Action figure makers have a tough job. They have to find the right balance between producing several main characters early to start the line strong and holding some back to use in later waves to keep the line going. I think this first wave of LOTR is a good mix. You've got some big good guys, a few bad guys and a variant. I personally would have preferred a Grey Gandalf to start, but I'm sure he would have headlined Series 3, if it had got that far.



LOTR was the first to have different scales within the same line. Hobbits and Dwarves were two inches, Sauron was three, and the rest (men, elves, et cetera) were two and a half inches tall. I thought this was a great idea, but not everyone felt the same. Even at Art Asylum they were split on the issue. A group of them thought they should all be the same size.



I just can't picture Gollum being the same size as Aragorn. Maybe I'm just too accustomed to what I have, but I can't see how that would look good. What's weird is that same issue doesn't bother me in the Marvel world. By all rights Hulk should be significantly taller than Spider-Man, but I think they look great together.



Accessories were all top-notch as well. All the swords had scabbards that attached to the figure. Each figure got accessories that were needed to complete the character. The phrase "He should have came with..." rarely came up. (Although Saruman should have come with a Palantir.) :)



These last two photos were made using some Electroluminescent Wire I had on hand. Moving it around during a long exposure creates some fun images. I should dig it out of the garage and experiment some more.