After the Series 1 release of Gimli and Legolas in Diamond Select's Lord of the Rings line, Series 2 gave us the opportunity to further build our Fellowship of the Ring with the addition of our first Hobbit, Frodo Baggins. Like the other figures released so far, Frodo is packed in a window box that uses a grey/blue design imprinted with the map of Middle Earth. The LOTR logo is predominant on the box front in gold as is an image of Gandalf with Frodo to one side and Sauron looming behind him. This image is standard across the range with no specific artwork for each character. Instead, the character is confirmed only by the name that sits just under this illustration and is simply listed as 'Frodo'.
The rear of the box has an image of Frodo as well as the Nazgul, the other figure in the Series 2 releases. Underneath these are a reminder of Series 1 under an 'also available' header and a reminder that the first 3 series of the Lord of the Rings figures feature parts for a Sauron build-a-figure.
At a time when companies are reducing plastic in their packaging, Diamond continues to use a clamshell inner tray on these figures which does mean the figure you see in the window is actually behind two different plastic trays and that does obscure your view of Frodo overall.
As you would expect, Frodo is much smaller than the figures released previously, standing a little under 5.5 inches tall, and is therefore perfectly in scale for a Hobbit against his human, elf, and dwarven peers. He is dressed in the travelling clothes he wears as he leaves Bag End at the start of his journey and these include a pair of brown cropped trousers, a collarless shirt with a brown waistcoat and a brown overcoat.
Each of these is painted a varying shade of brown so you can differentiate between each of them. We also get painted details within the outfits such as painted buttons on the coat and waistcoat. Weathering is minimal compared to some of the other figures, but we do have a wash of sorts on the coat. Frodo's hairy feet are executed well with sculpted hair on the upper foot and weathering over the top of this to dirty the feet up nicely. The one area to watch with paintwork is around the hands where the joints are a painted flesh tone that does like to flake off when the hands are moved.
Interestingly, Diamond has chosen not to sculpt a ring with Frodo which we would see at times on a chain around his neck?
The face sculpt is another fairly strong one and you can tell it is Elijah Wood. Diamond are still working however with painted faces so the eyes, eyebrows and lips still look a little artificial despite being neatly applied. 5 years ago this would have been a perfectly acceptable head for Frodo, but in the era of Photo-Real tech over at NECA and Hasbro these do look and feel a bit dated.
Frodo's hair is very well executed and is sculpted with the curls and volume we see on screen and perfectly frames his face without looking either too flat or too long.
Smaller statue figures in a line are always going to draw the 'value for money' question even though they take the same amount of sculpting, articulation and painting as a standard figure. Frodo does however feel light on additional parts when you look at Gimli and his three axes, and the Series 3 Aragorn with a torch, knife and two swords.
Frodo comes with Sting, which is more than appropriate for the character as his main weapon throughout the Trilogy. This is well cast and well painted with the silver pommel, leather brown grip complete with a black wash, and the silver blade with visible Elven script. It fits snugly into the provided sheath which is thankfully attached to the belt and fully serviceable for this figure. The sheath too is inlaid with Elven script at the painted with silver top and bottom panels. Sting slots into Frodo's right hand with relative ease.
Frodo also features the Light of Elendil in the phial provided by Galadriel. This is a very small piece and not easy to spot in the packaging so make sure you don't lose it as I did initially. It is simply cast in a silver finish and slots into Frodo's right hand. The left hand, ideally should have been a gripping hand to hold the Light, leaving the right free to hold Sting.
Frodo was initially shown as coming with an Elven Cloak, putting the figure as having just left the realm of the Woodland Elves in terms of the timeline, a fact also justified with the inclusion of the Light of Elendil. Sadly this was dropped on Frodo and also on the other members of the Fellowship.
Articulation comes in at 16 points in total, all of them single joints with some limitations on movement. For example, the single joint elbows do stop Frodo from a pose where he is drawing Sting as the elbows don't really go past a 45-degree bend. The knees also won't bend fully, so Frodo is limited to standing poses. On arrival, the leg orientation is off with Frodo looking like he has turned inward feet. This is due to the rotation built into the knee which then allows the thigh sculpts to continue to line up on either side of the swivel.
Frodo can get into a few poses which would be classed as more dynamic - holding up the Light of Elendil as an example or posing with Sting drawn out before him. The only engineering issue with the joints are the ankles again which are far too loose and Frodo can lean forward and fall too easily. Thankfully he is not a bulkier figure or this would be a bigger concern.
Frodo is another good - just not great - release in Diamond's Lord of the Ring Series, there are more positives than negatives for the figure with the team doing another awesome job on his outfit and bringing us another decent likeness without yet embracing photo-real technology to further enhance their sculpt.
The articulation is about standard for Diamond and I am fine with that as I prefer aesthetics over movement in the wider scheme of things although it would have been nice for Frodo's arms to get a bit more movement and for the ankles to be more robust. I find the lack of any reference to the One Ring on the figure an odd choice, but I guess the decision was that Frodo has it tucked away under his shirt at this time. The other accessories are well executed, but again the issue lies with what is not included more than what is.
Frodo Baggins is a fine addition to the Fellowship alongside Legolas & Gimli from Series 1 and Aragorn from Series 3. He is well scaled and does not look out of place against these other figures and I just hope that Diamond remains invested enough in this line to complete the Fellowship in the future, or at the very least to give us a Samwise Gamgee to display with Frodo.
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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...