Review of Frodo, Sam - Lord of the Rings
Exclusive Sixth Scale Action Figures

Introduction

Elijah Wood will be forever known as Frodo, and while I love him in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I have to admit that it's his comedic timing in shows like Wilfred and Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency that I appreciate the most. Consider this an endorsement of those two shows, on the off chance you haven't watched either.

Asmus Toys has been producing the latest series of sixth scale action figures based on the LOTR property, and it's also the most encompassing. It looks like we'll finally get our Fellowship in this scale all in one style from one company - hallelujah! We now have an excellent Gandalf, a serviceable Merry and Pippen, and an underrated Aragorn. They've added in a number of secondary players as well, and now with the release of Frodo and Sam, we're at 6 of the 9! The next scheduled release is Thranduil. but we've already seen the Legolas sculpt in progress. C'mon, Gimli! My greatest concern is them stopping at that point, and leaving us without a matching Boromir. Yea, he's potentially the least exciting, but the old Sideshow version simply won't do.

This set sells as a pair for $240. There's an exclusive version available through the Asmus website which is what I'm reviewing tonight. As per usual with this sort of exclusive, there's an extra accessory. This set is also limited to just 1000 produced.

Packaging - ***
While these are sold as a set, they are actually packed individually, just like every other release. That's a nice touch, since it allows you to sell or store them separately. The artwork comes from the film and is quite attractive, and the contents are packed in a single tray, completely collector friendly. No need for any damage when removing them, and they can be replaced later easy peasy.

There's an interior card covering the tray, and on this card the edition size and number are printed. You get the same number on your set - both my Frodo and Sam were 153 out of 1000, for example.

Sculpting - Sam **; Frodo **1/2
Right out of the gate, we get at the one major problem for both figures - the portrait. Neither is at the level of Asmus best work, but they aren't at the level of the worst in the high end biz right now either.

Both figures are between 6 and 6 1/4" tall. They should fit in just fine with the previous two Hobbits, although I'm sure some folks will complain that there's not enough variation in height between them.

Frodo is the better of the two.  They have come a long way with realism, and the detail work on the hair and skin texture is great. The eyes look terrific, and the fine work on eyebrows and lips is right up their with their best work. The hair is a separate piece, but it is fit tightly to the head, leaving little gap around the hair line.

The head and neck are all one piece too, which is a negative for articulation, but a big plus in this category. It means there's no break at the jaw line, and the skin texture (and color) remains consistent.

The emotive property of the portrait is solid as well. He has a stoic, determined look, ready for the trials ahead. I'm glad they went with this sort of expression, rather than one of his more weakened or scared looks.

But then we get to accuracy, and things start to fall apart. I went with three stills for comparison: this one, with some dirt and grime; this one, with a similar expression to the figure; and this one, when he's fresh and happy.

While I know exactly who this is, even off the body, it's still much more of a 'great cosplayer' look than an accurate portrait.  Lots of things are close - the eyes, the nose, the lips, but none of them nail their respective look, leaving the overall result a mish mash of 'close but no cigar'.

I think the work they did on the skin texture doesn't help here. He looks older than he should, certainly more than he looked even in ROTK. Combine this with a harsher cut to the bone structure in the jawline and cheeks, and you end up with miss.

Then we have Sam, who unfortunately fairs worse. Here's the irony - the actual portrait, from the forehead down to the bottom of the chubby chin, is actually much better than Frodo. And yet, he scores worse thanks to the final overall impression he gives.

When it comes to the emotive nature of the expression, I'm good. He's not acting extreme, but he's not a mannequin either. There's enough life in the eyes and the look to satisfy me.

There is a big problem when it comes to the realism, however, a problem that Frodo doesn't have. Sam's hair has a big, annoying gap around the face, thanks to a poor fit on the head. The helmet hair is even more obvious in person, and hard to over look.

Other aspects of realism are good. The skin texture is a little more appropriate with Sam, and there's some nice soft wrinkling around the eyes that looks great. The hair detail seems softer, but the situation with the hair is already such a mess that it isn't as much of a problem.

And then we get to accuracy of the portrait.  As I mentioned earlier, the eyes, nose, lips, and shape of the face are great.  The round nose and slightly pooched out upper lip really sell it, and capture the actor and character really well.

But something bizarre happened with the neck. They got the slight double chin just right, but didn't follow up with any sort of extra meat on the neck. In fact, Sam's neck is skinnier than Frodo's, and doesn't line up well with any part of the jawline, front or back. Because none of his basic clothes, including the rough jacket, have a high collar, you can't cover it up easily. In hand, it's even more obvious than in photos, and is extremely distracting. It looks unnatural, and that kind of thing becomes the focus of your attention, making it almost impossible to see the good.  And there is good, but it's book-ended between the weak hair and the worse neck.

Paint - ***
The paint work isn't extraordinary, but it is solid work for the high end market.

The hair on Frodo could use a little more detail in the paint work to help call out the nicely sculpted stranding, but it's tough with a color that's already so dark.  The skin tone is good, and the eyebrows and lips are clean. I particularly like the bright blue eyes, where they used a star pattern to create a terrific look in hand. It's a bit obvious in macro photos of course, but in person it is tiny enough to create a realistic effect.

Sam gets a better effect on the hair in this category, poor fit regardless, thanks to the lighter color. The lip color looks great, the eyebrows are nicely done, and the eyes have the same effect. There's a little more bleed on Sam's eyes, but it's hard to notice in hand. There's also a slightly dirty effect on Sam's skin, nothing excessive, but just enough to add a little additional realism in a subtle way.

Articulation - ***1/2
I really like the base bodies Asmus is using with their Hobbits. The joints are sturdy and many, with a great range of movement and little restriction.

As I mentioned, the head and neck are one piece, but the ball joint at the bottom of the neck works great, allowing plenty of lean and tilt movement in any direction.  The rotating hinge shoulders, wrists, and hips all work well, and the pin elbows and knees, along with the thigh, bicep, and torso articulation, provide for natural, flowing poses.

The hands swap easily, but they've included a couple extra wrist pegs, just in case. The head pops off and on cleanly as well, important because it's necessary to work with the cloaks.

The one missing joint is the ankle. This is to provide the cleanest sculpt possible for the bare lower leg and foot. While it does hurt posing, I prefer the look of the smooth sculpt in this instance.

Accessories - Frodo ***1/2; Sam ****
Both Sam and Frodo are extremely well outfitted, and there is a minor difference between the marketing materials and the actual accessories.

Frodo has seven hands in total, including the two he comes wearing. As I mentioned earlier, they swap cleanly, without too much effort, but they stay in place once on. Two of the hands are wearing the ring: a splayed hand, and a pointing hand, both lefts of course. The ring is permanently sculpted on the splayed hand, but it is removable on the pointing hand. That gives you a loose ring to use in various ways, a great touch.

Of course, you can argue that having the ring on any hand is a bit odd - he'd be invisible.  Remember when we had that talk about you being too nerdy? This is what I'm talking about.

Speaking of the ring, there's another one, attached to a fine silver (real metal) chain that hangs nicely around his neck. It's easiest to remove the head to put the chain in place.

You'll need to put the belt and scabbard in place as well, and you should keep the belt threaded with Frodo. It's particularly tricky to get the plastic end through the plastic buckle, and they send it to you already threaded. Put the belt on over his legs like a pair of pants, then tighten it up and tie it.

The scabbard fits Sting perfectly, and it looks nice in place. I did find that keeping the belt tight was tricky when handling the figure, and I had to keep adjusting and tightening.  Of course, it will be a different story when he's simply on display.

Sting doesn't glow, and it is plastic, but it looks terrific.  Frodo also has his smaller backpack, which slips over his shoulders easily, either over the coat or either cloak.

The change is with the Phial of Galadrial. This potion, which saved Frodo's life, is advertised as coming with Sam. Makes sense. But it is actually packed in the tray with Frodo. Not sure why the change - maybe they just thought there was too much of a disparity between the number of extras with each.

Finally, the two pack exclusive comes with the Mithril shirt.  This is in Frodo's box, of course.  This shirt looks great, but is very, very thin.  Since he would wear it under the rest of his clothes, and since I had no interest in completely undressing him just to risk damaging the shirt putting it on him, simply to cover it all up again with the layers of clothing, he won't be wearing it any time soon. Still it's a nice add for an exclusive.

Sam does even better when it comes to extras, perhaps why the Phial got switched over. He has 5 hands, rather than 7, including the pair he comes wearing. Again, there's a couple extra wrist pegs, just in case.  There's a set of relaxed grips, a set of tighter grips, and a splayed left.

Like Frodo, Sam has his scabbard, belt, and sword, although his isn't quite as fancy.  The belt is a little easier to work with, and the blade fits neatly in the scabbard.

Sam's pack is larger and more complex than Frodo's, with a bedroll and smaller pouches and bags already attached. It has a top flap held shut with velcro, and under this, a strip of cloth to attach several cooking utensils. There's a large skillet, a small skillet, a large spoon, and a small pot. The handle on the pot is a metal wire, much sturdier and less prone to damage than plastic. And just in case all that wasn't enough to cook up a tasty meal, there's a wooden spoon as well.

The only problem is that with all those pots in place, it's tough to keep the top flap attached to the thin Velcro. It's a minor nit though, and if you mess around with the order of the pots, spreading them out on the strap, you can still get it to close.

As to what he might cook, there is a wrapped salami. The wrapping includes a loop at the top so you can attach it to the belt or pack if you wish.

To add more weight to his load, he has a small white bag and a black water flask. Poor Sam certainly was the beast of burden in the Fellowship.

I noticed a few extra buttons of a couple different types also included with Sam. There were none with Frodo, but to be fair, Sam has more on his clothing that could pop free.

Outfit - Sam ***1/2; Frodo ****
Another big plus is the outfits. There's a ton of layers here - shirts, vests, coats, cloaks - and the excellent tailoring allows it all to lay flat and smooth, fitting tight to the body. I do have a tailoring issue with Sam however - more on that in a minute.

Frodo has his light colored shirt, brown vest, and brown jacket.  Of course, there's brown pants as well. All fits neatly, and you can feel the quality of the material and construction. Remember, while these are technically sixth scale, they are much smaller than the usual 12" figure, and yet the scale is excellent. Lapels, pockets, collars - it's all the proper size.

They've also done a nice job using very different materials for different layers.  The coarse material of the jackets is very realistic, while the finer cloth on the shirts makes complete sense.

The Outfit is another area with a slight variation from the marketing materials. As advertised, both figures come with the Elven cloaks. These fit great, include the cool (non-working) clasp, and are made from a very thin, very static-y material, just like the ones we saw with Merry and Pippin. They'll blend together great, if you want a consistent look with all four. I shot the majority of the photos without the Elven cloaks, since the marketing photos relied on them heavily, and we've seen them before with the prior release. I figured you should see that they can look great without them, as well.

The hoods on these cloaks are tacked in a permanent fold in back.  This ensures they well lay perfectly without any futzing.  You must pop the heads on and off to put them on, but that's a minor issue, and actually preferable to the potential of a broken or damaged clasp from use.

But here's the change - Frodo also comes wearing his green traveling cloak. I really like this one quite a bit, and prefer it over the Elven version. The hood on this one is also usable, and looks decent over his head.

My only issue with either costume involves the fit of the jacket on Sam. There isn't a collar, per se, and I had a very hard time getting it to shift forward on the body so that it lay properly over either shoulder.  I'm thinking this might be a good nominee for the old water treatment.

By the way, did I mention their hairy feet? Yes, they have hairy feet. They look great, but don't go rubbing the hair too much, since it's merely glued in place.

Fun Factor - ****
Both figures are a ton of fun to pose and re-pose, thanks to the solid articulation and terrific set of accessories.  They also get a boost from all the potential with the rest of the Fellowship already released.

Value - ***1/2
Nope, the portrait's aren't great. But the bodies, outfits, and accessories are, and with a price of just $120 each, they are a great bargain. I wish they'd nailed the sculpt, but I can't argue with the price point.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not much, but there's a couple things worth pointing out.

It's fairly easy to slip the pots and pans on the strap on the pack, but once there, getting them off again can be difficult. Decide the order and direction of each before you begin to avoid doing it more than once.

The collar on Frodo's shirt tends to get pulled down and trapped by his neck when you pop the head in place. If he's wearing either cloak it's not much of an issue, but without them it's quite obvious, so spend a little time spreading the collar out and away from the post before attaching the head. It may still get trapped, but it will make it easier to pull it up and loose with some needle nose pliers or tweezers when you do.

Finally, be careful with the two tiny buttons on the sleeves of Frodo's coat.  These small black buttons are in the perfect place to get knocked off when you are swapping hands, so pay attention to where you are squeezing in the process.

Overall - ***
I'll be honest - I expected the final score to be lower when I first pulled these out of the box. First impressions were heavily influenced by the portraits, and while they are realistic and well painted, they aren't accurate for one reason or another.

But everything from the neck down is excellent. Great costumes, great accessories, great articulation - it adds up to a much better figure. At just $120 each, these are figures you can use as a base for perfect customs, with the addition of an exceptional replacement head.

For me, the heads are adequate, even if they aren't perfect. Even with the issues, they remain the best Sam and Frodo we've gotten in this scale, and I have my fingers crossed based on what we've seen so far with Legolas.

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

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- the exclusive set, with the Mithril shirt, is available through Asmus Toys for $240.

- Sideshow has the non-exclusive set at $240.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Other Asmus Lord of the Rings (and Hobbit) figures include 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, Gothmog and Guritz. Other sixth scale LOTR figures include these by Sideshow - Gandalf, Sam and Frodo, Aragorn, Faramir, Boromir and Legolas. And don't forget the Aragorn from ACI.

Toybiz produced some 12" figures as well, including Gimli, Aragorn, Galdriel, Gandalf, Arwen, and Frodo. Dragons in Dreams did several as well, including Gandalf, Aragorn, and Gimli.

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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