IMG_7140 01Many fans will know this guy as ‘Skully the Orc’! Fans got their first look at Skully, (real name, apparently, ‘Guritz’), during The Return of the King back in December of 2003, and eleven years later we’re finally getting a chance to add a figure of this character to our collections. Skully joins a quickly growing list of characters from Asmus Toys in their expanding collection of characters from The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. As with the other figures in this line, he has 36 points of articulation, various fabrics making up the outfit, a spot-on likeness to the character, and a very cool Orc Flag. You can place your pre-orders for Skully right now from various online retailers, like our friends at Alter Ego Comics for only $137.99.

Glorfindel

Back in September 1999, these were the questions on the minds of fans…

Q:What role did Glorfindel play after the incident at the Fords of Bruinen? I don’t remember any further mention of him and it seems strange that such a noble Elven Lord would not be involved at all in the War of the Ring.

– Quinton Carr

A: He wasn’t. But if you think about it, many “noble Elven lords” did not do anything *active* in the War after the Fellowship left Rivendell or Lorien. Elrond, Celeborn, noble Elven ladies like Galadriel, Arwen . . . their roles were peripheral. Not to mention the fact that I’m sure both Elrond and Celeborn had a goodly number of strong, well-armed Elves at their disposal, who didn’t go with the Fellowship *or* down to the battles in Gondor. But the answer is actually pretty simple, and Elrond gives it to us in “Fellowship:” “The number must be few, since your hope is in speed and secrecy. Had I a host of Elves in armour of the Elder Days, it would avail little, save to arouse the power of Mordor.” So that explains why none of them went with the Fellowship. Why did none of these mighty Elves save Elrohir and Elladan ride down to Gondor once it was clear that there would be battle? My answer has a couple of parts. Firstly, Elrohir and Elladan, according to the Tale of Years, were born after the wars at the end of the Second Age when Sauron was thrown down, and were not a party to them as their father was. They’d never gotten their “chance,” so to speak. As for the rest of them, they had all gone to war against Sauron at the end of the Second Age. They felt their time had passed, and moreover that the hour of the Secondborn was striking. They knew that the power of their Rings would fade if Frodo was successful, and that Men would rise and Elves would dwindle. They must have felt it was right for the men, i.e. the armies of Gondor and Rohan, to earn for themselves the privilege of ushering in the Fourth Age.

Continue reading “Questions and Answers – Glorfindel, Saruman Survives, Pointy Ears, Stone Giants and more…”