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Sauron Toy Line: The Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the Ring Manufacturer: ToyBiz Meat and Potatoes; 5.0 Perks; 5.0 Homer Factor; 5.0
						Description: the giant villain we BRIEFLY saw in ‘Fellowship of the Ring’ brought to awe-inspiring life! Sauron is 10” of biiiiiiiig, baaaaaaaaad villain!  The figure is sculpted to capture the insectoid armor he wore during the battle on the slopes of Mt. Doom.  Everything from the chain mail to the spikes and curvy design on his armor to the massive spikes on his helmet are recreated. The scourge of Mordor is packed with a giant recreation of his mace, removable cape, REMOVABLE One Ring, and a voice chip and lighting effect in the eyes.  Sweet!
		A tiny ring.  That’s the villain in ‘Lord of the Rings’ if you think about it.  All right, all right, you wanna get all artsy and metaphorical the ring is symbolic of human weakness, blah, blah, blah, blah.  But in the end it’s JUST A RING!  Oh, and forgot about the giant eye on top of the tower in Mordor, but that’s it.  Ooooohhhhhhhhh, scary!  Granted, gold bands apparently scared the crap outta Jennifer Lopez a few times, but come on, what kinda villain is that!  That’s where the prelude leading into ‘Fellowship of the Ring’ comes in.  So who is the big, baaaaaaaaaaaaad mo’fo’ wearing this fancy jewelry.  Oh yeah, wearing a gold ring like... some... OMG HOW BIG IS HE?!  Sauron is on screen less then 5 minutes but he makes more of an impression then Boba Fett.  The MASSIVE size, the demonic, spike-clad armor, those red eyes, and the raw power.  Fight scenes with really powerful characters seem kinda lame.  Even in ‘Superman II’ when Kal-El takes on the Kryptonian trio you never get the full idea of how powerful they are.  Not the case here.  Sauron swings his mace and bodies are flying everywhere.  And not just knocking them down but sending them sailing like a Barry Bonds homer run.  That is power. (Insert tasteless steroid joke here.)  How to you pay homage to such an amazing villain?  You give him an awesome figure is how.  One worthy of the ‘LOTR’ line, worthy enough to lead the forces of Mordor. Meat and potatoes are awe-inspiring.  The problem when a toy this size is created is the larger scale usually means the details suck.  The panel lines, the little links in armor, USUALLY all this great stuff is gone.  That’s not the case here.  ToyBiz took great pains to recreate Sauron's hell-spawned armor.  The chain-mail links, the funky waves engraved into the plate mail, the bone-like spikes that adorn the armor are reproduced in stunning detail.  The articulation isn’t spectacular but pretty dang good nonetheless.  Ball-and-socket joints in the shoulders and hips give a huge range of motion in the limbs.  Elbow, knee, and ankle joints offer a ton o’ posing options. The perks aren’t abundant but are perfect for the figure.  Sauron’s black, tattered cape is removable and is well done.  The edges of the cape are frayed, giving it a well-worn look.  Normally I prefer plastic ‘capes’ to fabric, but this is so big it drapes well over the figure.  Sauron comes with his trademark mace that is well sculpted.  The figure comes with an obligatory sound and light effect that is actually pretty dang cool.  The figure’s eyes light up a NASTY red and speak a few lines from the movie.  The voice is very clear and definitely from the movie and the eyes... well, if I see this thing glowing in the middle of he night I’m moving! And a small detail which ToyBiz does so well with this line; the One Ring is removable.  Yep, Sauron has a gold ring on his finger and the fingers can come off so you can remove the ring!  No, it’s NOT that important a detail but the fact they did it speaks volumes to the work that’s put into this figure. Homer factor?  Oh, you gotta give in on this one!  No, he’s not on screen much but even Palpatine would look at this guy and go ‘Dang... he’s big.’ The final word is this is a must-have if you’re a toy collector, and ESPECIALLY if you’re an ‘LOTR’ fan.  The work put into this figure is astounding and shows how much care ToyBiz put into this line.  He’s the prefect leader if you’ve got dozens of Orcs waiting for a leader.  Too bad the line is complete.. but the adventure never ends!