After well over one year of waiting since placing my pre-order, my Aragorn at the Black Gates statue from Sideshow finally arrived in my hands today.
Though quality has been a bit mixed in the past, I must say I am quite pleased with my final purchase in this line of LOTR collectibles. The box is positively massive, roughly on the same scale of the Sauron statue box (if you own that one,) and subsquently the statue inside is equally large and impressive. Like Sauron, you get some appreciation for where your money went. While the sculptures have been unequivocably exquisite in the past, where Sideshow has let us down once in a while has been the paint job. Preview photos of the demo model certainly looked good on the website, but as we've seen in the past, once they start to produce these things en masse, the final product doesn't always measure up.
Well, I'm happy to say that, at least for my particular statue, the quality of the paint job is excellent. The level of detail is remarkable, and the colours equally vivid and subdued where required. Aragorn's armour in particular looks very good, with the chainmail looking just like metal, and the steel pauldrons and greaves painted in nice, dark metallic tones. Anduril's scabbard and the Elven Hunting Knife look perfect and just like UC's versions. Brego looks awesome too, and I couldn't find anywhere that they went wrong, including the mud splashes on the hooves and Aragorn's boots. To round things up, I got number 80 of 5000, which is my lowest numbered Sideshow product ever.
Of course, nothing is ever perfect and I do have a couple of complaints. First, the little rubber feet under the base must be uneven because the statue wobbles slightly when placed on a flat surface. I tried different shelves and tables and the result was always the same. The odd part is that looking at them, the feet all look the same size. Next comes where Brego attaches to the base with one of his front hooves. The fit is not perfect, leaving a small gap between the base and the ground-with-hoove part that fits into the slot on the base. Lastly, and perhaps by biggest disappointment, is Anduril itself. In the past, Sideshow usually molded their character weapons in polystone also, though obviously a much thinner material than the rest of the sculptures. For some reason, on the Anduril blade they opted for what looks like mere plastic, so while the sword 'looks' ok, it's very bendy and feels toy-like to the touch. My guess is that they wanted to minimize the chance of breakage in shipping since it is a very long sword, but I must say I'm not impressed with their solution. Sadly, the pommel for Anduril *is* made of polystone and is not correctly aligned with the blade, so it looks slightly bent as it comes out the underside of Aragorn's grip. No amount of careful and tentative bending on my part is going to fix this, and I dare not apply more force.
Overall, and despite all that, I am still quite happy with my purchase, and just know it is going to make a fine display alongside Noble's Elessar Crown and Danbury's Minas Tirith (when it comes out.)
Re: Aragorn at the Black Gates
2Wow, over a year of waiting. I'm glad then, that for the most part, it was worth it. While it came with a couple of flaws, it's good that they are not nearly as glaring as they could have been.
Nice low number too I always hoped that one of my limited edition UC products would have the 00 before the number, but 10 pieces later, it still hasn't happened
So, er, might I be so bold as to request pictures? Having read the catalogue-sized list of Lord of the Rings products you've got, your home must look like a museum! Of course you're not obliged to show me anything, since afterall, it is your home. Still, it would be nice, and wonderful to behold I'm sure
Nice low number too I always hoped that one of my limited edition UC products would have the 00 before the number, but 10 pieces later, it still hasn't happened
So, er, might I be so bold as to request pictures? Having read the catalogue-sized list of Lord of the Rings products you've got, your home must look like a museum! Of course you're not obliged to show me anything, since afterall, it is your home. Still, it would be nice, and wonderful to behold I'm sure
Re: Aragorn at the Black Gates
3I believe Val has in fact commented in past posts that his home looks like a museum.
I too would love to see pix of this Aragorn statue. It boggles my mind that it was on order for over a year!
I too would love to see pix of this Aragorn statue. It boggles my mind that it was on order for over a year!
"Olorin I was in the West that is forgotten...."
Re: Aragorn at the Black Gates
4I opted not to post photos because for a change, this statue actually looks just like the one they advertised on their site. However, I don't mind doing it, and it will allow me to show the flaws I was talking about.
Olorin, you're surprised this took over a year between pre-order and delivery? I know you have the Sauron statue, and I had to wait just as long for that one... didn't you? I recall it went into Sold Out status very shortly after I ordered it (Sauron,) and that was well over a year before it was finally delivered. The same thing was true for Aragorn.
Going to throw the camera batteries on the charger now, so pics will be forthcoming later today at some point.
Olorin, you're surprised this took over a year between pre-order and delivery? I know you have the Sauron statue, and I had to wait just as long for that one... didn't you? I recall it went into Sold Out status very shortly after I ordered it (Sauron,) and that was well over a year before it was finally delivered. The same thing was true for Aragorn.
Going to throw the camera batteries on the charger now, so pics will be forthcoming later today at some point.
Re: Aragorn at the Black Gates
5I guess I'd forgotten.Valkrist wrote:Olorin, you're surprised this took over a year between pre-order and delivery? I know you have the Sauron statue, and I had to wait just as long for that one... didn't you?
"Olorin I was in the West that is forgotten...."
Re: Aragorn at the Black Gates
6By request, photos here:
photopost/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/303
Enjoy.
PS. Flame, I'll work on posting some pics of my other stuff soon.
photopost/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/303
Enjoy.
PS. Flame, I'll work on posting some pics of my other stuff soon.
Re: Aragorn at the Black Gates
7I'm STUNNED. Sideshow finally got one right. OK, his beard is too red, but that's a small nit to pick, considering their track record.
"Olorin I was in the West that is forgotten...."
Re: Aragorn at the Black Gates
8lol... are you stunned because you actually think it's a nice statue, or stunned simply because they did a good job on the paint?
Re: Aragorn at the Black Gates
9Thank you kindly, sir! I can't wait.
And great pictures of this figure. It looks very nice indeed.
And great pictures of this figure. It looks very nice indeed.
Re: Aragorn at the Black Gates
10Stunned because they did a good job on the paint. The statues themselves have always been good.Valkrist wrote:lol... are you stunned because you actually think it's a nice statue, or stunned simply because they did a good job on the paint?
I finally have an e xp lanation. One person paints ALL of these. They do a good job on the earlier ones (yours was #80), but by the time they get up into the thousands, they're sick to death of it and just splat a little paint on it and move on to the next one. That only one person does all of them also e xp lains why it takes a year to get the thing out.
"Olorin I was in the West that is forgotten...."
Re: Aragorn at the Black Gates
11Yikes, I'd hate to be that poor overworked guy. I hope he gets about $100 an hour then.
Ok, I've posted more pics of other things in my collection. Either click the link in this thread, go to the gallery directly, or check out the new thread in the Collection sub-section.
Ok, I've posted more pics of other things in my collection. Either click the link in this thread, go to the gallery directly, or check out the new thread in the Collection sub-section.
Re: Aragorn at the Black Gates
12Where's the link?Valkrist wrote:Either click the link in this thread, go to the gallery directly, or check out the new thread in the Collection sub-section.
"Olorin I was in the West that is forgotten...."
Re: Aragorn at the Black Gates
13Nice piece Valkrist! It does look like quite an exquisite item. Congrats on finally getting it! So what's next on your waiting list?
Re: Aragorn at the Black Gates
14Olorin1 wrote:Where's the link?
Up above... the same one that led to the pics of Aragorn.
Thanks, Jash. What's next? Glamdring scabbard, Noble's Elessar Crown, Elven Shield, or Danbury's Minas Tirith.
Re: Aragorn at the Black Gates
15D'OHH!! OK, I guess I should have been looking back in the thread instead of in the post.Valkrist wrote:Up above... the same one that led to the pics of Aragorn.
"Olorin I was in the West that is forgotten...."
Re: Aragorn at the Black Gates
16I was disappointed in the platic blade and PVC parts, like the horse neck banners, but overall I loved this statue. One of the better ones.
KRDS