2003 UK TOYFAIR
-- Special Thanks to Dragonspy Dean --

The 2003 UK Toyfair presented a lot of valuable information. Several comanies presented new and some not so new stuff for enthusiastic retailers and fans alike. Toybiz, Play Along Toys, and Sideshow/WETA were among those presenting Lord of the Rings merchandise for public offering. With that said...let check out what was shown:

Sideshow/WETA: There presentation was was limited, but still impressive. At the show, they revealed some upcoming exclusives including the "Get Off the Road" wall plaque, the "No Admittance" Bag End Book Ends with Bilbo and Gandalf the Grey as well some of the Two Towers Bust offerings. The Wormtongue bust was suspisciously missing, but the packaging was present to calm fears of cancellation. Looks like we will have some great products coming over the next few years from Sideshow/WETA.

Play Along Toys: A new line of smaller scale figures will be coming from Play Along Toys. While details are sketchy as to their affiliations, the line looks quite promising. The detail on the figures looks amazing and the scale is small enough to warrant tons of Deluxe Playsets.

The playsets coming include but are not limited to the following: Orc Ballista (listed as Orc Battering Raw), Orc Battering Raw (should read Ram), Saruman's Chamber, Deluxe Helm's Deep, and the Gandalf and Balrog Playset.

Balrog	Helms Deep	Ballista

Battering Ram	Saruman's Chamber	Saruman's Chamber

 

"Action" figures coming as part of this smaller scale line include (but not limited to) Gollum, Frodo, Samwise, Merry, Pippin, Eomer, Eowyn, Gandalf the White with Shadowfax, Ringwratih and Steed, Warg and Rider, Lurtz, Wormtongue, Saruman, Moria Orc, Rohirrim Soldier, Uruk Soldiers (looks like several of these and all different), Boromir, Aragorn, and several Unmounted Ringwraiths. More sure to come...

Horse and Rider Sets	Warg and Rider	Ringwraith and Steed	Gandalf and Shadowfax
Figures 1	Figures 2	Figures 3	Gollum

The Play Along Toy offerings should be in a 2"-3" scale depending on the figure itself wether Hobbit or Human size character. This should be a welcome line for those interested in something with what looks like incredible detail but not quite so big. Articulation looks to be very limited. Perhaps some shoulder or neck articulation at best for most of the figures. The statuesque look of the horse and rider sets, while lookng impressive, may not lend itself weel to playability.

TOYBIZ: Toybiz surprised as expected with some NEW offerings. While there were several items shown that were know to be coming, it was nice to see the actual items on display rather than see prototype photos. 6" Action Figures that were shown included items from their Two Towers Series 3 including Galadriel, Prolog Elf, Twilight Ringwraith, and Helm's Deep Aragorn. Missing from the show was the already released Frodo with Light-up Sting figure. They also showed Series 5 figures (which are all re-packs of "bad guys") including Rinrwaith (cloth robed version from Horse pack), Grishnakh (from twin pack), Ugluk (from twin pack), Moria Orc (from twin pack), and Berserker Uruk-hai (from twin pack).

Aragorn	Prolog Elf	Galadriel	Twilight Ringwraith

Gollum	Mordor Samwise	Armored Theoden

 

As a surprise, Toybiz revealed some upcoming figures from their 6" Series 6 figures for The Two Towers line including EOWYN and PROLOG BILBO BAGGINS. In addition, they revealed their upcoming ELECTRONIC 11" GOLLUM figure. the details about this figure remain sketchy and perhaps we will learn more at the NY Toyfair (16 - 20 Feb 03). Not sure if the figure is 11" tall (which would be out of scale with their 12" line of figures) or if it will be in scale with the rest of the 12" line. Best guess is that it will be part of the 12" line.

Eowyn and Prolog Bilbo	11" Electronic Gollum

TOYBIZ DELUXE BALROG INFORMATION: According to Dean, who spoke to Vivid Imaginations (the UK Distributer of Toybiz product), the Balrog Figure will not be released to the public. Not sure if this means the figure will not be released in the UK, not released RIGHT NOW (like maybe it will be released at the NY Toyfair), or what exactly the statement meant...but nonetheless, it doesn't look good for our beloved Deluxe Balrog that we have fought so hard for. Perhaps it will be made as an exclusive, which still remains an option for Toybiz.

Go check out Dean's Site for more information and some awesome action figure pictures and details: The Duck's Realm