Packaging..........
External: The external shipping container is standard for Sideshow/WETA...sturdy, large, and durable enough to withstand the consistent shaking, bouncing, and abuse received throughout the shipping process. The box is wuite large, with wnough foam insulation to protect even the most fragile of parts. The statue is a pretty hefty 10 lbs as wlel...so it is likely prone to abuse and shifting throughout shipment. The packaging that Sideshow uses is very well done and the statue arrived safely with absolutely NO DAMAGE. The statue itself is featured on both the front and rear of the packaging which is another standard practice for the Sideshow/WETA Lord of the Rings Statues. The background artowkr is from Return of the King, appropriate for this figure since he made his appearance during that movie. Sufficient protection and nice packaging...just the beginning to an ass-kickin statue!
Internal: Upon opening the box, we see the standard and proven Sideshow/WETA clambshell styled styrofoam casing holding the statue in place and keeping everything from shifting around during shipment. This is a typical practice and has abviously been proven to work. The statue arrived in perfect shape with out so much as a scratch. The fragile robes and small parts made is perfectly from the Warehouse to my doorstep! The clambshell packaging is cheap, sturdy, and lightweight...a perfect method to protect even the most fragile statue!
Unpacking: It was pretty simple to unpack the statue. The only care needed is removing the statue from the styrofoam without breaking anything fragile like the flowing robes. If you get a good hold on the torso without touching the robes, the statue comes out nicely. The statue is alreay mounted to the base as well, so setting it down is simply getting it out of the box and setting it up. Piece of cake and a very sturdy statue once standing. The sword is packaged separately and fits nicely into the hole on the right hand of the King!
Molding/Sculpt..........
The Overall Sculpt: The scupt is awesome. It was done by the same sculptor who did the Uruk-hai Scout (also reviewed here at TheGD.com) ...and once again, he did a superior job getting the details just right. The key for this figure was to make it not oly look like the movie character, but to give the DEAD figure LIFE. The eyes look glazed over as expected for a long dead king. The robes are simply magnificent. They flow nicely with the pivoting action of the pose and they are detailed as well. The small sculpting details in the cloak look very kingly, while the holes and worn ends look quite old and unkept. A superb job of sculpting from one of Sideshow/WETA's finest!
The Details: Sideshow/WETA and Gary Hunt added some excruciating details to this figure. From the accessories (Bow, Quiver, and Sword), to the armor, to the facial sculpting and on to the detail included in the hair. The belt buckles all over the statue are detailed to perfection and actually look like real buckles that are holding the armor in place. The detail on the face are great. The open mouth screaming nature of the face is captured as the Uruk-hai ROARS. The teeth are grimy and dirty and the eyes have the yellor tint we have come to love with the Uruk-hai! Don't forget the detail on the bow...what a cool, detailed bonus for this figure!!
Display Base: This display base is a fairly standard base used by Sideshow/WETA. The one difference that we noticed is that the King of the Dead is attached to the statue within the styrofoam clambshell. Not something we have seen before in their statue line of figures. We are under the assumption that the statue is NOT removable from the base...and we didn't try either...for fear of breaking the statue. The map engraving on the base is again a great little added detail for the statue that the folks at Sideshow/WETA like to add. Would have been very cool to have some skulls or rocks on the base though...a minor drawback, but it would have added some great detail to the overall impression of the King of the Dead!!
Paint Application..........
The Paint Scheme: The application of the paint is very cool. This is an unusual statue in that the character from the movie was basically a ghostly apparition. It was very difficult to make out exact colors based on the movie. Sideshow/WETA obviously has access to tall the production stills and everything along those lines, but the sheer amount of attention spent in painting this sucker and getting the details right is quite impressive. While a couple of the colors may have a slight tone variation or brightness variation, the overall depiction looks much like what you would expect if crossed paths with the King of the Dead in a dark alley! The armor simply looks OLD and the cloak and helm look...for lack of a better word...very VINTAGE! The slight color changes on the cloak and the inner robes are impressive and shows the attention to detail that Sideshow/WETA paid in creating this statue! The only slight changes that coule have been offered were to make the face and hands a bit more DEAD looking...but without having that apparition appearance in the polystone...this would have been very difficult. They did an outstanding job nonetheless.
The Accessories..........
The Sword of a King: The lone accessory for this statue is the shaft of the sword that he bears against Aragorn in the Paths of the Dead. The sword is very old and has noticable aging on the hilt and the blade. The folks at Sideshow/WETA did an awesome job capturing the King of the Dead's Blade and an even better job of packaging it to prevent damage. Once inserted into the small hol in the hilt, the sword comes to life and the joint is hardly noticed. There is no noticable wiggle when the sword is in place and the statue can be moved without the sword falling out...you should still be careful, and probably remove the sword before moving the statue, but you can move it noentheless.
OVERALL..........
The Statue of the King of the Dead is definitely one of the more impressive statue created by the team at Sideshow/WETA and a must have in your Lord of the Rings collection. It is amazing to me that this statue has not sold out as of this review. The statue is impressive to look at, standa out among those pieces in your collection, and is very reasonable priced at the current Second Chance offering of $175. If you have the King of the Dead in your collection...consider yourself on of the lucky few to have the satisfaction of enjoying once of the more colorful characters in Return of the King. Better get on over to the Sideshow/WETA site NOW and get yours on order before they sell out!
