Ever since seeing The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey I’ve been waiting to go to Goblin Town via the various collectibles I collect. Comic-Con 2013 finally brought me and many collectors a chance to finally snag one of those nasty looking Goblins. The first Goblin character to get the high-end collectibles treatment is the Goblin King himself. If you ordered directly from Gentle Giant you were lucky enough to snag the little Goblin Scribe for a pretty sweet little set of Goblins. This little set was limited to just 100 pieces worldwide, which made for one of the rarer collectibles so far for The Hobbit Trilogy.
PACKAGING
The graphics on the box for the Goblin King follow the same pattern we’ve seen for other releases for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and the great morning, almost shire-like coloring continuing. The front also has the standard big shot of the bust with the name of the item while the sides have similar shots of the bust from different angles. The back gives you a story of the character and the movie itself. Inside the box you have the protective Styrofoam we all know in love to make sure we get our collectibles in perfect working order.
SCULPTING
Gentle Giant is known for creating fantastic sculpts and they’ve once again done that with the Goblin King. He looks exactly like his digital counterpart in every way down to the little sores all over his body. You have some nasty but nice detail in his little blob of a chin that was so gross but also so cool at the same time. The detail in the rest of his face is quite well done with the nastiness of his mouth area and hair. The Goblin King doesn’t really come with any clothes on this bust but you do get pieces of his little skirt that lay around the base. Weapons are also another area where he is lighter than say some of the other busts we’ve seen in this line. He does have his crown, which has great detail in the bone and other material that make it up. The massive staff you saw him carry around also is part of this bust with really nice detail put into the bone animal skull, wooden grain, and metal handle. I also love the little skulls attached to it that actually hang by fake leather string.
If you ordered the web direct exclusive from Gentle Giant, which was limited to just 100 total pieces, then you also got the Goblin Scribe. I loved this little guy when we saw him during this sequence of the film and had hoped someone would make a collectible of him. Thankfully Gentle Giant did. The same things I feel about the Goblin King himself are true with this little guy just on a smaller scale. The cherries on top of this piece are the expression on his little face and that he is writing his note with his own blood. I did not notice that in the movie but it makes for a slightly sick but cool detail on this little guy.
PAINT
The paintwork on both Goblins is very good. The skin tone I think represents the nasty nature of how these creatures that live miles below the surface looked when we saw them on screen. These guys also have some nasty looking bruises as well as puss-filled bubbles all over their bodies. Well, I can assure you Gentle Giant did an excellent job of making them sufficiently gross enough for all of us. The weapon paint job is also very good. The bones all look like bones that have been long dead and worn for whatever the Goblin King might use them for. The worn nature of the wood for the staff, and the metal that’s on it, also has the proper look for both. The highlight I think though as I said is the skin tone. Not only does it match what we saw on screen making it gross as all get out but it also matches the prototype they had at Comic-Con.
Overall
The Goblin King with Scribe retailed for $99 and was a site exclusive to Gentle Giant. The job done by Gentle Giant on these two is really outstanding and I think it’s their best work ever. The Goblin King is a massive bust. He is much larger than any of the busts in the line so far which, when placed next to them , makes him look even bigger. I love that someone finally gave us some of these characters like the Goblins and even better they willing to make the little Goblin Scribe. So if you have a chance to track this set down on eBay or through other means I would highly suggest getting it.
SPECIFICATIONS
The edition size of the Goblin King with Scribe Mini-Bust is only 100 pieces worldwide and retailed for $99. However, it is now sold out through Gentle Giant. You can get the version without the scribe for between $85-$90 and it has an edition size of 620 pieces worldwide.
Dimensions: Goblin King: W 9” x H 9” x D 7” Goblin Scribe: W 2” x H 4” x D 3.40”
PHOTOS
