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Sméagol (Stoor Fisherman)

August 17, 2015 | By Errex More

Back in 2004, Toy Biz took a page from Hasbro’s playbook and started to produce action figures from characters seen only briefly in the Lord of the Rings movies.

One such occurrence is precisely the subject of today’s review, Sméagol (Stoor Fisherman). This version of the Pre-Gollum hobbit was seen at the start of Return of the King, as the movie depicts how he came into possession of the One Ring and his eventual downfall into darkness.

This figure is Sméagol just after he gains possession of the ring, as evidenced by the unnerving expression sculpted on his face, which is a remarkable likeness to actor Andy Serkiss.

Sméagol is depicted wearing pants and tunic, sculpted to look rather rustic and frayed around the edges. The overall level of sculpted detail is quite satisfying and one of the selling points of this figure, prominently stated in the package, was that it was Super-Poseable, which in the Toy Biz days meant:

• Barbell mounted head.

• Pin & disk shoulders.

• Mid-biceps swivels.

• Hinged elbows.

• Forearm swivels.

• Swivel waist.

• Pin & disk hips.

• Hinged knees.

• Calf swivels.

• Hinged ankles.

• Hinged toes.

Now, despite the respectable number of articulation points, truth is this Sméagol has definite limitations regarding his posing options.

This stoor fisherman was sculpted with a slight hunch, and the neck joint works only as a swivel, thus preventing him from ever looking up.

Also, his hands are sculpted in very specific poses, the left one holding the One Ring onto the half-open palm and the right one in what I can only describe as a “Come at me, bro” gesture.

The color palette on Sméagol is rather limited in their depiction of dark green clothes smeared with river mud. This effect is well replicated onto the figure, but I find that the paint applications on the face are way too clean by comparison.

Sméagol comes with no extra accessory, which cuts down on the overall value of the figure, but since I got it fairly cheap it wasn’t much of an issue. In the end, I think this is an interesting figure to have, even if the actual design is not quite up to modern action figure standards.