(Note: Yes, I used the same pic as Topless Robot, and after he posted his article on it, but I swear I didn’t look at his article until after I’d chosen it.)

It seems that The Bridge Direct, Inc., best known for Zhu-Zhu Pets and the Justin Bieber doll, outbid everyone else for the toy license for The Hobbit (or no one else was interested…I find that hard to believe, though).

Does that mean collectors are doomed to subpar action figures? I’d say that’s more likely than not, yes. It’s rare for a company doing action figures for the first time to do them well right out of the gate. ToyBiz took nearly a decade to make truly amazing superhero figures. Then they used what they learned to create what was arguably their masterpiece, the Lord of the Rings toyline.

I understand Bridge Direct wants to expand into other demographics, but perhaps this was a bit too ambitious a license to go for?