I told you I would be back soon with more! Come to think of it, I STILL have more to get, so I can imagine even more coverage of The Hobbit as we get closer to the release of An Unexpected Journey on December 14th. I am really looking forward to getting my mitts on the Goblin King and the 6-inch Thorin Oakenshield. If you have been paying attention, we have already had a Look at the 6-inch versions of the Legolas and Tauriel, and now we are moving to the smaller (but just as exciting) world of the 1:18 offerings. While my hope for the 6-inch line is for The Bridge Direct to get to all of the main characters (like the dwarves) so that I can combine them with my old Lord of the Rings figures, but for the 3¾ sect, I want an expanded universe equaling the likes of the most expansive small-scale lines out there. We are actually off to a good start in that scale as there are several characters from various locales and races including elves, goblins, and, of course, dwarves. For today, though, we will focus on three of the new 2-packs that include figures of dwarves Balin, Dwalin, Fili, and Kili, as well as our main protagonist Bilbo Baggins and his foil Gollum.
I spent more than enough time talking about my love of this property in our last feature, so I will spare you any further endeavors into that conversation, but you may or may not know (and I am sure you do not care) that I am a 1:12 action figure collector, through and through. This, of course, explains my want for all of those great Hobbit characters in that scale, but it also means that I have not collected a 3¾ line since the old Super Powers figures, and even most of those were hand-me-downs from my cousin since I was pretty young when that line was in its prime. However, a love of a property can make one try new things, and when I first heard that 1:18 was going to be the main focus of the toys, I was a pretty sad.
Then I saw them at SDCC this past July and I said to myself, “You are on the hook for these, and instead of dipping your toe into the world of 3¾, you are going to do a giant cannonball.” Fast forward three months and I am in hip deep, and, frankly, I could not be happier. For such a small scale dealing mostly with characters that are meant to be less than five feet tall, I am really impressed with what I have gotten so far, and I will be completing my quest for all of those that I am missing as soon as I see them. In short, this is already a fantastic line and it looks like it will only get better. For the sake of ease, I have broken up the rest of this feature by set, so if there is one you are particularly interested in, you can skip ahead.
BILBO & GOLLUM
I, of course, have to get things started with the main (and familiar) player — Bilbo Baggins. I don’t think I was alone when I shouted with glee over the fact that Martin Freeman was cast as the title character, and I think he is going to not only bring the young Bilbo to life in fantastic fashion, I am positive he will channel the wonderful Ian Holm with every breath to keep continuity between the two stories safe and sound. If you think about it, the success of these movies really does live and die with Mr. Freeman (no pressure!), and he is about to be the biggest star on both regular and Middle Earth.
As for his plastic counterpart, like the hobbit that he is, he is very small. I think he might be one of the smallest fully-articulated figures that I own. Now, this might play to the assumptions that he is fragile, not very articulated, or is lacking in paint applications, but that would be, well, just plain wrong. I am actually very impressed with all of these figures in all of those areas and while other characters claim my favorites in this group, Bilbo is really fun.
He has all the articulation you can pretty much possibly fit into a figure of this size and he is certainly on par with the likes of many Marvel Universe and Star Wars figures (with the possible exception of ankle joints), so for a brand new company like The Bridge Direct (TBD) to give us a first offering on the level with some Hasbro (the kings of 3¾) properties, that is pretty darned good. The dwarves are actually little more posable since they have a couple extra points due to being a little bigger, but Bilbo has the ball-jointed elbow and knees and partial ball hips to make posing options fairly varied. At the end of the day, he can move a lot more that I thought a figure of this size ever could, but that might be partial ignorance on my part.
The sculpt and paint on the figure are both very solid, and while they are not quite up to some of the standards set by the likes of the current GI Joe line, they are certainly closer to those figures than some recent 3¾ movie properties we have seen (*cough* Men in Black *cough*). I have taken some extreme close-up pictures to try to help show off this detail so I will let the figures speak for themselves in that regard. At any rate, you can tell that the sculptors and brand managers went all out and pushed as hard as they could to get as much detail through production as possible. I am sure some things were lost along the way, but things are looking good to me. Of all of the figures, I think Gollum and Dwalin have the best paint work, but Bilbo is no slouch, that is for sure.
Finally, one thing that I am VERY satisfied with all of these figures so far is their accessories. Man, TBD really went all out with these and every figure (save for Gollum) has at least two added accessories, and several have many more. Bilbo comes with his traveling pack and canteen that both fit nicely over his shoulders as well as his trademark sword (or as Balin playfully refers to it in the latest trailer, letter opener) Sting. The little Elvish script is attempted to be recreated on the blade and while the large and up-close pictures reveal it to be two lines, remember: this sword is TINY.
Overall, Bilbo is a very solid and very small figure, but he has most of the goods where they count and I am positive that we will see his release several times over and in different costumes as the line moves along.
Bilbo comes with Gollum, his very famous foil, so right off the bat you have the ability to recreate what is arguably the most important event in the entire Quest of Erebor: the finding of the One Ring and the Riddles in the Dark. Okay, so if you think that Bilbo is little, he’s got nothing on Smeagol here, and not only is this a small figure in terms of stature, but he is also very slight of build and is thin and wispy, just as he should be. At first I was very afraid to even handle this figure due to his size, but he is actually pretty durable for a little as he is.
Gollum is not as articulated as Bilbo simply because his limbs are so thin, it would be next to impossible to get a joint in his elbows or ankles. He does, however, have articulated hips, shoulders as well as points at the neck and mid-torso. Let’s face it, Gollum is a skulking character that crawls, climbs and sneaks around a lot, but his figure is very small, so options were kind of limited. However, he can still move very well for what he has and his hands and legs are pre-positioned in a very “Gollum” way, so he keeps with the character.
Where the figure really succeeds though is in sculpt and the paint work. You can tell just by looking at him that this is a great representation of Gollum and for being such a tiny little guy, there is a lot of detail on both of those areas and the paint has left me particularly impressed. His face and body have lines of care and wearing that have become trademarks with Gollum, and I like how the skin smooths out around the thinner parts of his body, it shows a great handle of anatomy by the sculptor. His head sculpt is really nice and detailed as well and this is certainly more of the Gollum persona coming out rather than Smeagol. That makes sense as, if we are going in chronological order, we know nothing of his past at the time of this faithful meeting.
The paint is by far my favorite part of this figure and is as close to a home run as you can get with a mass-market line at this scale. There are a ton of paint applications and they serve purposes ranging from the muck that covers his body to the red around his beady little eyes to his straggly locks of hair. I did not even notice the hair applications until I too the pictures for this article, and I have to say that I am really impressed by them. This figure is made by the paint applications so when you go to buy yours, make sure you look them all over and the get the best one; I am sure there will be some variance figure to figure.
I think for character draw, this set will be very popular for most of the buying public. Bilbo and Gollum are going to be everywhere this holiday season, so I am sure TBD will be ready with plenty of packs to keep kids and fanboys alike well stocked. This is a very solid set, especially since the figures a so small. I am really surprised with how much I like both figures and that is saying something, particularly since I can admit that this set isn’t even my favorite out of what is being featured in this article. If you are just a casual fan of The Hobbit, you HAVE to own a Bilbo Baggins figure, and if you are limited for space and the 1:12 figure is not for you, you will be pleased with this set.
FILI & KILI
Fili and Kili are the youngest of the dwarves that set off with Thorin and Company and they also have the distinction of being the nephews of the titular King in Exile. Thus, you can imagine that they will likely play large roles throughout the run of the three movies. In the books, none of the dwarves, save for Thorin, were really given character arcs (something I hope the films give to ALL of the dwarves), but Fili and Kili have a certain gravitas that comes with them that I will not spoil here. Peter Jackson and crew have done what most thought would be a cinematic crime and have cast “hot” dwarves for these roles, but I am willing to bet that Fili and Kili will bring a lot more to the quest besides their dashing, if not stunted, good looks.
Like all of the dwarf figures I have gotten so far, both Fili and Kili have a lot of sculptural detail and paint applications to match. They also have a bit more articulation than the previously-discussed Bilbo and Gollum, but the great part is that a lot of that has been hidden in their costume folds. All of the joints are super tight and hold their positions very well, and while you can get some good movement out of them, the designs of the costumes do restrict some poses, especially in the legs. I do wish the dwarves had ankle articulation that seems to be lacking on all of the Hobbit figures at this scale, so when figures of Gloin and Oin and all the rest come out, hopefully we might see that addition.
While there is a lot to love about these two figures, I will start with what I think could use the most improvement with these two: their likenesses. We see this happen a lot, especially in this scale and especially with figures that are based off of people that are considered to be “classically” handsome or pretty. There has never been a spot-on Han Solo figure, for instance, and Viggo Mortensen was really hard to capture for Toy Biz during the Lord of the Rings days (and that was at the larger scale). So, while characters like Dwalin and Nori and Bifur and Bombur have very distinct traits to help define them, Fili and Kili are the “good looking” dwarves with not much else that is descriptive about their appearance. So, out of all of the dwarf figures I have seen so far, their likenesses come off as being a little soft. They are not completely off, nor are they — at all — bad looking figures, they just don’t scream “Aiden Turner and Dean O’Gorman” to me.
There are, however, a lot of really cool things about these figures and the designs of their costumes and weaponry come through in fine fashion. As Kili is the youngest of the dwarves of the company, Turner sports not much more than stubble for his look (something that initially shocked the Tolkien fan community). Now, Tolkien was a little light on his characterization and description of the dwarves in the original story, but their hoods and beard colors were noted, but it looks like Jackson is making a departure from this, so I will trust in his choice to try to individualize each of them. The Kili figure actually has nice little stubble lines painted on his face and there is a lot of dwavish filigree painted into the details of his quiver strap and belt.
Fili is about the same in terms of likeness, but the paint techniques used to represent the vast array of materials from fur to leather are very interesting. An almost stippling effect is used for the fur on his overcoat and deeps washes bring out the detail in his leather boots and gauntlets. Fili is also armed to the teeth and has forearm knives and boot tomahawks faithfully represented (though not removable), so that brings a lot of dimension to his overall look.
Again, both of these figures have a ton of character-appropriate accessories. Fili features his twin machetes and a serious bludgeoning hammer, while Kili sports his short bow (the brothers are the archers of the group) and sword. All of these are recreated in accurate detail (especially considering the scale), and both figures can hold all of their weapons well. As mentioned above, several of Fili’s blades are not removable and the same goes for Kili’s arrows (I think), but this does not really detract too much from the overall figures, I just hope when they do get around to making the 6-inch versions of these two those weapons will be actual accessories.
I have no doubt in my mind that Fili and Kili will be fan favorite dwarves after the movie’s first week of release. They are the youngest and most handsome, and I am willing to bet that they pull off some marvelous feats of fancy a la Legolas from the LotR films. Their first figures are very solid offerings and they will probably be the big sellers of the dwarven sect, but I hope that if we get subsequent figures of these two brothers, the likenesses are fine-tuned just a little bit more to more accurately match the actors.
BALIN & DWALIN
Finally, we have the pack that not only contains my favorite characters from this group, but also my favorite figures: Balin and Dwalin. Two of Thorin’s closest relations (save for the aforementioned Fili and Kili), Balin and Dwalin are two of his most staunch allies, and Balin in particular is his most trusted advisor. I have a feeling that Balin and Dwalin and Fili and Kili will be the most developed of the dwarves in the films, at least at first, but I REALLY hope that guys like Gloin (my personal favorite), Oin, Dori, and Ori also get some good development. It looks like Jackson is keeping pretty close to Balin’s characterization so far from what we have seen in the movies (his red color cues are accurate as well) and I think he will be much loved by the time all is said and done, and Ken Stott’s performance will make the Moria scenes from LotR almost impossible to watch due to sadness for the character. But I digress.
Balin is much more classically “dwarf” in appearance than his younger cousins. He sports a long white beard that, coupled with his red outfit, makes him not unlike a lovable take on Santa Claus. He is the Company’s lookout man and the first (and probably only) friend in the group that Bilbo makes while on the actual quest (the rest eventually fall into line). He is rather short with a bit of paunch and that his been faithfully portrayed in the shape and scale of the figure. All of the paint is very clean and his face details match up with Stott’s pretty well. I LOVE the reds and browns used in his costume; they really set him off from the rest and bring a lot of detail to his robes and tunic. His articulation runs fairly standard of the rest of the dwarves in this group and he has a ball-jointed head, elbows, knees, twist waist, and twist wrists. His tunic and build limit his lower articulation a bit, but it is not too bad.
He comes with his copper-colored mace (I will be interested to learn the background of that) as well as an additional knife. It has been stated in his character description that Balin has seen many wars and is questioning of the quest to take back the Lonely Mountain, so I am sure his weapons have a great deal of history behind them. My one nit is that, unlike the rest of the dwarves, he really does not have a place to store any of his weapons, but he can hold them both just fine.
The last dwarf in the set is my personal favorite figure: Dwalin. In the books, Dwalin is known for arriving at Bag End first, letting Bilbo borrow one of his green cloaks and for taking up his abode as the leader of the people in the Blue Mountains for the remainder of his — very — long life after the Quest of Erebor. Oh, and he is Balin’s younger brother, naturally. In the film version it is already easy to tell that Dwalin (probably along with Bifur, Gloin, Fili, and Kili) is one of the most accomplished warriors in the company. I mean, just look at that grizzly Graham MacTavish under all that yack hair — you know you do NOT want to mess with Dwalin. I think he is also the tallest of the dwarves, so adding some stature to him will certainly make him imposing. Plus, he has big gnarly knuckle guards for orc-punching a-plenty. His character description mentions he follows Thorin unquestioningly and is quite distrustful of those ethereal elves.
As far as I am concerned, Dwalin is a great 3¾ figure, PERIOD. Not compared to the rest of the Hobbit figures, not compared to small-statured figures in this scale, I mean PERIOD. I love this figure and it has already made me warm up to really liking him in the movies. He has a ton of texture, sculpt, and paint detail, and all of that is — literally — crowned by his intricate head tattoos being wonderfully recreated on his shiny dome. That is awesome. You can see the battle scars on his arms and all of the costume details are intricately recreated. This figure looks like MacTavish, and even though he is small, I would not want to mess with this piece of plastic.
Dwalin is also armed to the teeth when it comes to weapons. He has his giant war hammer, twin axes (that can be stored on his back), and a dagger that comes with its own detachable sheath. All of the axes and blades have the Khuzdul (that is the dwarf language) script sculpted in tiny fashion, and I am willing to bet that many residents of Goblin Town are going to brutally fall to Dwalin and his many implements of war when the time is right.
All of these things come together for a figure that I just can’t put down at this point. I brought him to work on Friday and fiddled and posed him all afternoon. If you are only going to get one of these two-packs right out of the gate as a trial, I would suggest this one since Dwalin is the winner of this first series and I cannot wait to see the other dwarves now.
So yeah, I am sold. I am completely sold, and any unique product that comes down the pike in either scale will be mine. Thorin in both scales, the Goblin King and little Legolas and Tauriel are on their way to me now, but I am going to nab the 6-inch Bilbo, both Gandalf figures, Fimbul, Grinnah, and all the rest as soon as possible. Like I said, I hope that we get all of the main characters and all of the dwarves in the 6-inch scale and the smaller scale will bring us the entire Hobbit universe. I will be happy to collect all of these as I count down to the movie and I cannot wait for my personal favorite dwarf Gloin to show up in both scales. Give these figures a try, especially Balin and Dwalin. I think The Bridge Direct is going to have us covered for a long time to come. Keep it up, guys!
*Thanks to the Bridge Direct for sending these along for our First Look!
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