I’ve already checked out the three ladies from Funko’s MTG Legacy Collection and now I’m moving on to the dudes, starting with Ajani Goldmane. He’s not just a dude, he’s a LION dude, or more precisely an albino Nacatl Planeswalker, who specializes in spells that buff the health and strength of his allies. I don’t claim to have known any of that, nor is there any information about the character printed on the box, instead I consulted that all-knowing oracle of wisdom known as The InterWebs.
We’ve seen this packaging enough now that I don’t want to waste a lot of time dwelling on it. It’s a nice, collector friendly window box that lets you see the figure your getting and also has the figure’s identity printed on the side panel, which is a huge plus in my book. Unlike the ladies of the line, Goldmane and his huge accessory really fills out his box completely. There’s very little room in there for anything else.
Out of the box this is one impressively large figure. Granted, he’s not much taller than the ladies, but he’s probably got about twice the bulk of Lil, Chandra, or Nissa. And because he’s got those funky hind animal legs, he can actually stand a lot taller when they are extended all the way out. The sculpt here is quite impressive with all sorts of musculature in the buck, a lot of which isn’t even readily visible under the outfit, but it’s there nonetheless and I really respect that. On the other hand, the fur texture on the body isn’t all that well defined, giving him that kind of smooth Thundercat appearance where it’s hard to tell whether he’s supposed to be furry or just have skin. I do, however, dig the adorable and giant kitty paws he has for feet and he has a very soft and pliable tail.
The top part of Goldmane’s outfit consists of large golden pieces of shoulder armor with a sculpted bluish-green cloak covering the one on his right. Yeah, once again Funko went the extra mile by actually sculpted the armor under the cloak. It’s something you wouldn’t actually see unless you removed the cloak and left shoulder piece, but they did it anyway. They also sculpted and painted a necklace, which is barely visible under the outfit. The rest of his wardrobe consists of a brown “leather” belt around his waist and “leather” thigh armor and matching arm bracers. All the pieces intended to be leather are sculpted in soft plastic and they’re embossed with various designs. Goldmane also features some wraps around his ankles and hands, which are sculpted as part of the buck and painted. The complexity of the outfit is all quite impressive as it’s comprised of quite a few pieces, all layered quite convincingly onto the figure.
The portrait is good, albeit a little soft. Goldmane has one eye closed, presumeably from a wound, and his mouth open showing a pair of nasty fangs. I dig the braided hair that’s sculpted from his mane and the wrinkles around his nose are a nice touch. Still, as good a sculpt as it is, it falls a bit flat and I think that’s more down to the lack of paint apps than anything else.
So let’s talk paint. There have been frequent complaints that the retail versions of the MTG figures are missing a lot of the paint apps that were seen on the prototypes. That’s not unusual as sometimes things just don’t cost out when items move from ideal vision to the mass production line. It didn’t bother me on any of the ladies, but I think it’s a lot more obvious on Goldmane, particularly where his fur is concerned. I get that he’s an albino, but even still the pure marshmallowy, white plastic buck comes off as rather bland and unfinished. A paint wash certainly would have helped things along, particularly on the head. This is a big figure with a complex sculpt, but when you get down to it the deco is just white, brown, blue-green, and gold and it falls a little short. There are also a few minor dings to the gold paint on my figure.
Goldmane sports plenty of useful points of articulation and my figure had no issues with frozen joints or breakage. The arms have rotating hinges at the shoulders, hinges in the elbows, and swivels in the biceps and wrists. The legs are ball jointed at the hips with hinges in both sets of knees (I don’t know what else to call them!) and swivels in the ankles and thighs. He’s got a ball joint cleverly concealed in his torso and one in the neck, although the sculpt of his mane severely restricts his neck articulation.
While the ladies of the line were rather lacking in accessories, Goldmane’s extras steal the show. He comes with a scimitar, which can fit into the brown sheath on his belt and he also comes with a massive double-headed ax. The sword is fairly simple, but it does feature some ornamentation etched in the blade as well as a raised leaping cat. The problem here is that Goldmane’s right hand is obviously sculpted to hold the narrow hilt, but the grip is so tight, it’s impossible for me to get the sword hilt into it. I’ve tried pulling his thum back just a bit and all I got for my efforts was stabbed by his super sharp claws. I’m sure a little blowdryer action would get to open, but I haven’t bothered with it yet.
The ax, on the other hand, is an absolute work of art. As if a giant lion man in armor isn’t intimidating enough, Goldmane carries around this thing. It’s very tribal looking with sculpted strips of leather wrapped around the handle and teeth and fur trim. The blades are gray and gold and both have raised cat motifs.
Goldmane earns another thumbs up from me for this line, although those thumbs aren’t held up quite as high as with the previous three figures. Yes, he could have used a few more strokes from the painter’s brush, but a lot of that has to do with his size and the impressive quality of the sculpt demanding a better quality deco. That’s not to say the paint that’s here is bad, I just wish there were more of it. Everything else about this guy is solid and I’d dare say he makes a great piece for any fantasty figure collection. Indeed, he even looks right at home amidst my Masters Classics figures. And even at the full retail of around twenty bucks, this is a lot of plastic for the money. At the $13 I spent on mine, the deal is all the sweeter.
FigureFan Zero 