Review of the Mouth of Sauron
Lord of the Rings sixth scale action figure

Introduction

Not every sixth scale figure costs $230 these days. Several companies produce more budget minded figures, but the quality can vary quite widely.  One of those companies, Asmus Toys, has a particularly important license - the Lord of the Rings.

A few years back, they produced a Mouth of Sauron figure with his horse. I reviewed it then, and the rest of the LOTR and Hobbit figures have been a particularly favorite of mine. But after completing that review, I noticed something unfortunate - the center 'spike' on the helmet had a broken tip!  I didn't get a single photo of him without the breakage, so I'm assuming he came that way right out of the box.

While I was pretty disappointed, I wasn't going to buy another at the time, and getting a replacement proved difficult. I marked it off as one of those things, and figured only I'd ever notice anyway.  And then, Asmus put the figure itself - minus the horse - up for pre-order!  I decided I'd pick up this re-release, and hope for a better outcome.

This guy is about $150 at most retailers, and has just started shipping.

Packaging - ***1/2
The box looks great, and is a thin, sturdy material. Rather than use plastic trays, they went with foam inserts which are quite nice, and far less likely to cause any damage with the figure or accessories. It's all collector friendly too, and the instructions are helpful for swapping faces.

Sculpting - ****
The overall sculpts are identical to the previous release, and just as nice this time around. There are four separate lower faces - one with an almost closed mouth, one with a wide open scream, one with gritted teeth, and one with a funky curled lip.  Tilt the head back, and you can lower the entire piece down out of the helmet. Slip the new one into place, and you have a very different looking figure.  The process is pretty easy, and I had no worries about damaging anything in the process.

Each face is nicely detailed, with a creepy skin texture and peeled flesh around the mouth, exposing the muscle. The work on the yellowed teeth is particularly nice, and all four expressions are quite useful, depending on your pose.

The sculpt also includes the helmet, done with terrific detail. The hammered look is tremendously realistic, and the sculpted edges are clean and neat. The helm is actually metal. The way they fitted the cloth around the helm works great as well.

He's a pretty big boy, measuring about 13" tall at the tip of his center helmet spike.

Paint - ***1/2
The paint work is also quite impressive, losing nothing from the previous release.

The helm has a metallic, forged appearance, heightened by the paint work. The pale skin has a deathly pallor, while the red muscle and yellowed teeth add a ton of realism. There's not a lot of detail work on the accessories, but what's here looks great.

Articulation - ***
The underlying body isn't quite as good as the best on the market, but it will serve the purpose.

The key joint is the ball neck, and it does give you enough tilt and lean, even in the hooded helmet. The shoulders, elbows, and wrists can provide realistic battle poses, and the crunching torso can lean far enough to break up any straight lines.  The hips and knees can take shallow to deep stances, but the single piece, stiff boots will make the ankles pretty useless.

I wish there were a wire or two along the edges of the costume, particularly the 'cape' that hangs down the back. You could add some additional dynamic flow to the fighting poses if it did, but it's a minor nit.

Accessories - ***1/2
The re-issue is fairly well decked out, although there's not much new here.

I already mentioned the extra three face plates, a big plus in my book. But there are also two additional sets of hands to go with the relaxed pair he comes wearing - a set of fists, and a set of gripping hands. The tighter right grip is perfect for the sword (it's a tight fit, but it works great once you get the sword in place), and the looser left grip can hold the mithril or some other extra.

The sword comes with a sheath that fits neatly in two loops on his belt. The sword itself is a great sculpt, and made from metal. It's still quite light weight though, thanks to its thin design.  The hilt is slightly different than the original, with the flower-like knob having more of an 'open' appearance. This knob pops off the hilt so it's easier to put the sword in the hand.

He also has his funky bolo tie, which is adjustable. He comes wearing it in the package, but it's easy to remove so I'm counting it as an accessory.

The one extra this figure has that the previous did not is the mithril shirt.  It looks great, and you could always pop it on your Hobbit.

Finally, there's a simple display stand and crotch support, complete with the LOTR logo.

Outfit - ***1/2
The outfit includes his boots, pants, belt, shirt, cloak, and gauntlets.

The tailoring is excellent, and the quality of the material is top notch. The pleating around the helmet looks great and allows for easy posing, and the rest of the costume restricts the body very little.

The one exception there is the tall, single piece hard boots. They do remove most of the usefulness of the ankle articulation, but the sculpt and paint work are good. The pants came out of the boots this time - the first release had them tucked in. I like them tucked in better, but wanted to shoot him as he came.

While this is the same costume as before, it's actually an improvement in my eyes.  They've added weathering and dirt, a big step up from the clean appearance of the original.

Fun Factor - ***
The articulation could be a smidge better, but you should still have no issues posing and re-posing this guy with the rest of the LOTR figures. Asmus has done a terrific job getting a wide range of characters to the fans at a reasonable price.

Value - ***1/2
This is the best sub-$150 figure I've picked up in ages.  Yea, he's pretty much a straight up re-issue, but for those that didn't want to spend the big bucks on the horse combo, he's a great deal.

Things to Watch Out For -
The knob on the hilt of the sword can pop off pretty easily, and then get lost. Pay particular attention when you're moving him around.

Overall - ***1/2
The LOTR/Hobbit series from Asmus continues to be one of my personal favorites. While this figure is just a re-release for the most part, it's a nice addition for collectors who didn't want to spend the much bigger bucks on the previous pack with his horse. And for those of us that had an issue with our previous figure and wanted a replacement. Of course, I'll be displaying them both, one standing and one riding!

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

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth has him at $155 with free shipping.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Other Asmus LOTR/Hobbit releases include the previous Mouth of Sauron with his horse, as well as King Theoden, Arwen, Eomer, Thorin Oakenshield, 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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