I thought the reworked figure was a con exclusive not necessarily part of wave 8. I guess I assume that figure will be in addition to the two figures in wave 8. Or am I confused?
@grinman Gandalf the White was shown at NYCC 2023, he's already coming. No new army builders in the works at this time, but I have not seen what lies beyond Series 9.
hmmm time to read entirely too much into this!
We know series 8 has a reworked character, and if there are multiple female characters coming, Eowyn and the Witchking makes sense for series 8, but that would mean another female figure is coming in series 9, which would have to be a Hobbit Galadriel?! If we get Tauriel before the lady of light I will become the joker (after I buy her of course).
Always good to see a fellow over-thinker!
I would add, though- where would Gandalf fit into all this? Assuming that they stick with the 2 figures per wave and not make an exception for a wave.
And secondly, why would series 9 have to be Galadriel? Did I miss something? I'm totally down for her if it is, but could it also be Arwen? Or, like others have said, Tauriel (as silly as that would be). There's only really 4 notable/figure-worthy female characters in all the movies, so at least our possibilities are slim- someone's gotta be right in their guess. 🤣
I’m just guessing Gandalf will be a stand alone release as to not throw off the schedule but I don’t know, it’s just a guess.
we know series 9 is from The Hobbit and that limits our choices to a female character that appears in the hobbit. So, Tauriel, Galadriel, or…Alfred in drag. Out of the options Galadriel seems the most likely.
I’m just guessing Gandalf will be a stand alone release as to not throw off the schedule but I don’t know, it’s just a guess.
we know series 9 is from The Hobbit and that limits our choices to a female character that appears in the hobbit. So, Tauriel, Galadriel, or…Alfred in drag. Out of the options Galadriel seems the most likely.
Interesting! I think I'd missed the part that confirmed series 9 was the Hobbit, I only knew Hobbit figures were on their way. That's exciting, though. I know she's not the most toyetic or combat-heavy of characters, but I'm definitely down for Galadriel and Enchanted Galadriel if she were ever to get made.
I'd love to see some in-hand pictures of Sam/Saruman from people have have got them!
I posted some Sam pics to Instagram
Not sure if there's another way to attach pics here, sorry!
Found Sam and Saruman at Forbidden Planet here in NYC for retail price, so I snagged them both. Can't wait to crack them open when I'm home- these 2 have been on my list for a long while. Might try and track down a Palantir holder for Saruman if I can find a nice 3D printed one that's not too pricey. I'm a sucker for the 3 wizards; would love to see Radagast round them out eventually. The old Bridge Direct figure is nice- still on my shelf, in fact- but a more detailed one that goes with these would be great!
DST shipping is freaky fast, I got my shipping notification late yesterday and it’s already marked as out for delivery. I’m excited to open them up and post my thoughts once I get to mess around with them.
Thinking to self: Happy thoughts, BBTS will come through, stay strong… lmao.
DST shipping is almost as much as another figure and I can’t rationalize that right now.
That said, anyone know of any coupon codes for DST? Lol. Checking every day if there’s an update is killing me.
After messing around with each for a bit, I gotta say I really like them! Both have much longer pegs for swapping hands/arms, which I was a little wary of at first- I was worried they'd be more prone to snapping, but so far, they've actually been a bit easier to get in and out.
Sam is a great figure, and looks really good all done up with his cloak, backpack, and shoulder bag. I don't know if it's just because it's how he looked in the Return of the King video game I played so much as a kid, but I always liked this version of Sam. I really like that Galadriel's phial is fixed to Sam's hand; I was always worried with Frodo that I'd lose it, and debated gluing it into the hand anyway. I don't think I realized Sam came with a glowing Sting (doesn't actually glow- it's just blue). That's a nice touch. At first I was a little puzzled on how to get the backpack to work with the cape- there's no holes or anything to peg them through, so you just have to unpeg the the straps from the backpack and let them sit against the back of his cape. Luckily, it's not too noticable, and still sits nicely against his back- it doesn't feel loose at all. My only gripe is the same as other folk's- I wish the scabbard could be attached somehow, or it was just permanently affixed, but it's a small gripe, and one that I can fix if I want to.
Saruman is really nice as well. A bit less range of motion, but it's not like he does many crazy things in the movie anyway. The Palantir fits nicely in his hand, and manages to stay pretty well. I even had him almost fall over at one point, and the Palantir didn't fall out. I thought maybe it was magnetic (and hoped it was), but it wasn't; still quite impressive though! Swapping his arms was really easy, and I actually like the bent arms better for the look I'm going for (staff in one hand, Palantir in the other). Would've been nice to get some hinged elbows, but they're a swivel, which still works well. Some detail on the Palantir would've been nice, or at least as smooth or clear a ball as you can get. There's an air bubble trapped in mine, which I thought might've been a slight Eye of Sauron effect at first, but nope, just a bubble. Unless they're going for a more gaseous spirit form of Sauron? Still, he's a nice figure. Hopefully if Wormtongue ever sees the light of day, his Palantir holder can be included with him.
All in all, it's a really nice, strong wave. The joints feel nice and tight, but not fragile. The likenesses and paint are really good, some great accessories. I hope we see this quality continue as the line moves forward!
I'm eagerly anticipating Sam, but when I saw the final in hand pictures and issues with Saruman's arms, I cancelled him. What a bizarre and terrible choice. If they wanted to accomplish something like this, with the sleeves falling in straight and bent elbow positions, the obvious solution would be to have the arms swap at the elbow, and retain the hinge joint. DST consistently makes such odd choices, figures that work better in concept than execution. Always wonky in some way, as if no one actually handles them and fully thinks things through before they go into production. This bizarre arm choice, unattachable sheaths for weapons, articulation that doesn't offer the range it could...
Thinking to self: Happy thoughts, BBTS will come through, stay strong… lmao.
DST shipping is almost as much as another figure and I can’t rationalize that right now.
That said, anyone know of any coupon codes for DST? Lol. Checking every day if there’s an update is killing me.
yeah the shipping hurts. I am 100% joining the radical club in June though, the free shipping and discount codes will pay for itself. I don’t understand why it’s not a year from the time of purchase, if I buy it now I get 5 months of perks, but in June I get 12. Does not make a ton of sense to me.
I'm eagerly anticipating Sam, but when I saw the final in hand pictures and issues with Saruman's arms, I cancelled him. What a bizarre and terrible choice. If they wanted to accomplish something like this, with the sleeves falling in straight and bent elbow positions, the obvious solution would be to have the arms swap at the elbow, and retain the hinge joint. DST consistently makes such odd choices, figures that work better in concept than execution. Always wonky in some way, as if no one actually handles them and fully thinks things through before they go into production. This bizarre arm choice, unattachable sheaths for weapons, articulation that doesn't offer the range it could...
Forgive me, but what's the issue with Saruman's arms? I wasn't able to mess around with it that much, but from what I noticed, the articulation was the same on both- (I always mix up the technical terms, so forgive me) they could move back and forth/side to side at the shoulder (swivel hinge, I think it is), and side to side at the elbows (swivel?) on both. But it's totally possible I missed something too. I can look more in depth when I'm home later.
I have no idea how to post pics here but here is my complete set up, (I’ll need to reorg everything once the fellowship is here)
https://www.reddit.com/r/ActionFigures/s/3pfZHr8Lfn
I’ll post my reviews for Sam and Saruman later today.
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