Review of Thorin Oakenshield - The Hobbit
Sixth Scale Action Figure

Introduction

If I'm being honest, I'll tell you that the Lord of the Rings trilogy were great, fantastic, amazing movies. And the Hobbit trilogy were...movies. I'm not saying they were bad, but they paled in comparison, albeit a very difficult comparison for any film.

But I still love all the characters, and the fact that Asmus if filling out my shelf of sixth scale hobbits, humans, elves, and dwarves is welcome no matter which franchise they come from. The latest release is from the Hobbit films: Thorin Oakenshield! You didn't think they'd produce the cool dwarf body for Gimli and not use it again, did you?

Thorin has just started shipping, and will run you around $200 depending on the retailer.

Packaging - ***
Nothing too unique here, but the shoe box style package has some great movie graphics, a nice cover design, and is completely collector friendly. There's a small instruction sheet as well that will prove useful.

Sculpting - ***1/2
Asmus is a crap shoot at times when it comes to the portraits. They crushed it with Gimli, and followed up by missing the mark with Bilbo. To be fair, Bilbo's major problem was the huge sculpted hair and oversized head, not the actual portrait. Still, you can never quite be sure what you're going to get at this point.

Thankfully, they hit the mark again with Thorin. They are back to rooted hair, and it was a wise choice. This guy has a ton of it, and they were able to match his slicked backed, widow's peak, long hair style perfectly. He's got a lot of hair (no doubt you'll be using product to keep it all in place), and it's thick and luxurious. Dude could be doing shampoo commercials.

The face itself is quite realistic, with a nice subtle skin texture appropriate to the character, and a great looking beard and mustache. The eyes are straight and sharp, with a nice glossy life-like appearance.

There's not a ton of emotion here, but he's serious and intent, with a slight squint to the eye. There's a life to the look, without it being over the top.

The accuracy is solid as well. The forehead is a smidge big, but Thorin does have a big one - the photo on the front of the box makes for an excellent comparison. The long nose and sharp chin look great, and in hand, he's instantly recognizable.

There are a few minor nits here, like the forehead, but overall it's a terrific head sculpt, and will make fans quite happy. He's about 10 1/2" tall, from boot to top of his hair.

Paint - ***1/2
The paint work is quite realistic, with a good skin tone, slight freckling, and a decent variation in the beard and eyebrows.

The widow's peak is tough to do, because the rooted hair can leave an obvious gap at the forehead. To counter that, they used a painted hair line to fill in, and in hand it looks great. In macro photos you can see what they did, but remember, this guy is only 10 1/2" tall.  The hairline looks quite realistic when you're looking at him with your nekkid eye.

One of the coolest things about this 'paint' is the variation in the hair. There's threads of lighter, silver and blonde strands, and it looks fantastic. It's really subtle too, so much so I had to look twice to be sure it wasn't just a trick of the eye.

Articulation - ***1/2
The dwarf body underneath has all the articulation of the larger bodies. The neck is jointed at both the top and bottom, giving you plenty of lean and tilt, and while the thick clothing can restrict some of the arm movement, particularly the shoulders, it's not any more than you'd be restricted wearing the same costume.

The torso can't turn and tilt a lot under the multiple layers, but the hips, knees and ankles work great, and the two piece fur covered boots allow the ankles some great rocker movement.

You should be able to get plenty of natural, flowing stances and great fighting poses with a little effort. I did find swapping hands a bit more annoying than usual, because the short arms and loose gauntlets can make it tough to get a good grip, but it was a minor issue.

Accessories - ***1/2
He's not packed out too heavily, but he has some nice extras.

Of course, he's got a few additional hands. He comes wearing a pair of relaxed, open hands. You can swap in a set of tight fists, or a set of tight grips. They all have the sculpted rings on the middle fingers as well.

He has his own special pipe, as well as the key that plays a pivotal role in the film. Sculpts and paint are great, as is the scale.

He has a large, plastic, dwarf sword, thick and dangerous. He also has the more slender Orcrist, and this one is made from metal. It's a terrific weapon, and is light enough to hold out from his body yet the metal gives it realism and a great appearance.

There's a scabbard as well for the Orcrist, which fits across his back and around his chest. For the purposes of this category, it's a big positive, but I'll have a couple complaints when we get to the Outfit section.

Of course, this is Thorin 'Oakenshield', and he has his oak shield. It's held on the arm with a couple straps, and works great. The sculpted 'wood' looks realistic as well.

Finally, he has a basic display stand. Nothing unique, but nice to have for consistency.

Outfit - ***1/2
There are a ton of nice layers here, each with plenty of detail.

There's a long sleeve undershirt and pants, a dark blue vest, a short sleeved tunic with chain mail style armor in several places, a set of removable gauntlets, and an amazing coat with fur trimmed collar. The layers are properly scaled, and none of it looks poofy or oversized. A large belt holds it all tight to the body, and this belt includes a scabbard for the large dwarf sword.

The fur boots are a two piece design, which allows for good ankle movement. There's a plastic ribbon wrap around the boots, but it doesn't fit all that great and tends to look a little weird, at least to me.

I mentioned that the scabbard had some issues here. Follow the instructions, and you'll find a small slit in the shoulder and waist of the outer coat. This will allow you to wrap the belt around his torso, but the shoulder slit does not pass through the fur collar. That means it pushed the collar out a bit, rather than keeping it flat across the back.

The other issue is with 'snapping' the belt closed. It's not really a snap, but rather three plastic posts that fit into three small holes. They don't work particularly well, and I found myself reattaching them regularly as I was posing the figure. Only the top post worked well, and I gave up on the other two after awhile.

Fun Factor - ***1/2
With some very good accessories, a well articulated body, and hair that's easy to work with, you should have no trouble finding great poses over and over again.

Value - ***
Most sixth scale figures on the current market are running $220 and more. This is an excellent figure with a very complex costume - including faux fur in multiple spots - and plenty of extras. The rooted hair isn't cheap, and neither is this license, so getting him at $200 is a solid value.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing. I had no trouble working with the figure, and I had no issues with breakage or potential breakage. The belt snaps are a bit annoying, but they do work.

Overall - ***1/2
I'm a big fan of Asmus. They don't always hit a home run, no doubt about that, but more often than not you get a great figure for the price. Occasionally, you get even more than that.

Their work on the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit hasn't been consistent, but it has been getting better overall, and Thorin is another solid addition to the series. They are also doing some of the very best rooted hair in the market, challenging the big boys in this area. I can't wait for the next release!

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

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Other Asmus Hobbot/LOTR figures include Bilbo Baggins, 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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