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03/22/2004 Entry: "Score!"

He came inside a little yellow plastic capsule the size of a ping pong ball,



which in turn was inside a chocolate egg the size of, well, an egg.



The surprises found in Ü-Eier never fail to impress me with how well engineered they are considering the eggs go for about 40 cents.

This here Gollum figurine is a real gem. He has more expression than all the other Ring figurines combined. At least the Ring figurines that came inside little chocolate eggs, that is.



The level of detail for this cheap little 25 cent plastic toy is mindblowing. Allthough he is just the size of the end of my thumb, within his piercing blue irises are two tiny black dots--which you can barely see in these pictures. And on those black dots are two miniscule white reflection dots which for some people, and alas for my camera as well, can only be seen with the aid of a magnifying glass.

Gollum is a fascinating character. He is not only Frodo's foil, he in a way is the truest physical manifestation of Sauron's evil. Where one warrior slipped in and defeated sauron eons before, he would be defeated again--this time by a physically weak, barefooted halfling who slipped in equipped mostly by his slowly fraying resolve, his loyal droog Sam, and their guide Gollum. Gollum, who was once a hobbit himself, Gollum, who also slips past the elves unnoticed. While apocalyptic battles are waged by epic heroes and mud monsters, the war will be won or lost at the hands of three deeply conflicted little pawns. The contest will not be decided by speed, steel, muscle, but rather by inner strength; or will be lost by fatigue, dispair, greed or self-interest.
So on their way go the three little ones together, loyal self-sacrificing and impetuous Sam, weary, tempted, yet resolved Frodster, and poisoned, split-personalitied Gollum, the guide, yet servant to none--yet still a slave to darkness.