This musing is looking at the subject of Variants within this range.
This is a very subjective, and emotive, topic. The level of variation is quite significant, some are 'official' and therefore part of the series itself, some are production differences, some are errors.
This blog is not a full list of all variations, mainly as a lot of variants are one off's, it details the different types of variations and gives examples.
The now defunct Green Dragon website was an excellant resource for these variants, however you can still use the webarchive site to view it (although with no images).
Official Packaging Variations
These are official re-releases of the same figures in different packaging.
There are 2 types of these.
Re-Issue Figures
They are included as part of the official series itself, although they often lead to confusion in categorisation lists as to which items belong to which movie.
They mainly consist of the same figure in a different colour box.
Some are different colour boxes but named with the original film they were produced for (hence the categorisation issues), example Arwen and Asfaloth Horse and Rider (all with the movie as Fellowship of the Ring)
Some are different colour boxes and named differently (the name then matches box colour), example Gollum with Electronic Sound (Red box movie as Two Towers, Blue box movie as Return of the King)
Some are the same figures but total with package changes (these are mostly carded re-issues), example Travelling Bilbo
Alternative Language
These are where the figures are packaged in other language packaging.
I am not sure if every release in the series was available in each alternative language, or just specific figures.
I am also not sure definitively which languages were covered.
There are 3 variations of the alternative language packaging, fully language specific (with all the text on the packaging in the alternative language), partially language specific (with the title in the alternative language and the rest of the text in English) and dual language (with title and text in an alternative language and English).
Spanish Full Language examples
Spanish Partial Language examples
these figures have different backs (English version for reference)
French Full Language examples
French Partial Language examples
French Dual Language examples
Spanish Series
The Spanish releases had the same packaging for all characters in a specific series.
Layout Variations
This is where, within exactly the same packaging, there are variations in the way the figures are presented.
It is important that the figures are still attacked with the normal connections and they haven't just moved.
These are normally recognised as 'official' variations as they were produced in numbers like this.
The main examples of these are:
Samwise Gamgee with Batle Action (both arms raised)
Aragorn and Brego Deluxe Horse and Rider set (figures on different sides)
Spanish Double Packs (with wrong Gandalf/Frodo packaging)
Figure Varations
Again, within exactly the the same packaging, these are variations in the figures themselves.
There are 2 levels of this type of variation.
Major
These are significant differences which have reaccured consistently, normally due to being produced within different countries.
These are normally recognised as 'official' variations.
The main examples of these are:
Fellowship Deluxe Gift Pack (cloth capes, all plastic capes, only Gandalf has cloth cape)
111th Birthday Celebration Bilbo (jacket and vest different colours)
Gandalf the White (pure white)
Twilight Ringwraith (bluer, more detailed clothing, black sword)
Saruman the White (hair behind left shoulder)
Prologue Elven Warrior (no cloak)
Council Legolas (clock style and broach)
Council of Elrond Aragorn (dark shield and cloth)
Gandalf the White (with Gandalf the Grey head)
Trilogy Legolas (bow no string, label change - due to Australian non-functional toy law)
Minor
There are a lot of minor variations, very small, normally just painted elements, which have occurred mainly due to the tolerances within the manufacturing of the figures. A lot of people would not really consider this level of variation to be of any significance due to the inconsistencies of the variations.
Examples:
Super Possable Pelenor Fields Aragorn (facial hair)
Helms Deep Aragorn (hair)
Fellowship 9 Figure Gift Set
This boxed set deserves a special mention as it has examples of a lot of the above.
Standard set (plastic capes) in all 3 coloured boxes
All cloth capes, green box only - this is the rarest of these gift packs
Cloth capes apart from Gandalf, green box only
Multi language (plastic capes - the other cape variants are also available multi language), green box
All plastic capes with additional Peter Jackson figure, blue box only
Packaging Errors
These are primarily one off's.
The packaging must be factory sealed for most of these to be valid variants.
Package Printing Errors
These are errors in the printing of the packaging.
This example has a Ringwraith and Horse details printed on an Aragorn and Brego box. Note: because the box is cut the opposite way round, the images and printing are truncated.
Figure Positioning Errors
These are errors in the way that the figures have been inserted into the box.
These examples have the figures upside down.
Wrong Figure Errors
These are where the figure is in the wrong box.
Gandalf and Shadowfax in Rigwraith and Horse box example
Bilbo figures in Shelob box example
Strider figure in a Spanish Frodo box example
Misfit Variations
When the Lord of the Rings Toybiz series finished, there appeared in bargain stores a whole load of misfit figures. The figures were a jumble of parts from different figures, making some weird looking characters. They were all with carded packaging, however the misfit figure often had no resemblance to the packaging details. I believe that these were the production company using up remaining parts for a small profit.
There were a large quantity of these and they were very inconsistent.
Examples
This ‘Gandalf the Grey’ misfit figure is the most interesting as it is very close to a real figure, but it has missing pieces and a wrong back.
Hi, i've bought the fellowship of the ring deluxe gift pack, red box, it is from second hand but i wanna now if Legolas has one or two elvish blades, Hantalë!!
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