Asmus Toys : Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee

[DioramaMaker]

Pardon my ignorance, but what does that even mean? :

You're good, I left an 'a' out there, my bad. A convincing crouching pose, I should say. If you want a Gollum that can do a crouch realistically, but have articulation, it's going to look like an SH Figuarts figure and the sculpt will be sacrificed. Or it has a phicen style body that can't be posed for long-term.

 

[Alatar]

Pardon my ignorance, but what does that even mean? :

I think it means that if it's a relatively static pose then that eliminates concerns about the unitized rubber skin eventually cracking at elbows, knees, ankles, etc., from putting the figure into dynamic poses that strain the rubber.

A basic crouching pose could be done that offers some range of flexibility for minor tweaks to the legs and arms. But the more you bend it the greater the risk of the rubber eventually tearing. So as long as the basic crouch is maintained, and not too much bending out of that position is done, the skin on the figure won't crack.

 

[asgardianboy]

I think it means that if it's a relatively static pose then that eliminates concerns about the unitized rubber skin eventually cracking at elbows, knees, ankles, etc., from putting the figure into dynamic poses that strain the rubber.

A basic crouching pose could be done that offers some range of flexibility for minor tweaks to the legs and arms. But the more you bend it the greater the risk of the rubber eventually tearing. So as long as the basic crouch is maintained, and not too much bending out of that position is done, the skin on the figure won't crack.

Default pose for a Gollum figure should be on all fours, right? He spends most of the movie like that, right?
Please don't forget guys that silicone allows for some posing without the material ever breaking. Also, articulation at the heaps wouldn't have to be seamless, because Gollums wore a loincloth. That would make crouching much easier.
RfC
m.

 

[ImABarRoomHero]

Default pose for a Gollum figure should be on all fours, right? He spends most of the movie like that, right?
Please don't forget guys that silicone allows for some posing without the material ever breaking. Also, articulation at the heaps wouldn't have to be seamless, because Gollums wore a loincloth. That would make crouching much easier.
RfC
m.

I think in a perfect world the seamless joints would be amazing for Gollum, but I just don't see it being done well enough for posing him correctly, or even static for long periods, without irritating the material,. Smeagol is a very "limber" character, all fours, crouching, lunging etc. It would be really hard to nail this figure without posing options but I wouldn't think this would be a possibility using seamless materials. I'm very interested in seeing what Asmus will do for this!

 

[ladyshanz]

I can live with it. It is supposed to be 1/4, but its small 1/4. Really more like 1/5. So its slightly bigger than 1/6.
Personally, I'm very happy with the Neca version. The paintjob is excellent. Looks almost like a Hot Toys.
The fleshtone is excellent. The only drawback were the eyes, they were cheaply painted. So I repainted mine.
I think I may have also trimmed the hair. And I did put hair wax to his hair.

Here's my LOTR shelf.

an older pic

Oooh, what Aragorn is that you’ve got there? He looks really good!

 

[asgardianboy]

I think in a perfect world the seamless joints would be amazing for Gollum, but I just don't see it being done well enough for posing him correctly, or even static for long periods, without irritating the material,. Smeagol is a very "limber" character, all fours, crouching, lunging etc. It would be really hard to nail this figure without posing options but I wouldn't think this would be a possibility using seamless materials. I'm very interested in seeing what Asmus will do for this!

People around here ask for statues. Well that can be done with silicone: pick the most iconic pose (e.g. on all fours), call it neutral position, and mould your silicone to look like that. For a lot of people, that will be it, and as long as silicone does not react with oxygen, it will hold up. As you know, silicone can be bent for extended periods without damaging it as long as you don't go too far. Well: with that you could already create some more iconic poses.

Another possibility would be to not mould the silicone to adopt one particular pose, but in some intermediate pose where the limbs are halfway between typical poses. Because of the particularities of the character at hand, that intermediate, neutral position wouldn't be that of standing, but some other. Done like this, posing limbs would put the least strain because all possible poses would be not too far away from neutral. That would solve the other half of the problem (the first being long-term rotting).

BTW the other proposed solution, that of statues with extra limbs to attain certain iconic poses, is not something to call home about actually. In fact, it looks to me like quite difficult to pull. You would certainly need several sets of arms and legs, plus an articulated neck or exchangeable neck+head sets. All in all it sounds like an expensive solution, and one that would also look worse because of seams and torso-limb discontinuities.

Silicone is the only way. And if carefully done, it will last as much as needed.

RfC
m

 

[Neko]

Me too, I like my figures to be the more lifelike possible. I don't care that much about articulation, even if this is a good thing because you can have your own pose for each figure and customize them. The thing I really like about figures is the real materials that make the figure comes to life: fabric, leather, metal, fur, and hair when possible.
For characters like Gollum or Sauron, statues are ok to me because there is not much clothes. I own the 1/6 Sauron and I'm perfectly happy with him, and two 1/6 Gollums and they are just fine. At one point I will replace the little piece of chainmail on Sauron, and maybe redo the loincloth of Gollum with leather.
I'm curious to see how Asmus will do Gollum, but if articulations are too visible it will be without me.

 

[ImABarRoomHero]

People around here ask for statues. Well that can be done with silicone: pick the most iconic pose (e.g. on all fours), call it neutral position, and mould your silicone to look like that. For a lot of people, that will be it, and as long as silicone does not react with oxygen, it will hold up. As you know, silicone can be bent for extended periods without damaging it as long as you don't go too far. Well: with that you could already create some more iconic poses.

Another possibility would be to not mould the silicone to adopt one particular pose, but in some intermediate pose where the limbs are halfway between typical poses. Because of the particularities of the character at hand, that intermediate, neutral position wouldn't be that of standing, but some other. Done like this, posing limbs would put the least strain because all possible poses would be not too far away from neutral. That would solve the other half of the problem (the first being long-term rotting).

BTW the other proposed solution, that of statues with extra limbs to attain certain iconic poses, is not something to call home about actually. In fact, it looks to me like quite difficult to pull. You would certainly need several sets of arms and legs, plus an articulated neck or exchangeable neck+head sets. All in all it sounds like an expensive solution, and one that would also look worse because of seams and torso-limb discontinuities.

Silicone is the only way. And if carefully done, it will last as much as needed.

RfC
m

I would have to say I would be disappointed if we ended with a statue from Asmus. After all, this is a figure company and a figure line. For me, articulation is key. I nearly ditched 1/6 figures for the Figuarts line simply due to how much fun they are to pose and honestly to play with. Over all, I couldn't get away from 1/6 simply due to the fact that details with decent articulation prevails. Going back to this though, one of my favorite newer figures I have purchased is Bilbo, and that is because he is SO much fun to pose because he has solid articulation with minimal clothing bulk. I would really enjoy the same effect with Smeagol...

I don't know, I see points on both sides without a doubt. Personally I would prefer him to be articulated and just not worry about the visible joints, or maybe with a cover up technique. I'm sure Asmus will come up with a good solution.

 

[Bucky Underbelly]

I guess, my only point is that there are already plenty of great options out there if you're looking for a Gollum/Smeagol statue. Hell, I own probably half a dozen of them. In lots of different scales. But we've never had a true higher-end 1/6 figure really. The Neca 1/5 is nice, but I think Asmus could do an even better job. If they can do it while hiding the joints, great. But if they can't, that's fine, too. I'd still prefer a figure over a statue for this line. Just my two cents.

 

[Ninersphan]

So uhm to get this FRODO and SAM thread back on topic, any word about the replacement head for FRODO, that was mentioned awhile back?

 

[warlock664]

So uhm to get this FRODO and SAM thread back on topic, any word about the replacement head for FRODO, that was mentioned awhile back?

It's coming, but after I get my replacement Nazgul body, replacement GTW head, and the rest of my "build-an-orc" pieces!

 

[YUKI]

wow these is a great revision
who made this
do you sell them?

 

[YUKI]

beautiful work on aragon

 

[YUKI]

are your customize heads for sale?
kindly let me know

 

[koolkollectibleskhai]

No news from Asmus about replacement headsculpts for Frodo........do we just assume that the promise made here was an empty promise?

 

[Wor-Gar]

No news from Asmus about replacement headsculpts for Frodo........do we just assume that the promise made here was an empty promise?

I hope that's not the case... but it does seem to be going that way: no more news, topic is avoided by Asmus.

It is my single disappointment with Asmus. Sadly, its the lead character on LOTR as well.


Maybe they are stalling long enough to offer their Frodo v2 with real hair?

 

[ObiGlennKenobi]

Elijah wood is coming out to Sydney for the Supanova convention.
This would be a great time to get to meet him and get something signed..
alas I have to work.

 

[Asmus]

I hope that's not the case... but it does seem to be going that way: no more news, topic is avoided by Asmus.

It is my single disappointment with Asmus. Sadly, its the lead character on LOTR as well.


Maybe they are stalling long enough to offer their Frodo v2 with real hair?

yes, we still have it in mind, we just need to jam it into our production line,
hopefully by the end of summer, we will have it ready

 

[Wor-Gar]

yes, we still have it in mind, we just need to jam it into our production line,
hopefully by the end of summer, we will have it ready

That's great news! Truly! Thank you for the update.

 

[asgardianboy]

yes, we still have it in mind, we just need to jam it into our production line,
hopefully by the end of summer, we will have it ready

That's so great Mr. Asmus!!!

Any specs to the design of the heads that you can already give us? For instance:

0) New head for Frodo AND Sam, or only Frodo? Will these new heads be available loose, like Aragorn's rooted one? Do they feature new sculpts?

1) There have been 3 versions of Frodo/Sam thus far, each one with different skin tones on the face, which I guess should match that on the neck, hands and feet. That forces me to ask: these new heads wil match the skin colour of WHICH version?

2) Rooted hair? Doubly articulated neck?

3) Correct eye colour this time? No 5 o'clock shadow on Sam? Good paintjob on Frodo's hair? (if not rooted)

4) For those who have the original release, with neckless bodies, will you include a neck with each head, just in case?

5) Any price estimation?

Thanks a lot!
m.