"Who now has the strength to stand against the armies of Isengard ... and Mordor?"
Diamond’s Lord of the Rings series of Select 7-inch scale figures has reached Series 6 and with it the addition of two new characters to the line in Saruman the White and Samwise Gamgee. Both come in unchanged window box packaging with its blue/green colour scheme with a Middle Earth map design and a front image featuring Gandalf, Frodo and Sauron. The only character-specific element is the name which sits bottom right adjacent to the larger Lord of the Rings logo. The rear of the box features illustrations of both Series 6 releases as well as some smaller images of previous releases such as Boromir and Lurtz.
Saruman is sculpted in the robes of the White Wizard as we see him across the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I admire Diamond’s desire to sculpt figures from the ground up for every release with Saruman ripe for re-using some of the parts from Gandalf - particularly the legs - but instead everything about Saruman appears to be brand new. Like Gandalf, he is a mix of sculpted body and then overlaid softer plastic robes all done in various shades of ‘off-white’ with an intricate level of patterning and symbols through the trim of his robes, his belt and his inner tunic. As well as the basic paint work we have applied weathering and washes to give Saruman a more realistic look and to enhance the various sculpted patterns.
The head sculpts are improving on each Series of the LOTR figures and Saruman is one of the best to date with a strong likeness to Christopher Lee in costume executed through the sculpt and paint by hand and without any facial printing.The hair flows down either side of the shoulders with a number of shades and washes applied, as does the beard which flows down across the torso.
One issue many of us had with Gandalf was the flowing sleeves and how they behaved when the arms were posed. Diamond’s resolution to this with Saruman is to give him two sets of arms. The arms are attached at the shoulder like any pop-out part, and you can choose between straight arms where the sleeves are hanging naturally down at Saruman’s side, or with arms that are bent at the elbow putting the forearm out and the sleeves hanging from these. This does help the overall look of the figure, but does sacrifice articulation as we will see a bit further on.
You can interchange any of the arms with a selection of provided hands ranging from gripping hands, open palms and a pair that are sculpted almost in a claw position. The hands are all easy to swap and there is no immediate concerns over paint rub which we have seen on other figures where swapping or articulating the hands does flake the paint. I think I was short-changed on one hand due to quality control as I appear to have two clawed versions the same, and I am missing a clenched fist which I’ve seen on other reviews. One to watch on receipt of your figure.
Saruman also features two accessories, the first of which is his Staff which is a slim black piece with an ornate top with four points around a central white ball. Like many Diamond accessories, this is a harder plastic which holds lots of detail but does mean it is brittle and prone to breaking. The staff fits into the gripping hands and works with both sets of arms depending on the pose you are looking for. We also get the Palantir, the black orb through which Saruman communicates with Sauron. This accessory technically places this Saruman as a Two Towers release. It is designed to fit onto the flat open hand and is held their only by gravity - there is no magnet or pin to hold it in place. The shape of the hands does hold it pretty stable but a more shelf-friendly solution would have been preferable should Saruman ever take a fall.
And taking a fall is quite likely as once again we have a pair of very loose ankle joints from Diamond with no obvious ratchet. The issue is not so extensive as Saruman falls at every opportunity, and once posed he does hold up reasonably well. I suspect a slight nudge on display or any degree of heat may see him pivot forward and potentially off a shelf - breaking that brittle staff and seeing the Palantir roll away.
Articulation comes in at 17 points in total although in real terms that is much lower as the entirety of the legs are locked behind a skirt piece leaving the ankles and ankle swivel the only key movement. The elbow joints are also not really joints, featuring a limited and rudimentary swivel only. I don't really need Saruman to have much movement, with the dual-arm solution allowing for a number of poses including the more iconic stance with his staff in one hand and Palantir in the other.
The only other point to make with Saruman is one of scale, another issue we see quite often with Diamond when figures are developed individually and not as part of a group. Saruman is the same height as Gandalf - which is fine - but is taller than Lurtz and the Uruk Hai which is not technically accurate.
The Lord of the Rings releases from Diamond continue to impress and are doing well at retail if sold-out pre-orders are anything to go by. The price is creeping up to circa £30 each now, but they are a slow-release line and we are now seeing more extensive accessories and parts to justice the additional price, particularly with the build-a-figure option withdrawn. Saruman is an excellent-looking figure both in sculpt work and in decor, and he comes with sufficient parts for a few different display options. There are concerns over the ankle stability and with the wider scaling of the line, but nothing that should overly concern collectors - just be mindful of both when putting Saruman on display.
And for those that may be wondering, the stand from the old Toybiz Saruman scales just fine with this new figure and it even holds the Palantir at the top.
Shown with Toybiz Palantir Stand (not included)
Keep Track of all the Lord of the Rings figures from Diamond at our comprehensive
If you are reading this via a 3rd party website that is importing our newsfeed, please come and visit us directly and give us a follow on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Check out our direct news feed for more action figure news, reviews, and store reports
About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...