Hobbit stuff - pics and first impressions

I picked up some of (actually most of) the new Hobbit releases and thought I'd upload some quick pics of the sprues along with my first impression.
First off, my favorites - Hunter Orcs. The sculpts are very dynamic and the details are pretty amazing. Even elements like quivers and blades of swords have well defined texture. The orcs themselves are twisted and ugly, which im my opinion suits them just fine.
The new Wargs are quite different from the older plastic versions. Their poses are much more dynamic and their snouts are much more detailed. There are some areas without any fur on their backs, which may be a problem while painting but overall I really like them.
There are six of the riders, which means that in the box you get the same thing twice. Seems like boredom's creeping in until you realize that there's multipart involved!

The new orc heroes are even better. The details are fantastic and there are surprisingly few problematic areas. Has GW finally come to grips with finecast? Pics may not reflect that so well but Narzug's my favorite here - absolutely amazing sculpt.

 I have to admit I wasn't sold on the trolls when I first saw them. The awful paintjob was probably the main reason. However, after opening the box and seeing them up close I have to admit that they're pretty nice. Hard to tell their size based on pieces from the sprues but they seem to be  somewhere between Cave and Mordor Trolls.

I wasn't sold on the White Council too. Their poses are quite static and the paintjobs didn't help either. But then I saw the quality of these casts and had no more doubts.

And last but not least - the new starter set, Escape from Goblin Town (Limited edition). There are two sprues with new Goblins, 18 different poses on each. These little buggers are ugly as sin, which suits them just fine. There are differences in height, build and weapons wielded by them. As you can see in the pics, there are hardly any mold lines. Also, the plastic is pretty tough, which means that preparing them for painting should be nice and easy.

There's also the sprue with terrain and one with the Scribe and Goblin King. The big dude is even uglier than his small subjects but I'm sure he'll look great surrounded by his shorter kin. He's massive and he's also extremely fat with a double chin that looks like final stage of cancerous growth (or swollen testicles). Still, there's so much character in this model that I'm completely sold on it.
The terrain is quite nice too (check out the details on king's throne!). There is also a ruler for new players who haven't bought a tape measure yet along with 8 dice and a small, condensed rulebook.

 The limited edition Radagast mini has already been seen on the web. The only new thing for me was that apart from the tiny hedgehog that the wizard is holding, there's also a spider on his base - nice touch.

And finally - new Gandalf and Thorin's Company. Overall, I like these very much. They's a huge step forward in comparison to the plastic Fellowship from the "Mines of Moria" set. There are more details, better scale for the whole company (anyone remembers the giant plastic Aragorn?) but there are some areas that I feel could have been sculpted better. Still, a solid paintjob will fix that.

And to anyone who has read until the end of this lengthy entry, here's a small surprise - some pics from the mini rulebook.

Looks like there's finally going to be official elf cavalry, something the fans have been waiting for since the original release of the game in 2001

An alternative Radagast. I guess we can expect quite a few of alternative versions in themed boxes, just like it  worked in the past

Another interesting alternative, I'm actually digging this one more than the original

 So there you go, my take on new GW "Hobbit" releases. I'm happy with most of them. There are still some areas that can be improved but overall it seems to me that GW is going in the right direction with the aesthetics and quality of "Hobbit" miniatures.