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The Balrog Blues
Aug. 27th, 2006 09:59 pmSo about a year ago, I ordered NECA's in-scale Balrog model. It looked super-sweet in the catalog, and NECA is known for putting out top quality figures. I've wanted a Balrog for years, long before Peter Jackson's movies came out. And it's to scale with the current figure line? Can you say, "bitchin'?" Yes, I believe you can.
And believe me, when he came in this week after several months of delays, I was a happy fangirl. It looked just as good as promised; the detail was perfect. He is 29" tall and 42" wide. I had to attach his wings and tail myself, and that was fairly easy, for the most part. His flame crest lights up and he growls when you press a button on his back...a feature I could have done without, to be honest. It adds weight to an already top-heavy fig (more on that below), and the "ain't it nifty" factor wears off quickly. And it wasn't in the original description. NECA has a bad habit of that; my 29" tall Lord of Darkness came in and had motion-activated voice tracks. I probably wouldn't have ordered him if the talking bit had been in the original solicitation, just because I find such features cheesy, as a whole.
So he's articulated at wrists,elbows, neck and waist. All good. He's also articulated at hips and "knees". Not so good. The only way to balance him is to place most of the weight on his tail...but the tail is roto-cast in two pieces (ie not solid), something I didn't realize when i set him up. So I come home yesterday to find the tail had given way enough so that he could no longer be supported by it. The "knee" joints are so loose, they will not stay in line with the thigh, so his legs splay at an odd angle. He is so Top heavy, that even WITHOUT the wings, it's almost impossible to get him to stand up on a smooth surface. And the only display space I have large enough to keep him on is wood.
Currently, the $100 Balrog figure is resting on my spare bed, wingless and whipless. I am not a happy fangirl at the moment. It doesn't seem to be a defect, per se, just a design flaw. Everyone on the boards seems to be having the same problem, to varying degrees. I think I am going to have to find the "perfect postion" and then glue the leg joints in place. I will be writing to NECA about it; I really think that had they simply made the tail a solid piece so it could help support the figures weight, and left out some of the articulation, it wouldn't have near so many balance issues.
Still, it's impressive and I'm glad I bought it. It is one of the largest, if not THE largest action figures ever made. It just needed a bit more fine-tuning.
And believe me, when he came in this week after several months of delays, I was a happy fangirl. It looked just as good as promised; the detail was perfect. He is 29" tall and 42" wide. I had to attach his wings and tail myself, and that was fairly easy, for the most part. His flame crest lights up and he growls when you press a button on his back...a feature I could have done without, to be honest. It adds weight to an already top-heavy fig (more on that below), and the "ain't it nifty" factor wears off quickly. And it wasn't in the original description. NECA has a bad habit of that; my 29" tall Lord of Darkness came in and had motion-activated voice tracks. I probably wouldn't have ordered him if the talking bit had been in the original solicitation, just because I find such features cheesy, as a whole.
So he's articulated at wrists,elbows, neck and waist. All good. He's also articulated at hips and "knees". Not so good. The only way to balance him is to place most of the weight on his tail...but the tail is roto-cast in two pieces (ie not solid), something I didn't realize when i set him up. So I come home yesterday to find the tail had given way enough so that he could no longer be supported by it. The "knee" joints are so loose, they will not stay in line with the thigh, so his legs splay at an odd angle. He is so Top heavy, that even WITHOUT the wings, it's almost impossible to get him to stand up on a smooth surface. And the only display space I have large enough to keep him on is wood.
Currently, the $100 Balrog figure is resting on my spare bed, wingless and whipless. I am not a happy fangirl at the moment. It doesn't seem to be a defect, per se, just a design flaw. Everyone on the boards seems to be having the same problem, to varying degrees. I think I am going to have to find the "perfect postion" and then glue the leg joints in place. I will be writing to NECA about it; I really think that had they simply made the tail a solid piece so it could help support the figures weight, and left out some of the articulation, it wouldn't have near so many balance issues.
Still, it's impressive and I'm glad I bought it. It is one of the largest, if not THE largest action figures ever made. It just needed a bit more fine-tuning.
