Asmus Toys: Merry and Pippin Lord of the Rings 1/6 Scale Figures

[koolkollectibleskhai]

They told me "very soon" when I emailed asking about the expansion and about boromir billing....so soon I guess?

Someone said in the Frodo and Sam thread that Asmus indicated mid-Dec for those two upgrade sets. So Merry and Pippin I assume would ship out before them, so it could be within the next week or so. I dont think I ever get shipping notices from Asmus, so they might just turn up at the door unexpectedly lol. Hopefully all before Christmas!

 

[Thainitty]

Hahaha yeah sometimes I get a shipping notice sometimes I don’t...sometimes I get one after I’ve already received the figure haha! I’m with you hoping they just show up!

 

[FlyAndFight]

Looks like Asmus is coming through with my replacement body for Pippin.

I found the problem with the floppy body. The ball that connects the two parts of the torso was heavily scored, as if it was cut up with a knife. There just wasn't enough to hold it to the other torso piece and it came apart in my hands.

 

[Rzeznikk]

Still waiting on the expansions. Anyone else still waiting?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[thecapn]

Haven't gotten my slim versions yet, and they shipped on 11/27. Figure the holiday shipping, and maybe the wildfires in CA are the holdup? But I haven't seen any update that they even entered the country since then.

 

[Manannin]

Still waiting on the expansions. Anyone else still waiting?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Yep, I am. No word yet. Have they actually been sent out?

 

[warlock664]

I'm still waiting as well.
Also still waiting for
-Boromir rooted hair version (did get a shipping notice w/tracking)
-Boromir sculpted hair version (just paid this morning)
-Aragorn Expansion set
-Merry/Pippin Slim versions (paid over 2 weeks ago, no shipping notice, contacted Asmus and was told they had "overlooked" my payment)
-Frodo/Sam expansion kits
-Nazgul replacement body (I've given up hope on this one)
That's a bunch of paid-for stuff to be waiting on.

 

[thecapn]

This has me a little concerned, the more I think about it. Has everyone who got shipping notices for the slim set around the 25/26/27th of November received their sets already? There hasn't been a lot of comments.

Aragorn was my first order from Asmus, and I got him in roughly a week after shipping. It's been 2 1/2 weeks now, and from what I can tell from tracking it hasn't hit the U.S. yet.

I realize that 1) there's the wildfires in CA, where the ports are and 2) it's Xmas season, but still...

 

[superdoug]

According to the USPS website mine just left California. Yes it seems like it took a lot longer to travel overseas than past releases but it probably just has to do with the port, the holidays and/or customs. I will probably have mine in hand sometime next week.

 

[thecapn]

That makes me feel a bit better. Thanks

 

[koolkollectibleskhai]

I got my shipping notice for Boromir, so emailed Asmus about the shipping of the Merry/Pippin and Frodo/Sam upgrade sets. The Asmus response was:

"We apologize for the long wait and we should be able to ship Merry and Pippin's expansion packs in 1-2 weeks. Tracking number will also be provided when the items are shipped. If you have other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us. Thank you for your support."


So it looks like the upgrade sets wont ship until later in Dec 2017.

 

[murdomac]

Merry and Pippin arrived

 

[thecapn]

Love your backdrop! Reminds me of the campsite scene in FOTR where Boromir was teaching them to swordfight.

 

[superdoug]

I might have to copy that backdrop. Looks good.

 

[murdomac]

It's a poster cut to fit in a re-purposed fish tank I,m hoping to go for the campsite scene vibe as the tank is kind of small so it's going to be a challenge getting the fellowship all in there, I had wanted to have the classic view of the nine hiking along but will have to wait until I can get a bigger display unit and I think a Detolf lying on it's side is not recommended.

 

[warlock664]

FINALLY got a shipping notice for Merry/Pippin (paid weeks ago). Also got one for my Aragorn Expansion kit.

 

[thecapn]

So after what feels like the longest wait ever - 25 days (!) since Asmus shipped the package - I got Merry and Pippin last night! I didn't get any of the hobbits the first time around, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but overall, they're fantastic.

My thoughts:

- I wasn't sure about either sculpt originally, but in hand, Pippin is fantastic. His smile isn't too cartoony at all. Merry, however, has a HUGE jaw compared to the rest of his head - not sure why they did that, but it hurts the likeness. For some reason, his hair feels more helmet-like than Pippin's, too. But overall, they're better than the prototypes. I also really like the paintups on the heads; very nicely done.

- The clothing is top notch, which of course is expected with Asmus. The tailoring is great, and the shirts, pants, and jackets are all made of different materials with patterns where needed. Definitely high-quality. The cloaks are a really thin fabric though, that's pretty much see-thru. I wish they were a bit thicker, but they do lay well. The big problem I have here is with Merry's backpack. In all the screenshots I've seen, the upper strap goes above the cloak, while the lower strap goes under it, so the straps must go through a hole in the cloak. This allows the cloak to flow without getting bunched up by the straps. But the figure not only doesn't have holes for the straps, the straps are sewed down in place so you couldn't thread them anyway. I'd have loved if they put some snaps or velcro on the snaps and slits in the cloak to put it on correctly. As it stands, I have to mod it to get it to look right, something I hate doing right out of the box.

- The accessories are nice, though with the exception of the bags and cloaks, they're identical. Same hands, same pegs (always welcome), same pewter mugs, etc. Not that that's a problem, just mentioning.

Anyways, I'm really happy with them. I wish they'd have come with the Barrow swords, and maybe some food - a broken carrot for Merry and an apple for Pip, maybe? But otherwise, they're great. Merry has more problems then Pip, though. I'd give Pip an A- and Merry maybe a B-, since I have to mod him.

 

[superdoug]

Thanks for the post capn! I should finally have mine today too. Since I have the first releases I am very curious to see how these compare and if there are any other subtle differences besides the heads, cloaks and mugs.

 

[FlyAndFight]

My replacement Pip body shipped with Boromir some time ago. I just checked and it appears to be going through Customs, so it shouldn't be too long now.

 

[thecapn]

So last night I went ahead and modded Merry. And I have to say, it makes a LOT of difference that his cloak sits right now. My entire opinion of the little guy has gone up...though it was a pain in the butt and I wish I hadn't had to do it lol.

EDIT: This is actually a pretty good pic to show just how see-thru the cloaks are. It's better in overhead lighting, but it's definitely noticeable.