Asmus Toys : Gandalf the Grey

[Rzeznikk]

Wow, that's one great looking display!!

Beautiful displays, Rzeznikk!

Gimili is the one that I'm looking forward to the most. I've got a very nice custom Gimili but definitely expecting Asmus's version to be a big improvement.

Thanks guys!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

[Jrobertson]

Can someone please tell me how you screw the rock into the base I cant seem to get it to work.

 

[Jrobertson]

Never mind I figured it out

 

[agonistes86]

I started modifying the sculpt, sculpted him some new eyebrow and painted him up. Looking at the shots, I saw some small things here and there to fix (e.g., the paint above the eyebrows is a bit flat), but I think he's already well on his way. Got rid of that sleepy just-got-out-of-bed expression, which was my main goal. I didn't paint anything else, the difference in beard colour is simply because of different lighting.

Next up is bringing the hairline down lower, and then adding the new hair.

 

[Sankari]

I started modifying the sculpt, sculpted him some new eyebrow and painted him up. Looking at the shots, I saw some small things here and there to fix (e.g., the paint above the eyebrows is a bit flat), but I think he's already well on his way. Got rid of that sleepy just-got-out-of-bed expression, which was my main goal. I didn't paint anything else, the difference in beard colour is simply because of different lighting.

Next up is bringing the hairline down lower, and then adding the new hair.

Congrats man, I did mostly the same. I lowered the hairline. I actually cut his forehead quite a bit to insert more hair like his hairline in fellowship of the Ring.

Great job

 

[stshammgod]

There are so many things that keep this from being at HT level. When you get something from HT, you know it's quality. It feels quality. With this release.... Things here like the body sitting in a loose fitting foam sleeve, photocopied instructions, gelled hair, gaps in the scalp, hat falling off easy, the unsecured belt loops that require some kind of glue, the too thick material on the hands which prevents holding the staff well, the hands that don't do much for the accessories, the loose boots/ankles, the ill fitting outfit , the questionable change to an inferior sculpt... it's just not up to par and at that price point, it should be.

Look, kudos to Asmus for caring about the license. This is the best GTW out there right now. They just have a long way to go.


EDIT: that being said, here are pics of mine:

 

[FlyAndFight]

Any word on Gandalf's horse drawn cart? That would be a must-get for me.

 

[Jokes & Bats]

There are so many things that keep this from being at HT level. When you get something from HT, you know it's quality. It feels quality. With this release.... Things here like the body sitting in a loose fitting foam sleeve, photocopied instructions, gelled hair, gaps in the scalp, hat falling off easy, the unsecured belt loops that require some kind of glue, the too thick material on the hands which prevents holding the staff well, the hands that don't do much for the accessories, the loose boots/ankles, the ill fitting outfit , the questionable change to an inferior sculpt... it's just not up to par and at that price point, it should be.

Look, kudos to Asmus for caring about the license. This is the best GTW out there right now. They just have a long way to go.

And this is why I haven't bought anything of theirs so far. I'm baffled when people post a picture and comment 'it looks incredible' or 'superb figure' and I'm just looking at it like...

 

[stshammgod]

I wouldn't hesitate to swap it out for a superior one down the road. It's barely good enough for me to display with my collection, and that's after futzing and fixing.

Saruman was their best release so far, but I still had to do some mods to that one too.

 

[jankatana]

Gandalf is one of those figures once in hand, out the box and posed up natural looks incredible in real life. The pictures as nice as they are just cant capture the magic somehow. Its a bizarre thing

 

[stshammgod]

Gandalf is one of those figures once in hand, out the box and posed up natural looks incredible in real life. The pictures as nice as they are just cant capture the magic somehow. Its a bizarre thing

It's funny you say that because what I see in photos is exactly what I see in person... can't sugar coat it.

 

[superdoug]

It's interesting seeing the wide range of responses to this figure. I will freely admit that I am probably biased due to my love of all things Middle Earth so I am probably looking at it through rose colored glasses. I love the figure overall. The nickpicks I would mention are the loose ankles (it's a pet peeve of mine) and bald areas of the sculpt. I do agree he looks more Hobbit than LOTR but I believe if you go way back to when he was first mentioned they referenced the Hobbit. I believe they then tried to add the extra stuff and market him as all inclusive (or more LOTR) but I could be wrong. Personally I still think he stacks up there pretty close to Hot Toys level. He's better than some Hot Toy releases and not there yet compared to their better ones. Anyway that's my quick take. Also I own two of these. The one at work and one at home. Only Hot Toys figure I have two of is DX Jack Sparrow and that was because a great deal came up on the 2nd one.

 

[sixxshooter]

I personally think that Asmus has done a brilliant Job with there Orks . I absolutely love Gotmog and I really like what I'm seeing with Grishnakh . There Mouth of Sauron figure is Fantastic . Always keep in mind the price as well . I will admit that I was let down by Saruman . It's does not look anything like Christofer Lee and they need to do a better job with the coloration of the Hair and robe . Everything needed more weathering . I'm really crossing my figure with Gandolf the grey . He's shipping to me now but I have a feeling I'm going to be disappointed like Saruman . Asmus definitely needs to improve on there human characters .

 

[Zenjay]

I personally think that Asmus has done a brilliant Job with there Orks . I absolutely love Gotmog and I really like what I'm seeing with Grishnakh . There Mouth of Sauron figure is Fantastic . Always keep in mind the price as well . I will admit that I was let down by Saruman . It's does not look anything like Christofer Lee and they need to do a better job with the coloration of the Hair and robe . Everything needed more weathering . I'm really crossing my figure with Gandolf the grey . He's shipping to me now but I have a feeling I'm going to be disappointed like Saruman . Asmus definitely needs to improve on there human characters .

Funny. I bought Saruman because of the Chris Lee likeness.

Yet I passed on this GtG because I see no Ian.

 

[Jokes & Bats]

I adore LOTR - have read them countless times, seen them countless times, have watched all the extended making ofs that go on for years and read the Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales and yet these Asmus figures just do not impress me. I wish a more capable high end company had the licence because I hate that I just don't want to buy these figures. Perhaps I'm spoilt from owning HT or Enterbay - but the face sculpts and the quality I have seen from Asmus are just poor. I hope they produce a good Legolas because I will buy it as he is my favourite character - but until then, nope.

Everyone moans about the ACI Aragorn's hair and yes I would agree, it wasn't brilliant. But anyone who has owned that figure knows how high quality the clothing and the weapons were that he came with. And now, people appear to be adding 'real' hair to the Asmus sculpt depite all of the moaning about the real hair ACI used. The best part of the Asmus Aragorn was the sculpt and the boots. Once people pulled the plastic hair off, we could see a half-decent Viggo but I just can't spend £150 on a figure for a head and boots especially when the rest of it was poor. The clothing had the wrong textures, the jacket/coat was wrinkly and way too shiny from what I have seen - the shirt didn't have the sleeve detailing and the sword and knife were atrocious. I love the detail of weapons with 1/6 figures but those were just awful which really gets me worried about Legolas and his bow and knives. I love the white knives he has so I pray that Asmus doesn't mess it up because I will happily give them my money. Gandalf's staff and Glamdring do look very good from Asmus as do - from what I can tell- the clothes (with some work). However, the face sculpt is one of the worst I have seen - it looks nothing like Ian McKellen and everytime I see it, he looks ill. The hairline is hideous. I think they just keep making the face rather than the whole head? which creates a gap between the face and the hair - I could be wrong but they need to sort it out.

I know Asmus frequent these boards and it is frowned upon to be negative but I am being negative out of a love for the books and the characters - I want to buy these figures and would happily support Asmus but until I see something worthy of buying I just can't do it.

 

[SithThundercracker]

There are so many things that keep this from being at HT level. When you get something from HT, you know it's quality. It feels quality. With this release.... Things here like the body sitting in a loose fitting foam sleeve, photocopied instructions, gelled hair, gaps in the scalp, hat falling off easy, the unsecured belt loops that require some kind of glue, the too thick material on the hands which prevents holding the staff well, the hands that don't do much for the accessories, the loose boots/ankles, the ill fitting outfit , the questionable change to an inferior sculpt... it's just not up to par and at that price point, it should be.

While on most of your points I can easily agree with, the foam sleeve is FAR better than the plastic tray. Foam was HT standard stuff for DX releases and it's higher end than plastic IMHO.

Everyone moans about the ACI Aragorn's hair and yes I would agree, it wasn't brilliant. But anyone who has owned that figure knows how high quality the clothing and the weapons were that he came with. And now, people appear to be adding 'real' hair to the Asmus sculpt depite all of the moaning about the real hair ACI used. The best part of the Asmus Aragorn was the sculpt and the boots. Once people pulled the plastic hair off, we could see a half-decent Viggo but I just can't spend £150 on a figure for a head and boots especially when the rest of it was poor. The clothing had the wrong textures, the jacket/coat was wrinkly and way too shiny from what I have seen - the shirt didn't have the sleeve detailing and the sword and knife were atrocious. I love the detail of weapons with 1/6 figures but those were just awful which really gets me worried about Legolas and his bow and knives. I love the white knives he has so I pray that Asmus doesn't mess it up because I will happily give them my money. Gandalf's staff and Glamdring do look very good from Asmus as do - from what I can tell- the clothes (with some work). However, the face sculpt is one of the worst I have seen - it looks nothing like Ian McKellen and everytime I see it, he looks ill. The hairline is hideous. I think they just keep making the face rather than the whole head? which creates a gap between the face and the hair - I could be wrong but they need to sort it out.

I know Asmus frequent these boards and it is frowned upon to be negative but I am being negative out of a love for the books and the characters - I want to buy these figures and would happily support Asmus but until I see something worthy of buying I just can't do it.

I don't have Asmus Aragorn (I just have ACI) but I think you're being far too indulgent with ACI effort, expecially for their original pricepoint...while some stuff is just gorgeous (knife, clothes), other is mediocre (headsculpt, belt without pouches), other is just cheap looking (boots, bow, quiver) and other is just plain wrong (Anduril is undersized and runeless, both swords are wrong color and have wrong belt attachments). Was it worth the price for you?

 

[Jokes & Bats]

I don't have Asmus Aragorn (I just have ACI) but I think you're being far too indulgent with ACI effort, expecially for their original pricepoint...while some stuff is just gorgeous (knife, clothes), other is mediocre (headsculpt, belt without pouches), other is just cheap looking (boots, bow, quiver) and other is just plain wrong (Anduril is undersized and runeless, both swords are wrong color and have wrong belt attachments). Was it worth the price for you?

I said just what you agreed with - the clothes and the weapons are the best part.

The boots are awful. The quiver and arrows are perfectly fine in my opinion. The headsculpt is ok - not amazing.

Anduril wasn't a problem for me because I have the Noble letter opener.

On my figure - I made the pouches for the belt, made the bed roll, made the Strider jacket, re-did all of the straps on the scabbard to be accurate.

Price wise - I ordered one before it was released so therefore, have not had to pay horrendous after market prices. I bought it for the love of the character though, not the investment.

In no way am I saying ACI is perfect - it isn't - but it has a lot more positives than the Asmus. Based on the higher quality of the ACI Aragorn and Ringwraith (after which they then lost the licence to Asmus) - I feel that is a massive shame. ACI could have produced some incredible figures which possibly got better and better every release. However, what we have is a very mediocre company playing catch up - holding the licence to an extremely popular franchise that I don't think they are doing justice to. I wish both ACI AND Asmus has the rights because then they could play at out doing each other and we would get even better figures.

 

[Lejuan]

The Hot Toys Star Wars line is disappointing; the one likeness they nailed is spoiled by a poor outfit. Similarly Enterbay's recent Bruce Lee figures aren't what they should've been. This Gandalf holds its own with all but the very best figures put out by HT and EB imo.

 

[stshammgod]

While on most of your points I can easily agree with, the foam sleeve is FAR better than the plastic tray. Foam was HT standard stuff for DX releases and it's higher end than plastic IMHO.

I think you misunderstood what I said. Foam is definitely a step above a plastic tray. However, the way that Asmus implemented the foam was what I was disappointed with. It didn't hold him tightly, it was just a large foam hole that the figure could flop around in. It wasn't cut to fit him in there tightly.

 

[Keegan]

Sadly, have to agree with those disappointed. I would have gone into the very fires of Mordor with Asmus on this line, but it's just not quite there. It's so close too which makes it all the more frustrating. Gandalf was a real linchpin for the full investment, but the likeness just bums me out. Maybe it's Jackson's fault for going all prequel in the first place

I'll buy Frodo in a second if they knock it out, though. Hopefully Asmus can push their burgeoning skills and get the hero 100%.