Doesn’t already seem like it has been forever since the first Hobbit movie was released? I love the fact that we are getting three movies out of the deal, but the year-long wait between them is currently killing me. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth stories are my favorite adventures from my childhood and young adult days, and I continue to reread both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings even now; I cannot wait until my daughter is a little older so I can share the adventures with her too.
Even though I recognize Peter Jackson’s films as being different animals than the books, I really love those as well. The visuals are so striking and Middle-Earth has been created in such a stunning way, it makes me so pleased to see so many of my favorite characters realized on screen. With their showing of figure for The Desolation of Smaug at SDCC, The Bridge Direct is starting to flesh out all of the essential characters in the 3 3/4 scale, and even those that have not been shown yet (like Beorn and Smaug) are currently being worked on for a debut closer to the release of the movie. I will be collecting all of those, but as you might know, 6-inch is my preferred scale for action figures
I was pleased to find that more figures are coming in that scale, and I will keep my fingers crossed to the bitter end that all of Thorin and Company will make it out in that scale. Furthermore, TBD has offered a 1:12 figure as a Comic-Con show exclusive in the form of antagonist Azog the Defiler. Since his role has been greatly expanded in the movies, he makes for a good choice for a convention exclusive, especially since he comes with a rather gruesome accessory in the disembodied head of the dwarf king Thror. Overall, he is a good addition to the line, especially if you are fan of the movies and you finally have someone for Thorin to fight.
A great amount of talk has centered around the new characterization of Azog, many fans feel he was not really an appropriate foil for the first movie, but that movie needed SOMETHING antagonistic, so Jackson adapted his telling accordingly. I know that the design for the character also changed A LOT during production, and his “pale orc” look did not finalize until the movie was near release, but the plastic realization of the character has been handled pretty well. The sculpt is pretty solid and while you might nit that it is kind of “smooth,” it does match the source material. The head sculpt is particularly nice, and he is instantly recognizable with his scarring and tiny, slightly offset eyes. Since he was seen mostly in dark scenes of the movie, you get a chance to see a bit more of his design in the figure, and his loincloth made of dwarf skin (and faces) is particularly evil-looking.
The figure itself is pretty massive compared to the previously released 6-inch figures, but Azog has been portrayed as a pretty big orc. If you have Gothmog from the old Toy Biz Lord of the Rings line, Azog is pretty much right on par with him in terms of stature. Like I said, the sculpt is solid and there are several articulation points in the figure overall, but the execution of the articulation is where I have the biggest beef with this figure. Maybe I have been playing with Marvel Legends, or DC Classics, or the new Star Wars Black Series figures for too long, but while the points are there, a lot of them are not as functional as they could be. A couple of examples of this are his head and knee points. It seems like there is a ball joint at his neck, but he still only basically looks side to side, but not able to go up and down. He also has knee points, but they do not bend as well as they probably should. Overall, this leads to a kind of “stiff” figure that cannot really make any convincing battle poses. If you are a vanilla poser, that is not really an issue, but I hope that articulation engineering is something that TBD focuses on in subsequent releases. The spirit is there, we just need to make sure it makes it through production.
Where the figure really shines, though, is in the accessories department. Included with the figure is a sword, mace, interchangeable arm, and the disembodied head of King Thror. The latter two really help to set this figure apart and are really cool. So you have the option of displaying a whole Azog as he looks during the flashbacks of the movie, or you can have him in his current look where he is down one arm thanks to Thorin. The “spear” arm changes out at the left elbow and actually has more fluid movement than the standard arm.
The sword and mace are both serviceable weapons and the latter is particularly imposing: it looks like it could mow down a couple dozen dwarves in one swing. The really neat accessory (and the one that would probably not make it into brink and mortar stores) is the King Thror head. A HUGE part of why the dwarves hate the orcs so much is because Azog (named the “Defiler”) chopped the head off of Thorin’s grandpa (and dwarvish king) in front of the gates of Moria. Well, now you can pose your Azog figure victoriously with Thror’s head aloft. The likeness of the head is actually quite good for a dead guy and the hacked neck/spine is pretty graphic, so be ready. I like the look of this so much that I think I will display this figure in that configuration.
Overall, I find this figure to be a pretty cool exclusive. Azog is an important character in the movie mythos and it looks like his pursuit will continue into part two, and my maybe even three. The sculpt is solid, but the articulation is a bit limited due to its lack of good functionality. If I were to ask TBD to have one take away from this figure, it would be that. I really hope they continue to support the 6-inch figure line. I will not rest until I get all of the dwarves, Thranduil, and a myriad of others. Oh, and while he was first available at SDCC, you can preorder him now at Big Bad Toys Store, the link is below. Thanks for looking!
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