Reader's Review: SSC's Frodo & Samwise

The Cool Toy Review Reader Review of Sideshow Collectibles' 1/6 Scale Frodo Baggins & Samwise Gamgee
by Josh Long

INTRODUCTION

"I will take it. I will take the Ring to Mordor."
-Frodo

Last year Sideshow Collectibles at San Diego Comic-Con had two of the most impressive items at the show. They unveiled their new child bodies which they had worked on with Hot Toys. Because these two giants of the 1:6th market decided to work together we where allowed to finally add two of the most important characters in the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy.

Frodo Baggins lost his parents at the age of seven and upon their death was taken in by his mother’s family. At the age of the age of twenty-one he was adopted by his Uncle Bilbo Baggins. During Bilbo’s 111th birthday party the magic ring Biblo had for years is passed on to Frodo upon Biblo leaving the Shire.

When Frodo finds out the ring is really The One Ring Gandalf The Grey urges him to leave the Shire. However, Frodo would not leave the Shire alone. His friend and gardener Samwise Gamgee was eavesdropping and his punishment is to leave with Frodo. These two small Hobbits would meet many folks from Middle Earth and have many adventures on their way to destroying The One Ring.

This review we will be taking a look at both Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee in their Exclusive forms.

"He said, Dont you leave him, Samwise Gamgee. And I dont mean to."
-Sam

PACKAGING – Frodo & Sam - 10

The Lord Of The Rings line has a great look to them and like the other lines from Sideshow something completely different. You get a great look at the figures with the name The Lord Of The Rings in nice gold lettering. Opening those flaps you get a story on the character on the left and the extras on the right. On the back you get a story about Lord Of The Rings itself.

SCULPTING – Frodo 10 & Sam 10

The job Tim Miller did on these two Hobbits is just mind blowing! His ability to capture both Elijah Wood and Sean Astin shows the talent. When you look at pictures of Elijah you can see where Tim was able to get the unique facial features especially the mouth and cheek areas. This is where many attempts at Mr. Wood have fallen quite short.

The job done on Sam is equally as impressive. While Sean’s facial features aren't quite as unique as Elijah it’s the weight he gained for the role. Sean was a bit pudgy while filming Lord Of The Rings and this has made him quite hard to sculpt for some reason. Tim however nailed it beautifully.

We also got new hands with the Hobbits due to the size and the brand new bodies. The hands look great! However, they do have one issue as they don’t seem to hold swords as well as hands for the other bodies do.

PAINT – Frodo & Sam - 10

Now, the Hobbits are different than any other figure from Sideshow. Instead of having the skin tone painted on the figures they’ve been casted in type of plastic that has skin color mixed in. This is the route you normally see Hot Toys take and on the Pirates Of The Caribbean this did not come out that well. Those figures the skin tone tended to come out darker than their movie counterparts. The Hobbits though came out perfectly which was a giant relief to me.

These still other parts that are painted as you would normally see on other figures. The paint on the hair is very well done and matches the movie perfectly. The eyes on Sam are quite well done but the eyes on Frodo are quite capturing. You feel that moment just after the Fellowship loses Gandalf and the camera zooms in on Frodo’s eyes.

ARTICULATION – Frodo & Sam – 10

These new Hobbit/Child bodies are amazing. The Buck body for me has never been an issue with posing but these figures are better. What limitations you did have with the Buck are now plain and simply gone. There are several moments of action for these two Hobbits and you will have no problem matching them with these figures. There have been some people on the net who have experienced loose joints but I was fortunate to not have that problem.




ACCESSORIES – Frodo – 8 Sam – 8.5

Frodo comes with some nice goodies. You get his backpack which is quite nicely put together. The stitch work is really well done for a backpack done at this scale. You get the Phial Of Galadriel, which is quite important if you want to recreate the scene from Shelob’s Lair. Mr. Baggins of course comes with The One Ring on a chain. One of my issues with this item is that the Ring would have looked much better if it was metal or given a metallic paint job. He comes with two swords one of which is his exclusive item and those swords each have their own scabbards. Sting is the standard sword that comes with Frodo and looks very well done. I would like to have seen a blue tinted version be the exclusive compared to the sword Strider gives him on Weathertop. What good is being out in the woods without a smoking pipe? Well, Frodo has one of those and Sam gets the same pipe so he doesn’t miss out. Frodo comes with two cloaks the Elven Cloak and his green traveling cloak that he wears until leaving Galadriel.

Sam’s goodies are just a touch better compared to Frodo’s. He of course has his backpack in which the stitching is equally as nice compared to Frodo but this backpack has extras. You get frying pans, cooking pot, Ladle, and sausages which just add a nice touch to the figure and give more than what you get with Frodo. Besides the backpack you also get a Haversack so he has even more storage space, and a waterskin so he and Frodo can drink from something along the way. Sam comes with a sword/scabbard as well that was given to him on Weathertop. A must item for any member of the Fellowship is the Elven cloak and Sam of course has his, and like Frodo comes with a second cloak he wears until receiving the Elven Cloak. Sam’s exclusive item is something if he was to get hungry should keep him full with that being Lembas Bread.

OUTFIT – Frodo & Sam - 10

These outfits are amazing! The fact Sideshow could get these to look so amazing at this scale shows the love Sideshow has for Lord Of The Rings. The stitching on these is just superb; especially on outfits in this scale where so many have botched it. The coloring on the outfits also matches what you see on both figures on all their items. The materials used are also very appropriate and I think as close to what you can get so they look to have jumped right off the screen.

VALUE – Frodo & Sam - 10

Both Hobbits come in at $70. These guys just came out great with outstanding outfits, sculpts, paint, and a NEW body. When you take the time to look at just how great these figures came out I think the price is just fine for these two small but mighty Hobbits.

OVERALL- Frodo & Sam - 10

Frodo and Sam are two of the best figures to ever come out of Sideshow Collectibles. There is virtually nothing wrong with them and they appear to be universally loved. You get a fair amount of goodies and outfits that are just amazing. Sideshow Collectibles, Tim Miller, and Hot Toys can all take a bow for the job that was put into these figures.


RATINGS RECAP
Packaging- Frodo 10 Sam 10
Sculpt- Frodo 10 Sam 10
Paint- Frodo 10 Sam 10
Articulation- Frodo 10 Sam 10
Accessories- Frodo 8 Sam 8.5
Outfit- Frodo 10 Sam 10
Value- Frodo 10 Sam 10
Overall- Frodo 10 Sam 10

SPECIFICATIONS
Edition Size of the Frodo and Sam are both 1500. However they are sold out.

LINKS OF INTEREST
Sideshow Collectibles- Samwise Gamgee and Frodo Baggins

PHOTOS

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