It’s time to venture back to Westeros and visit with Funko’s line of Game of Thrones action figures. This time we’re checking out Ned Stark, who might not be at the top of everyone’s list because he’s been absent from the show for two whole seasons now. What? That’s not a spoiler! I didn’t say he was dead! Oops. Anyway, a big part of why I’m collecting these goes beyond my enjoyment of the books and the show. The truth is the history buff and me just really likes the idea of having some nice medieval style figures and Ned Stark certainly fits the bill.

There’s the packaging, we’ve seen it three times now, so I don’t have a lot new to add. It is quite attractive with a simple, but effective deco. Ned comes with his scabbard attached to his belt and his two swords beside him. The package is totally collector friendly, and when you open it up you will likely be treated to an assault on your olfactory senses of a like you have never dreamed possible. In other words, these figures stink!

So far I’ve looked at a couple of figures in full armor, Jon Snow in his Black Watch garb, and now we’re seeing a figure in a plain medieval style ensemble. Ned wears a quilted tunic, which is extremely well crafted in soft plastic so as not to interfere with the leg articulation. Beyond that we’re just looking at a long sleeve shirt, trousers, and high boots. Ned has his Hand of the King pin affixed to the breast of his tunic. There’s nothing flashy or even terribly exciting about this figure. I can’t point to any particularly wonderful paintwork or outstanding attention to detail, but there’s nothing wrong with him either. I dig it because of its simplicity. He just looks like a Feudal Baron, which seems appropriate for the rather spartan stylings of The North.

While the outfit is beautifully done, the portrait on this figure is easily the weakest of these figures that I own. I suppose I can sort of see Sean Bean in there… somewhere, but it is by no means a slam dunk portrait. The hair is rather bland and looks like clay and the paintwork on the face is pretty poor, particularly the beard. It just looks like a mess. I will say that the sculpt looks better from certain angles and it most definitely looks better in person than under the close scrutiny of a zoom lens.

Once again, I scored a figure without any articulation issues. Ned had no stuck joints or anything like that. The points here are all good and serviceable. The arms have ball jointed shoulders and elbows with both hinges and swivels in the wrists. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, double-hinged at the knees, have swivels in the thighs, and both swivels and hinges in the ankles. There’s a bit of a swivel in the waist and the head is on a ball joint… so you can easily pop it off. See what I did there? I do wish there was a little more play in the elbow joints, as he can’t really hold his larger sword with both hands.

And speaking of swords, Ned comes with two. He has a regular sword that fits into the scabbard on his belt. The sword slides in easily and so far the scabbard hasn’t torn off like the one did with my Hound figure. This sword has a pretty simple cruciform style hilt with a brown wrapped grip and copper colored pommel and crossguard. The larger sword is Ice and it’s fairly similar to the smaller one, but big enough for two handed use. I have to say I really love the swords that come with these figures. They look great and the blades are stout enough so they don’t warp like crazy. Plus, I dig functional scabbards on my action figures as much as I love functional holsters… and we all know how much that is! Lots!

All in all, I’m happy with Eddard here. The portrait could have been better, but overall the figure is quite nice and I’m very pleased that I haven’t been encountering any of QC horrors on the last two figures I bought. There are still two more figures in this first wave, and I haven’t decided whether or not I’m going to be a completist or just wait for some more of the characters I really want like Bronn, Baelish, The Onion Knight, Stannis, Jamie, and Breanne. Either way, you can bet I’ll be coming back with more features from this line eventually. I’m also getting really excited to see Funko’s Legacy Collection expand to some of those other licenses they promised. *cough* Firefly! *cough*

The last time I looked at Funko’s Game of Thrones figures, I was left with what could best be called satisfied apprehension. The Hound and Jon Snow are both great looking figures that required a lot more care and tinkering than mass market releases should warrant. Nonetheless, I promised I would press on and try a couple more and to that end a box from Amazon arrived last week with the next two figures for my collection. Today we’re checking out Tyrion Lannister, a fantastic character in the books and one that I think has been elevated to even further greatness by the wonderful performance of Peter Dinklage.

The figure comes in a splendid window box, which is also designed to hang on a peg. The deco is simple, clean and attractive. There’s a faint linen-like deco to the box and the front has the name of the figure as well as his House’s sigil. The back of the package has a shot of Tyrion from the show and a list of other figures available in this wave. Obviously, Tyrion is a little person and that certainly comes across from all the vacant space in the package. Everything here is collector friendly and as with the previous two figures, when I opened Tyrion I was confronted with a smell that has doubtfully ever been equaled in the annals of action figure marketing. Holy hell, I don’t know what kind of noxious plastic Funko is using, but it really reeks something fierce.

This figure is based on Tyrion in his battle armor from when he was attached to the Vanguard of the Lannister army. While it’s a very specific, not to mention atypical, version of the character, these are action figures, and so I think it makes sense to go with the more action orientated Tyrion as opposed to drunk, whoring, court Tyrion. Gentle Giant is behind the sculpting on this line and it certainly shows. Tyrion sports not only a great likeness and great proportions, but he’s brimming with little details.

The portrait is every bit a great likeness of Peter Dinklage. I especially like the sculpting of the hair and the pensive expression on his face. The paintwork here is quite good, from the work on his eyes to the unshaven stubble, and even the painted skin tone.  I should point out that the paint used on his lips stands out far less in person than it does in pictures.

The armor is an equally impressive combination of sculpted detail and excellent paintwork. The cuirass has a very realistic coppery finish to it with sculpted straps and rivets and an embossed lion just under the collar. The gold chain is neatly painted as are the fixtures on the retaining straps. You get carefully painted laces on the insides of his arm bracers and shoulder armor has more embossed and painted lion heads. The skirt and shoulder armor are all made from very soft and pliable plastic so as not to impede the hip or shoulder articulation.

Uh-oh, what about that articulation? The biggest issue with The Hound and Jon Snow were the stuck joints. Well, I’m happy to report that all the joints on my Tyrion are absolutely perfect. Nothing had to be boiled, baked, frozen, or worked and he was fully poseable right out of the box. Tyrion features a ball joint in the neck that allows for a generous amount of movement. The arms have ball joints in the shoulders and elbows and swivels and hinges in the wrists. The legs are ball jointed at the hips and knees and have swivels and hinges in the ankles. He can also swivel at the waist. All the joints feel nice and solid.

Tyrion comes with one accessory… his trusty axe. It too is a carefully crafted piece with beautiful detailed paintwork on the handle and a little battle damage sculpted into one of the axeheads. Tyrion’s hands are designed so he can hold the axe in either hand or both.

I really am pleased to say that everything about this figure is excellent. In fact, the only room for nitpicking here might be the price. Tyrion sure uses a lot less plastic than The Hound and yet both figures cost the same. Clegane even came with two swords, while little Tyrion only comes with the axe. Funko could have probably found something else to throw in there to sweeten the deal a bit. Maybe a Tyrion and Joffrey two-pack? Ah, but that doesn’t mean I regret buying this figure at all. He’s a superb piece of action figure craftsmanship and well worth the money to me. The paint, the sculpting, everything just comes together splendidly, making me quite excited to see what else this line has in store for us. And hopefully we will still be getting that drinking, whoring, version of King’s Landing Tyrion, because I’d certainly buy that one too! And Bronn… Bronn is a must!