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Here
we are, back again reviewing toys at The Toy Room –
REDUX. After a long hiatus from reviewing toys here, I decided
to start out with something odd, unique, and different –
the Lord of the Rings Minimates by Art Asylum. There are two
figure packs, each with three figures you can see, and one
hidden figure, retailing for $9.99 at Toys R Us where I found
this set. Now I will not be providing any spoiler space or
blacked out pics for those who do not wish to be spoiled,
so if that is you, stop reading this review now.
You’ve decided to go on – great! First off, the
basics. Each figure is scaled differently, the smallest Minimate
scale is used for the hobbits, and the next size up is used
for humans and orcs it seems. After that we could see the
larger scale figures in other characters, like trolls and
monsters. Each figure also sports the standard Minimates articulation,
with some hindrances. Finally, they wouldn’t be complete
without some sort of accessories for each one. To find out
about each set, keep on reading…
Let’s talk about the first package – which comes
with Aragon, Legolas, Saruman, and of course, the hidden figure,
Twilight Frodo. First off, the detailing in each figure is
awesome! From the dagger on Aragorn’s back, to the two
mini-swords (non-removable, but still) on Legolas’ shoulder
pack, to Twilight Frodo’s sword, I was surprised how
much detail could be seen. Only Saruman suffers slightly due
to his almost bland styled costume in the Minimates universe.
Of course, the articulation is there as well, though it is
stopped by the various add-ons of capes, swords, and scabbards.
You can still get some nice little poses though with each
figure. What really bothers me about this set is Saruman.
His sleeved ends are supposed to be hanging long and down,
but when he wants to hold his staff, the poll cannot go through
his fingers all the way. Thus, he can’t hold his staff
too well, and looks like he has huge lacrosse stick heads
on the ends of his arms. He is, by far, the weakest of the
set. Twilight Frodo, however, is the coolest, as he is a transparent
blue and appears ‘invisible’ ? Very cool indeed.
Now in the second package comes some fun characters too –
Gandalf the White, Frodo, Gollum, and the hidden figure is
an Uruk-Hai. This is the better set, even though Aragorn and
Legolas before are sweet figures. I mean, how can you go wrong
with a good wizard, the Ring Bearer, and the little creep
scheming his way to get the One Ring back? Of course, we can’t
forget the Uruk-Hai either, who just looks menacing with the
white hand of Saruman pasted all over him. The articulation
does not suffer as much here, though Gandalf’s long
robe does prevent his legs from being posed, and everyone
else is pretty free in movement. The fact that Frodo comes
with a teeny tiny ring on a string is a nice touch too, even
though it has to be hooked to part of his belt to stay down.
The Gollum figure is really nice, with painted on details
of cuts in his back, and a sad face, more reminiscent of Smeagol
than Gollum. And the Uruk-Hai, with his huge sword and helmet,
looks like he can take on all of Helm’s Deep with the
orc army of Saruman at his command. By far the best set of
the two.
Bottom Line
The bottom line is this – if you like either the Lord
of the Rings movies, or are a fan of mini-figures, you won’t
go wrong with these two sets. At about $10, they are well
worth it, especially since you get 4 figures, with one even
being a surprise. I highly recommend these to anyone who finds
them, and snatch them up quickly; they seem to be flying where
I got mine ;)
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