Well, it sure pays to be curious sometimes. In the latest Sideshow Newsletter, there was a link to a small photo guide on how to assemble your Sauron statue. At first I thought to myself "what kind of fool would have problems with that?!?" but then decided to check it out anyway, if only to compare the paintjob in the photos to mine.

As it turns out, it looks like I was the fool after all. I don't know about you guys, but I never noticed that there are two tiny little spurs to be attached to the back of Sauron's boots. They are wrapped in paper and stuck to a larger wrapping and thus are very easily missed if you don't know to look for them. Good thing I didn't throw anything out, and following the photos, I went back and retrieved the two spurs from the box and they are now attached to the statue.

:rolleyes_

http://www.sideshowtoy.com/cgi-bin/cate ... 093005news

Personally, I thought they should have included instructions in the box, because I found the spurs right away, and spent a minute or so thinking "what the f*** are these?" I thought on it, and since Sauron had all his fingers, that they must have been spurs. Then it was, do they go up or down? I picked what I thought looked right (can't remember now what that was).

I included the link at the bottom of my original post, if you want to look. I began to put the spurs in upside down, but then took a closer look at the picture and corrected my error. The spikes are supposed to point upward.

Yes, I looked. I thought it was a little hard to tell from the picture--the person's fingers fairly obscured the bitsy things. I also just took a peak at my statue--I managed to put them in correctly.

I also got kick out of the instructions, indicating you should install the left spur then the right spur (or vice versa). Like a person could tell which was which!

Actually, I noticed that both spurs only have the mud-spatter effect on one side (one on the right, and one on the left,) therefore I opted to put that side facing outward, as it made the most sense. :p

I just got mine yesterday. It was in perfect condition and low #0087.

I thought it was odd that there were no instructions in the box, but after fiddling around for a few minutes I fugured out where those two small parts went. Word of warning, glue your Sauron head on, don't just press fit. Mine did not seat perfectly, fell off one day, and I spent about an hour gluing and painting the spikes back together. The paint job could have been better, and it would have been nice if the helm was shaped correctly (see UC's helm replica for the correct shape), but this is an awsome statue anyway.

The Aragorn at the Black Gates is superb as well.

I spent months deciding if i wanted Sauron's Gauntlet or this Sideshow piece. I finally decided upon the Dark Lord Statue...and now, after having it for a few days, have no regrets whatsoever. Firstly, i was amazed as to the weight of the thing as i took it out of the box! I knew it was considered to be "heavy" for even shipping terms...but still...wow. I agree with Mr. Rae, the paint job is not perfect, but it is still an excellent centrepiece nonetheless. I am so impressed as to the detail and quality of these pieces, i'm contemplating getting a few more...