Review of Tormund Giantsbane
Game of Thrones Sixth Scale Action Figure

Introduction

While the world loves Hot Toys, I have to say that threezero holds some of my favorite licenses, including the Walking Dead, X-Files (please give us some more!), and Game of Thrones. Their latest release in the series is Tormund Giantsbane, the big redhead loved by all.

He's not the last however. Right now I have two more sitting right here to review - Arya from season 8, and the new Jaime Lannister. They have plenty more to choose from as well, and I have high hopes for some additional announcements.

Tormund just started shipping in the States, and will run you around $180 depending on the retailer.

Packaging - ***
The box is completely collector friendly of course, and unlike the recent Walking Dead Morgan, has the older style logo. There's also some nice silver foil printing, as well as the embossed sigil on the slip cover. It keeps the figure and accessories safe on route to your collection, which is job one.

Sculpting - ****
Compare my photo below with the one here. You gotta admit, this is pretty much dead on. The finely detailed hair really captures the look, and the work on the beard adds to the realism. But the face is scary accurate as well, right down to the way his forehead wrinkles rather uniquely.

There's still a nit or two you can pick - the nose could be slightly thinner - but at this point you're getting exceptionally picky.

He stands about 12 1/8" tall, which doesn't make him tower over figures in other lines, but is about right for the Game of Thrones series. Remember, Jon Snow was about 11 1/2" tall, and the largest figures were around 13". He's not as big as the Night King or the Hound, but I think another 1/4" or so would have been an improvement.

Paint - ***1/2
Threezero has come a long way with their paint operations. Here we see a much improved application pretty much across the board.

The skin tone is light and freckled, with a subtle transition to the hair. The eyes are straight and crisp, and the red hair is realistic, not clownish.  They've also gotten enough variation in the hair to highlight the extreme detail in the sculpt.

The accessories have a weathered, wintered look, and the clothes have the dirty, worn appearance that adds that extra bit of realism on the shelf.

Articulation - ***
The underlying body has all the usual articulation, but as you might expect, the heavy clothing can be restrictive.

Of course, there's plenty of lean and tilt in the ball jointed neck. The shoulders and elbows have no trouble with most two handed poses with the weapons, but the hands are another story. They tend to pop out of the arms quite easily, and the hands themselves are made from a very, very hard plastic. Getting the weapons in place can be a chore, and creating realistic arm poses will take some time.

The hips, knees, and ankles are a little weak, but nothing terrible. I was able to keep him standing in most shallow to medium poses with a little effort. The ankles have enough rocker to assist as well. The torso can bend and turn, although the clothes do tend to push him back to center.

Accessories - ***
He doesn't have a ton, but what's here is quite nice.

There's four extra hands to go with the relaxed pair he comes wearing - fists and tight grips. The fingers on the tight grips are a bit short, and the plastic is very hard, making it difficult to get the staff of the weapons inside. You can do it, but you may need some heat to help.

There are four weapons - a large sword that fits inside a scabbard on his belt, a dragonglass knife, a dragonglass axe, and a regular axe.

The two axes are quite large, and both look terrific. But it's the regular steel axe with the fur wrap on the handle that I really love. It has a very 'executioner's axe' look to it that stands out on the shelf.

Outfit - ****
Threezero has done a good job on most of the outfits in this series, but Tormund's stands out. The detailing in the heavy wool trimmed coat, the hairy fur boots, the climbing rope, the scabbard and belt - it all comes together beautifully.

They've also hit the magic spot with dirt and wear, getting enough to look realistic but not going overboard.  The wool on the back is matted, and there's snow effects added at various points. It makes it much easier to get a life-like appearance on the shelf.

Fun Factor - ***
He's another great addition to the GoT display, and will go nicely with Jon Snow. Of course we really need a Ygritte or Osha to fill out the Wildings ranks.

Value - ***1/2
This figure runs around $180 at most retailers. I'm saying this a lot with Asmus, EXO-6, and threezero right now, but getting figures of this quality for less than $200 is a great value. I hope we see them expand into some other older licenses, where collectors could really use some help with their collections.

Things to Watch Out For -
Swapping the hands can be difficult thanks to the hard plastic, but they do provide an extra set of wrist pegs. Since I'm never going to use the fists, I just put the extra set of pegs on the gripping hands and had two sets that were complete and easy to swap.

Overall - ***1/2
While threezero has had a couple stumbles in their Game of Thrones line, the majority have been good, and a few have been truly great. Tormund is one of the greats. More importantly, most of the greats have come out in the latter part of the series, indicating the overall quality has improved and we can expect to see more of the same.

I have both Arya and Jaime here to review, so we'll see quickly if the quality remains high.

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

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth has him for $190 with free shipping.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Other recent Game of Thrones reviews include Daenerys Targaryen, Bran, King Joffrey, and the Night King.

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