Review of Bilbo Baggins
Sixth Scale Action Figure

Introduction

The Lord of the Rings is one of the greatest complete film trilogies of all time. You can argue with me, but you're just wasting oxygen. The Hobbit...yea, not so much. I can't say I'm surprised, since the book is merely a children's tale set in Middle Earth. It's one book, not three, stretched into three very long movies. And the license had worn out some of its inherent good will by then. They weren't terrible movies, but I'll never host an 'extended edition viewing party' for the three movies, which I may have done for LOTR. More than once. Maybe.

That doesn't mean there weren't some great characters, and the young Bilbo, as portrayed by the terrific Martin Freeman, was a highlight. Getting a young Bilbo for the overall LOTR display is a big plus. Asmus, who have been doing related LOTR/Hobbit sixth scale figures, have just released their version. This guy will run you around $170, depending on the retailer, and is limited to 1500 pieces.

Packaging - ***
While the Asmus website says this guy is limited to just 1500 (which has been common for the series), there's no indication that I see on the box or packaging.  It's all collector friendly of course, and the graphics are sharp and attractive. You get a great shot of the actual character right on the cover, which is always a gutsy move by a company, since it gives you something in hand to compare their work to directly.

Sculpting - **
I have two big nits with the final portrait, and both were concerns from the beginning. But let's start with the positives.

The detail work on the hair and skin is quite good, and this is a realistic face sculpt. The soft skin texture, and variation in the eyes and lips makes it quite life-like, and there's enough detail in the stranding of the hair to carry the effect forward.

It's also a decent expression, with the tight lips and slight smirk working for both the actor and the character. It's nothing extreme, but Bilbo isn't an extreme sort of guy, and it avoids looking too much like a mannequin.

I also think the accuracy of the face is quite good. It is Freeman, although a slightly older Freeman than I remember on screen. Still, if you did something about that hair - like pull it off and go with a custom rooted job - the accuracy of the portrait would really pop.

But that's where big nit number one comes in - that hair. There's a lot of it, particularly across the forehead, and it's thick plastic. It sits quite far from the sides of the face and the forehead, making it look like a big cap. I know Asmus is capable of better hair, and we've seen them do some amazing stuff with rooted hair, like on Gimli. This thick, heavy hunk of plastic on his head does the likeness no favors.

Which brings me to my second nit - it's too big. Part of the bobblehead effect is the hair, but part is simply due to the head itself being too large. While some of the hobbits had pretty big noggins, they were never this far out of proportion with the body.

To end on a positive note, I do like the hair glued to the top of the feet, and the general lower leg/foot sculpt looks good. He stands about 8 1/4" tall overall.

Paint - ***
The overall paint work is solid, particularly at this price point. Remember, rather than the usual $220 or more, you're paying about $170 for this guy.

The skin tone looks great, with depth and age, and the lips, eyes, and eyebrows are very clean and realistic. The glassy eyes have natural catch lights, and are straight and even.

The hands are slightly darker than the forearms and wrist joints, but it's not a deal breaker. They match up well with the lower legs, as well as the neck and face.

I also wish the hair had a little more depth to the paint, with some sort of variation in the brown. The highlights look a little lighter, but it's not enough to break up the monotony of the color.

Articulation - ***
There's one spot where he's lacking a joint, but overall he's quite posable and easy to work with.

The neck has a ball joint at the jawline and the torso. Both are pretty well hidden by the hair and the scarf, and you can get some decent tilt and lean out of them.

The shoulders, elbows, and wrists work together neatly, and you can get great arm poses. He can be relaxing with the pipe, or battling with Sting.

However, the lack of ankle joints - they went with a smooth lower leg sculpt for appearance - does mean he can't keep his big feet flat on the ground in deeper stances.

The knees and hips work well though, allowing normal sitting poses too, and the torso can turn, lean and tilt, adding some more personality to a wide variety of poses.

The hands swapped easily, but take care with the post in the ball. I almost popped one loose, and it's happened to me before with the body Asmus uses. There's a couple extra wrist posts included just in case.

Accessories - ***1/2
One area where Asmus tends to excel is the Accessories. There's a good assortment here, and the quality is very good.

He has extra hands of course. He comes wearing a relaxed set, and there's a set of fists, a set of tight grips, a set of posed grips, and one pointing right and wide grip left. These work with a decent number of the other extras, and swapping was fairly clean.

For those relaxed moments, he comes with his pipe. This fits nicely in either the left or right posed grip, and both these hands work well with the tiny ring too. The ring is removable, but comes on one of the hands in the package. That's smart, since it's so small it would be easy to lose. And yes, I know, how can you see him if he's wearing it...hey, don't over think your toys.

He also has several paper pieces, right from the movie. There's a single sheet self portrait, the map of Thorin, and the huge contract. This last item can be folded up if you wish, but it comes unfolded in the box, and looks great that way.

I mentioned Sting, and this version is die cast metal. It looks terrific, but fitting it in the tight grip hands might require a little heat first.

It also fits neatly in the supplied scabbard, which can be worn around his waist, or tucked into his pack.  This large pack looks great, made from leather and cloth materials. There's a bed roll across the top as well. It requires some patience to work it up over the arms and jacket, but the fit looks terrific once it's in place.

Perhaps my favorite extra is the Red Book of Westmarch. It's a bound book, with printed pages on yellowed paper. There are two string closures you can tie shut if you'd like, but leaving it open allows you to show off the interior.

Finally, there's a basic display stand with the movie logo and a support rod. Nothing unique here, but Asmus doesn't always supply them with every figure they do.

Outfit - ***1/2
Another area where Asmus tends to do well is the Outfits. Here we see the attention to detail pay off.

The costume consists of the shirt, vest, pants, coat, and scarf. The materials are all high quality, and the microfibers are properly tailored and in scale. For example, the corduroy pattern on the jacket is very accurate, something that can often be out of scale with a figure only 8" tall.

The buttons on the vest look great too, and there are two hidden snaps behind them that actually keep the vest closed. The scarf tends to ride up the neck, but you can easily adjust it back down to a spot that looks good to you, or you can always pop off the head and remove it entirely without untying the tight knot.

Fun Factor - ***
With decent articulation and plenty of useful accessories, you should have a great time posing this guy. Add in a few of the other characters, and you can create some great looking displays, which you'll find yourself revisiting over time as the line continues to expand.

Value - ***1/2
While this guy is shorter than the usual sixth scale figure, there's still a ton of complex extras, including the book, pack, and die cast sword.  They did a nice job on the costume, and did it all for a price far below the market average.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not much. Remember that the ring is separate, and it can fall off the finger pretty easily. When you first swap hands, take some care with the posts, since I've had them pull apart before. Once you've popped them on and off a few times, you should be good.

Overall - ***
Asmus continues to satisfy me with their Hobbit/LOTR releases. Some of them absolutely crush it, like Gimli (one of my three favorite sixth scale figures released in 2018), and they no longer blow it like they did occasionally early on (Tauriel is better left forgotten). Bilbo is good...but he could have been fantastic with a smaller head and better hair. Let's hope the next release is another killer.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - **
Paint - ***
Articulation - ***
Accessories - ***1/2
Outfit - ***1/2
Fun Factor - ***
Value - ***1/2
Overall - ***

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Sideshow also has him at $170.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Other Asmus Hobbit/Lord of the Rings stuff includes Gimli, Boromir, Legolas, Thranduil, Sam and Frodo, Grishn'akh, Gandalf the Gray, the Mouth of Sauron, Merry and Pippin, and the excellent Saruman the White. Asmus has also released Tauriel, Aragorn, Bard the Bowman, Eowyn, the Nazgul Steed, the Morgul Lord, Gandalf the White, Gothmog and Guritz.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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