Gandalf has always been one of my most favorite characters in all of literature. As a very young kid, I carried my Knickerbocker Gandalf around with me everywhere I went. In fact, I even remember having that figure on my side table at the hospital when I had my emergency appendectomy in 3rd Grade. I still have that figure, and it holds a dear place in my heart. But, let's face it, there have been a ton of much better Gandalf figures released over the years.
The new preorder for the Hellcat 1/12 scale "Grey Wizard" action figure is something I've wanted ever since Mezco released their first One:12 Collective action figure years ago! At that moment in time, I begged for a line of fabric-clothed 1/12 scale Lord of the Rings figure, with Gandalf at the very top of that most wanted list. Nearly a decade later, it seems like it's finally going to happen (I'm actually really happy it's not by Mezco, too, as I find the heads on their figures to be way out of scale with the bodies)! Here's to hoping that the actual figure comes close to the images shown of the prototype!
That got me reminiscing about my old (hugely extensive) ToyBiz LOTR collection. So, I pulled out one of those figures (hard to believe it's considered about "vintage" now - seems like they came out just yesterday, in many ways): a rectangular-carded Gandalf the Grey. Now, ToyBiz released about a billion different versions of Gandalf in several different packaging configurations. This particular one is interesting. It features a removable rubber hat, and the articulation features swivel cuts at the biceps and vertical hinged wrists on both hands. There's very little (meaning, none) articulation below the waist other than swivels forward and back at the hips. Glamdring sits sheathed on his left hip, and he comes with a version of his staff. It strikes me as a bit short, and doesn't sit well in the hand, which is opened just a tad bit too wide.
The top of the shirt is sculpted with wrinkles in a twist to one side, suggesting movement, with the lower portion continuing the curve, but a bit more gently. There's a rubber cape in the back, sculpted separately. The face sculpt and paint are excellent, especially considering how old the figure is. In fact, I think it might be right up there with the pictures I've seen of the newer Diamond Select figure (which I have not purchased) or even the upcoming Hellcat Grey Wizard.
Articulation-wise, the arms don't come down close to the torso far enough for my liking, and the legs have no posing ability, other than to get him to stand. He's awkward to pose, but I think the overall figure is great. I lean heavily to the aesthetics for my figure preferences, and he looks great just standing in a basic vanilla pose . Sure, the hat is a bit too tall, and the staff is a smidge too short, but this is overall a neat looking Gandalf, right up there with their terrific Gandalf the White, which he will stand beside on my shelf...
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| Beside Blade Master Weng |
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