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Diamond Select- Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring- Ringwraith
I suppose I'm uniquely able to comment on this given that I'm currently knee deep in Lord of the Rings figures from Toybiz, Diamond Select and Loyal Subject, but It's crazy how a figure released 20 years ago for half the price of the current offerings is as good or better than the current iteration. I suppose I'm projecting a bit on what makes a figure good, but what ever: they are my stupid reviews. Anyways, I was somewhat let down from Diamonds attempt at this here Wraith and a lot of it has to do with that age old issue of form over function. Looking at the pictures it's probably not too hard to see what I'm talking about. Yes it's sculpted beautifully, but all that hard plastic makes it difficult to do anything below the waist (that's what she said?). Granted it is not as egregious as some of the Hasbro offerings, but I had hopes that Diamond would be different. Funny thing is that one of my biggest issues with Toy Biz is the rudimentary articulation scheme which Diamond solves, but is all for naught given the hard plastic makes it useless. And speaking of useless it seems as though Diamond had given us a bit of a “make work” project. See, one of the cool things is that they included 3 blades and 2 sheaths, but they didn't include any way to affix said sheaths to the Ringwraith's body. However, it looks like they molded two holes on each holder to include a strap of some sort? I figured I can add a black rubber band or string to make this work, but it's just a bizarre choice on their part.
Pros: Despite some of my hopes there is a lot to appreciate about the Ringwraith. I love the sculpt and they were able to capture the headless look really well. And while hindered, the articulation still allows for enough Wratih-like poses. I also appreciate the accessory selections and love the look of all the blades.
Cons: While cost prohibitive, these cloaked figures need to have a mix of plastic and cloth to give them the justice they deserve. Also Diamond, what was the plan on with those sword sheaths? Was a strap too much money?
