“You do not know pain, you do not know fear.”
Series 4 of the Diamond Select Lord of the Rings line, released in 2022, saw the release of Uruk Hai alongside Gandalf the Grey. The Uruk Hai, like the Moria Orc, is designed as an army builder within the range coming with alternative heads and weapon options. It was a general release, available to any Diamond stockists, but was the first wave in the series to come without a build-a-figure part with that particular bonus not extending beyond the very impressive Sauron from Series 1 - 3.
The Uruk Hai is modelled after the scenes in The Fellowship of the Ring where Sauroman builds his army in Isengard. The body features the dirty and battered metal armour used by the Orcs each cast in the main as an individual piece and weathered with a top paint coat. There is also variation in the armour with the solid chest armour leading into darker painted chain mail and bracers around the arms and legs. The mark of Saurauman is applied as a white handprint painted onto the Ork’s chest armour. The exposed elements of the Uruk hai are a dirty red-brown finish with heavy dark washes to reflect their on-screen appearance.
The figure comes with two head options, providing two different looks for your Orc army. The first is a helmeted head with a top ridge and two vicious-looking side pieces that look a little bit like tusks. The helmet features an open eye slit and open mouth, behind which is a sculpted and painted Uruk Hai head with yellow snarling teeth and angry-looking eyes. Long flowing matted and dirty hair comes off the back of the head and is shaped to sit around the shoulders. The second head is unmasked, revealing the full Uruk Hai head again with the red/brown skin tone overlaid with a heavy black wash. Like the masked Orc, this version also includes detailing around the eyes and this time an open mouth with painted teeth and tongue. The heads are not easy to swap in and out and I’d use some hot water or gentle heat to prevent damaging your Orc.
Our Orc release features two pairs of hands that are similarly tricky to swap out with each slightly different in their grip to work with the accessories included. The Uruk Hai are armed with a trio of accessories. The first is a shield, cast in the same colour tone as the armour and with a larger white hand painted onto the front. Round the back is a pair of straps designed to go over the forearm of our Orc and be gripped by either hand. These straps are painted and include some nice detailing around the clasps and fixings despite never really being seen on display. The fit into the hands is extremely hard work as the hands themselves are a very hard plastic - again I’d recommend a bit of heat to open up the hands so the shield can be engaged.
There is then an Orc sword with its hooked tip blade. The is cast in the same metallic plastic with black wash and unlike the shield, lacks any further detailing with the grip the same decor as the blade. This is a touch easier to slot into either hand. Our final weapon is an impressively sized spear with a twin barbed end. It measures close to 11 inches long and includes a brown wood effect shaft, and metal end and barbs. Like the sword this fits into either hand, or both for more action-orientated shots.
The articulation on the Lord of the Rings figures has been average at best, the line focusing very much on looks and design rather than a wide range of motion. That is true here of the Uruk Hai, who does feature 16 points of articulation but limited posing range. The legs, while double-jointed at the knees, are limited at the hips. While the arms offer a bit more motion to wield any of the included weapons. The torso opens up a bit more movement with a ball joint snuck away under the armour, while the head is limited by the shape of the hair on both head sculpts - preventing movement to the side in particular. While the figure is nowhere near as wide-ranging as a Black Series or Marvel Legends, there is sufficient to pose the figure looking menacing with each of the included weapons.
The Uruk Hai is another strong-looking release in Diamond’s Lord of the Rings series with an obvious increase in quality as the line matures. You do sacrifice a lot of articulation for the aesthetics of the figure, but the Orc certainly looks the part with the way the armour has been executed and the deep red dirty Ork skin tones as a contrast beneath. The prices of these Select figures are creeping up with this Series 4 offerings hitting £29.99 even without the build-a-figure part. However, for this release in particular the contents are more than sufficient with the additional head and various weapons to allow some level of army building.
Keep Track of all the Lord of the Rings figures from Diamond Select at our comprehensive
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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...