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Description;  our first introduction to the King of Middle Earth.

Stryder is approximately 6" tall and is attired in his non-descript, traveling clothes and gear.  He has multiple points of articulation and comes with a sword, removable cloak, two removable packs, and sword-slashing action. 
Stryder with Sword-slashing action - LOTR; FOTR, ToyBiz
Meat and Potatoes; 5.0
Perks; 5.0
Homer Factor; 4.8
'Oh God, another Aragorn figure??!?!?!?!?!!!'  Yeah, yeah, yeah, will you just chill?  I got this for about $6 as the latest re-issue, so calm down!  Remember when these were going for about $30 on E-Bay?  Oy!  The joys of re-issues and being patient.  Bwahaha!  So why did I get him since I've already got Aragorn with Arrow-firing action?  Well... oh heck, I was jonsing for a toy-fix, saw this one, and it was on sale, so how could I resist?  And besides, one problem with Aragorn's arrow-firing incarnation is the articulation.  The arrow-firing action is a neat trick, but it gets in the way of doing a lot of other poses.  So why not snag this one?  For $6 you can't really go wrong.  When I first saw this figures when it was first offered three years ago (Wow... it's been three years since 'FOTR'.  Dang) ... well, it seemed ok; Strider as he first appears in to the Hobbits as a bad-ass dude, who doesn't say a lot, but has a quirky sense of humor. (Remember the apple- throwing scene?)  This is from the start of the line, so things were a weeeeee bit 'eh'... but even then, you could tell this was the beginning of something special.

Meat and potatoes... ok, this does NOT measure up to more recent pieces, like Super-posable Aragorn, so let's just get that settled.  BUT, for the beginning of the line, it's pretty dang good.  Multiple points of articulation on the shoulders, elbows, wrists, and even a bit of a ball-joint on the neck give you a many posing possibilities. No, this thing isn't at Marvel Legends level, but just the same it's a lot better then a number of other figures.  Sculpt... well, that took me by surprise.  The sculpting on the figure's clothing is ASTOUNDING; boot laces, loops, even capturing Strider's ring are all done well.  The FACE... well, when I first saw this piece, I kept seeing a rat.  I'm not kidding, it just seemed like they gave Strider a face like a rat... but then the more I looked at it, and turned things a bit... it got better.  Not a prefect representation, but over-all a solid recreation of Strider's travel-worn profile.

The perks?  Oh, that was a nice surprise.  Ok, you get the obligatory sword-slashing action.  Whatever.  It's ok, it stays out of your way.  Good.  Sword and scabbard and removable, flexible cloak.  Cool.  And buried beneath the label in the blister pack, surprise surprise, were Strider's blanket and a small pack that is his collapsed bow and quiver!  A huge deal?  No, but adding just a liiiiiiiiitle something like this, to add to the over-all package, is a great thing to see and more bang for your buck.

Homer factor?  Actually rather high. Yeah, this is the umpteenth version of Aragorn, but it's a faithful to the movie AND it's only $6, so it's a bargain.

In the end, this is a very, very, very solid figure.  No, it's not up to the craftsmanship of the more recent figures, but it was a sign to everyone that this was going to be a VERY special line down the road.  And if you're looking for a piece from Strider's first appearance, you cannot go wrong with $6.  And if you don't mind mugging your other figures, you can slip the quiver from the Arrow-launching figure on to this one.  Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahhaha!