I love the eagles... and at £15 a head, they are like the cave troll years ago.
However, the whole flavour of the film, leaves an insipid taste in my mouth. I really hate the films, and a lot of the designs are completely the opposite to my imagining.
Azog is a cool concept poorly executed, the model is too small for starters and very underwhelming.
Beorn...horrible models the 3 of them... facial hair, lack of muscle definition, 80s hair cut and boots.
Goblins are ok... their king is a very boring model as far as I am concerned.
HUnter orcs remind me of a bunch of poorly hairstyled bodybuilders on partially flayed wolves.
Rivendell knights: cool models, lovely detail I could do with owning some. However the captain model is reminiscent of an old prune facially.
Spiders, lovely design, great models, not buying them though, big squishy targets that cost a fortune in every sense also because in FC.
Thorin .co not interested, the models/designs lack character and more importantly... Facial hair.
Erebor dwarves,grimhamers... nice enough models
Mounted Elrond... bleurk, something rubs me the wrong way here.
White council, saruman, has an odd poorly proportioned head, Garadriel looks like Catherine Tate, good gandalf though. Elrond has a well sculpted face, but unnatural/awkward pose.
palace guard look like pears
laketown are ok, but don't really fit into the range... at all, same goes really for the dalesmen
Legolas, looks chunky and ill as if he had just prolapsed.
Taurial looks pretty nice until you reach the face.
HAte thranduil... LOved the old metal version, way closer to my imagining.
Mirkwood rangers look fantastic.
LIke the trolls, but I have enough trolls as is.
Girion looks great.
Bard should be the only important character in the hobbit NOT to have facial hair. that moustache is ridiculous
Gundabads, are nice enough, but severly hampered by lack of variety pose wise

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http://grungehog.blogspot.co.uk/

i think all the kits are fantastic in their own right. The only thing I can't get my head around is the really bizare stretching thranduil.

The warriors of Dale ifind simply stunning miniatures. each one feels like a character in it's own right. The level of detail and all round quality of the plastics (on all kits) is vastly superior to the LotR range.
I recently purchased the Troll, and they where a delight to assemble, and i can't wait to get them painted and on the table top!
For me, i think the entire range, miniature wise is an absolute hit. Unfortunatly i don't think GW give it the love it deserves, and some of the photpgraphy and paint jobs they use on thier website and in WD just do't do the figures justice.

The whole feel of the Hobbit movies is a lot more stylised than LotR, and i can see why the designs of the characters may not be as appealing to some.

Certainly a key change is the design principles. I've been describing the films as a spectrum - a sort of grounded historical fantasy (of Fellowship of the Ring) at one end and the high fantasy (of Desolation) at the far end. Each film has gone a bit further along the spectrum.

When Return of the King came out, we saw some early previews of the Mordor Troll, and people said it was "too Warhammerish" - as in, too much bound to the sort of overdone high fantasy aethetic we associate with Warhammer. It was a WETA design, as it turned out, and that sort of silenced the discussion. But here's the thing: it is sort of Warhammerish. It's another step along the road to a higher fantasy visual aesthetic, with spikey helmets and massive weapons and so on. The Mouth of Sauron was another step. Flash forward ten years and Azog and the Great Goblin are a further step. It's really because Jackson's personal visual aesthetic is closer to "Warhammer" or "Dungeons and Dragons" than you might expect.

Not a bad thing, but a bit jarring if "your" vision of Middle-earth (like mine) was shaped by Alan Lee paintings and the cinematic visualisations of the Fellowship of the Ring and the Two Towers.

Gavin

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Dreaming of getting back to painting...any month now.

Personally i love the hobbit minis. The sculpting and the models overall. The only thing i haven't liked is the prices and the frequency of finecast in DOS.

Fight urge not to call you a Hobbit Hater,,,,must resist,,,,Hobbit-tis are Good, yes Hobbit-it-is's my friends.--

Hobbit Figures = Hit

Most sculpts are excellent. I mostly blame the creative design from the films for most of the uninspiring models.

I do like very much: Thrain, Thror, Knights of Rivendell, Grim Hammers, Gundabad General, Beorn, Gundabad Orcs, Mirkwood Rangers, Men of Laketown, Thranduil (1st pose), Young Dwalin.

Dislike Gollum in boat, Goblin King, the three trolls, hunter orcs.

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My Lotr backlog: 305/952[][][][][][][][][][]32% completed
Painting Lineup: Mumakil x2, Rohan Heroes x8, Haradrim, SKoDA