Lord of the Rings GALADRIEL ENTRANCED!

Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring - Series 5 - ToyBiz 2005

One of my favorite scenes in the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy is when even the angelic elf Galadriel shows weakness when exposed to the tempting dark power of the One Ring.  No other scene in the films epitomize the power of the Ring than that short glimpse of its corruptive power.  It was brief, but really made an impact on me.  That's why I was really excited that ToyBiz produced a figure of her in this form.  Full confession:  I saw the trilogy for the first time about 3 years ago, and I only started collecting the toys in 2012.  I've been looking forward to including this figure in a Halloween review all year.  She doesn't necessarily look like Cate Blanchett, but she does look like your everyday spooky witchy spirit lady (the kind that might burst out of your tv at night).  The figure has a cool action feature of light-up eyes, but unfortunately those kind of battery-powered action features are a pretty short-lived novelty when left sitting on a shelf for eight years.  So, yeah, no cool light-up eyes for me...  Anyway, let's check out Galadriel (Entranced) below!

Lord of the Rings ARWEN (Coronation Gown)!

Arwen in her Green Coronation Gown from Toy Biz 2004

This second figure of Arwen is not nearly as detailed as the Light Up Evenstar version reviewed earlier this week, but she certainly has her charms.  This figure was released three times in 2004.  Once as a single-packed figure, once in the Elves of Middle Earth Gift Pack and once in the Coronation Gift Pack - all from the Return of the King toy lines.  The pros to this figure are that she is in scale with the rest of the females in the line and also that she is another very good likeness to Liv Tyler.  The cons are (1) really weird slippers, (2) Slightly awkward pose, and (3) inability to stand on her own.  She actually shares an almost identical body to Galadriel (although Galadriel has a sculpted sash coming down the front of her skirts).   Galadriel is barefoot and has gigantic hands in comparison to Arwen, but somehow the body in general is much more natural on Galadriel.  All that aside, this is still a great figure that deserves a place in any LOTR collection.  On to the review!

Lord of the Rings ARWEN!

Middle-Earth's Half-Elven Noble Maiden from Toy Biz 2001

Arwen Undómiel is one of the many characters that were given more prominence in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy than they had in either the books or earlier adaptations.  In the book, she played the minor token "princess-type" role and was written out of the 1978 animated movie altogether.  But Peter Jackson saw the potential in the beautiful Liv Tyler's portrayal of Arwen and elevated her to a major character in the trilogy.  Toy Biz released this action figure right away via a 2001 deluxe box set with her horse, Asfaloth.  This same set was re-released 3 years later in 2004, with a single pack release in-between in 2003 (As a part of Fellowship of the Rings, Series 2)  I think this figure is one of the best of all the Toy Biz Middle-Earth ladies, however she is terribly out-of-scale with everyone else in the line.  The detail of the sculpt (especially her hair and the woven embellishments of her coat) are stunning.  I also don't disapprove of the integration of real cloth skirts... and I'm usually a major cloth-hater.

Lord of the Rings GALADRIEL!

Middle Earth's Lady of Light from Toy Biz 2003
 
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy produced a ton of excellent toys between 2001-2009.  The movies were epic and gave new life to many characters who shockingly had little to no merchandising before this.  I was always aware of Galadriel from the books and animated movie.  I viewed her as a voice of reason and guidance, similar to Sorceress in He-Man.  But when Cate Blanchett stepped into the role, Galadriel instantly became elevated to a goddess-like overseer.  Perhaps that is what Tolkien had intended all along, but it took Peter Jackson and Blanchett to make me see that vision.  I just saw the first installment of the new Hobbit trilogy last Friday and I am so glad to see this role reprised.. I just can't get enough of her.  Toy Biz was a pioneering company in the action figure world.  They picked up on the early success of Kenner and ran with it, pretty much dominating the 1990's and early 2000's.  Near the end of their streak (and shortly before being rebranded as Marvel Toys), they hit a second niche market for movie-based toys.  The Lord of the Rings trilogy seems to have been their most successful venture into this market by far.

The Hobbit's New Leading Lady: TAURIEL!

Two Versions of the New Elven Warrior from Bridge Direct, Inc 2012

Oooh I love a good scandal.  It's even better when it's a nerdy scandal.  Some people view the works of Tolkien to be untouchable; subjecting them to the highest levels of scrutiny and smiling smugly as the books emerge unscathed every time.  There was a mild uproar earlier this year when news broke that Evangeline Lilly was cast a "new elven character" in the upcoming The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey film. Who needs new characters in a perfect story, right?  One of the many rumors floating around was that she was added to balance out the lack of female characters in the story.  Which I could definitely see a need for.  I was secretly thrilled at her casting.. especially since she looks like she could be a sister or cousin to Liv Tyler who now epitomizes the Middle-Earth elf look for most of geek culture.  At the same time, I completely understand how adding random characters to a classic story could seriously mess things up.