Nine rings for mortal men doomed to die...
Written: Feb 23 '02
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Pros: Great sculpting; great articulation; great value
Cons: The sword's a tad too small
The Bottom Line: This action figure is one of the best out there. Toy Biz has found almost the perfect match between sculpting and playability.
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| poeghostal's Full Review: Toy Biz The Lord of The Rings: Ringwraith With Bla... |
I'm a huge Lord of the Rings fan, but I was introduced to Tolkien's world by my father. My dad's a huge Nazgūl fan - don't ask me why. When he played the Legend of Zelda games, he'd name his character Nazgūl. Why would anyone do that? The Nazgūl are evil. But I digress...I'm here to review Toy Biz's deluxe Ringwraith and Rider set.
If you happen to own McFarlane Toys' Deluxe Headless Horseman set, then you basically own the Ringwraith and Horse set. Really, I'm serious. They're almost completely identical, except for a few details. The horse looks almost the same, has the same soft plastic around an articulated neck, same leg articulation. Of course, he's made of better plastic, and since Toy Biz rocks, the horse can actually stand and has not one, but TWO action features - his eyes glow red when you pull on his reign, and you can press a button on the horse's rump to make it rear up its front legs. If I were a kid, this would be really fun, and that's not sarcasm. I think it's pretty darned neat.
The Ringwraith himself isn't really anything to write home about. He's got some nice arm articulation, and the leg articulation, like the Headless Horseman, is rubber over an inner skeleton, allowing him to stand normally or spread his legs to ride the horse, all with hidden joints. However, this worries me that the Ringwraith will fall prey to the same problem that happened to the Headless Horsemen - the rubber will split at the knees. However, the Ringwraith figure has some large "armor plates" over the knees, making the rubber a bit thicker, so it might be okay - only time will tell.
The cloth on the Ringwraith's outfit is a nice change from the heavy rubber robes of the carded Ringwraith figure. And unlike the Headless Horseman, the Ringwraith comes with a sheath for his sword. Take that, thou sausage-eating Hessian!
Due to the horse's "kicking" action, it can't stand straight up on four legs, but has one leg up in the air, as if it was walking. This actually looks pretty darned cool, and the figure stands up fine, so I've got no complaints there.
All in all, this is a nice figure. It's a great toy, but also a great display piece, again proving that Toy Biz is perhaps one of the best toymakers out there right now. A marriage of articulation and sculpt that McFarlane can only dream of. Viva Toy Biz!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $20
Type of Toy: Action Figure
Age Range of Child: 6 to 8 Years
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Epinions.com ID:
poeghostal
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Location: The Land of Wind and Ghosts
Reviews written: 25
Trusted by: 4 members
About Me:
Toy reviews, writing, science fiction and fantasy, action figures.
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