Gandalf the White by Asmus Toys Now at the Ungeek HQ
We were so excited when we saw the announcement that Asmus Toys would release 1/6th scale collectible figures of the characters from The Lord of the Rings. The first wave of releases which included the Witch King, Morgul Lord and the Orc General, Gothmog, were very much impressive. This made us look forward to the second wave which bannered one of the main protagonists of the story, Gandalf the White. We were finally able to get our hands on this figure earlier and we’d like to share with you guys a short review.
Just like Gothmog and the Morgul Lord, Asmus was able to do justice to Gandalf’s clothes and accessories. The intricate pattern on his gray vest as well as his robes are all spot on. The pendant on his cape was also very detailed despite the small size.
Gandalf’s two weapons, his staff and his sword, Glamdring, also look remarkable. They look exactly how they were shown in the movie. We particularly liked the build of the sword — very solid and quite hefty.
They could make the staff a little more kick-ass though if they put in an LED light at the top.
Okay, so the clothes and weapons are all great. Here’s the rub. The head sculpt and the articulation of the figure is just… so substandard.
First let’s take on the head sculpt. While there is a slight resemblance to Ian McKellen (actor who played Gandalf in the movies), it’s still quite far off. Other than the likeness, we also have an issue with the shape. The face looks too long and narrow. They could have spread out the beard a bit to make it look better.
Next issue that we have is articulation. You can only pose Gandalf in a few ways because the arms, legs, and chest don’t rotate as much.
We also have a major problem with the hand pegs. For some strange reason it is so hard to remove the hands without almost breaking the actual peg that connects the hand to the arm. Actually we broke ours, lol. FAIL. Argh. We did some Googling and it turns out other collectors also had the same problem. 🙁
Anyway, the lack of articulation, dismal head sculpt, and the brittle hand pegs are deal breakers for us. Unless you’re a diehard LOTR fan and you want to collect all the characters, don’t get this figure. It will just disappoint. Hopefully Asmus was able to do a better job with their other characters.
To end here are a few more photos of Gandalf the White by Asmus.
Locally you can get Gandalf the White anywhere from Php6,000-Php7,500 in the different toy stores in Greenhills or through online sellers on Facebook.