Asmus Toys Lord of the Ring Gandalf Gray

[batsheva]

I don't know what it is, but the GTW sculpt just doesn't look much like McKellen when repurposed as GTG.

Much the same, I don't think that InArt's is going to work for GTW, should they ever do that.

totally agree.

 

[TheFiend]

View attachment 647683

Hm. It, indeed, actually looks like he wants the Ring, and is willing to rip the heart out of anyone that gets in his way.

Joking aside, it clearly doesn't suffer from the eye problem of the Crown release but I'm mixed on the overall vibe of this expression. Still, I'm curious as to what this will look like once in hand and the price. H× a price been suggested yet?

 

[Antarion]

Also took the chance for some more Gandalf the Gray pics this evening. still a very good product by Asmus imo.

You have to find the right lighting to make the head work and the eyes not look strange. That means he will work better without the hat imo...

 

[Gipetto0812]

Incredible pics @Antarion always jealous of ppl who can do this kind of photography.

 

[FlyAndFight]

Excellent pics, Antarion.

 

[satanatos]

Even with that light, the eyes are horrible. And as such I never display him without the "new" hat. Had I known how the fig will look in person, I would not have shelled 400 EUR to get him.

 

[batsheva]

Even with that light, the eyes are horrible. And as such I never display him without the "new" hat. Had I known how the fig will look in person, I would not have shelled 400 EUR to get him.

I agree.
Wow 400 EUR??
That's almost the same price as IA's rooted Aragorn!

 

[satanatos]

Wow 400 EUR??
That's almost the same price as IA's rooted Aragorn!

Yeah, dont get me started there, but at the time, InArt was not even on the scene. He was indeed 400EUR with shipping and thank God I skipped the import tax/duty fees. So that price now compared to the 500EUR for InArt's Gandalf and yeah, you get the picture.
I can only hope to try and sell him for ~250-300 (likely less) to recuperate some.

 

[Giimli86]

Those prices some of us actually pay are much higher than what you see on Kit or other sites. Those are not the prices for what we get the figures.

The Inart rooted Aragorn for $480 from Kit will end up for me about $630-650 if my country's tax agency doesnt accept the IOSS number provided by Kit. (Thats with standard slow shipping from Hong Kong, if I wanted to have a speedier option EMS/UPS/Fedex/DHL etc. then I would have to pay $100-150 more for that, then it would end up in total at $800-850).

The average salary in my country is $1600 before taxes. After taxes its $1064 just to put that into perspective.
Thats not may salary though as I wouldnt collect anything if I would earn that amount.
Paying that much for a figure still pains me in my soul.

I hope the IOSS number does get accepted.

 

[batsheva]

Yeah, dont get me started there, but at the time, InArt was not even on the scene. He was indeed 400EUR with shipping and thank God I skipped the import tax/duty fees. So that price now compared to the 500EUR for InArt's Gandalf and yeah, you get the picture.
I can only hope to try and sell him for ~250-300 (likely less) to recuperate some.

I get the picture, yeah.
It is indeed difficult to sell this asmus Gandalf now, sadly.
I hope you'll get a decent money when you manage to sell it.

Those prices some of us actually pay are much higher than what you see on Kit or other sites. Those are not the prices for what we get the figures.

The Inart rooted Aragorn for $480 from Kit will end up for me about $630-650 if my country's tax agency doesnt accept the IOSS number provided by Kit. (Thats with standard slow shipping from Hong Kong, if I wanted to have a speedier option EMS/UPS/Fedex/DHL etc. then I would have to pay $100-150 more for that, then it would end up in total at $800-850).

The average salary in my country is $1600 before taxes. After taxes its $1064 just to put that into perspective.
Thats not may salary though as I wouldnt collect anything if I would earn that amount.
Paying that much for a figure still pains me in my soul.

I hope the IOSS number does get accepted.

Wow!
That is a LOT.
Got the same accident when asmus decided to ship the DX Arwen with DHL without my approval, so I got charged much more and ends up paying $350 not including tax.
Hurts so bad.

Well, at least it is IA's rooted Aragorn, which -most likely- price will went up (just like IA's rooted Joker), and you will at least get your full amount back if you decide to sell it. So in the end, it's not going to be painful to your soul, I hope.
This asmus Gandalf, with almost the same price as IA rooted Aragorn, will end up for you about $600.. and now the value has dropped, so I hope your soul is strong..

And yes, I hope your IOSS number does get accepted!

 

[Alatar]

Also took the chance for some more Gandalf the Gray pics this evening. still a very good product by Asmus imo.

You have to find the right lighting to make the head work and the eyes not look strange. That means he will work better without the hat imo...

These look fantastic (ha, literally!).

I wasn’t as lucky with the lamb’s wool on my figure’s head sculpt which basically has little to no curl to it at all. The straight hair and beard is still relatively screen accurate, though. I.e., if one gets the curls to the beard they’re a nice bonus, I guess.

I actually prefer the figure displayed with the new resin hat on now precisely because… well for me at least, obviously YMMV… it draws attention away from the eyes in general. And if his eyes appear deeper set than they should be it can be rationalized as caused by the shade from the brim. (Yeah, that’s it!)

Edit: I would add how lighting affects the eyes both with and without hat can play out differently for display to the naked eye versus photography. What I mean is that in general to the naked eye when the hat is on I don’t notice the eyes as much if at all. But what the camera picks up totally depends on angle, lighting, lens aperture, and so on.

I’m expecting the modified GtG head sculpt to be a major upgrade overall for the figure.

Then my main quibble with the figure will be with the fact that the fabric for his clothing drapes stiffly and unnaturally. I recall reading a mod for this of soaking the clothes in water (with several drops of fabric softener?) and after a good soak splatting them down onto a hard surface a number of times before putting them back on to drape properly as they dry. But so far I haven’t done that. Not convinced it’ll be worth the effort. If anyone has done this I’d like to see good closeup shots of before and after for it.

 

[satanatos]

I actually prefer the figure displayed with the new resin hat on now precisely because… well for me at least, obviously YMMV… it draws attention away from the eyes in general. And if his eyes appear deeper set than they should be it can be rationalized as caused by the shade from the brim. (Yeah, that’s it!)

My thoughts exactly!

 

[Alatar]

I’m hoping that InArt will make the entire fellowship of nine. If they do they will eventually entirely replace my current Asmus collection of Gandalf (both Gray and White), Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Boromir, Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin. Then I’ll need to sell the Asmus set just due to box storage considerations.

I’ll put the entire set up for sale with all the upgrades (e.g., Gandalf’s resin hat, the new improved GtG head sculpt, Narsil, a replacement leather coat I just bought for SLIM Aragorn).

 

[Alatar]

My thoughts exactly!

I just clarified what I meant a little more to that post, but I’ll share it here too:

I would add how lighting affects the eyes both with and without hat can play out differently for display to the naked eye versus photography. What I mean is that in general to the naked eye when the hat is on I don’t notice the eyes as much if at all. But what the camera picks up totally depends on angle, lighting, lens aperture, and so on.

 

[Kalkylen]

These look fantastic (ha, literally!).

I wasn’t as lucky with the lamb’s wool on my figure’s head sculpt which basically has little to no curl to it at all. The straight hair and beard is still relatively screen accurate, though. I.e., if one gets the curls to the beard they’re a nice bonus, I guess.

I actually prefer the figure displayed with the new resin hat on now precisely because… well for me at least, obviously YMMV… it draws attention away from the eyes in general. And if his eyes appear deeper set than they should be it can be rationalized as caused by the shade from the brim. (Yeah, that’s it!)

Edit: I would add how lighting affects the eyes both with and without hat can play out differently for display to the naked eye versus photography. What I mean is that in general to the naked eye when the hat is on I don’t notice the eyes as much if at all. But what the camera picks up totally depends on angle, lighting, lens aperture, and so on.

I’m expecting the modified GtG head sculpt to be a major upgrade overall for the figure.

Then my main quibble with the figure will be with the fact that the fabric for his clothing drapes stiffly and unnaturally. I recall reading a mod for this of soaking the clothes in water (with several drops of fabric softener?) and after a good soak splatting them down onto a hard surface a number of times before putting them back on to drape properly as they dry. But so far I haven’t done that. Not convinced it’ll be worth the effort. If anyone has done this I’d like to see good closeup shots of before and after for it.

Here is my water treated, ironed and weathered version of the robe. It's very easy to do and gives it a better drape and appearance closer to the pleated look of the movie. Painted the hat blue, weathered it and did the wire frame mod (I know the colour is up for debate...).

Working on lightening the eyeballs too so ignore the brightness at the moment. The robe is the hoodless robe he wears from Rivendell into Moria. It came with the old Sideshow Exclusive version.

 

[FlyAndFight]

Your GtG looks fantastic, Kalkylen. Love how the outfit drapes more realistically.

It is just the head sculpt's eyes that I find disappointing. Once Asmus releases the new GtG head sculpt, I'll be fine with my Crown GtG.

Mine has the eyes in some shadow and looks fantastic but it is stuck in that spot until the replacement sculpt is available.

 

[Pizza]

I can't wait until you get the InArt Gandalf, Pizza... you certainly seem to live in the ideal place.

I can't wait too ... lol ... In fact I live where Tolkien found his inspiration... It seems... lol

 

[TheFiend]

From a distance this thing still looks pretty cool on the shelf. And when taking pics you really have to be wary of the light at certain angles. Some times I can get it to look cool.

 

[Antarion]

Of course it does look cool. This figure was hyped for a reason and before inart was despite the eyes a very good figure.

I think collectors can be too harsh tjese days. Years ago this would be incredible.

 

[yy0925]

From a distance this thing still looks pretty cool on the shelf. And when taking pics you really have to be wary of the light at certain angles. Some times I can get it to look cool.

View attachment 655623

Good job! It's one of the best shots Have seen for this figure!