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In 1978, action figure collecting was in its infancy, with the ubiquitous 3.75” scale only newly popularized by Kenner’s Star Wars toyline. Also in a very different pop cultural place was J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. At the time only a series of books, Tolkien’s work was far from the household name and pop cultural landmark that it is today. Instead, it boasted a dedicated cult fanbase, built in the decades since its mid-fifties publication. When controversial animation figure Ralph Bakshi undertook the herculean task of adapting the trilogy of books, that fanbase was (rightly) nervous.
Bakshi’s adaptation was middlingly received, preventing him from making his planned sequel, an adaptation of The Return of the King. It also left Knickerbocker Toys’ line of action figures to languish on shelves. Today, The Lord of the Rings is bigger than ever, thanks to the continuing popularity of Peter Jackson’s live-action films, new releases like The Rings of Power, and upcoming titles like Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. Action figure collecting is also more popular than ever, with the internet making more collectors than ever aware of and able to compete to purchase obscure lines. It’s propelling prices to unheard-of levels, including for Knickerbocker’s Lord of the Rings figures, already shooting past their appraised value in this Heritage Auction.
The History of Knickerbocker’s Lord of the Rings Line
Knickerbocker Toys can trace its roots back to 1869, when it was founded by the Van Whyte family of Albany, New York, deriving its name from a Dutch-language nickname for New Yorkers (also the root of the basketball franchise the New York Knicks). Knickerbocker was one of the first American toy companies, predating today’s industry giants Hasbro and Mattel by decades. In 1922, the company relocated to New York City and found success diversifying into plush toys, partnering with the Walt Disney Company in the early 1930s to produce some of the first licensed Mickey Mouse dolls. Plush toys remained their niche into the seventies, making their decision to license and produce a Lord of the Rings action figure line a puzzling one.
The line marks Knickerbocker’s first major foray into action figures, which would also prove one of their only forays into action figures: they produced a tie-in line for Annie in 1982, and a few unarticulated figures for E.T, but nothing else comparable to these figures.
Six characters were made for the line, featuring sculpts adapted from their appearance in the 1978 Bakshi film: Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, Gandalf the Grey, Aragorn, Gollum, and a generic Ring-Wraith. Knickerbocker also produced two horses, a black “Charger of the Ring-Wraith” and a white horse sold as “Frodo’s Horse” – though any real Lord of the Rings fan will tell you his name is Bill. Save for Gollum, each of the six figures includes one to two accessories, three if you count the scabbard for the Ring-Wraith’s sword.
Attention to detail and sculpt quality vary wildly across the figures, with the elaborate Ring-Wraith commanding higher prices than the rest of the line because of its ornate sculpt. Aragorn and the hobbits lack their cloaks, which are featured on their cardback art, but are not included with the figures themselves. Gandalf the “Grey” instead becomes one of Tolkien’s mysterious “blue wizards,” with his robes and hat inexplicably sky-blue. Their articulation is comparable to Kenner’s Star Wars or Mego’s Pocket Heroes figures, with five posable joints.
How Knickerbocker’s Lord of the Rings Figures Went from Poor Seller to Collector’s Item
As has been highlighted in many other articles, the formula for long-term collector value isn’t what you’d expect. While Kenner’s original Star Wars figures are collectible, they also sold millions of units, making the majority of them plentiful for collectors today, keeping their value down. The most expensive figures today are the ones like Knickerbocker’s Lord of the Rings line or Kenner’s Adventure of Indiana Jones: the toys nobody wanted when they came out. The fewer figures that were sold, the fewer survive in collector-grade condition, making the four Knickerbocker Lord of the Rings figures on offer at Heritage this week a rarity.
The Lord of the Rings figures on auction at Heritage include a loose, complete Ring-Wraith, as well as carded samples of Frodo, Samwise, and Gollum. All four are certified and graded by the AFA (Action Figure Authority). Frodo and Gollum grade at an 80-Near Mint, exceptionally rare for this line. Samwise and the Ring-Wraith grade at an 85 and 90, respectively, and are the highest grade samples that the AFA has on record. This is even more impressive when you check the listing carefully: Heritage specifies that only three other Samwise figures exist in this condition.
Samwise and Frodo have already exceeded the $450-600 range quoted in price guides: the bid for each is up to $650 at the time of writing. Gollum is $625, the high end of his $500-700 fair market value. This makes the Ring-Wraith a comparative bargain, only $220 at the time of writing, compared to recent eBay sales of $700-850 for samples in similar condition. With almost a week still left to bid, the final price for each of these auctions might raise those value estimates.
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