Author Topic: Lord of the Rings Figures  (Read 281252 times)

Offline Scott

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Re: LOTR Trilogy Figures
« Reply #690 on: May 11, 2004, 04:01 PM »
I'm all over the MiniMates though :-*

Yah, that's what they are called...I'm not sure if Kubricks are the similiar or not but that was what I was talking about.

The best one of the bunch is Sauron which is a Tower Records exclusive.  I live in the frickin' U.P., the home of no malls, so if anyone has access to this guy please let me know!!!

Kubricks are similar but also different.  Kubricks are Japanese toys while Minimates are their American cousin with more articulation.  

Towerrecords.com has been good with keeping their exclusives on line for their Minimates...I would guess he would be easy to obtain there as well

Offline jadesfire

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Re: LOTR Trilogy Figures
« Reply #691 on: May 11, 2004, 04:04 PM »
Didn't even know that they had a website, D'oh.

Thanks Scott....I even have a LOTR contest to enter, you're the best  :-*!!
Beth

Offline Brian

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Re: LOTR Trilogy Figures
« Reply #692 on: May 11, 2004, 04:42 PM »
Thanks for posting that Tower Records link Scott, I guess I never thought to look that site up for toys.  A nice way to get a hold of some Marvel Minimates as well, thanks again.

Offline Scott

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Re: LOTR Trilogy Figures
« Reply #693 on: May 11, 2004, 04:45 PM »
Thanks for posting that Tower Records link Scott, I guess I never thought to look that site up for toys.  A nice way to get a hold of some Marvel Minimates as well, thanks again.
You are both welcome ;D

Offline Morgbug

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Re: LOTR Trilogy Figures
« Reply #694 on: May 12, 2004, 12:33 PM »
So if you were going to buy just one of each of the following, which version would it be?  (   :-[  )

Gandalf
Legolas
Gimli
Aragorn
Frodo
Sam
Merry
Pippin
Bilbo
Boromir
Elrond

My thoughts would be to wait for the Gates of Mordor gift pack to take care of Gimli, Legolas, Aragorn and Gandalf, getting a Sauron on horse.  

Travelling Bilbo strikes me as the most obvious choice and the basic Boromir seems fine.  I'm leaning towards the armored versions of the Hobbits.  

Input?
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Offline Ben

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Re: LOTR Trilogy Figures
« Reply #695 on: May 12, 2004, 01:49 PM »
I'd wait for the upcoming releases for Boromir and Elrond. They look much better.

For the Hobbits, I'd buy the There and Back Again set. They only appeared that way for one scene, but the sad fact is that they're currently the best incarnation of the Hobbits.
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Offline Morgbug

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Re: LOTR Trilogy Figures
« Reply #696 on: May 12, 2004, 02:57 PM »
I'd wait for the upcoming releases for Boromir and Elrond. They look much better.

For the Hobbits, I'd buy the There and Back Again set. They only appeared that way for one scene, but the sad fact is that they're currently the best incarnation of the Hobbits.

Hmm, I'd forgotten about the There and Back Again set.  Much cheaper option and likely to go on clearance soon.  5 hobbits for probably $30.  

Haven't seen the pics of the new Elrond or Boromir.  I didn't dislike the old Boromir though.  

Is there actually a good looking Aragorn/Strider out there?  I'm not a fan of the King version, nor do I particularly like the Helm's Deep version.  Both head sculpts suck.  As bad as it currently is, I'm leaning towards the Strider version.  
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Offline jadesfire

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Re: LOTR Trilogy Figures
« Reply #697 on: May 12, 2004, 08:40 PM »
The best one (if you don't like the King one) would probably be the FOTR Strider.  Face sculpt is good and I always liked the flaming torch.  
The Strider/Aragorn on the horse isn't too bad either.  I actually have a fairly decent painted one and is my second favorite.

I'd wait for SP Boromir and the new Elrond (as mentioned already) but I do have an extra Prologue Elrond that has your name written all over it  :-*

If you need to add Faramir and Eomer to your list, just get the coronatin pack (unless you really can't stand Aragorn).

PS:  The coolest bad guy (IMO) is the crossbow Urak-hai with the Witchking a close 2nd.  

PSPS:  Don't forget the glow-in-the-dark King of the Dead....awesome figure.

Beth

Offline Morgbug

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Re: LOTR Trilogy Figures
« Reply #698 on: May 12, 2004, 09:02 PM »
I'd love to help you out Beth, but I have an Elrond already.  Haven't decided whether I'll keep it or not.  Need to hunt a pic of the newer version in robes.  

The Coronation pack doesn't really appeal.  I have an Arwen already (part of the motivation is if my daughter does start to like these things, I have the three female characters for her already, now she'll have the boys).  

Undecided on Faramir/Eomer and the rest of the characters.  Really looking at the Fellowship, bad guys, the girls and then a few miscellaneous characters as they tickle my fancy.
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Offline Ben

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Re: LOTR Trilogy Figures
« Reply #699 on: May 13, 2004, 02:55 AM »
Lookie, new Boromir.



I stole it for TOR.net.
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Offline Scott

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Offline Jesse James

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Re: LOTR Trilogy Figures
« Reply #701 on: May 18, 2004, 04:00 PM »
Holy schnikey's does he ever...

There's an interview you'll never see with someone who ACTUALLY talks at Hasbro.  No, no, no, not just the schmucks at cons and toy shows blowing smoke up your ass, but the REAL people who'll tell you the actual in's and out's of their business.  The actual dealings they have.  The actual REASONS they make decisions they do.

I'm still waiting on Hasbro to give us the actual reason for cheap plastic...  Come on Hasbro Just say it...  "Cooosssstttssss Lessssss".  Come on, it's not that hard.  

Nah, you won't hear that kind of discussion from them.  Too busy keeping the smokescreen going that has a lot of fans blinded thinking Hasbro does all they can for you.   ::)

Out of that interview with Jesse Falcon, the one issue I'd have taken up with him is the way the LOTR line is NOT full of generic army builders.  Often they're marred with specific face sculpts...  It's not so bad on Orcs since they all tend to look alike by their race/species anyway, but when it's a Gondorian Ranger or the Rohan Soldier, it looks like shite.  I hope they're addressing that in the near future.  I'd love a neutral Ranger (head variants would rock), neutral Rohan soldier (again with head variants) and neutral Gondorian Soldier...  

Wonder if we'll get all 3, and the variants?  That would rejuvinate my collecting the line dramatically.  I already have picked up a couple recent releases, and I have to say the Witch King's taken the cake as my favorite of the new figures.
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Offline Scott

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Re: LOTR Trilogy Figures
« Reply #702 on: May 18, 2004, 04:07 PM »
Witch King's Mace is a thing of beauty.  I really like the new Merry and Pippen's though too.  Looking at some of the stuff they did back in 2001 compared to the last 5-6 Waves it is AMAZING

I remember bagging on the figs hard because the likenesses sucked and the quality of paint and accessories was horrible.  I can clearly remember seeing two or three Frodo's with 2 left feet, stuff like that is all gone and replaced with one of the greatest toy lines going right now.  

The scale is a small issue...due to their size they are a tad bit hard to display but the detail gained is a thing of beauty

Offline Morgbug

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Re: LOTR Trilogy Figures
« Reply #703 on: May 18, 2004, 04:37 PM »
That is quite an impressive issue.  And clearly ToyBiz is doing well with this line, both in terms of sales and in terms of communicating with and to the buyers.  That interview shows pretty well that they are paying attention and doing well with the line.  

While I have not immersed myself with this line yet, I would suggest that I think at least some of the human army builders are not so bad.  Elven warriors looked pretty damn identical to me at Helm's deep, so not having different head sculpts (with helmet off) isn't that big an issue.  I think Jesse is the exceptional consumer of the bunch, rather than the norm.  I know I certainly do not have the same attention to detail that he does.  

I am now considering this line simply because they have brought the price down.  Up here, they vary in price from $7.92 to $9.99 for Trilogy figures.  Walmart finally started carrying Star Wars again, in a minimalistic sense and rewarded our patience by raising the price from $7.92 to $8.92, the latter equating to just over $10 with tax.  As Scott rightly indicates, size is an issue with displaying these figures and is the reason I haven't gone whole hog on this line.  But at least when I drop $9-12 for a figure I'm getting a sizable, well sculpted hunk of plastic with plenty of accessories.  Geez, the Wampa up here sells for almost $20 after taxes.  It's an impressive piece that even comes with accessories but no more impressive than a Ring Wraith at half the price >:(
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: LOTR Trilogy Figures
« Reply #704 on: May 19, 2004, 06:44 PM »
I don't feel I am the exception actually...  I hear the same complaint uttered over and over.  My brother collects this line die-hard (I pick up one here and there), and he's got the same gripe about how they execute a great figure but stick a crappy head on it.

The Gondorian Ranger and Rohan soldier are the 2 most noteable I can think of off-hand though, but I've heard a new Rohan Sooldier's in the works?  I'd be happy to see that...  Hell, just seeing the old one with hopes of customizing it would make lots of people happy.

Beyond that, the only gripe about Army Buliders has been a lack of them shipping.  They're not always easy to come by I've noticed, though some are reshipping like the Uruk Hai Crossbowman, which is a great figure.

I do look at things closely, but my gripe's one that I'm hearing a lot...  And at the same time it may be something that the company's trying to alleviate too if that 2nd Rohan rider's to come about.  

Beyond that I think this line's great, even with action features sometimes.  I mean, my Uruk Hai Crossbowman's feature sorta works even.  Can't complain there.

The one MAJOR gripe I have with the line is the scale, only because i too agree that I dislike 6" as far as displaying.  The price drop's helped with even buying the random figure though.  I'd like to have seen this line done in 3.75" though...  To me you'd have been better off with the grand scale of the films.  Play environments and large beasts just aren't feasible all the time in the scale it's currently in, whereas a 3.75"/1:18 line would've yielded a Balrog long ago, and the possibility of many other creatures and sets like a Helm's Deep even.

The little AoME line doesn't make up the differenence either.  It's really sad in comparison.  

Beyond that, I don't see many gripes about the line...  No substantial ones really anyway.  The odd "This sculpt sucks" leaks out though, and some of their repacking seems questionable.  That's all toy lines anymore though.
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