Tauriel (6 inch)
Since The Bridge Direct delayed the release of the second wave of 4-inch action figures for The Hobbit, I went back and tracked a few of the 6-inch ones. The one I’ll be reviewing today is Tauriel.
As you’d expect, the costume is the same we got in the smaller scale version, but this time it is much more evident that the larger size does offer a more versatile canvass to work with.
The level of detail is not necessarily that much more than what was present on the 4-inch Tauriel, but the sculpted textures on her outfit and hair are much tighter. Also, the likeness to Ms. Evangeline Lily is much more evident in the larger format.
Tauriel comes off as being rather short for a 6-inch scale action figure, even though Ms. Lily is supposed to be about 5.41 feet in height. The relative scale seems correct if Tauriel stands next to hobbits or dwarves, but I don’t think she is supposed to be that much shorter compared to humans.
Articulation is very similar to that of the small-scale figure, with almost the same restrictions stemming from the costume design. Tauriel has:
• Barbell mounted head.
• Pegged hinge shoulders.
• Pegged hinge elbows.
• Swivel wrists.
• Swivel waist.
• Pegged hinge hips.
• Pegged hinge knees.
• Pegged hinge ankles.
With the exception of the arm and lower leg articulation, the rest of the joints all have the movement ranges reduced by one reason or another. The neck joint is limited by the gigantic hair sculpt, the waist by the lower edge of her corselet and especially the hips by the rather narrow rubber skirt piece.
Tauriel is left with a fairly reduced amount of posing options, although she still has enough for subtly nuanced stances, nothing too extreme or particularly dynamic.
The paintjob on Tauriel is good, but not spectacular. The most remarkable bits are the painted decoration on her greaves and the neatly applied face paint, even though I do feel she came off way too pale.
Shading washes in the appropriate hues enhanced most of the textures on her hair and costume, and her accessories were decorated with shades of red, brown and copper.
Tauriel comes armed with a nicely detailed bow, a removable quiver, half a dozen arrows and a pair of long knives. The quiver barely has space to fit in all the arrows, but fidgeting a little with them, it is possible to have Tauriel carry her blades in there too.
Overall, I think this version of Tauriel turned out to be a pretty decent action figure. It is not that much of an improvement over the smaller scale in terms of articulation, but the sculpture does take advantage of the larger format and I found the accessories to be particularly well thought-out.
Errex Score: 88/100
Category: Featured, The Hobbit & LOTR, Toy Reviews