Asmus 1/6 Lord of the Rings - Faramir

[Lizard Lips]

Unfortunately the more I reflect on this and read other comments the more buyer's remorse I have.

I've had QC issues with a couple of previous Asmus releases but I didn't regret buying the figure because overall its still great and the QC was just bad luck.

But this has left me disappointed to the point where I'm not even sure I'll bother displaying him. The only real estate I'm prepared to consider giving him is at the back of one of the bottom shelves where no one is going to bother trying to get a close look at him.

Anyway I'm looking forward to Aragorn and Gandalf and I'm sure those will be great.

 

[Kalkylen]

That sculpt did not turn out well at all. There was something very off from the original digital file (which looked amazing) to the painted prototype and now it looks even worse. It definitely suffers from the narrow head syndrome that affected Tauriel and GTW too.

Maybe it's just the photos but does he not have any stubble or beard? The skin looks completely smooth.

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

 

[BagginsOfBagEnd]

That sculpt did not turn out well at all. There was something very off from the original digital file (which looked amazing) to the painted prototype and now it looks even worse. It definitely suffers from the narrow head syndrome that affected Tauriel and GTW too.

Maybe it's just the photos but does he not have any stubble or beard? The skin looks completely smooth.

I thought that too...I thought the painted prototype looked quite good but now as all the pics are starting to come in I am not so sure. Asmus sculpts are usually great so this one is a bit disappointing in all honesty. Admittedly I don't have mine yet so hoping he looks better in-hand, I would hate to have to relegate one of my favourite LOTR characters to the back of the shelf with the hood hiding his face.

 

[Chopper Face]

Just when you thought Asmus were on the ‘up n up’ they go and release this. A terrible head with equally bad hair and lacklustre paint, a sad dependence on plastic parts, baffling colour choices, areas of oversight or perceptions of corner-cutting and QC issues. Oh, and the first Asmus release that seems to be less well regarded than the SSC counterpart. The things Asmus get right, they do very well but a figure can’t stand on the merits of a few nice bits of clothing. Faramir just doesn’t come together properly.
Mine hasn’t even arrived yet but I already feel like I there’s nothing I can do to detract from the imposter likeness. Even with the hood up he’s still got that ridiculous, smooth chin poking out.

Faces have never been Amus’ strength but something went seriously wrong here and absolutely needs to be addressed. If Helms Deep Aragorn’s heads get this elongated then I’m gonna really regret buying the deluxe. Either that or it will completely fix the issues with that sculpt...

 

[superdoug]

Wow your custom Faramir looks fantastic! At the time it was released Sideshows Faramir was pretty much ripped to shreds but I remember that a lot of us thought it was mainly due to a horrible paint job and that the sculpt was actually decent if not good. Your repainting of it really shows the quality of the sculpt. That being said I actually don?t think Asmus? is that bad. I agree with a lot of your points but I guess overall it doesn?t seem that far off from the quality of Elrond or Eomer to me but that is just my opinion and I know my eye is not as critical as others. Again you did a fantastic job on Sideshow?s!

 

[hoodonit00]

That is a shocking difference between the digital file and the actual sculpt that Neko posted. Asmus can you not see with your own eyes the difference? I know you have to have some sort of QC and you probably ran some test molds. Why would the prototype product be approved to proceed with such an obvious difference?

 

[Thainitty]

I think the sculpt looks good, I’m quite happy with him. Only real issue for me is the boots (and I’d still have liked the tunic to have been fabric instead of plastic but it’s cool)

 

[Sassafras]

I think the sculpt looks good, I?m quite happy with him. Only real issue for me is the boots (and I?d still have liked the tunic to have been fabric instead of plastic but it?s cool)

At this price point from what I am seeing he still looks pretty good; also between color grading in movies etc. the chosen colors seem pretty accurate:





Agree from comments there was some carelessness - the described problems with the quiver and apparently a cheap non-working buckle; duplicate vambraces; sculpt not up to par in production with something like Gimli, Thorin, Twilight King...

But soften sculpts aren't confined to ASMUS; HT has drifted in that direction more than once. Except they charge a lot more.

Widening the face (and maybe slapping some makeup/drybrush on him for more stubble) is a good trick. I'll still be happy when I get him from SSC.

That is a shocking difference between the digital file and the actual sculpt that Neko posted. Asmus can you not see with your own eyes the difference? I know you have to have some sort of QC and you probably ran some test molds. Why would the prototype product be approved to proceed with such an obvious difference?

I'm guessing but when a test mold is done maybe it's by hand in-house like HT protos. But in production a factory agrees to do amount of work at certain price point. IMO that's where problems happen from every company I know of; poly or figures. Every piece can't be checked; and maybe a production company is working with lesser grade of material; packing and shipping. Then there's foul-ups like when Thranduil was shipping with different heads (I own both).

Suppose the community will have to tell ASMUS they vote for a price raise to get better quality like the Crown series all the time - it's a risk for ASMUS.

 

[Asmus]

Just gona make a case with the narrow face,
his face shape is actually closer to our product than the digital sculpture

But I am not trying to make an arguement here, we will look into the things you guys aren't happy with,
and make sure they don't happen again

 

[FlyAndFight]

Thank you so much. The fact that you are taking our feedback into consideration is truly appreciated.

 

[Stark Resilient]

Just gona make a case with the narrow face,
his face shape is actually closer to our product than the digital sculpture

But I am not trying to make an arguement here, we will look into the things you guys aren't happy with,
and make sure they don't happen again

View attachment 497727

Which is fantastic, but that doesn't really help us who did buy this figure and have these QC issues. Things like the quiver strap being glued in upside down is pretty unacceptable. What's the solution there? We just have to deal with that? I've had my Faramir sitting in this office in the shipping box for a couple weeks now, but seeing so much frustration with this figure has dampened my excitement to get my favorite LotR Character in 1/6 form.

I've been rooting for Asmus with this line from the start. While I don't have EVERY figure, I've supported the hell out of this line. I've put together a collection of characters that I'm happy with. I've thought that I could call it on this line after Faramir, or getting the new Gandalf the Grey head, and be happy. Now I feel like it's best to just call it to save myself some future frustration.

I truly hope Asmus can figure this stuff out and deliver a CONSISTENT quality product. We've absolutely seen things to love in this line, but it seems like most figures just have a few odd choices, or QC errors, or inconsistencies with the promo images (which wasn't supposed to be happening anymore I thought?). I love this world, these characters, and this hobby, but I'm just not sure that out of the box, I've ever been absolutely thrilled with a figure. Even after quite a few alterations on some of these figures, there's always a few things that are just frustration points and it hardly seems worth it.

Like I said.. I hope they work the kinks out this line. I hope they can start offering both quality and consistency, until they prove that they can I think I'm better off stepping away from this line.

 

[Chopper Face]

The real issue is why doesn’t the product look like the digital sculpture? Why even bother putting effort into the digital sculpture if all the detail will be lost and even the shape of the face will change during production? They look nothing alike in that comparison shot.

 

[Asmus]

The real issue is why doesn’t the product look like the digital sculpture? Why even bother putting effort into the digital sculpture if all the detail will be lost and even the shape of the face will change during production? They look nothing alike in that comparison shot.

The production face is EXACTLY the same sculpture of the digital file.

We hand sculpted the hair to make the face more like the official movie photos, the face is untouched.

 

[Asmus]

There is a trench to glue the quiver strap, not a good design IMO, but if it is glued like so, then it is not mistaken.

Like I said, could have been better designed.

 

[Asmus]

 

[Lee in MI]

Mine had a weird looking suit coat and idol in the shipping box...anyone know what it is or got the same?

 

[Asmus]

Mine had a weird looking suit coat and idol in the shipping box...anyone know what it is or got the same?

That is just a give away item ~

 

[Thainitty]

Which is fantastic, but that doesn't really help us who did buy this figure and have these QC issues. Things like the quiver strap being glued in upside down is pretty unacceptable. What's the solution there? We just have to deal with that? I've had my Faramir sitting in this office in the shipping box for a couple weeks now, but seeing so much frustration with this figure has dampened my excitement to get my favorite LotR Character in 1/6 form.

I've been rooting for Asmus with this line from the start. While I don't have EVERY figure, I've supported the hell out of this line. I've put together a collection of characters that I'm happy with. I've thought that I could call it on this line after Faramir, or getting the new Gandalf the Grey head, and be happy. Now I feel like it's best to just call it to save myself some future frustration.

I truly hope Asmus can figure this stuff out and deliver a CONSISTENT quality product. We've absolutely seen things to love in this line, but it seems like most figures just have a few odd choices, or QC errors, or inconsistencies with the promo images (which wasn't supposed to be happening anymore I thought?). I love this world, these characters, and this hobby, but I'm just not sure that out of the box, I've ever been absolutely thrilled with a figure. Even after quite a few alterations on some of these figures, there's always a few things that are just frustration points and it hardly seems worth it.

Like I said.. I hope they work the kinks out this line. I hope they can start offering both quality and consistency, until they prove that they can I think I'm better off stepping away from this line.

You haven’t even taken him out of the box? Open him up I think you’ll be less upset when you actually see the figure. It’s not perfect but it is still really nice

 

[superdoug]

You haven’t even taken him out of the box? Open him up I think you’ll be less upset when you actually see the figure. It’s not perfect but it is still really nice

I agree. It’s not perfect but overall I really like it.

 

[Bucky Underbelly]

I agree. It’s not perfect but overall I really like it.

This is where I am, too. Quiver was a little frustrating, but once I sorted that, I don't have any issues with the likeness. Solid figure.