Manannin
Super Freak
This looks amazing. If the production figure holds up to these shots, its a no-brainer purchase for me.
Asmus Toys : Gandalf the Grey
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I preordered direct just now. I'm stoked.
cmiller99
Super Freak
He looks too old, and I'm not 100% sold on the way that the hair is rooted at the top of his head. I'd have preferred sculpted, but I suppose that the hat will hide the crown of the head.
Hopefully some of his wrinkles will be softened in the production process.
The rest of the figure looks fantastic though.
Hopefully some of his wrinkles will be softened in the production process.
The rest of the figure looks fantastic though.
cmiller99
Super Freak
Ok, it's probably too late for any changes to be made but I'm going to do this anyway in the hope that something can be done WRT the age of this figure.
As it is, it's a perfect Hobbit Gandalf. But Ian McKellen was only about 60 years old when he did Lord of the Rings, and he looked a lot lot younger in the LOTR trilogy than he did in the Hobbit trilogy. I really hope that the psd job I did below shows this, it's a picture from Fellowship of the Ring compared to the Asmus figure. Looking at them side by side, the Asmus figure is much too old. Like 15 years too old.
There are about 20 unnecessary wrinkles on his checks, under his eyes, and on his forehead, and half the spots and stippling work done by the painter is unnecessary; the paint work should be straight forward enough to fix, and the wrinkles will hopefully soften in production. However the eyelids are far too saggy and I don't think that can be fixed without sculpt tweaks. They hang far too low.
But there's one other major oversight. His eyebrows! Gandalf's iconic bushy eyebrows are wrong on the sculpt. It's clear in the side by side comparison that they're just not right.
I really hope that this can be fixed, it would transform a very good looking figure to a damn near perfect one.
The thing that seems odd to me is that the sculpt on page one seems different to the one that they've rushed into production. There was no age issue on that sculpt, and the eyebrows were film accurate. Why the changes?
It's a Hobbit Gandalf, not a LOTR Gandalf.
As it is, it's a perfect Hobbit Gandalf. But Ian McKellen was only about 60 years old when he did Lord of the Rings, and he looked a lot lot younger in the LOTR trilogy than he did in the Hobbit trilogy. I really hope that the psd job I did below shows this, it's a picture from Fellowship of the Ring compared to the Asmus figure. Looking at them side by side, the Asmus figure is much too old. Like 15 years too old.
There are about 20 unnecessary wrinkles on his checks, under his eyes, and on his forehead, and half the spots and stippling work done by the painter is unnecessary; the paint work should be straight forward enough to fix, and the wrinkles will hopefully soften in production. However the eyelids are far too saggy and I don't think that can be fixed without sculpt tweaks. They hang far too low.
But there's one other major oversight. His eyebrows! Gandalf's iconic bushy eyebrows are wrong on the sculpt. It's clear in the side by side comparison that they're just not right.
I really hope that this can be fixed, it would transform a very good looking figure to a damn near perfect one.
The thing that seems odd to me is that the sculpt on page one seems different to the one that they've rushed into production. There was no age issue on that sculpt, and the eyebrows were film accurate. Why the changes?
It's a Hobbit Gandalf, not a LOTR Gandalf.
Lejuan
Super Freak
The figure is already in production, no changes will be made to it.
Maybe he is from the Hobbit?
I'm good with it -- not sure the production figure will be quite so "dirty" in the face and consequently perhaps the wrinkles won't read quite so deep. Remember, this head is the size of your thumb, not the size of your 24inch computer screen.
I'm good with it -- not sure the production figure will be quite so "dirty" in the face and consequently perhaps the wrinkles won't read quite so deep. Remember, this head is the size of your thumb, not the size of your 24inch computer screen.
cmiller99
Super Freak
cmiller99
Super Freak
True. I know I'm overreacting a bit.
But I do think that the eyebrows are a huge oversight. This is a figure that I've been looking forward to for a long time, Gandalf is one of my favourite characters ever, and I'm a bit disappointed that the only aspect of this figure that's let me down is the head, especially when it appears to be very different to the damn near perfect WIP teased on page 1.
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I'm not 100% sold on the rooted hair either, cmiller99; I know you and I both rooted (hah) for sculpted hair. But despite all that, color me impressed. I also am very comfortable on banking that this figure will come out well, especially because Saruman had the same aura about him when the promo shots went up; and we all know how the production piece turned out on him. I think it'll look great on the shelf when done. Asmus has a lot hinging on this figure doing well. And molding always relaxes wrinkles; the Genisys T-800 had a similar effect in prototype, and that's one of Hot Toy's best production sculpts now. It softened just the right amount.
cmiller99
Super Freak
Yeah, I hope so. I'll be waiting for production pictures before ordering, certainly.
Lejuan
Super Freak
True. I know I'm overreacting a bit.
This is a figure that I've been looking forward to for a long time, Gandalf is one of my favourite characters ever, and I'm a bit disappointed that the only aspect of this figure that's let me down is the head, especially when it appears to be very different to the damn near perfect WIP teased on page 1.
I hear ya, but somehow I am not bothered by it. He definitely looks too old for LotR, but I'm with Wor-Gar and others in being confident that the aged effect will not be as evident once in hand.
I'm not thrilled with the length of the beard, but recognise that the only way to have made it longer would have been with (problematic) rooted hair. The fabric seems too coarse/heavy to me too.
Overall though I'm definitely seeing the pluses. I'm more excited for this figure than I've been with any of the OT Star Wars figures. It'll just be Gandalf and a mounted Nazgul for my LotR display, which are the two I'd always wanted to represent the books/movies.
Wow! Super excited to pre-order this. Still want to see the hat but yeah I already caved in. Keep it up Asmus and bring on the rest of the fellowship . . . and Theoden, Eomer, Faramir, Uruk Hai, Wormtongue . . . 
That's a very classy display.
Lejuan
Super Freak
cheers Wor-Gar. Somehow I have little interest in having any of the other heroes or villains in 1/6 (I'd love a Gollum/Smeagol though)
Neca (I think) made an excellent Gollum/Sméagol set of 1/4 scale figures that work pretty well with the Sideshow scale Hobbits. I have Sméagol as a stand-alone on a shelf and he's excellent -- the sculpt is amazing -- likewise Gollum who I have with my LOTR collection.
I'm sure when Asmus gets to him, they will do a fine job and he'll finally be in scale with everyone. But I really love the ones I have for now.
Lejuan
Super Freak
Yes, that was Neca and looked great in pics. Thinkgeek had a sale on the twin-pack a while back, but I passed for scale which I kinda regret. 1/4 really would be a better scale for such a small character.
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