Asmus Toys : Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee

[mikeljanin]

All that Frodo-gate it's so unfortunate. I received my hobbits today, Sam, Merry and Pippin, and all my figures are great, well painted, no 'goatee' on Sam, and my Frodo, which was my first figure on the line and didn't have those problems, looks so great with the others. I've been lucky and I'm really happy with my LOTR-Asmus collection, which makes the issues even worse, since Asmus has the resources and the potential to do better.
Minor questions: Merry doesn't have a pipe, is that correct or is it missing? And in the promotional images, Sam has a dark bag besides the lighter one, but mine doesn't have it. I think it was included with the original release, but not in the Slim version, just wanted to confirm.

 

[ghilbertit]

Yep. Unfortunate but not unexpected. Doesn't make it right though of course.

I held off on getting Frodo for a long time... thought I made the right choice to wait... but looks like I made a bad call afterall.

For me its especially crappy, because I ordered the Slim Frodo -- NOT the expansion head -- and I still got the bad head.


Oh well, all that's left is to try and do a little touch-up panting myself. Can't hurt this figure as resale on this is pointless.

I think that things are even crappier for people that have bought expansion pack... first they paid a doll with a only decent likeness and after 6 months asmus put on preoder the exactly same doll with an improved head sculpt (not 2 or 3 years later... only few months... if they had the skill to produce such an headsculpt, why they didn't it right in the first time?), they paid more (v1frodo +expansion) to have a release with almost same accessories (slim lost elven cloack but have the stands and a beutiful head), paid first (expansion packs were put on preorder some days bedore the slims), wait longer (6 months since the release of the slims)... received lies from asmus about the delay (asmus first stated that slims were shipped directlly from the fabric while expansions have to be delivered to their first and then shipped to us, than that they need to wait till new frodo release for logistic problems, than that they are doing qc check on the expansions, etc etc... the truth is that the take money in november and wait to produce the expansions till april!), had the opportunity to buy the slims at right price for all the time and didn't because asmus assured to produce for them head with the same quality... and after all these things they received a poor quality product... at least people who bought the second run had paid only a couple of months before receiving their run and know that they were buying a reissue... instead for us asmus assured that expansion packs and first slims wereproduced together. Asmus cheated all of us... but people who bought expansions were cheated a little more...

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[CanadianBrandon]

As I sit and look at my four hobbits on the shelf surrounded by all the other Asmus middle earth figures I can’t help but feel disappointment. Disappointed, not because they are bad, but because they are good when they could have been great. The side by side comparison of the old and new Frodo are incredible. The likeness is of the new sculpt is amazing! What it should have been from the beginning. Proving Asmus does have what it takes to be a top company. But seeing the head sculpts side by side also highlights the negatives. The old head sculpt had piercing blue eyes while the new sculpt has dull eyes. The old sculpt has great skin textures while the new sculpt has none. The old sculpt has intricately carved hair while the new sculpt is plain and thinly painted. And yet the new sculpt is far and wide in superiority when it comes to likeness. I can only hope they will rethink their decision and give us the sculpt we deserve. The greatness that I know Asmus is capable of. However I feel it is a fools hope.

 

[Entropy]

Unfortunately, I have never viewed a purchase from Asmus as more than a parts kit for a custom figure so despite the recent issues I’m not too upset. It’s just another obsticle to getting my ideal LOTR figure.

 

[egel]

Well, came back from a short hiatus to this thread. Amazing. Makes me glad I sold my two figures a couple months back and abondoned the line. Which is terrible for all you lot who stuck with them.


But be honest guys, are you really surprised after the promises Asmus made and broke on the Gandalf the White and Grey sculpts?

 

[lord-22]

hey guys

can you please help me ?

can you tell from this picture if this is the slim version of sam or the regular

thank you in advance

 

[StarWarsFam]

I think it is slim, lighter hair. Also no stand.

 

[mikeljanin]

It's difficult to say, since both have the same configuration. The only difference I can spot between them is the sausage besides the pot. In the slim version (which I own) there's no sausage, and I think the pipe is placed there. I'd say your pic has a pipe, but can't be sure.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Just ask for a better picture.

 

[lord-22]

thanks guys

shouldn't the box have a slim version sticker in the corner like aragon's one

 

[mikeljanin]

There's no 'slim' sticker anywhere in the box. Even it's not in any form, text or whatever. The only difference is the headsculpt and a few missing parts, the sausage, the elven cloak, and a brown bag, that's all.

 

[ghilbertit]

There's no 'slim' sticker anywhere in the box. Even it's not in any form, text or whatever. The only difference is the headsculpt and a few missing parts, the sausage, the elven cloak, and a brown bag, that's all.

Another difference is that slim versions come with a stand, that is not present in the v1s...

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[mikeljanin]

Another difference is that slim versions come with a stand, that is not present in the v1s...

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I'm pretty sure Sam and Frodo don't come with a stand. Merry and Pippin do, tho.

 

[StarWarsFam]

My Slims (Sam and Frodo) have no stand

 

[Wor-Gar]

My slim Frodo also has no stand.

 

[K.bowen]

Got my frodo upgrade head, while not having the right paint job its still the best frodo out there and im extremely happy with it, i also didnt get my sam because they forgot. Makes me wonder if they should just fire the person/peoples incharge of packing and shipping. As they did the same thing with my merry & pip upgrades, was told they had been shipped then only recieved one, proceeded to ask them and was told they forgot

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[koolkollectibleskhai]

After their initial response, I actually asked Asmus if I could just purchase the Slim v1 sculpt with the extra paint app. I figured I may as well give that a try rather than trying to soure it online. This was their response:

"We made the changes because we thought that would make the headsculpt better not because we were trying to cut costs or did not care about our long term customers. We are sorry to hear it's received so badly... we will take this to improve our future services and production. And all the old ones are sold out so we can't offer those even if we want to."

If they truly made the change with the thinking that it was a better choice, I'm really surprised they didnt announce it on their Facebook page, or in here. They have done a great job in bringing collectors along for the journey with Gimli with lots of behind-the-scenes pics and details. That's what makes me think if this change to the Frodo sculpt was truly intentional in them thinking it was an improvement, they would've posted about it on Facebook and here. But I guess it is what it is now, with not much that can be done.

 

[denrep-lilium]

After their initial response, I actually asked Asmus if I could just purchase the Slim v1 sculpt with the extra paint app. I figured I may as well give that a try rather than trying to soure it online. This was their response:

"We made the changes because we thought that would make the headsculpt better not because we were trying to cut costs or did not care about our long term customers. We are sorry to hear it's received so badly... we will take this to improve our future services and production. And all the old ones are sold out so we can't offer those even if we want to."

If they truly made the change with the thinking that it was a better choice, I'm really surprised they didnt announce it on their Facebook page, or in here. They have done a great job in bringing collectors along for the journey with Gimli with lots of behind-the-scenes pics and details. That's what makes me think if this change to the Frodo sculpt was truly intentional in them thinking it was an improvement, they would've posted about it on Facebook and here. But I guess it is what it is now, with not much that can be done.

Yeah I got this too:

thank you for reaching out and sharing your thoughts with us. We understand the issue with this release and will take this into improving our future services. We made those changes not to be cheap or because we didn't care. We would not have given the option of expansion pack if we did not care. The changes were made with the thought in mind to better the item and we are sad as well to hear that it has caused such dismay.

I will pass on your thoughts to our product team and thank you again for your long term support. We will take this as the power to improve and be better for collectors like you.

 

[StarWarsFam]

While they have announced a lot of improvements on the fly some improvements we're mentioned after the fact. The slim Saruman had a change to his robes I believe and the slim Aragorn had a new finish on his sword. I think some mentioned the slim Frodo's Sting is better detailed. They have updated other things not really as an improvement, slim Aragorn's boots for example.

Or maybe I just like to believe they always had good intentions.

 

[Entropy]

I just got my blue-eyed Frodo slim. I’ll customize my expansion head but I wanted to pick up a factory Frodo while I could still find one at a decent price.