Review of Twilight Witch King
Lord of the Rings Sixth Scale Action Figure

Introduction

Asmus continues to produce their terrific series of Lord of the Rings and Hobbit sixth scale figures, with three new releases hitting over just the last month.  I've already checked out the Mouth of Sauron (which, to be fair, was pretty much a re-release), Elrond (whom I'll be reviewing soon), and the subject of tonight's review - the Twilight Witch King.

Who is he? Leader of the Ringwraith, second in command to Sauron, and a pivotal bad guy in the Lord of the Rings story line, he's certainly a welcome addition to the series. It's always great to get another bad guy to face off with the plethora of good, and this dude is key.

You can pick him up for around $185 or so, depending on the retailer, and he just started shipping. As with most of the figures, Asmus produced 1500 of him.

Packaging - ****
The exterior of the shoe box is pretty standard stuff, but the graphics are attractive. I'm really liking the interior foam inserts, used to hold the accessories and the figure, over the plastic trays.  There's also a cover card and cigar band on the inside, with the edition size and number.  It's all collector friendly of course, and both looks great and functions perfectly.

Sculpting - ****
This is one creepy old dude. The sunken, dried skin reminds you of the shrunken heads of African lore, and it matches the on screen look quite well.

The expression is stoic, with enough life to avoid looking like a mannequin. The head and neck are separate, but the crinkly, dry, aged skin texture continues down the neck, matching perfectly. The hands mimic this as well. This skin texture is just about perfect, and shows how far Asmus has come with the realism of their portraits.

The only way to do the hair on a character like this is rooting, and they did it extremely well. But when you first pull him out of the box, not wearing the crown, you might not agree. The hair is quite thin, with a receded hairline along the top and sides. It's not a good look. But pop the helm on his head and voila!  The thin hair is perfect, allowing the crown to sit properly, and flowing down the sides realistically.

He stands almost exactly 12" tall at the top of his head, but of course the crown adds a bit more on top.

Paint - ***1/2
He's a pretty washed out character, so you won't get a lot of paint details. But the all important skin tone is spot on, and there's a very realistic variation between the areas around the eyes, the lips, and the more exposed areas of the face.

The underlying body is white, to avoid clashing with the hands and to look better under the clothes.

The accessories also sport very clean, consistent, natural paint work. From the helmet to the sword hilts, everything is extremely realistic, thanks in big part to the paint work.

Articulation - ***
The underlying body has all the usual sixth scale articulation, but those damn boots...

The two piece head and neck allows for great tilt and lean, and makes it possible to add some personality to any pose. The torso can lean and tilt as well, breaking up straight lines and creating a more realistic, natural flow.

The arms can handle relaxed and fighting poses, and the hands swap easily.  The sword and knife are made from metal, but the arms manage this extra weight without an issue.

The hips and knees work as you'd expect, with little restriction from the flowing costume. However, the tall, stiff, single piece sculpted boots restrict the ankles from any forward, backward, or rocker movement. The feet can't sit flat on the ground in deeper stances, although the long cloak will hide the issue. Still, deeper poses will be much less stable for those of us that don't like to use a stand.

Accessories - ***1/2
While he doesn't have a ton of extras, what he does have are extremely well made, and add quite a bit to the character.

There are six hands to go along with the pair of relaxed hands he comes wearing. There's a set of tight grips, a set of open hands, and two additional posed lefts. They swap easily, but they included a couple extra pegs just in case.

He also has two weapons. There's the Witch-King sword and the Morgul blade. These are both made from metal, and look fantastic. The fit neatly in the scabbards provided on the belt, and the tight grip hands hold them easily.

Also made of die-cast metal is the crown. It fits the head properly, and looks terrific in place. He had no trouble keeping it on when posed, but you do want to remember that it will come off when you're handling him.

There is one other extra I almost forgot to take any photos of - the Ring of the Witch-King!  They actually give you two, probably because they are so damn tiny. Getting them on the finger can be tricky, and I thought I'd broken one the first time. But it looks like they are also made of die-cast metal, and the ends can be slightly adjusted. Just be careful!

Finally, there's his basic display stand with the crotch support.

Outfit - ***
The outfit consists of the belts and scabbards, boots, pants, and flowing robes. The tailoring is great, the materials are high quality, and the final result looks good.

While the belts and scabbards come already in place this time (you usually have to put them on yourself), you can still adjust them as you'd like. The scabbards hold the weapons tightly, and hang at a good angle on the body.

I've already complained about the one piece boots, but they are easily the biggest issue the overall costume has. However, there is one more nit.  While there's some damage to the clothing - you'll see some cuts here and there, along with a ragged edge or two - there's no dirt. It's a really clean outfit. We have seen Asmus do a nice job with the wear, tear, and mud in the past, and I would have liked to have seen a bit of filth to go with the wear this time around.

Fun Factor - ***
While the posing is a bit limited by the boots, you should have no trouble coming up with some great poses. Add him in with the Theoden, Eowyn or Frodo figures, and you'll have many more options.

Value - ***1/2
I'm giving them extra credit here, since there are far too few figures in the under $200 range, and even fewer with this quality of rooted hair and die-cast accessories.  Coming in at around $185, this guy is a great price. No, overall he's not quite Hot Toys quality, but he's damn good and fifty bucks cheaper than their average right now.

Things to Watch Out For -
Those little, tiny rings are going to be easy to lose. They were nice enough to give you two, but you still should be careful. And when putting them on the finger, I found I could open up the gap a bit (you'll see what I mean) then crimp it back in place when the ring was around the finger.

Overall - ***1/2
While Asmus has been quite consistent with their LOTR and Hobbit figures over the last year or so, I have to say this guy is my favorite since Gimli. He's going to look great on the shelf, and has a truly striking appearance. My biggest gripe is one you can fix, with a little talent and patience - the clothes just need to look a bit more dirty for the full effect.

I'll be reviewing Elrond soon, so stay tuned!

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

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth has him at $185 plus free shipping.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Other sixth scale LOTR and Hobbit figures include the Mouth of Sauron, King Theoden, Arwen, Eomer, Thorin Oakenshield, Bilbo Baggins, Gimli, Boromir, Legolas, Thranduil, Sam and Frodo, Grishn'akh, Gandalf the Gray, the Mouth of Sauron with his steed, Merry and Pippen, Saruman the White, Tauriel, Aragorn, Bard the Bowman, Eowyn, Nazgul Steed, 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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