Review of Gimli - Lord of the Rings
Sixth Scale Action Figure

Introduction

As a huge fan of the Lord of the Rings, I've been waiting a very, very long time to complete the Fellowship in sixth scale. Dragons in Dreams failed, Sideshow failed, Toybiz failed...but the impossible has finally happened, thanks to Asmus Toys. With the release of their Gimli, they have produced a complete, consistent Fellowship all in sixth scale!

I didn't think I'd ever get to say that. Wow. I think I just peed a little. While the quality has been inconsistent at times, overall I've been happy with the series. Things started out rocky with Gandalf the White, but by they time they got to Gandalf the Gray, the quality was getting much more consistent.

Gimli won't be the last LOTR figure we get from them, but he does finish up the Fellowship, and that is no small feat in and of itself. He will cost you around $200, depending on the retailer.

Packaging - ***
Nothing too unique or exciting, but the graphics are attractive and it's all collector friendly. The figure and accessories are held in a single plastic tray, and the shoe box style package includes some basic instructions. While the figure is advertised as a limited edition of 1500, I didn't see any markings on the package to indicate the edition size or number.

Sculpting - ****
I've had a few sixth scale disappointments recently, so it's great to finally get a figure that does more than live up to my expectations.

Gimli has a lot of hair, mostly the sort that sprouts from your face. With his huge, braided beard and intricate mustache, he makes most 'best beard' winners just look sad. Asmus has been experimenting with the combination of rooted hair and sculpted hair on several of their figures, with the sculpted to rooted ratio tending toward the former.  This time they reversed that, doing pretty much everything rooted.

It worked great, and in hand the minor sculpted parts combine seamlessly with the rooted sections. You'll realize the eyebrows are sculpted, but they added a little sculpted hair around the mustache on the upper lip and along the beard line to fill in a bit, and create a really impressive overall appearance.

The beard is a bit thicker than it was on the prototype, but I think it works even better. The hair itself is super thin, which is evidenced by how good the mustache looks. Remember when I complained about the sculpted small braids on Legolas and the response from many collectors was that size braid was too hard for them to do rooted? With this mustache, they proved my point. It is possible to do, and it looks fantastic.

The prototype had wilder hair in general, and I included a shot of him right out of the box without his helmet on. You can certainly muss up the hair on his head a bit more if you'd like, but I wouldn't for two reasons. First, it flows nicely back into the long, tight pony tail the way it is. Second, putting the helmet on is easier when the hair is flat and tight to his head, as it is right out of the box. And let's be honest, he's going to be wearing the helmet on your shelf anyway.  It's also worth noting that the instructions warn you against washing or wetting the beard and hair, and because of the complicated way it's braided and threaded, I'd agree with leaving it alone unless you're really adept at styling.

As to the portrait itself, the nose, eyes, and mouth look very much like the character. The eyebrows could use a little more detail in the hair strands, but it's a minor nit overall, and they've got enough life-like skin texture to create a very realistic look.  The expression, grumpy and serious, matches his personality pretty well and works with lots of poses.

The figure stands about 10" tall, a decent scale next to the other 12" figures in the line.

Paint - ***1/2
With the beard and hair rooted, there's less paint work on the head sculpt. But the work on the skin tone is very realistic, and the eyes are straight and clean. They aren't quite as life-like as the best work in the market, but they are well above average.

I do wish the eyebrows had a bit more detail again, but it remains a minor nit. The paint applications on the accessories and outfit pieces - like the helm or the boots - is quite good, with some decent weathering and highlights.

Articulation - ***
The shorter body is surprisingly well articulated, but the bulky costume does restrict things a bit.

The ball jointed neck has a good range of movement, and it's easy to pop the head off to work with the helmet or the cape. The shoulders, elbows, and wrists are impacted by the fake chain mail sleeves and gauntlets, but not more than you'd expect. The torso has a little turn and tilt, and the hips, knees, and ankles allow for deep stances. The two piece boots work well, giving the ankles enough range to allow the feet to remain flat on the ground in most poses.

Swapping hands was no problem, and I had no fear of breakage or damage with the wrist pegs.

Accessories - ***1/2
He comes with a lot of axes - a lot. It's sorta his thing, don't you know.

But let's start with hands. There's a relaxed pair he comes wearing, plus a set of fists and a set of gripping hands. The gripping hands were painted closed at the thumb and first finger, but popped free with some pressure. If yours are even worse, you'll need to cut the two digits apart to hold the larger axes.

I'm going to add the helmet in here as an accessory, even if it could also be a costume piece. The sculpt and paint work are great, and there's a leather strap that goes around the neck behind the beard, complete with clasp. There's even some padding inside! I think I'm going to heat it up a bit and push the jaw guards a little closer to the face, but that's an easy adjustment to make.

Let's get back to those weapons. There are five axes in total, all different in size, style, and length. Every one also has a real metal blade, giving them some heft and making them look all the more realistic. He can carry them in various spots on his costume (more on that in the next section), or hold them in the gripping hands. The arm and leg articulation is tight enough that the metal blades won't cause any droop or drop over time.

And yes, there's a basic display stand, as well as a couple extra wrist pegs just in case.

Outfit - ***
The outfit includes several layers, moving up from the pants and chain mail shirt, to various belts and armor pieces, including a small pack on his back with a bedroll. There's also an Elven cloak, permanently clasped at the neck with a sculpted broach, that comes as a separate item.

The tailoring and material quality is very good. Asmus has generally done a great job with the LOTR costumes, and Gimli is no exception. Using various materials, they mimic his on screen look quite well.

The sculpting and paint work on the packs and belts is terrific, and there's various spots to insert the ax handles. The square belt loops work best, but there are also a couple metal loops, including one on his back, that can be used to hold the weapons. I don't like these metal loops as much, since the ax tends to flip upside down due to the weight of the blades, but you can find various ways to make them work. The cloak has a small hole cut in the right spot to slip the large ax through and into one of those loops as well.

The two piece boots work well, if they are a little obvious this time.  My only real nit is with the sleeves on the chain mail shirt - they stop just inside the gauntlets, and in some poses, can pop out and expose the bare arms. Another of those minor nits, but they could have extended the sleeves a smidge.

Fun Factor - ****
You've got them all!  A complete Fellowship for the shelf!  Let the games begin! You can create all sorts of dioramas, with a consistent group of sixth scale figures - does it get any better than that?

Value - ***
While this guy is shorter than many sixth scale figures, that shouldn't affect his price point all that much. He does come with a bunch of real metal weapons, a fantastic outfit, and easily the best mass produced rooted beards out there.  All of this for $200, below the average market price. And they only made 1500!

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing.  I do think the advice on leaving the hair and beard alone is probably a good one, because I certainly wouldn't want to try to reproduce the complex braiding.

Overall - ***1/2
If this were a 'best beard' competition, this dwarf would beat out every IPA drinking, man-bun wearing, vaping hipster doofus in the Bay area. I love the rooted hair beard, and Asmus has raised the bar on creating realistic beards and facial hair.  They need to give us another Gandalf, and I don't even mind if it's the same in every way as the Gray release, just with a rooted beard this good.

There's a few nits here and there, but I have no hesitation in saying this is my personal favorite out of the Asmus LOTR series so far. The company has steadily improved, and I can't wait to see some of their other offerings they've announced.

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

Where to Buy 
Of course, you can get him direct from Asmus for $200. Other online options include these site sponsors:

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I've covered the Asmus LOTR line pretty extensively. Their last release was Boromir, and they also have 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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