Lord of the Rings Fan-Made Gandalf Figure Looks Like Ian McKellen

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Lord of the Rings: Fan-Made Gandalf Figure Looks Exactly Like Ian McKellen

Lord of the Rings

By Lucy Owens

Published Jan 9, 2024

Highlights

Fans are mistaking a realistic Lord of the Rings fan-made action figure for a photo of Ian McKellen, the actor who portrayed Gandalf in the films.
The artist behind the figure has shown significant improvement since their first attempt in 2018, creating detailed recreations of various characters from franchises like Star Wars and Doctor Who.
Fans have requested a version of Gandalf the White from the artist, but updates on this new creation have not been provided yet.

A strikingly realistic Lord of the Rings fan creation is causing double takes after many mistake the action figure for an actual photo of Gandalf actor Sir Ian McKellen.

Peter Jackson's legendary Lord of the Rings film trilogy, based on J.R.R. Tolkien's epic fantasy novels, has been the subject of tons of fan art, like this Lord of the Rings and Genshin Impact crossover, since the 2001 theatrical premiere of The Fellowship of The Ring. The first film starred Elijah Wood as Frodo, Viggo Mortenson as Aragorn, and McKellen as fellowship leader and wizard Gandalf the Grey, who may be one of the most iconic characters of all time. Gandalf ultimately falls prey to the Balrog but later returns in The Two Towers as the even more powerful Gandalf the White.

Amazingly, recent fan art posted to Reddit by u/drugs00bunny managed to resurrect Gandalf yet again, with a super realistic handmade figure of the whimsical Gandalf the Grey, distinguished by his gray robes. Fans were blown away by the detailed recreation of the beloved character. One commenter even joked, "I think you messed up, the second picture appears to be a photo of Ian McKell-OH MY GOD!" Many others praised the work for its realism and its improvement from the artist's first attempt at a Gandalf figurine in 2018, which was posted side-by-side with his more recent success.

The first photo shows a slightly less realistic but pretty impressive attempt at Gandalf the Grey, whose original name is Olorin. However, only the second figure conjures up the beloved character almost perfectly. Fans on Reddit wondered how the artist improved so much from his first to his second attempt, but the user's Reddit history shows his evolution between 2018 and 2023. Between his first and second Gandalf, he created many action figures for characters from Star Wars, Doctor Who, and The Big Lebowski.

The artist's post-history also reveals more complete portraits of his latest Gandalf, including full-body shots complete with robes, staff, and wizard hat, as well as more close-ups and different angles of the figure's insanely detailed and eerily Ian-McKellen-ish face. One photo even shows the figure resting in the middle of a coffee table for scale. Following the artist's successful second attempt, several fans have requested a Gandalf the White costume change. Currently, there are no updates on the white-robbed figure, but in the words of Gandalf the Grey, "Don't Tempt Me Frodo."

The Lord of the Rings trilogy is currently streaming on Max.

The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings is one of the most iconic names in entertainment. The franchise started with novels from J. R. R. Tolkien before being adapted onto the big screen by Peter Jackson in one of the most critically acclaimed film trilogies of all time. There have also been numerous The Lord of the Rings video games of varying quality.