Review of Gollum/Smeagol Lord of the Rings
Sixth Scale Action Figure

Introduction

Asmus Toys continues their terrific sixth scale series based on the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films with the release of Gollum and Smeagol, one (or two, depending on how you want to look at it) of the most important characters in the series.

As you know, they have a 'Crown Series' of figures that's high end, with something like the recent Gandalf the White being an excellent example. But they are also producing their regular series, which is where this pair falls. You can pick up either just the Smeagol or just the Gollum for around $130, or the 'luxury' version, which I'm reviewing here, for around $270.

This Luxury set includes both figures with all accessories for each, plus a diorama base. These just started shipping here in the U.S. over the last couple weeks.

Packaging - ***1/2
There's three boxes inside a brown shipper, one for each figure, and one for the diorama. All are collector friendly of course, with no need to damage the packaging when removing the figure or accessories.

While the boxes for Gollum and Smeagol use standard plastic trays, the diorama comes inside a nice foam tray, designed to better protect the heavier object. These boxes are also designed to be as least wasteful as possible, at least in terms of size.

Sculpting - ***1/2
Both portraits are excellent, as is the overall body sculpt.

Let's start with Smeagol. They've given him a wide eyed look of wonder, with his mouth agape. There's fewer wrinkles with this look of course, but it's extremely realistic and life-like. The accuracy is spot on, and even the nasty, craggy teeth look excellent.

The eyes on both head sculpts are movable, but they are also tight to the face. Unlike some releases - most, in fact - with movable eyes, they aren't too deeply set, and there's no gap along the skin. You'd never know the eyes were adjustable by looking at the figure. Each eye operates independently, and while there is an issue with the mechanics, I'll discuss that in the Articulation section.

Both heads also have wispy hair. You can't root this fine of hair, so it's glued. But there's no sign of the glue - no shiny finish, no texture - and the hair looks extremely natural. None came off in my hands either, but I won't start rubbing his head to see what happens.

The second figure comes with the portrait of Gollum, pissed and snarling. One eye is squinted more than the other, and the angry mouth is open wide. There's more wrinkles of course, and the realism is excellent. This is how you do a dynamic sculpt that doesn't look silly or cartoony.

The body is semi-seamless - the chest, elbows, and knees are completely hidden, while the shoulders, wrists, hips, and ankles are partially obscured. All the limbs and appendages have a realistic skin texture, and they didn't use a 'rubber' material, but rather the thin, automotive grade stuff that lasts much better, and is less restrictive. It also takes a sculpt better than the rubber, with plenty of fine detail, especially in the torso.

My one complaint, and the only thing holding him back from a perfect score here, is the odd line across the back of the head, running from ear to ear. It appears to be part of the assembly process, and is not visible from front facing angles thanks to his big ears, but I still found it annoying.

Slightly hunched, he stands about 8 inches tall. I'm not sure if the head is slightly too big or not - the jury is still out on that one - but I'm happy with it on the shelf.

One other item of note for this category - Smeagol (and Gollum of course) is anatomically correct. Yea, you read that right. Under that loin cloth are all the extra bits you'd expect, and yet not expect. Now I have to wonder if Bilbo and Frodo are packing as well.

Paint - ***1/2
The paint work overall adds to the realism of the portrait, always a plus.

The skin is freckled and tanned, with uneven areas of lighter and darker tones. There's subtle work on the eyebrows, while the teeth are just as janky as you'd expect. The wispy hair is gray or white, and the eyes are clear and glossy, creating natural catch lights.

One of the big pluses is the translucent nature of the material itself. Notice how the light shines through the edges of the ears in the photo above and below. This slight translucence to the skin on the face and ears creates a depth to the color that is much more natural.

The one area that might seem odd in macro photos is the iris'. They use a starburst pattern in the blue that can look fake in macro photos, but in hand looks much more realistic. This is one of those cases of scale, where in hand your eye can't make out the detail the same way, and where these patterns create a more life-like appearance than a solid blue would.

I do think the teeth could be a little more realistic in their dirty, nasty coloring, but it's a minor nit in an otherwise excellent production paint job.

Articulation - **1/2
Lots of ball joints, and you should have no trouble getting good poses.

The neck is worth the longest discussion. There's a ball joint inside the covered neck that attaches to a neck post, and the heads attach to the neck post thanks to a magnet. There are two different neck posts with these magnets on top - one is straight, the other bent. The photo below shows them each in action. The bent version is my preference, and I went it on both in my display, but having the straight neck gives you some nice options.

The shoulders, hips, and ankles are all ball joints as well. You can get a good range of movement out of them, and while they are slightly hidden, they aren't covered by any skin. The same is true of the wrists, although they are the traditional rotating hinge style. Hands swap easily, but remain in place while posing.

The torso can crunch and lean, but the skin covering it does restrict it slightly. It tends to force it back to a straight position, although I was able to use this joint to create decent crouching poses.

The knees and elbows are the most restricted by the skin, but I was still able to bend them to about 30 degrees or so. There are actually a second set of legs included with deeply bent knees to aid in getting a greater number of poses in the display.

So why the lower score? It relates to the movable eyes. They did a great job with this feature in terms of keeping the eyes tight to the skin on the face, and they do allow for a greater number of expressions.

But the posts on the eyes are fairly long, and they can get in the way of the neck post. This is particularly true with the straight post, and I had almost no trouble with the bent neck. I've seen some folks shortened the posts themselves, and they are long enough that you can do that without risking any issue. But let's be honest, you shouldn't have to and the initial engineering on this figure should have caught the issue.

Accessories - ***
Each version comes with the same set of accessories, so when you get the Luxury edition, you get two full sets.

Each has the additional neck post I mentioned. I only show the straight post in the photo below, but this can be swapped for the bent neck post, and it's actually the latter that's considered the 'accessory'. To more easily reach the 'joysticks' for the eyes, there's a small black tool included as well.

There's also an assortment of hands, all with the long, lanky figures, and sickly, bulbous finger tips. There's a couple pairs of gripping or grasping hands, plus a set with the left pointing and the right designed to hold the ring carefully between the thumb and forefinger. These go along with the relaxed pair he comes wearing.

And yes, there's the ring, made from metal. It can fit on a hand of your choice, or as I mentioned in the previous paragraph, he can hold it in the specific grip. Be careful with these - they are very, very tiny. If you do drop it in the carpet, remember a magnet will help you find it, like the one in the neck post.

Both personalities like to eat fish, and there's one for him to hold in one of the gripping hands.

And to allow for more poses and stances, there's a second set of legs with deeply bent knees. These work nicely with crouching poses, and with the final extra.

That final extra is the diorama. It's a rock outcropping over a small section of lake or river. This piece of the water is greenish, with a second fish swimming inside. It's nicely sculpted and painted, and the brackish looking water looks great.

Outfit - ***
There's not much to the outfit here - it's a loincloth after all, and not much of one at that. It's tattered and worn, tied with string at the sides.

The cloth is nice, and unlikely to degrade over time. The damage looks good, but the die cut edges are a little too sharp and smooth. It ends up creating a cheaper look. You'll want to adjust it to ensure little Smeagol isn't playing peek-a-boo.

Fun Factor - ***1/2
Thanks to the extra set of legs and extra hands, you'll be able to come up with plenty of display possibilities, and you'll return to this figure to adjust and re-imagine his look time and time again. He also goes with so many other figures in the line, so you can create all sorts of unique combinations.

Value - ***
When the $270 charge hit my card a couple weeks ago, I admit I was taken aback. I'd forgotten the Luxury version was that much, and I had to wonder how it could be worth as much as a current standard Hot Toys release.

Then I spent more than 10 seconds thinking about it and realized it was actually a pretty solid deal. Remember, you can get one of these figures for just $130, if you just want to have a Gollum or Smeagol to go with Frodo and company. And getting any sixth scale figure, let alone one this nice, for $130 is pretty much unheard of right now.

But here you're getting two, which would be $260 if you bought them individually. Add in a nice diorama display base, and you're getting a solid deal. You'll pay $40 for a similar diorama for an aquarium, and the quality won't be as nice. That means you're paying about $115 each tops for the figures, and I can't really argue with that.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not much. I wouldn't rub the head too much, you're just trying to create a problem. And if you drop the ring, you'll be searching for awhile. Use the neck post magnet to help find it.

Overall - ***1/2
If I'm being honest, I'd say I waffled around on this score for awhile. Was it really a ***1/2? There's a couple categories, like Outfit and Value, where I might be too forgiving. And the issue with the eyes - something that should never end up in a collector's hands - that really bugs me.

But the more I worked with these two, and got them set up with the others, the more I liked them. He's one of the few critical characters left in the license that we didn't have in sixth scale from Asmus, and once you get the eyes where you want them (and use the bent neck connector or clip the sticks) you'll have a pretty perfect representation. Getting both at a relatively reasonable price is a big plus as well, and he has one of the better dioramas (i.e. useful) in the series.

They don't have anything else new on pre-order yet that I know of, but they do have some new versions(?) of already produced characters - Boromir, Eomer, etc. - getting released. I'll be skipping those, as I'm happy enough with the original releases, and I'm hoping we see something new announced soon.

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

Where to Buy 
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- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Other recent Asmus LOTR/Hobbit figures include the excellent Crown Series Gandalf the White, old Bilbo Baggins, and Death Frock Arwen.

You should also check out the 1/4 scale Gollum NECA did about a decade ago.

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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