Very cool seeing them all together! Can't wait to get my hands on Saruman and Sam. 

When I heard that DST was going to start making figures based on The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies I was very excited at first, at the time the only Middle Earth based figures were those 1:6th scale from Asmus. Seeing how the figures turned out, the design choices (or mistakes) they have made (i.e. the stiff plastic that hinders the joints, the sword sheaths that cannot be attached to the waist, the accessories they showed but were omitted upon release or the overall quality) I've lost interest in moving forward with the line. I only bought the figures that came with the BAF Sauron pieces (the best figure in the entire line IMO) and I don't feel like buying anything else. The latest announcements are not growing on my.

Thanks for sharing the pic arondir.  They look great all together like that.  Sauruman and Sam look like they turned out really well.

My series 6 review and impressions:

First I want to say o ordered direct from DST for the first time. The shipping cost was very high but it came quick and was packed extremely well. A big box with tons of packing peanuts and fragile stickers over it. Nice to see the high cost actually went somewhere. No onto the figures:

Saruman

I have heard people call this one a “traffic cone”, true enough I guess, not a lot of posing options available outside of some arm positioning, but that’s more than fine for me. I pretty much wanted one pose out of him since the reveal. The sculpting is very nice, especially the face sculpt (people were complaining about this?? Really?!) likeness is there with Lee’s characteristic sharp cheeks. 

I hope the swap out sleeves become the standard going forward, they would have helped the Ringwraith and Gandalf out so much. 

I want to shout out the palantir because I haven’t seen a ton of people talking about it, when held up to light there is a very subtle amber/red tint coming through, very well observed and such a nice attention to detail. And the hand that can hold it?? Perfectly sculpted, bravo. I wish the stand could have made it into the final product somehow. But alas we can’t have it all.  

Sam

The standout of the wave and one of the top figures of the line, smart accessories, great articulation, sculpt, attention to detail. It’s all here. I love the way the backpack attaches with the cloak, and the attached phial in his hand. 

Now the sheath, it’s still loose and doesn’t attach. Not sure what the problem is, it was figured out with Aragon way back in the early waves. I’m not sure if it’s a design choice or a financial limitation. I would be fine with a simple peg and hole set up if they were worried about it getting in the way of the cloak. It’s by no means a deal breaker but seems like such a small and simple(?) oversight.

Bring on the cave troll and the mystery con exclusive!  

@arondir 

Agreed all around. It doesn't bother me that Saruman is borderline traffic cone. He still has good movement, and he really only stands around menacingly in all his scenes except one or two. The bent arms, one holding the staff, and one holding the Palantir, still looks great and adds a lot of character to him, I think. He has great shelf presence. I agree that the bent arms would be a nice addition going forward for robed characters, since I can't really think of any other way to do them (have there ever been robed figures like this where somehow only the arms are softgoods?)

Sam is pretty darn perfect too, dare I say. Other than the sheath, there's really nothing that I'd nitpick about him. Even the few little blemishes on his backpack I can overlook, since it just makes him look a bit weathered from the journey (and they may have just been unique to my figure). One of the best characters in the trilogy and he's one of the best figures in the line.

Really excited for the future of the line, and the venture into the more statue-esque pieces, like the Cave Troll. That's gonna add a lot to the display, methinks.

So it doesn't bug anyone else that Sam is noticeably taller than Frodo? And I guess Merry and Pippin too, if they're resuing Frodo parts.

Posted by: @normdapito

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So it doesn't bug anyone else that Sam is noticeably taller than Frodo? And I guess Merry and Pippin too, if they're resuing Frodo parts.

How much taller is the Sam figure than Frodo? I haven't seen any images of the two figures next to each other.

Edit: I just watched a review on YouTube, and Sam looks to be slightly taller than Frodo. It didn't look like a problem to me. What do folks with the figure think? I'm still waiting on bbts.

Posted by: @bills-all-day

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Posted by: @normdapito

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So it doesn't bug anyone else that Sam is noticeably taller than Frodo? And I guess Merry and Pippin too, if they're resuing Frodo parts.

How much taller is the Sam figure than Frodo? I haven't seen any images of the two figures next to each other.

Edit: I just watched a review on YouTube, and Sam looks to be slightly taller than Frodo. It didn't look like a problem to me. What do folks with the figure think? I'm still waiting on bbts.

 

I didn’t even notice. 

Sam is more than slightly larger. He's definitely too big when compared to Frodo... not only thicker, but taller. it's a minor annoyance, but one I'll adjust to. i may grab a second one to modify into the jacketed look and make him proper height.

If i could figure out how to post a photo...

https://imgur.com/a/6RXP5Rb

I like your custom Moria orc shield. 

I also at one point had Gothmog displayed with the DST line. One of the few TB figures that scales pretty well and didn’t look like trash next to DST. 

@bills-all-day I have them both, my photo is a couple pages back.  IRL, Sam is about half an inch taller than Frodo. Like a half head. Top of Frodo’s hair lines up to Sam’s eyes. It’s jarring to me, but I’ll live with it.

My figures arrived. I think Saruman came out pretty well but Samwise is the winner of this wave. He came out fantastic. The only nitpicks I have are the size comparison between him and Frodo and the sheath not being able to attach. I wish the sheaths would plug in similar to the backpack straps. Because I am a little OCD I have been picking up two of all the fellowship members so I gave one of the cloaks to Frodo. Be careful taking Frodo’s head off. I thought I was being sup careful, I even heated it first, but somehow Sting’s sheath came partly off during the process. 

Zach will be interviewed tomorrow evening (7:30 ET, 2/7) on the Unboxing Art YouTube channel. Usually folks can ask questions, if anyone has anything they want to know about their LOTR line or other DST products. 

https://www.youtube.com/live/d7zNis7uKSk?si=NauVyIKa8vbCQqkA

@joshsquash729 

The issue is the lack of full articulation. I want articulated action figures, not swappable posed parts like a Kotobukiya statue. Swappable lower sleeves that look better in arms up/arms down positions are a good idea, but they should have an elbow hinge that they swap at.