Asmus Toys : Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee

[denrep-lilium]

The problem is that only Saruman and GtG look decent out of the box. All others have some likeness issues.
Frodo and Sam are important, and Asmus was working on them since the spring (so they could have managed to get better likeness). I almost feel Sam in that last pic, and he was improved, but Frodo is a big downgrade. I also agree that the sculpt in the first post was altered. It is the same puzzle as with Gandalf sculpt, why alter a decent sculpt?

 

[Jokes & Bats]

A sad day to be an LOTR fan.

 

[cmiller99]

Asmus have their style, its not 100% photo realistic like most of hottoys

I don't think that's what most collectors want to buy.

I also agree that the sculpt in the first post was altered. It is the same puzzle as with Gandalf sculpt, why alter a decent sculpt?

It's a bizarre trend.

 

[CanadianBrandon]

*sigh* not feeling to convinced to stick with this line
I feel like I've got two options. Buy these two so I can continue to complete the line and be disappointed with how they look, or sell the whole line and be disappointed that I no longer have lotr figures. In my mind Frodo and Sam are the two most important figures in the whole story.
Hopefully they continue to work on these. I do feel like the new paint apps are better in terms of quality, but not in terms of likeness.

 

[Lejuan]

After the trajectory that Asmus had set with each character being an improvement on the last in terms of likeness... this pair does seem like quite a few steps back.

 

[Thainitty]

I don't know frodo looks like frodo to me...and looks way better than the old sideshow figures. Sam is the one that looks off due to his chubby face. I'm hoping a different angle won't look as rotund. I'm buying these even if Sam is too chunky

 

[cmiller99]

I don't know frodo looks like frodo to me...and looks way better than the old sideshow figures.

Sideshow Frodo is very dated but overall it's still a far better likeness, and with a solid repaint, probably a very good one. There's hardly a resemblance in the Asmus sculpt.

 

[Thainitty]

Asmus is not spot on but to my eyes it looks way more like frodo than the old, bland, soft sculpt on the sideshow piece. I'm not saying asmus is a one to one perfect recreation but when I saw it I knew it was frodo from the films and I am happy with it. If I zoom way in and go back and forth between the sculpt and the still from the film then I can see inaccuracies but if I look at it normally it's frodo and I'm happy. I think Sam looks good too just needs to lose some weight....beauty is in the eye of the beholder

 

[rjszar]

Asmus is not spot on but to my eyes it looks way more like frodo than the old, bland, soft sculpt on the sideshow piece. I'm not saying asmus is a one to one perfect recreation but when I saw it I knew it was frodo from the films and I am happy with it. If I zoom way in and go back and forth between the sculpt and the still from the film then I can see inaccuracies but if I look at it normally it's frodo and I'm happy. I think Sam looks good too just needs to lose some weight....beauty is in the eye of the beholder

I think it could use some of the softness of the SS sculpt. He has a very boyish look with puppy dog eyes. If we're going to complain about the sculpt though, let's give some critiques on how it can be improved. I think the bridge of the nose protrudes too much. The SS sculpt seems to have it right. The area between the chin and mouth is too deep. The overall shape of the head is pretty good. Maybe it could do with a softening here and there, but I could live with no changes there. The big thing seems to be the eyes. They need to be a little more open.

 

[cmiller99]

Yep - it's off in the bridge of nose, eyes, philtrum and chin. The cheek and jaw structure is pretty well perfect.

I'd like to see more pictures of these sculpts, in profile etc to be able to judge better against pics like this for example:

Asmus is not spot on but to my eyes it looks way more like frodo than the old, bland, soft sculpt on the sideshow piece. I'm not saying asmus is a one to one perfect recreation but when I saw it I knew it was frodo from the films and I am happy with it. If I zoom way in and go back and forth between the sculpt and the still from the film then I can see inaccuracies but if I look at it normally it's frodo and I'm happy. I think Sam looks good too just needs to lose some weight....beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Fair enough, I still think you're crazy though.

 

[Thainitty]

Hahaha!! You're not the first to think so once the production head comes out it will be softer than the proto like Gandalf and I'd imagine in hand it will look better. If they can tweak it to look more accurate then that's cool with me too

 

[Medusoid]

Wow, what happened here? These are a huge step back from Gandalf and Thranduil. I hope they take the complaints to heart and tweak the sculpts a bit.

 

[denrep-lilium]

Actually the nose is a bit broad both in SS and in Asmus versions of Frodo sculpt.

 

[egel]

Still in the same position as one year ago, unsure if this line is worth it. Couldn't care less about Uruks and Orcs without a decent Gimli, Legolas and Boromir.

 

[cmiller99]

Two out of those three have had good digital renders so far.

Let's hope that they don't become the third and fourth in the series of great sculpts thrown out in exchange for weaker ones.

 

[darkeyes]

And ordered!

 

[Thainitty]

Ordered

 

[Bucky Underbelly]

Hopefully Sideshow decides to carry these. Got a pile of Spook rewards points I'd like to use.

 

[cmiller99]

$240 for the pair.



Good range of accessories. No Lembas bread or Mithril shirt though - but Asmus' Facebook promises pre-order exclusives so I bet at least one of those will be covered by a later announcement, like the staff that just got added to pre-orders of Thranduil.

Different angles of the sculpts don't make them look any better though.

With some quality custom sculpts these would be worth it IMO - all the other elements are excellent, just like with Gandalf.

 

[koolkollectibleskhai]

No tweaks to the sculpts possible then, with these being the final production product pics. Overall it's a nice set, but man I wish those head sculpts were better.