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Foreign BK
Lord of the Rings
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A friend of mine (thanks Melvin!) sent over 7
of the 9 Burger King Lord of the Rings figures from his Singapore BK.
These are very much different from our U.S. versions. Each small
figure (about 3.5" tall) comes in a plastic box, with one of three
different film cels for that character.
This means that while there are only 9
figures, there are actually 27 film cels. This makes getting multiples
of the same character necessary if you want the full set of cels.
These premiums are being used in Asia and Europe, so if you have a friend
overseas they may be able to get you a few. I suspect that there are
plenty on ebay as well.
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The set includes Legolas, Galadriel, Strider, Saruman,
Gandalf, Frodo, Gimli, a Ringwraith, and Arwen.
Packaging - ***1/2
Normally you don't get much in the way of 'packaging' with kids meal
toys. They simply come in a plastic bag. But since they wanted
to hide the cels from you, they put the figure and cel in a plastic and
cardboard box inside the bag.
Each of these boxes are very nice, with
great graphics and text. The only problem is that they aren't quite
square at the top or sides, because they are a little flimsy. This
means stacking them can be a bit of a problem. But overall they're
very nice for a kids meal premium.
Sculpting - **
I think the sculpt quality on these figures is not as good as what was
available with the U.S. toys. Does BK use someone else other than
Equity for their international premiums? I didn't think so, but I'm
not positive.
Of course, great detail in
figures this size is difficult, but they aren't THAT small. They
could have done a better job here, particularly with the face sculpts.
Paint - **1/2
This is another area where these are inferior to the U.S. versions.
While a couple of the figures - Strider and Saruman in particular - had
fairly decent face paint, most were sloppy or have very little detail.
This level of paint ops
doesn't help the sculpting, and it makes a good assessment of the sculpt
difficult.
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Articulation - Bupkis
While some of the UK versions had limited articulation, these have
none. They are simply PVC figures, each done in an action
pose. Legolas looks like he's supposed to have a bow - mine
didn't. Let me know if that's an oversight. Again,
the two best figures are Saruman and Strider, at least in terms of their
posing.
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Accessories - ***
As I mentioned, each figure comes with a film cel. There are
three possibilities for each character, but the ones I saw were all nice
shots from the film, highlighting the character very well. Of
course, collecting all 27 is a pain in the neck, but that keeps folks
coming back to BK.
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Value - **
I have no idea how much these cost at most foreign BK's. Fast food
does tend to cost more in Europe, and I'm betting these were $3 or so
each. That's on the high side for what your getting, and it means
that your ebay prices will probably be higher than they are really
worth.
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Overall - **
This promotion is decent, although not nearly as imaginative or fun as
the U.S. version. If you're working on a big LOTR collection, or
are a major fan of one of these particular figures, then I suggest doing
what you can to pick them up. Don't break the bank though, as you
should be able to find plenty of them on ebay. You also might want
to try asking folks on the message boards if they can help you put a set
together. Many times, foreign collectors are more than happy to
help out if you're willing to help them with U.S. kids meal promotions
in return. |
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Figure from the collection of Michael Crawford. |
