Oh, man. Bilbo has been a big deal for me since I was eight years old. I spent my reading time in third grade making my bewildered way through Tolkien's novel; I say "third grade" because it took me the entire school year to get through it, and I say "bewildered" because much of the novel went over my head. Still, I found it sufficiently compelling that I stuck with it, and I've since read it five or six times, including with a group of students and aloud to my daughter when she was wee.
As for my toy photography hobby, NECA produced a 1/4-scale Bilbo based on Peter Jackson's
Hobbit adaptation (which I opted not to watch), and I bought it despite its weird, overly-textured face because it was reduced to ten bucks or so. That figure ended up dominating my hobby for the better part of a year; I took it on hikes all over southern Idaho and captured hundreds of portraits of it before eventually selling it (as I ultimately do with 95% of the action figures I buy.)
More recently, Asmus paid tribute to the same Martin Freeman iteration with their own figure, and the preorder photos were the greatest thing I'd ever seen. Alas, the final product disappointed me, but I did eventually pick it up due to, again, a good sale. I took it on a shoot or two and then parted with it; the face still bums me out a bit, but it was a cool figure for what it was.
But this new Bilbo from Asmus is far and away the greatest take on the character, with a stunning likeness of Ian Holm that more than lives up to the pre-production teaser photos. If the previous Asmus Bilbo had looked this good, I would still own it.
This is the definitive Bilbo figure, for my money. Nothing else even comes close.
(I find that the red vest easily becomes oversaturated when I'm editing my photos, and I wearied of desaturating it, so for giggles I just changed its color.)
Now I almost wish I'd kept the Freeman Bilbo, if only to utilize some of its clothes and accessories for this figure.
Also, I realize it's odd to have Bilbo adventuring in his dress coat, but Asmus did such a fine job on the coat that I decided I'd use it for my first shoot; after today, he shall always wear his brown coat.
I only get to the ocean two or three times a year, 'cause it's a few hours away, but man alive, I'd love to photograph this toy at the ocean! In the meantime, he lends himself quite well to the humble trail near my house. Hopefully soon I'll be able to take him to Robert Louis Stevenson Park, which has some truly epic vistas.
"And if you don’t keep your feet, there is no telling where you might be swept off to..."
