Recommended music: Howard Shore – Samwise the Brave
It’s #TolkienThursday, and today we look at another character from Return of the King: the ToyBiz Lord of the Rings Sam in Mordor!
ToyBiz released the “Sam in Mordor with Rock Climbing Action” figure as part of the fourth wave of Half Moon carded figures for The Two Towers. You may be thinking, “Hey, Dale, haven’t we moved on to Return of the King already?” You’re right, Mordor is the ultimate destination in The Return of the King.
However, Sam and Frodo actually spend a lot of The Two Towers climbing the tough cliffs of the Emyn Muil and making their way to the Black Gate of Mordor. It is worth noting that the Ephel Dúath mountains on Mordor’s border are at least 100 miles from Emyn Muil, and the trip from there, through the Dead Marshes, to the Black Gate is at least 150 miles.
So why does the figure say “In Mordor” on the card? Since most of Sam and Frodo’s story in the second film focuses on their tough journey across rough terrain toward Mordor, the label actually fits the movie’s mood and setting.
Toy companies need a lot of time to plan and line up their releases with movie marketing. ToyBiz grouped its figures into different waves to match each film’s promotional campaign. The Two Towers figures came in reddish-maroon packaging that showed Frodo, Sam, and Gollum traveling through rocky landscapes. Any new Sam figure showing his tough journey had to be released with this theme. And trust me, there are plenty more Samwise Gamgee figures coming up in the story.
Back in the early 2000s, action figures relied more on active play features to appeal to kids. Sam’s most prominent physical action in the second film involved using an Elven rope to get down steep, dangerous cliffs.ToyBiz designed the figure with a spring-loaded climbing rope and a rock-face base you can attach to a shelf. Though I pictured Sam on his rock near the black Stairs of Cirith Ungol leading to Shelob, he doesn’t actually use the rope there. I just thought it looked cool for where Sam is climbing during Return of the King. Calling the figure “Sam in Mordor” gave a dramatic, high-stakes context to a play feature inspired by his demanding climbing scenes.
While I wish we could continue next Thursday and dive right into Shelob’s Lair, it will be something completely different. See you there!
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