ALL72001

Orcs are depicted as more or less humanoid but much deformed and, well, ugly. Their appearance alone is enough to tell you that they are the bad guys, and these figures conform to that stereotype, with thick limbs and large mouths. These ones wear an assortment of mail and plate armour items, and are armed with swords, clubs, hammers and axes. Most of these poses are very flat, in that most hold their weapon directly across the top of their head, which is easy to sculpt but hardly realistic if they are threatening something to their front. The second figure in the lower row holds his axe in a peculiar way, right by the head, meaning he cannot give it any sort of a swing, which rather defeats the purpose of an axe. The creature with axe and standard is a static but more believable pose, and if the Peter Jackson films are any guide then the drummer would be an important part of an orc unit, although again as he has his drums completely to the side, we wonder how he is able to beat them without more flexible joints than humans can claim.

Other than the poses, these are nicely sculpted with plenty of detail, and although there is a little flash in places, it is nothing too discouraging.