You've Got to See This Massive $800 Dune: Part Two Book Set
It wasn’t quite a sandworm, but when a 27-pound, three-foot by three-foot Dune box arrives at your door, it’s about as close as an Earthling can get.
In honor of Dune: Part Two hitting theaters, Insight Editions is releasing The Art and Soul of Dune: Part Two, a beautiful behind-the-scenes book written by Tanya Lapointe and Stefanie Broos. It dives deep into the making of the film, featuring exclusive interviews and stunning photos from throughout the production. And, if you just want that, you can get it. Here’s a link. It’s just a good, solid, informative, and beautiful normal coffee table book.
But! For the Dune superfan, Insight has something special. It’s releasing The Art and Soul of Dune: Part Two Artifact Edition, a limited edition collectors set in special packaging with a cloth cover, some bells and whistles, and a prop replica of a Fremen thumper. Only 850 are being made.
Sounds awesome, right? The bad news is it costs $795—which, no matter if you live on Earth, Caladan, or Arrakis, is pricey. Is it worth it through? Insight let io9 borrow a display model of the sizable package to exclusively unbox and check out. Here’s what we found inside.
It’s a beast
As we mentioned, the packaging for the Artifact Edition is kind of the main attraction itself. It measures three feet by three feet and is seven inches high. It also weighs about 27 pounds. Only 12 of those pounds are the actual goodies though—so yeah, it’s a lot of package.
Spine view
Here’s the spine of the package, with Chakobsa text reading “The Art and Soul of Dune: Part Two.” You can get a sense of scale from my couch.
Flip side
No matter what angle you look at the package from, there’s something cool. Here, again is “The Art and Soul of Dune: Part Two” in Chakobsa.
Opening it up
This is where things get... a little weird. The box itself is very complicated to open. For example, I took this photo to illustrate how it opened and when I closed it again I couldn’t remember how to get it back open. It’s not a natural position and there’s a real danger of ripping it as you fiddle around looking for the seams.
Again - it’s big
Here’s the full package, which is about one full Michael Jordan in length (six foot six inches). Now we’ll open up each part.
COA 1
We love a good Certificate of Authenticity and this is a solid one, breaking down everything we’re about to see and signed by the publisher of the company.
COA 2
This is... kind of why you buy this set in the first place. Those are the actual autographs of director Denis Villeneuve and producer/author of the book, Tanya Lapointe.
An actual purchased version of this, not a display model like we had, would have the specific edition number on it.
Let’s unbox the box
I just now realized that—though this is for Dune: Part Two so all the writing and symbols are Fremen—it would have been cool if this was like the Gom Jabbar test box. (It’s a Fremen board game, as per the COA, but still.)
Anyway—here I begin to take all the pieces out.
It’s thumper time
Reading the COA, you learn that the replica thumper is wrapped in a piece of cloth taken from Dune: Part Two’s costume stores, and hand-cut from the same bolts of fabric used to make the costumes used in the movie. Which is cool. Gives it a nice, homemade feeling.
Calling all sandworms
Here’s the thumper in all its glory. To answer your first question: no, it does not move at all. No twists, no turns, or thumping. It’s just a very beautifully crafted replica weighing about three pounds.
Detail shot
The details on the thumper are exquisite. Here’s one look.
Making a point
The point at the end of the thumper, which would go into the ground in the film, is relatively sharp. So, though it’s a mere throw-in, that it comes with this tiny plastic cover is a welcome addition.
Also, you get a good look at how intricate and nice the cloth is here.
Portfolio time
So that’s the thumper, what about this other little piece?
“Shai-hulud”
Reading “Shai-hulud,” the Fremen work for Sandworms, the portfolio is a very thin piece with a few treasures inside.
Dune: Part Two concept art
Inside the portfolio are six pieces of concept art from Dune: Part Two, all specially selected by Denis Villeneuve, and signed by the artists. Here’s a closer look at each of them.
Dune: Part Two concept art by Deak Ferrand
Dune: Part Two concept art by Deak Ferrand
Dune: Part Two concept art by Paul Chadeisson
Dune: Part Two concept art by Chris Rosewarne
Dune: Part Two concept art by Sam Hudecki
Dune: Part Two concept art by Paul Chadeisson
Busting out the book
Time to take out the book, which, as you can see here, is on a fairly large chunk of packaging.
Book cover 1
Book cover 2
Inside the book
This isn’t one of my photos, obviously. It’s a provided image from Insight of the type of photos that are in the book. And ultimately, while the guts of the book are the same as you’d get in the normal edition, it’s still an incredibly impressive achievement. It’s got images from every major scene in the movie with insight into how they were made. Very very cool stuff.
The verdict
So is the Artifact Edition worth $800? Frankly, it’s hard to say.
It’s very well made, the thumper is incredibly cool (though I wish it moved), and the size and weight certainly make you feel as if you’re getting your money’s worth. But since the book itself is exactly the same as what comes in the non-Artifact Edition release—minus the cover—you’re paying like $750 for a new cover, a few autographs, a few prints, and a prop replica. The prop replica is probably worth half that alone but you do get the sense you are paying for a LOT of packaging. Packaging that makes the set seem more epic than it is, as so much of it is wasted space.
Once I took everything out, I had a sense of, “What do I do with all this now?” If you had room to display it, it’s probably worth it. But if not, you almost feel like you have to keep everything out of obligation because it’s so big and expensive. In the end, I definitely would be in the market for a thumper and the book itself, but maybe that’s it.
