Asmus Toys: Eowyn in Armor

[abake]

I certainly hope Asmus is paying close attention to all the wonderful research and work TGF is doing.

 

[spindrift]

I don't think Asmus is going to give you this kind of quality tailoring and detail for $180..I want this figure but everyone seems unhappy for what you get at the price. I think $190 is stiff but where you going to get this anywhere else?

 

[Wor-Gar]

Add to that the apparently low edition size. Perhaps if they thought they could get the sales that Aragorn or Gandalf get, they would have doubled the order and the price may very well have settled out at $150.

 

[abake]

Oh, I don't expect this level of tailoring and detail, but there's some simple things that could have made it a lot better that don't necessarily mean more money, e.g. roomier pants, not hemming in the chain mail tunic, a better cape...
I think Asmus could've easily made those things better and it wouldn't have cost them more.

 

[qualitymm]

cant believe it....
ASMUS that have LOTR License can miss the color of her cape, and yes i agree that cape material that used by tankgirl is way better and MAYbe the cost to used cape material like Tankgirl's justt a dollar more to ASMUS's cape.

but yeah by the look from your guys pics it seem the eowyn's prototype and in hand is the same. (no downgrade nor upgrade)

 

[tankgirlfuzzy]

I certainly hope Asmus is paying close attention to all the wonderful research and work TGF is doing.

I don't think Asmus is going to give you this kind of quality tailoring and detail for $180..I want this figure but everyone seems unhappy for what you get at the price. I think $190 is stiff but where you going to get this anywhere else?

cant believe it....
ASMUS that have LOTR License can miss the color of her cape, and yes i agree that cape material that used by tankgirl is way better and MAYbe the cost to used cape material like Tankgirl's justt a dollar more to ASMUS's cape.

but yeah by the look from your guys pics it seem the eowyn's prototype and in hand is the same. (no downgrade nor upgrade)

Oh, I don't expect this level of tailoring and detail, but there's some simple things that could have made it a lot better that don't necessarily mean more money, e.g. roomier pants, not hemming in the chain mail tunic, a better cape...
I think Asmus could've easily made those things better and it wouldn't have cost them more.

I'm going to have to disagree with spindrift (respectfully) and agree with abake and qualitymm, and it's not so I can toot my own horn (although I do appreciate the praise! ). What spindrift is calling "quality tailoring and detail" is just me figuring out what they did wrong and undoing it or fixing it by finding fabrics/materials, cutting it, dyeing it if need be, gluing things together, repainting things, etc.. I didn't sew up a new dress and hauberk from scratch, and don't have the skills to do that even if I wanted to. My customizing did take a lot of work but that's because I'm going by trial and error. Yes, if a factory had to expend this kind of effort to manufacture a figure it would be cost prohibitive, but we all know that's not how a product is brought to market.

I actually have no problem with the fit and finish of the tailoring done at the factory--it's actually quite clean and neatly done and fits the body perfectly (too perfectly which is part of the problem). It's the implementation choices they made which were puzzling. The extra labor it took to hem the hauberk actually cost Asmus more than if they had left it unhemmed and the right length. The fabric and quality stitching on their dress/tunic was probably more costly than if they had used a thinner fabric that draped better like mine and also not hemmed it. As I mentioned Asmus heat treats their fabric edges even when they hem them so there is no fraying at all (not all manufacturers do this; in fact, ACI has a habit of not hemming their clothing and they don't heat treat their edges, which actually I found irritating). What's surprising is I was able to source appropriate fabrics in a retail store in suburban WA, and the cost was cheap ($6-8/yd). All the fabrics were made in China. I can't imagine they don't have access to exponentially more fabrics in every possible color/texture for a fraction of my cost (they are right at the source), but yet they still chose that overly thick one for the dress and the horribly cheap one for the cloak.

The baldric is just poor QC or implementation or both. The metal bits are not perfect but quite good. I can understand if they want to save money by only including one triple junction ring per set (does it really cost that much more?), but the belt tips were all glued on about 2 mm off. It doesn't sound like much but 2mm on each tip really adds up, and when you put it together the baldric doesn't hang in the right place, something Michael Crawford even mentions in his review. The problem is the ends of the belt straps were perfectly shaped for each belt tip, but they didn't punch a hole through each strap to match the hole in the belt tip (for the connecting jump ring), so they glued each tip so the hole is beyond the tip of each strap, thus lengthening each strap. It's not helped by their use of giant 7mm jump rings to connect everything. I sourced 4mm jump rings which are perfectly scale from a local retail source. They were made in China; are you telling me they couldn't get those for the same cost as the 7mm ones? The detail on each strap is really quite good, but why didn't they paint them the right color? They already had the right paint, they used it on the scabbard. Let's not even talk about that long strap and the sticky vinyl issue, or the incorrect attachment of the rear scabbard strap ... So, would it have cost more to actually configure and paint the baldric correctly?

The design choices are even more damning. I have no more special access to research sources than anyone else--I used an old movie book and the internet before I realized my Ext. Ed. Bluray of RotK had those design galleries which have been a gold mine. They chose to tailor side slits in the hauberk where none exist and eliminate the one in the rear where it should be (they also tailored the front slit way too long up to her waist instead of mid-pelvis length; I've since stitched it shorter if you'll notice in my cloak pics). They chose to tailor the dress into a tight and too short body-hugging tunic top like she's a fashionable modern woman, complete with her brown HUE leggings .

Maybe they just didn't check the sources or do the necessary research (which is bad). Or, they knew what was accurate and chose to ignore it anyway, reinterpreting her outfit so she would conform to the current "cute" or "sexy" fem fig esthetic which seems all the rage (all the Marvel stuff and those Phicen and Kumik figures). Maybe they think that's what sells, so to hell with accuracy and honoring Tolkien and PJ's incredible achievements with the trilogy. Perhaps that's why they really let down a decent head sculpt by painting in eye makeup where she had none, and giving her that tanned "white girl glow" they think Caucasians should have, rather than looking at the film and countless movie stills and seeing how pasty pale she actually was, face actually dirty and without any hint of eye makeup. Anyone who loves these movies like we all do knows cute, pretty and feminine was exactly what Eowyn was fighting and rebelling against--her entire Dernhelm outfit was to hide her femininity and pass as a man--so these choices are maddening.

Whew! I think all the frustration I've had from putting in this much work is getting to me. I certainly didn't start out as an expert on Eowyn's armor costume. It was only after I received the figure that I started to do research and realized how much needed to be done to get it close to right. Still, spindrift has a point:

where you going to get this anywhere else?

Eowyn will probably never be done again, and even if by some miracle ACI or ThreeZero or somebody else gets the license in the future and does her right, it won't be for years as Asmus obviously has it for the foreseeable future. Will they revisit this figure and fix these issues? They are so numerous I'm not holding my breath--it's not like Gandalf just needs a new head or WK a better body.

I haven't even mentioned the leather (vinyl) cuirass. It's such an important piece but it's so poorly done. More to come on that as I figure out how to "fix" it.

 

[Darklord Dave]

Just got her last night and I'm not displeased with her. In person the head sculpt and even the hair color come off much better. I may replace the cape and dress (thanks to tankgirlfuzzy for the tips) but she's not bad at all.

 

[Travis Baumann]

I got mine tonight and just opened her. I think she is awesome. Having not researched her to the extent of others, I am completely satisfied with her costume and for the first time, Asmus has a totally solid body. The shield is a tiny bit heavy but still holds well in 95% of poses I tried. Only complaint with body would be the hard boots so no ankle articulation which makes some battle poses a bit tough but I think she looks great.

I am starting with the helmeted look for now but I fanned her hair out a bit so she really isn't in too much of a disguise of a man in my display. The cape is not the greatest material but it lays fine. I really stretched on mine as it is a very flexible fabric and it lays a little longer now. The only really futz thing she could use is a bit of taming of the hair to get it more like the original promo-pictures or what Tank Girl did but as is it looks now it comes off as unwashed/unkempt from riding into battle so I can deal with it.

I had to look her up to see how the strap for scabbard worked and saw this on Asmus' page:

Asmus Toys The Lord of the Ring - Eowyn

Kind of interesting to see some of the process and some of the issues they ran into during design and execution. I don't think anyone made a conscious decision on some of the way things turned out. I think in the prototyping phase every tiny detail can be looked at but then what the factories execute is entirely different and sometimes not controllable no matter how managerial the company tries to be.

Like I said, she looks great in person and will look awesome fighting my Morgul Lord (I honestly forgot all about the new body so was happy when it popped out in a separate bag wrapped in the bubble wrap from BBTS. I don't have that many issues with the Lord's body compared to the Nazgul on steed so I am contemplating trying to swap that body out but we will see.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Great to hear that this figure is finally landing on people's door step and that feedback is mostly positive.

Hoping for pictures.

 

[Travis Baumann]

I was just doing a bit of research for my battle with the Morgul Lord and came across this picture: Makes her outfit appear the correct length in terms of dress in this battle scene which is what I want to recreate so that is good. Main discrepancy is the faceplate being all silver but it still looks cool as is. The strap to the scabbard is way more red on film but it is not that poorly crafted as is.



I am debating on full combat or this for my first setup:



and I am uploading this just because I like it:

 

[tankgirlfuzzy]

I had to look her up to see how the strap for scabbard worked and saw this on Asmus' page:

Asmus Toys The Lord of the Ring - Eowyn

Kind of interesting to see some of the process and some of the issues they ran into during design and execution. I don't think anyone made a conscious decision on some of the way things turned out. I think in the prototyping phase every tiny detail can be looked at but then what the factories execute is entirely different and sometimes not controllable no matter how managerial the company tries to be.

Interesting how Asmus actually admitted that they deliberately softened the vinyl in the cuirass.

Therefore, after discussing with the factory, we soften the material to have the effect like leather by special proportion so as to realize more and more about the completeness of our final product.

So it wasn't a QC problem, they added too much plasticizer on purpose which explains the stickiness and why the paint I applied on the belt never dried. If you look at their pics on that page you can see they did paint the baldric straps (presumably on an early prototype), but none of the production baldrics shown so far have been painted, they are just in the molded brown color. I'm willing to bet they discovered just as I did that the long strap wouldn't accept paint properly so they ended up leaving it off.

As much as I am frustrated with this figure I'm glad there are many who are happy with theirs. For all my criticism there is still much to like in this figure. Like I've said Asmus should be encouraged to continue to improve so I hope they listen to all the feedback whether positive or negative.

 

[qualitymm]

apparantly asmus tweak their web... and it really nice.

i came accross Asmus Toys The Lord of the Ring - Clothing

The vest was an idea of our own. It was made because of the lack of clothing reference, and we ended up designing the cloth of ourselves. (except the large umbrella collar)

i thought asmus get LOTR license and by getting the license it means they got all the reference from whoever the licensor is. why asmus still lacking a reference??

 

[Travis Baumann]

I only had time to take these quick phone photos this morning before work but I think she looks great even with a compromised camera.




Hopefully over the weekend I will have more time to set her up.

As far as reference material goes, just because you get the license does not mean you necessarily get access to the vaults so to speak. WETA had unparalleled access to the materials as they built a lot of stuff for the film itself. It is interesting even looking at Star Wars where LFL has been very forthcoming with materials but some of the vendors like EFX were just able to get some of the props to work from recently.

A lot of the reference pictures that exist may not even be what we see on film as things get changed/damaged while filming. The films themselves are the best reference if you want screen accuracy.

 

[Jrobertson]

Is there a way to get her hair up in the helmet like it was in the movie?

 

[Wor-Gar]

Nice pictures!

 

[Travis Baumann]

Is there a way to get her hair up in the helmet like it was in the movie?

Leave it under the cloak, there is no way to get it to stay under the helmet. They did a good job with the removable helmet but it is a snug fit as it is and she has a lot of hair. I took the cloak/cape and stretched it over her head and then put the helmet on which hid all the hair under her cloak, just pull it down to avoid a hunchback. After I played with her a bit like that I decided I wanted the hair out so you could tell who she was (I know not story accurate but I am making my own display and a number of the Riders of Rohan had long locks regardless of gender).

 

[Bucky Underbelly]

Nice shots, Travis!

(Is she standing on the Rosetta Stone? Apparently she's not a fan of important linguistic artifacts! )

 

[Travis Baumann]

Nice shots, Travis!

(Is she standing on the Rosetta Stone? Apparently she's not a fan of important linguistic artifacts! )

Thanks, Yes, its a mouse pad of it that I got in London years ago - they had a Museum store in the airport that sold them. I am not sure where she is going to go yet so she is hanging out by my printer (and some SW battle droids fighting Yoda) for the moment.

 

[tankgirlfuzzy]

A lot of the reference pictures that exist may not even be what we see on film as things get changed/damaged while filming. The films themselves are the best reference if you want screen accuracy.

You are absolutely right. The reference pics I've posted and available on the special features galleries are the "ideal" from which they started. I was going to talk about this more when I talk about the cuirass, but since you brought it up I'll chime in now.

There are at least two different versions of this battle costume that Miranda Otto wore while filming. One was the fully detailed and fully sized costume which more or less corresponds to the reference pics in the gallery. She wore this one during static scenes such as at the waypoint on the ride from Dunharrow to Minas Tirith where the army rests and she talks to Merry as he has a bite to eat. Also when Théoden dies in her arms and I believe during the riding scenes. The other version was her "fighting" costume which was much pared down, especially for that cuirass which was cut down around her shoulders to allow more freedom of movement and also looks a lot more lightweight overall. The original cuirass must have been a nightmare to wear while swinging a sword. The chainmail hauberk doesn't look too different in either version, they are both below elbow and just above the knee in length. The dress is shorter during the battle scenes, but if you look really closely frame by frame, it doesn't look hemmed shorter straight across the bottom. It is uneven, some of it falling above the knee, some of it below. What it looks like is they simply took the regular dress and stitched or pinned it up from underneath the hauberk, up around thigh level, to shorten it, so it's off the knees in front. This makes sense because she really thrashes around in these scenes, even doing kicks and they show her crawling around on her knees while fighting the WK in the documentaries (most of that footage didn't make it in the film). The long dress hemmed below the knee would have gotten in the way. Or maybe they did hem it up straight across but the dress doesn't move like that's been done. Either way the good news with my lightweight and clingy/drape-y fabric is that I can replicate that look by simply bunching and folding the skirt area so the dress is off the knees as in those scenes, but I can also have it longer if I want to replicate the "full" look.

I've also discovered the helmet has two versions. There is a larger more detailed one that they used for closeups like during Théoden's speech, and also the one she takes off to say "I am no man!" The smaller one was used during all the fighting scenes. It looks lighter and the eyeholes are wider to allow better vision. It looks like Asmus modeled the smaller one, but it's unfortunate they widened the nose piece between prototype and production.

 

[qualitymm]

ic i thought when licensee get the license so all the reference automatically given to the licensee. glad to know if its the case.

received and inspected mine. really impressive. she can hold her sword nicely.