InArt: The Lord of the Rings - Aragorn 1:6

[vspectra]

Finally got that head container opened. Twisted off the top piece. Had to heat the neck hole to pop in the neck adapter.

 

[GrimmReapah]

7/10 is my rating on this one.


And In my opinion the only real winners this time are the ones who got the sculpted hair.

First let me say the good things, the tailoring apart from the elven cloak is excellent. The accessories are excellent. As always the whole presentation is excellent . And I do like the sculpt bare bones wise there’s a lot to work with

But the rest is a bit of a fail in my opinion. Sorry to say but this is the first inart I’ve seen where I think they dropped the ball production wise.

Let me most get this rant out of the way. As someone who does rooted hair in figures I was skeptical that they could pull it off in mass scale and my theory’s have been proven right. For half a thousand dollars plus, there should be no doubt what you’re getting but instead this is almost like blind box figures. It’s insane how badly I’ve seen the variation of the hairs on both Gandalf and Aragorn. And it radically radically changes the likeness. Sure you can mess with it and style it, but most collectors don’t have the gumption and even if they did most didn’t have the eye to make it look good, you should be giving the casual collector consistency out of the box. And I’m not saying they are not trying to. I’m just sort of saying I think it’s impossible.

Case in point with Aragorn. All the one I’ve seen apart from having too curly hair overall, have his forehead massively exposed. If you look at the prototype those bangs closed the gap on his forehead, they also were straighter and more natural looking. Maybe one lucky sole got one that looked like that in the prototype but mine and my brothers were so radically different that his whole cranium looked like a different shape.

Apart from being really nicely sculpted the sculpted hair actually holds the shape that makes him look like him. In my opinion if you have the skill to rework the hair you may come out ok. Most don’t hence those who have the rooted hair will actually have something that looks like him. At least that one above from Facebook also seemed to have a better painted beard

That also is an issue. Now we know with every company the hand painted prototype is going to look better but in this case the generic “Homer Simpson” gray wash on all of the beards I’ve seen is a total mess and absolutely loses any likeness it could. Viggo jaw and bottom half of face is incredibly nuanced and the shading of the beard in the wrong spots totally throws off the likeness.

Also the eyebrows are a completely different shape from both Viggo and from the prototype. I’ve said this for years and I’ve seen even the most technically skilled painters overlook this but eyebrows can totally make or break a likeness

so the head being bad out of the box is a big knock…

Then there is the body. Proportions are weird and it’s too bulky in the chest and shoulders

The cloak is a mess way too stiff and doesn’t drape nicely especially around his neck and shoulders. Thank goodness I still had my ACI one. I swapped the buckles but it was a 200% upgrade right there


Why such a high score if I dislike it so much! Because it IS still impressive overall. And it’s a quality piece and the right stuff is there to work with.

But they just can’t quite pull this off on a massive scale.

I’ll continue to get rooted versions because I have the skill to make it look good but if I were the casual collector I’d say from here on out I’d advise all to go with the sculpted hair.

For those who follow me on instagram @RFCustomFigures I’ll be showing the rework soon. I fixed the beard and eyebrows and other small tweaks to bring out his likeness. I also messed with the hair a bit to get his forehead less exposed ill likely still mess with it further

Almost beginning to think you've gotten a completly different figure than me. Agree with the consistency of getting everyone the exact same hair, but i also can imagine that it is an almost impossible task to pull off. Like Gandalf i have seen some photos where he just have way to much hair and a gigantic curl to both sides. Either way i absolutely love mine and didnt even fuzz with it to much. I also think the proportions are on point same goes for the tailoring. As for the sculpted vs rooted. The sculpted might be good to but takes away the realism for me. Its what you prefer at the end. But if you place him next to a rooted Gandalf. I mean its going to look weird, one rooted and one sculpted.

Think this is easily a 9 out of 10. Almost perfect, but there's always room for improvements

But maybe i have lower standarts

 

[Yorved]

Its a "difficult" figure. I saw really bad photos of this rooted Aragorn. + even worse when people couldnt event put the head properly on neck.
For me its 9/10 overall (but for sure u have to work on it after out of the box)

 

[Bucky Underbelly]

Been collecting these things for more than a couple decades now -- hundreds of figures -- and this is definitely the best (non-custom) I've ever owned. 10/10 for me. Everybody's standards are different and your mileage may vary, of course, but for me, this one is the peak so far. And here's hoping they keep pushing and top it.

 

[Sassafras]

Thanks ya'll. The top won't even come off on mine lol. I'll try the screwdriver.

Try holding in both hands like a can and pushing up with both thumbs.

 

[Sassafras]

Been collecting these things for more than a couple decades now -- hundreds of figures -- and this is definitely the best (non-custom) I've ever owned. 10/10 for me. Everybody's standards are different and your mileage may vary, of course, but for me, this one is the peak so far. And here's hoping they keep pushing and top it.

Well....mad respect for the uber experts. More than once I've use their comments and expertise, or even if I don't tweak something, at least I know of the issue.

In this case - because it was my first InArt and I thought the Joker looked pretty good - if I thought about it at all (and I didn't) I did expect "hair consistency". Because - cost $$$$. The rooted isn't a cheap figure. TBH the "sculpt downgrade" I haven't studied, but if there was softening it wouldn't surprise me. I'm fine with the sculpt and the paint on mine - but mostly I was looking for obvious problems.

So my Aragon hair was a shock, out of the case. Not what I was expecting. Sure doesn't look like the selling prototype. *Fortunately* I'm a fan of voluminous waved hair. (Even if it is not screen accurate. Because, there's the films, and there's the vague images I have in my head from reading books. - "shaggy dark hair with keen gray eyes".)

Whoever rooted mine seemed determined that Aragorn had had the draughts of Fangorn and/or was afraid I'd be cheated of hair, or something.

Ultimately for me, after some hair work, and even with IMO some questionable fabrics, IMO he's a beautiful fig. I'd put him up there with ASMUS' best - because, ASMUS has nailed it while keeping to a certain price point, and depending, a better choice of fabrics IMO. (Like, the fur on Thorin's coat is soft, high quality. What I saw of the InArt Thorin prototype looked like a cheap rug).

As another poster mentioned, InArt is another player on the 1/6 board. Which is fine, as long as they 1) produce and 2) keep working at being better. I don't regret the purchase. I wanted a "Ranger Aragorn" and ended up with a beautiful one (after I get the cloak.) And hopefully my last, I can't afford these rising prices.

 

[Lord Vicious]

Received my standard edition with sculpted hair. Absolutely love it!

 

[Cazza]

Could be wrong here but hopefully people who have the rooted version agree, from what I have noticed is no matter how good the photos are that people put up here, it's doesn't show how good this figure looks in person. I mean some of the photos do make it look incredible but for me still doesn't show how good it is, for example I didn't feel mine is anything special to everyone else's but when Im holding the sculpt while looking at photos on here it's such a big difference, the likeness from certain angles are astounding. I then put it to test when I tried to take some photos myself to send to a friend, I took like 30 and none did it justice, so said you need to come see it in person lol. I would assume this is probably the same for people with sculpted hair

 

[Earth 616 Collector]

Could be wrong here but hopefully people who have the rooted version agree, from what I have noticed is no matter how good the photos are that people put up here, it's doesn't show how good this figure looks in person. I mean some of the photos do make it look incredible but for me still doesn't show how good it is, for example I didn't feel mine is anything special to everyone else's but when Im holding the sculpt while looking at photos on here it's such a big difference, the likeness from certain angles are astounding. I then put it to test when I tried to take some photos myself to send to a friend, I took like 30 and none did it justice, so said you need to come see it in person lol. I would assume this is probably the same for people with sculpted hair

I think the sculpt and "rooted" hair look absolutely stunning. Could the beard be down better? Yes, but to me, that's the biggest knock on this figure.

 

[Sassafras]

Could be wrong here but hopefully people who have the rooted version agree, from what I have noticed is no matter how good the photos are that people put up here, it's doesn't show how good this figure looks in person. I mean some of the photos do make it look incredible but for me still doesn't show how good it is, for example I didn't feel mine is anything special to everyone else's but when Im holding the sculpt while looking at photos on here it's such a big difference, the likeness from certain angles are astounding. I then put it to test when I tried to take some photos myself to send to a friend, I took like 30 and none did it justice, so said you need to come see it in person lol. I would assume this is probably the same for people with sculpted hair

IMO this is true; am using a cell phone but in hand the hair on mine, while full, appears less wavy (tho thick) and from like 8 inches away it's a dead on likeness. Maybe "cameras don't lie" it's a very good Aragorn on the shelf.

BTW, I found this kind of metal Y crotch stand useful when fussing with the fig. Because, straight up, the feet magnets lock to the stand.

We are not talking elegant but he stands firm - good for futzing and the very space limited. So far I've ignored the magnetic stand as questionable re stability.

 

[aeseven7]

Haven’t had a lot of time to futz him properly but did a little work on the hair by giving him bangs and removing the pre-applied product and adding in some pomade. Such a great figure though.

 

[chrisstbh]

Could be wrong here but hopefully people who have the rooted version agree, from what I have noticed is no matter how good the photos are that people put up here, it's doesn't show how good this figure looks in person. I mean some of the photos do make it look incredible but for me still doesn't show how good it is, for example I didn't feel mine is anything special to everyone else's but when Im holding the sculpt while looking at photos on here it's such a big difference, the likeness from certain angles are astounding. I then put it to test when I tried to take some photos myself to send to a friend, I took like 30 and none did it justice, so said you need to come see it in person lol. I would assume this is probably the same for people with sculpted hair

I do have issues trying to take pics of this guy. He just doesn’t look like he does in front of me through the camera. I don’t know if it’s a phone camera issue with the processing or whatever but it’s frustrating.

Any time I try to take a pic of another figure it looks pretty spot on.

 

[Karst]

I think we're all collectively experiencing why it appears to be so hard to capture his likeness, lol

 

[Mr.E]

Honestly considering picking up the sculpted hair headsculpt loose if the price is right. You can't go wrong with either.