Hi, I finally got my Faramir.
I didn't expect much of him because I was not very impressed with the proto pictures, but I was still thinking that with a good rehair he would replace my Sideshow version.... Well, no way.
At first let's start with the good points. I like the shirt, the fabric for the green tunic is very good, the coat is great, the cloak is excellent, the boots look good, the sword is awesome... and that's all.
Then, the bad points... Of course the worst of all: he looks nothing like Faramir. I don't understand, the 3D was amazing, but there is something that has been lost when cast... Everything was lost. The face is much too long, too smooth, everything looks weird. And if it was not enough, the skin is too tanned (in my memories Faramir has a rather pale skin) the beard is nearly non-existent, and the hair color is completely off. The sculpt of the Sideshow version was, in my opinion, way way better. The fact is I don't see Faramir at all in this face.
So I made it wider by putting two pieces of wood at each side of the head. It does not looks much like Faramir, but at least the proportions are better...
The tunic... It has some nice sews on the backside, and some horrible ones on the front... Why ?? So I removed them. It's not good looking, but it's more discreet.
The plastic jerkin... it looks like plastic. I really dislike the use of plastic when you can use some noble material. It looks like toy. And it's too brown. Hopefully you can hide it with the coat.
The doublet sleeves, they are ok, but way too dark... Is that hard to choose the right color ??
The belt is average, and the buckle is bad as stated before by some other members. I changed for a Sideshow one.
The vambraces: two identical left vambraces ! I changed for the Sideshow ones.
The quiver: as stated by some member, it's the Sideshow one on their promo pics. And the belt of the quiver is glued the wrong way, you will have to remove it and glue it back if you want your quiver to stand properly. I changed for the Sideshow one.
The... bow ? What's that thing ?? A big chunky piece of square wood, with some random green paint apps... WTF ??? I changed for the Sideshow one.
Oh, you can add that the wrist pegs will hardly handle the weight of the sword.
So I'm really disapointed with this figure. Lately Asmus made some great figures with quality headsculpts and very precise reproduction of what is seen on the movies but this Faramir has way too much heavy flaws. I will be tough, but for me he is at the same level to the Tauriel figure. I will keep my Sideshow version. It is dated, it's custom painted, custom haired, but when you look at it you instantly recognize Faramir. When you look at the Asmus figure you sort of think: "who is that guy that made some strange cosplay of... Faramir the brown ?"
Hopefully I hide the jerkin with the coat, hide the hair and the face with the cloak, replace some parts with the Sideshow ones, but I don't know if I will keep it on the shelve. He just doesn't do the job, for me.
Here are some pics so you can make your own opinion.
I still think he looks great - beautiful details. Looking forward to him but waiting on Sideshow. From your pics looks like he is wearing real suede and leather - impressed the sword is metal; maybe I will put that front and center after all!
