Review of King Theodon - Lord of the Rings
Sixth Scale Action Figure

Introduction

One of the things I really appreciate in a toy company is a willingness to stick with a license, to see it through and produce as wide a range of characters as the market will allow. I don't expect them to take a loss making figures no one wants, but I also know that far too often a company will abandon a license after just one or two figures because they are either too afraid of risk, or expect profit margins that are beyond what smaller run figures can produce.

Asmus is doing a fantastic job with the Lord of the Rings/Hobbit license. They've given us a wide range of sixth scale figures from the various movies, and even covered the full Fellowship. The quality of some of the figures has been sub-par, while others have been outstanding, but the trend overall has been upward for the last year or so.

The latest release is King Theoden from Lord of the Rings. He just started shipping in the U.S., and will run you around $190 or so depending on the retailer.

Packaging - ***
The package has an interesting profile shot of Theoden in the armor and helmet, and the interior trays are completely collector friendly. There's a brief set of instructions, and the sturdy box and trays will keep everything safe and sound.

Sculpting - **1/2
GAAAAAH! *thump* *thump* *thump* (Please give me a minute while I finish banging my head against the wall).

This sculpt had the potential to be a four star winner. Certainly it would have been at least ***1/2. The realism is excellent, and you can make out tiny pores in the skin texture. The facial hair is finely stranded, and the wrinkles and sag in the old man skin looks fantastic. Even the strands in the sculpted hair are done well.

The expression is terrific as well, with a serious squint in the eyes. It works for a wide variety of poses, and it does not look like a mannequin.

Pop the head off, hand it to me, and I'd know who this was instantly. In hand, even more so than in macro photos, it looks just like the character. As with a couple of their other recent releases, Asmus is clearly upping their game when it comes to the likeness.

And then they made one weird, bizarre choice that messes up the whole thing in such an obvious way it can't be ignored. That hair seam!  They made it so the hair can be removed to be replaced with the helmet - not a bad idea there. The hunk of hair is held in place with a strong magnet, and the long locks are fairly soft. I think going with rooted hair would have been a better choice, but it may have been cost prohibitive considering the amount of work the outfit required.  Still, even with the sculpted hair, they could have come up with a better location for the seam.

They cut the hair with a V, or widow's peak edge above the forehead. The two pieces do not fit tightly together, and the gap is obvious in photos and in hand. On paper it probably seemed like the best place to create the break, but in practice it failed. And of course the problem is that it is front and center, right there for you to see every time you look at the figure.

I considered dropping this score even more because of it, but there is a ton of great sculpting work on the armor that saves it. The patterns and textures are deeply cut, and every piece - helm, sword hilt, shield face, body armor - looks amazing.

Paint - ***1/2
The work on the face in the skin tone and freckling supports the detailed texture sculpt, adding realism and life. The eyes are very blue and sharp, with almost no bleed into the whites, and the eyebrows and facial hair are subtle. Even the transition from hairline to forehead is well done, and as with the sculpt, the paint work on the various pieces of armor is also in line in terms of quality.

The hair lacks life, being one solid color without much to distinguish the sculpt detail, but overall this sort of work in the sub $200 price range is a rarity.

Articulation - ***
No surprises with the underlying body, and the usual articulation all worked well.

The neck is a bit restricted with the long hair, but swap in he helmet and you'll get better lean and tilt out of the ball joint. The shoulders, elbows, and wrists can take any natural arm pose, and they are tight enough to keep the die cast metal sword aloft. The hands swapped easily too, but they included a couple extra wrist pegs in case.

The torso can tilt, lean, and bend a little, although the armor does take most of the movement away. The hips, knees, and ankles are far less restricted by the armor than you'd expect, however, and you can get some pretty deep stances. The two piece boot design allows for good ankle rotation and rocker movement too.

All the joints were tight, and posing was pretty simple. He remained in poses, even with the heavy blade outstretched.

Accessories - ***1/2
There's not a ton, but the quality on all of them is extremely high.

There's two sets of extra hands to go with the open pair he comes wearing. One is a set of closed fists, the other is a set of gripping fists. They swap easily, and remain in place while posing. They are also soft enough to work with the accessories easily, but not so soft that the items fell out of their grip.

His sword Herugrim is famous, and the sculpt and paint work on it are excellent. The blade itself is die cast metal, and has a very sharp point. It fits neatly in a scabbard and belt arrangement, which also fits perfectly around his waist with very little trouble.

You pop off the hair and put the nifty helm on the head, giving him the full armored appearance. The helm is extremely detailed, with a terrific paint job to go with the nice sculpt.  Likewise the small shield sports amazing detail and paint quality.

To finish things off there's the usual basic display stand and support rod.  I don't use them, but they are nice to have if you do.

Outfit - ***1/2
The outfit consists of the pants, red and green shirts, and various layers of armor. The cloth pieces are largely hidden, but well made and fitted, allowing the entire outfit to look properly scaled and snug.  I've already sung the praises of the sculpt and paint work on the armor, but it's worth noting again - it's sweet.

It might appear in some of the photos that the feet are large, but that's accurate. There's the underlying boot, and then a second piece of armor that straps over the top of the foot for additional protection. The two piece boot, greaves, and this additional armor on the top of the foot all work well together, allowing the ankle to maintain a good range of movement.

My one complaint that holds this back from a solid four is a soft crease in the rubbery fish-scale armor skirt on the left side. You can see it in some photos. This came from how he was sitting in the package long term. I think I can smooth it out with a little heat - nothing was cracked or permanently damaged - but it is one of those out of the box annoyances.

Fun Factor - ***
The posability is good, the accessories allow for both fighting and relaxed poses, and with just one exception - that damn hairline - the overall look is great. He's not exactly the most important LOTR character, but he's definitely a strong B-lister.

Value - ***
At less than $200, this guy is a slightly better than average value. We don't get many big license characters with this much detail work in the outfit and accessories in the sub-$200 range. I hope we see them continue to do this, even as they get their higher priced line off the ground.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing. Everything is sturdy and well made, and I didn't fear damaging or breaking anything while working with the figure.

Overall - ***
This figure has an excellent likeness, terrific costume, solid articulation, and nice accessories. He should have gotten another half star Overall, but for the one, annoying and definitely preventable issue - that damn V seam right at the top of his head.

I may take the knife to the inside and see if I can whittle down the interior edges to get a tighter fit. It will never get rid of the line completely, but I do think the material is thicker than it needs to be, and this is creating some of the problem.

Even with that complaint, I have to say everything else about this figure is another step in the right direction for Asmus and this series.

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

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Other Asmus LOTR figures include 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.

Discussion:
Want to chat about this review?  Try out one of these terrific forums where I'll be discussing it!

Enjoyed this review? Be sure to head back to the main page to find thousands more just like it!