The remaining stock from Mythic Legions: The Coliseum went on sale earlier this month and it reminded me of the old Matty Collector days. There were endless loading screens and in the end I got shut out. Now, I wasn’t all that upset, because I pre-ordered the figures I wanted the most, but with funds replenished, there were a few more I wanted to pick up. Luckily, a friend of mine double dipped on a few of them and instead of unloading them on Ebay at crazy prices, he sold me a couple at cost… one of those was the Black Knight Legion Builder!

I won’t dwell on the packaging, because it hasn’t changed at all. Instead, I’ll clarify for people new to Mythic Legions that the “Legion Builders” are basically figures with less paint apps that sell for a little less than the regular figures. These are designed as troop builders for people like me, or for customization fodder for people with talent in such things or, in other words, not me. I reviewed the Silver and Gold Knight Legion Builders way back in 2016, and what we’re dealing with here is more or less another repaint, this time in… you guessed it! Black!

Yup, from the neck down, Black Knight features the exact same body as each of the previous Knight Legion Builders, only this time covered in a rich and beautiful coat of shiny black paint. Despite being awash all in one color, I think the figure looks great, and that’s a testament to the incredible detail in the sculpt. You get sculpted chain-mail visible in the joints, panels of scroll work etched into the armor, and even all the little rivets and buckles and straps meant to be holding the plates on. I’ve considered having a go at his exposed chain mail parts with a silver Gundam Marker, but I’ll probably just leave him be and not risk messing him up.

As is always the case, Black Knight comes out of the package with his shoulder armor off, and honestly, he displays just fine without them if you choose to leave them off. Me? I like my knights with a little bulk to them, so I always display them with these pieces on. These pieces peg into holes in the back of the shoulders and can be angled a bit to allow for shoulder movement. To add a little pop to the all black deco, this fellow comes with a red plume for his helmet and a red sword belt. Yup, red! This is the first one of these that I got that wasn’t brown.

While the previous Knight Legion Builders came with only one head each, Black Knight comes with both styles: A Great Helm and a Renaissance-style Closed Helm. You only get one red plume, but it can be transferred to whichever helmet you choose to display him with. I adore both helmet sculpts, but I think the Great Helm works best with this black deco.

The Black Knight comes with two swords, a two-hander and a single-hand, and obviously we’ve seen these many times before. The two-hander has what strikes me as a very Tolkien-esque design and the other is just a stout and trusty cruciform broadsword. Typically, the Legion Builder weapons don’t have paint apps, and in this case, these swords are both silver. That works fine for me, although once again, I’m tempted to color in the grips.

As always, the belt can be used as a waist belt, to carry his sword on his hip, or as a shoulder strap to carry his sword (or swords) on his back. In fact, if you choose the shoulder strap, you can comfortably fit both swords in the belt slit. The downside here is that you have to remove the shoulder on the side that the hilts will be behind. It doesn’t look bad, and I’ve done this with some of my Orcs and Gladiator-style Legions figures, but I prefer my knights to have some symmetry.

The Black Knight also comes with a spear. Previous Knight Legion Builders came with shields, but this fellow does not. I’m guessing that’s because he came with the extra head instead. I’m cool with that. I’ve got plenty of shields in this line already.

I think this is a great figure, even if it is yet another recolor of the same old knight. I like that T4H mixed things up a bit this time by giving him an extra head instead of the shield, but with so many Mythic Legions figures dropping in each new offering, I wouldn’t be surprised if this fellow gets overlooked in favor of fresher characters. Indeed, Black Knight didn’t strike me as a “Must Have” when I was budgeting my pre-orders for The Coliseum, and as good as he is in hand, I still mostly feel that way. The main reason I wanted to add him to my collection was because I had the previous two Knight Legion Builders and it was bothering me that I wasn’t going to have a complete set. As it turns out, he’s probably my favorite of the three, or at the very least tied with Silver as my favorite. I’m certainly glad I was able to pick him up in the end.