Toy Vault's Middle Earth Toys line only ran from 1998 through 2000 and while they didn't get to many characters from J.R.R. Tolkien's masterpiece, they did release toys in multiple sizes. The line had some pretty good internal scaling and Toy Vault's takes on Gollum (and Smeagol) were suitably smaller than most other figures in the line. They also capture a very creepy depiction of Gollum! Toy Vault released four different versions of Gollum (or Smeagol) and while this one, Gollum the Fisherman, has a quote from The Two Towers on the package, it always makes me think of Gollum when Bilbo meets him in The Hobbit. Toy Vault only had the rights for The Lord of the Rings and not The Hobbit, though, but apparently they didn't realize that at first, so some lineups had to be changed. This past year I was able to accomplish one of the things I've most looked forward to which was reading the The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings to my daughter and then watching the films with her, so now the series is even more special to me. It's a shame that Toy Vault never had the chance to really go far with this line as it was just a wonderfully unusual collection that emerged during the time when companies were realizing that collectors could support toylines and the direct market was becoming a legitimate means of distribution. Ready for a look at Gollum the Fisherman? Then keep a sharp look out, hold on to your precious, and join me after the break...
The Facts:
Height: 3 3/8ths inches
Articulation: Swivel ankles, hinged knees, swivel hips, , swivel shoulders, hinged elbows, and a swivel neck.
Accessories: Boat, half-eaten fish, and a stand.
Year of Release: 1999
The Positives:
* I absolutely love this take on Gollum. Sculpted by Daniel Horne, this figure manages to capture the character's dichotomous nature as he is both frightening but also pitiable. Toy Vault released four variants of Gollum; two with green skin and two with paler, peach-toned skin. I really like the green color used here. I know Gollum was one a Hobbit of sorts (or Hobbit-like), but the greenish color does seem to make him seem more unhealthy and aged, like he's become just another one of the squirming, slimy creatures living a squalid existence deep beneath the Misty Mountains. The texture and paint really highlights all of Gollum's warts and growths, also enhancing his underfed frame.
* The portrait is excellent and making it uneven is a great way of showing the split between the personalities of Gollum and Smeagol. He's at once both watchful and perceptive, looking to protect himself from harm while also seeking an opportunity to cause it. His bulbous eyes are excellent and look like they're going to move at any moment. His features are exaggerated and corrupted from what they once were.
* From the back you can see how both the paint and the sculpt show off Gollum's spine, which seems like it's contorted and more visible than it should be, as if his skin is becoming slightly transparent in places. Gollum isn't aging gracefully like dear old Bilbo did during his time with the One Ring. Instead, he's clinging on to life while still wasting away.
* Smeagol was once a Stoor, something of a river Hobbit. The Hobbits we are most familiar with don't much care for water, but Smeagol was accustomed to it. Perhaps that's why he has webbed feet, or perhaps that's something that he has developed over ages with the ring. Long, extended fingers perfect for throttling his prey and amphibian-like feet perfect for paddling through the water definitely show how different he is from the other Hobbits.
* Gollum is a rather small figure at just a bit over 3 inches but he does have a nice amount of articulation. Balljoints weren't terribly common at the time so he doesn't have any here; just a decent amount of swivel joints and hinges for his elbows and knees. With eleven joints, he was definitely more articulated than most mass market figures of the time, and he holds up pretty well. His limbs are thin, sure, but they don't seem overly brittle. I've had Gollum for a decent amount of time (probably a little over 15 years) and he's still holding up well and looks good sneaking around.
* The presence of Gollum's boat definitely shows the inspiration this figure takes from
The Hobbit as that's the only place where I can recall him using a simple, primitive boat like this. It looks really impressive with a woodgrain texture and a great paintjob to sell the effect. It definitely looks like something Gollum made himself from a bit of old wood he stumbled across.
* He fits in it quite well. I mean, he's supposed to be kind of hanging out of it, using his hands and feet to propel himself, so the size and fit seems right. I just love the look of Gollum in this boat!
* What else does Gollum come with? How about a fish, so juicy sweet? This fish has pale, bulbous eyes and a bite taken out of it with some blood smeared on the sides of it's scales. Juicy.
* Through the third series of figures, most releases came with a display stand that had a part of a map of Middle Earth on it. Gollum's piece has the region of Rhudaur highlighted, a kingdom on the eastern side of the Misty Mountains and Northwest of Rivendell. It's where the Stoor Hobbits descend from, so there is a Gollum connection there.
* The other side has a foot peg for keeping a figure standing.
The Negatives:
* Too bad Gollum doesn't have a peg hole in his feet. His boat doesn't, either, so the stand doesn't really do a lot for him.
* I love Gollum's crazy long fingers and his half-eaten fish; it's just too bad that he can't really hold it that well. You can kind of wedge it between his fingers but it's not going to stay very well.
While I absolutely love Peter Jackson's film adaptations of
The Lord of the Rings (and a good bit of
The Hobbit) and I certainly have a decent sized collection of figures and such based on the films, I really like what Toy Vault was doing with this line and I wish another company would someday attempt to depict Tolkien's world in action figure form in a unique visual style that borrows from great Tolkien artists who were working prior to the release of the films. Gollum is one of my favorites from this line and is a Great and a 1/2 figure. Most of these figures can be had for still low prices these days, making them a curiosity for fans of Middle Earth and the direct to market toylines of the late 1990s and very early 2000s.
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