By Douglass Kern, Contributing Editor
The Easterling is one of the troops under Saruman's command in "The Two Towers". Visually, it is a great figure, as it looks both exotic and deadly at the same time. He is primarily colored a dark red with worn golden armor, and a fancy helmet covers his face to complete the look.
The legs and arms are both fully articulated, coming with the standard amount of joints for "The Two Towers" toy line. This includes the neat articulated ankles! All the limbs have golden armor molded on them, which looks like it was strapped onto the figure. The armor contains a nifty scale pattern that reminds me of a pine cone.
The body has a breastplate in the same style as the arm and leg armor. The effect of all this makes the Easterling look like he could just ram into his enemies to hurt them. Finishing off the clothing is a rubbery loin cloth on the front of the waist and a waist cape in the same red color as the body suit behind it.
The head of the figure has a mysterious air around it. The helmet is reminiscent of an overturned shallow bowl. On top of it are two projections that call to mind the crest on a samurai helmet. The entire face is protected by it. Lastly, the eyes and bridge of the nose are visible peaking out from within, lending an almost inhuman appearance to the Easterling.
The Easterling comes with two accessories. One is a hand held pole axe with a small pike on it. The other accessory is a giant long shield, primarily rectangular in shape, with the top and bottom truncated in a circular shape. The shield is a black iron color with faded gold line detailing.
Both accessories easily fit in the Easterling's hands. The right hand is molded to hold the axe, while the left is molded in a flat position so the shield can be slipped over it. One very neat thing is that, because of the indentation of the shield at the top, the Easterling can be posed so it looks like his eyes are peering out in the space.
One thing I noticed with this figure is that he has no built in gimmicks, unlike a lot of the other "Lord of the Rings" figures. This doesn't detract from the toy though, since it is a great, high detailed figure. It makes a great piece for troop building, but even on his own, he is a wonderful looking figure.
Check out pictures of the Easterling in our Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers Gallery!