As promised, I’m back to check out the other humanoid figure in the initial Wave of Vitruvian HACKS, Series 1. This fellow is not as lucky as the Spartan Warrior that I looked at this morning. He done got himself an eye-full of Gorgon and he’s been turned to stone. Because this figure shares a great deal with the Spartan Warrior, I’m going to suggest reading that feature if you haven’t done so already. In the interest of brevity, I’m going to refer back to it a lot.

The packaging is basically the same as the Spartan Warrior’s, but everything is customized to suit the character. There’s even a grizzly passage on the back about how humans cursed by the Gorgons experience heightened senses while petrified. So, not only are they conscious for it, but they are aware of everything that’s going on around them for miles. Creepy!

From the neck down, this poor guy is just a repaint of the regular Spartan, so the same great sculpt applies here as well. The paint is a wonderfully convincing stone finish. There are a few areas where the paint was a little sticky when I first got him out of the package, but it seems to have settled down after a little handling and I can’t find any evidence of it on my fingers.

The articulation here is identical to the previous figure, which means for a petrified guy, he can move around pretty well! I’ll refer you back to my one issue with the Spartan and that was the legs. The legs on this figure are a little more wonky. I think some of it might have to do with his grieves needing to be straightened, but part of it is that the soft plastic joints are warping at the knees. I may try a little blow dry straightening to see if it works. It’s not really noticeable to me when he’s in action poses, only when standing straight.

The Cursed Spartan features a new head sculpt, which is bald and works well for this look.

You also get a removable helmet. It’s the same basic style as the one included with the Spartan Warrior, but it is a unique sculpt with several notable differences.

I had a lot of great things to say about the regular Spartan’s shield, but the sculpt on this guy’s shield is even more amazing. Ironically it features Medusa’s head on it, all sculpted as well as a decorative border around the edge. This is a stunning piece of work and the intricate detail in the sculpt is married perfectly with the faux stone finish. The interior of the shield is the same as we saw last time with a soft plastic sleeve and a hand grip. Once again, it’s tricky to get the hand on it and I’ve found it better to just leave it there, since you do get an extra pair of hands to work with.

The Cursed Spartan comes with a sword and a spear. The sword has the same leaf-shaped blade as the regular Spartan’s, but the hilt is brand new. The spear is the same sculpt as the regular Spartan’s spear. Both accessories are treated with the same stone finish as the figure and shield. You also get the same figure stand that was included with the normal Spartan.

While largely a variant of the figure I looked at earlier, this is still a wonderful piece of work. Obviously, this figure is going for a very specific look and it succeeds brilliantly. I wouldn’t mind picking up a few more, as there’s enough accessories and articulation here to create a nice display of Gorgon victims. And speaking of Gorgons… I’ll be looking at those next week!