Well, I finally started to set up my Crown Gandalf the Grey set and I have to say that it is both one of the potentially best looking and one of the most frustrating figures that I've ever come across.
I decided to start off working on the cool looking display base, figuring that I could warm up with that first and then get to the actual figure.
Well, after spending considerable time wrestling with the different posts, (the two for the gate and the one mailbox), I felt like flinging the damn thing across the room. The pegs on the posts just didn't fit the slots on the base, at least mine didn't. I had to pound the two gate posts until they were wedged in by brute force. By the way, I made sure that they were facing the correct way.
The worst is the mailbox. It just won't fit in the slot. I didn't want to risk damaging it so left it off, which is a shame. In the end, it won't be used at this time, as Gandalf barely fits on the base. Between the gate, foliage and steps, he just looked crowded on it. I sincerely hope that we get an Ian Holm "Bilbo" soon, as I will display him there, instead. Fortunately, I had previously purchased several of Asmus's "Lord of the Rings" figure bases and am displaying Gandalf on that, instead.
Moving on towards the figure itself, it truly is amazing but certainly not straight out of the box. The sculpt and paint apps are wonderful. Unfortunately, whomever packed in my Gandalf head sculpt must have been behind on his boxing quota that day because it appeared to have been quickly jammed into the foam packaging without much care and the hair was not neatly in place. I'm going to have to review this thread again and see how best to work the hair. It isn't terrible but definitely needs some futzing.
His outfit and shoes are fantastic but I don't plan on him wearing the outer cloak, as he looks too bulky. The hat or head magnet is off-centered, so the hat slides down towards the front of this head. Not a problem for me, as I don't plan on him wearing the hat, either.
Balin's book is super-cool. It has actual pages with writing on it. Amazing detailing.
There are a large assortment of hands included, although the non-clutching ones seem to me to be over-sized. I just kept the hands that he came with.
Again, the potential is there to be one of the best stock figures ever released. I just am going to have to spend considerable time futzing with the figure and the base and hopefully get both looking and functioning as intended. But at the price point, I shouldn't need to, or at least the effort should be minimal. There really is no excuse for the ill fitting posts on the base, and for the amazing head sculpt not to have been inserted a bit more carefully. In contrast, both Gimli and Boromir were fantastic right out of the box and both had "faux" hair.
I'm truly hoping that I don't have similar experiences with Galadriel and her intricate hair...
No pics posted, as I want to first work on this one and get it looking how it should.
