floated around in the cryptocurrency space about Ethereum (ETH). Lee claims that institutional investors on Wall Street are more concerned about performance and reliability than speed.

Unusual advocacy for Ethereum

In an interview, Lee maintained that Ethereum’s uptime and decentralization make it attractive to large-scale finance. Hence, given that institutions care more about reliability and security than they do about raw speed, Ethereum has an edge among rival blockchains.

Ethereum price outlook shows signs of major cycle

Tom Lee pointed out that although Ethereum has not posted multiple new all-time highs (ATH) since the 2021 bull market, things are looking different now. The leading altcoin has gained over 14% in the last 30 days and managed to find stability above $4,000 for the greater part of this time period.