The Good: Decent detailing, Interesting concept, Poseability
The Bad: Battery issues, Novelty wears off quickly, Lack of accessories
The Basics: When the Ringwraith is set on fire by Aragorn, it makes for an interesting toy, despite the inherent limitations of such an esoteric figure.
It always surprises me these days to find something I've had in my collection unreviewed. So, it was a pleasant surprise for me when I sat down this morning to write my reviews that I discovered The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring Flaming Ringwraith unreviewed; I set to evaluating the one on my shelf right away.
For those unfamiliar with the concept of this figure, the Flaming Ringwraith is not any sort of rainbow-flag waving concept figure from the The Lord Of The Rings toy line, rather this represents a crucial scene from The Fellowship Of The Ring. In The Fellowship Of The Ring (reviewed here!), at the moment it looks like the villainous Ringwraiths will overcome Frodo and his hobbit allies, Strider arrives, torch in hand to save him. Using his sword and torch, Strider forces the enemy to retreat, ultimately taking one out with a torch and setting it ablaze. The Flaming Ringwraith figure represents that moment in the film when Aragorn lit up the ringwraith.
Basics
The figure looks perfect, just like the Ghost of Christmas Future creature that was in the movie. It's pretty impressive for those of us who grew up on Star Wars figures or Masters of the Universe to see an action figure like this where the clothes are plastic, but have a great deal of flexibility to them, like rubber. Considering this is a cloaked creature, the softness of its cloak makes a big difference in terms of playability. This figure is far more flexible than any old Strawberry Shortcake or Barbie doll!
The cloaks are layered and the right side of the figure (when it is facing the player, the left side of the creature) is covered with blobs of orange plastic that represent the flames. When one touches a button on the back of the Ringwraith, the blob right below the hood lights up, as if the enemy is on fire. It's a clever enough concept and it looks pretty good, save that not all of the fire bits light up. Thus, the whole effect is somewhat irregularly applied and its instant novelty wears off quickly.
Moreover, the battery does run out, with surprisingly little use. There is a tiny battery port on the back of the figure below the activation button which is easy enough to get to given the flexibility of the layered cloaks. It does, however, require a tiny screwdriver in order to get into the port to change the battery and this, too, is not the most convenient thing. I had supposed that my figure's battery ran out of juice so quickly because I got it new originally in the store and likely hundreds of people had pressed the button. However, the fresh battery did not have impressive results in the lighting of the flames and the battery began to show signs of straining - dimming the flame - within seventy-five presses of the button.
The detailing on the cloaks and gauntlets is nothing short of amazing and it is easy to see why fans of Toy Biz would be impressed with the The Lord Of The Rings figure line, including the Flaming Ringwraith.
Accessories
The Flaming Ringwraith comes adorned in the rubbery cloaks and the rubbery flame but is only enhanced by the longsword which fits into the hard plastic scabbard on the Ringwraith's belt. Rather bafflingly, the sword is made of a similar rubbery plastic to the cloaks, making it flexible and strangely disconcerting. The detailing on the sword is good, but one wonders immediately why it was not cast in a hard plastic instead of the softer, more pliable type.
Moreover, it is disappointing that this is the only accessory to come with the figure. Where is the shortsword carried by most Nazgul as well? Why not have a flaming brand with this figure to plunge into the voluminous head cavity to make the figure make sense?
Playability
The Flaming Ringwraith is ridiculously articulated, in ways that are both impressive and pointless. With twenty-one points of articulation, this is cool for posability, at least, that is the theory. The toy has joints at the arch of the foot, ankle, calf, knee, groin socket, waist, wrists, elbow, shoulder, bicep, and fingers on both hands. The astute reader will note there is no neck articulation as this creepy adversary has no head.
The figure's joint flexibility is limited by the cut of the clothing as well. When the arms are bent upward at the elbow joint, the effect is somewhat ridiculous given the sleeves stick way out.
Moreover, the movement of the leg joints is almost completely pointless. Given that the Ringwraith is essentially wearing a big, flexible dress, the legs are still limited to the way the cloak moves. So, no matter how one bends the legs, the toy is still mostly supported by the cloak, making leg movements other than slow, purposeful, deadly stride or standing still utterly pointless. As for the mid-foot articulation, this would be a phenomenal idea for those setting their figures up for display pieces, but for the fact that the foot cannot be seen beneath the robes! Still, I suppose it's nice to have the options.
The flaming patches minorly inhibit some of the movement on the figure's left side, but let's be honest; most people purchasing these figures are not looking for playthings, but rather display pieces.
Collectibility
The Flaming Ringwraiths were released rather late in the The Lord Of The Rings toy release. Thus, despite the lingering annoyance of battery issues, the Flaming Ringwraith was fairly underproduced and still commands a decent price in the secondary market. Collectors seem to be able to make out with about $25.00 for this resculpt of one of the more common figures from the first wave of The Fellowship Of The Ring figures.
And it does have its novelty.
Overview
It is that novelty and the battery issues, this is a creatively conceived and generally well-executed toy. Despite the minor problems with poseability (though, how else are you going to pose a Ringwraith other than menacing and killing?!) and battery issues, the Flaming Ringwraith is a worthy addition to any The Lord Of The Rings collection by the quality of the sculpt and the accessories.
For other The Lord Of The Rings action figures, please check out the reviews of:
Galadriel Lady Of Light
Witchking Ringwraith
Eowyn
5/10
For other toy reviews, please visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!
© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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