Gandalf the Grey, as seen in Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, was half of the 4th wave of Lord of the Rings figures from Diamond Select. He was released in 2022 and was the first release not to include a BAF part after that program seen in Wave 1-3 to build a Sauron figure was not continued into this subsequent wave. The packaging for Gandalf remained consistent with the rest of the line to date and is very generic in design and the only character specifics are the character name to the bottom right of the box.
In hand, Gandalf is a hefty figure in terms of weight and is one of the more accurate sculpts in the line to date. The likeness to Sir Ian McKellen is fantastic and enhanced by a more in-depth paint job adding definition to the skin tone and detail to the eyes and mouth. The flowing hair and beard are also well executed with a base of white overlaid with a darker wash to bring out more detailing.
Diamond has always done a great job of the costume details, and Gandalf is no exception with a textured set of inner robes tied with a sculpted brown belt onto which hangs his scabbard. Like the Ring Wraith, the loose sleeves of Gandalf’s robes are sculpted to hang down when the arms are by his side, they can start to look a little odd when the arms are extended. We then have an outer cloak that also features a sack-cloth texture and is sculpted in a hard plastic to wrap around his shoulders and flow out behind him. Beneath the robes, you can see a sculpted pair of trousers and a detailed pair of laced-up boots.
Gandalf’s hat is removable and is cast in a softer plastic, but it lacks a lot of play and only props on the head rather than being soft enough to secure around the head. You are therefore relying on gravity to hold it in place. Being a harder cast piece you can get Gandalf to hold the hat, which is a bonus feature. It is a slightly different grey to the outfit and this is reasonably accurate to the movie although the shade of grey variance between the robes and hat should be more subtle.
All good so far? Then we hit the accessories and articulation. Gandalf comes with his staff which is another wonderfully detailed piece with wooden twisted detailing through to the upper knot. It is just a pity Gandalf cannot hold it too well as despite being provided with alternative hands, the sleeves of the costume stop the staff from being held fully. You can do a couple of poses by rotating the hands, but having him use the staff for support as he does during the movie relies more on ‘propping’ it against the hand than it actually being held - it looks like Diamond had to use the same approach in the promo shots for the figure. The same issue applies to Glamdring which arrives in its scabbard on the figure but can be removed. It too is glorious in execution but struggles to go in any of the supplied hands in a natural position
The final piece is his bag which is an individual piece with a flexible rubberised strap. It should sit snugly on his left-hand side but the hard plastic of the outer cloak does make this difficult and you do have to work to get this under the hair to hold it in place. It probably would have been easier to assemble the figure with this already in place under the outer cloak, or even sculpted as part of the figure itself. Like a number of these LOTR figures from Diamond, it feels like one team designed the figure, and another the accessories and they don't appear to have come together to see how the two interact.
I don't expect a hugely articulated figure from Diamond, they are more focused on design and aesthetics. Aside from the issues interacting with the accessories, Gandalf has the usual DST complement of 16 points of articulation with single joints at the knees and elbows. These are very stiff on arrival and have limited motion right through, hampered further by the robes and in the head’s case the hair and beard. Don’t expect your DST Gandalf to be recreating the “You shall not pass” scene with any degree of accuracy. There is sufficient articulation to have him stand - and he is quite stable with no looseness in the hips as is often the case - and the main movement is driven solely in the arms.
Gandalf brings our Fellowship count to six and of course, we have Boromir on the way to bring this to seven - hopefully, they will get to Merry & Pippin fairly soon. The line is very much based on aesthetics and not wide-ranging articulation and Gandalf certainly looks the part from the head sculpt through to the costume, cloak, and accessories. The interaction with the accessories is disappointing, I would have liked enough movement and design to allow Gandalf to hold his staff fully, and to wield his sword. I would also have liked a snugger fit on the hat, and the satchel - but I can work round these and for anyone with a high-traffic area near their display, blu tack is your friend!
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...