Tag Archives: kickstarters

Oct 31 2018

Mythic Legions (Advent of Decay): Lucretia by The Four Horsemen

Happy Halloween, folks! You’ll note that I’m sticking with Mythic Legions for my Wednesday content, but I still tried to go for that Halloween connection by checking out a vampire! Carpathias was actually the first vampire to hit Legions as part of the original assortment, but he didn’t make my budget crunch for the first Kickstarter and I’ve been regretting it ever since. Fortunately, he was part of the later All-Stars Sale and I was able to pre-order him, but who knows when those are going to be shipping.

So while not the first Vampire, Lucretia is actually the first female vampire. She also happens to be the daughter of Baron Volligar, who was released as part of the Covenant of Shadows assortment. Her bio makes her sound like a nasty piece of work.

And she looks like one too! Lucretia’s body reuses something like 95% of Gwendolyn Heavenbrand’s armored body, with only two key differences. The first is the sculpted purple sash that hangs down from the front of her waist. The second is the tall and sinister, gravity-defying collar that frames her creepy head. Even the shoulder armor is the same sculpt as Ms. Heavensbrand’s. I won’t rehash all the gushing I did over this sculpt last week, but suffice it to say I love all the little details like the tiny straps “holding” the overlapping plates together, the individual rivets, and the exposed chainmail in the joints.

Of course the new deco helps a lot to set this figure apart and it is indeed a beautiful coat of paint. The primary color for the armor is a glossy black with matte purple running through some of the decorative panels. We’ve seen a similar deco on her dear old dad’s armor and it looks as great as ever. You also get a flat gray outlining those panels. Other little touches include metallic silver for the tiny rivets, as well as for the buckles of the brown-painted straps. As with Gwendolyn’s armor, this is an absolutely sumptuous paint job, making the already impressive sculpt sing, even if that song is a fear-inducing dirge of death.

I’ve been in love with the vampire head design since first seeing Carpathias, and that certainly carries over to this new female head. The pale bald head features a rather distinctive nose and brow, which is very familiar. And when coupled with the sharply pointed ears and severe look, I’d say this one is an effective cross between the bloodsuckers of Salem’s Lot and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The earrings are a nice touch and there’s some subtle shading applied to her skin.

Lucretia comes with a flowing black cape, which as always requires the use of the shoulder armor to equip it on her, as the pegs pass through holes on the cape to secure it. That’s no problem for me, as I almost always display these figures with their shoulder armor. But since they are optional, and the figure displays quite well without them, it’s still worth noting that the cape does only work with the shoulders. I love the way it looks on the figure, but it can get in the way of her wearing her sword. And speaking of which, let’s check out her weapons.

Her primary weapon is a two-handed sword, which is new to me. It’s a decidedly vampyric-looking weapon with an elegant hilt featuring an extended, textured grip and a curved crossguard with ends that terminate in a flourish. The black hilt also features a purple stone embedded in the center of the guard. The silver blade is roughly leaf-shaped with a swell about three-quarters of the way down to the point. The configuration of the blade means it won’t pass all the way through the loop in her belt, but the fact that it rides high makes it look like it’s slung across her back and I kind of dig that. I do wish T4H would have started producing some of these belts in black by now, because I think it would have looked better on this figure. Or perhaps even in red, like they did with the Black Knight Legion Builder.

Next up, she has this stout-bladed dagger with a black hilt and purple stone in the center of the guard. It’s not a perfect match for the sword’s handle, but close enough to look good if she’s wielding them en suite. It would have been an especially nice parrying dagger, had they given her a single-handed sword.

Finally, Lucretia comes with a hooked dagger and sheath, and the sheath is something introduced in this Advent of Decay series. It’s plastic with a purple and silver deco and a clip on the back that hooks to the belt. The dagger fits in it quite well and is easy to draw out. It’s a great addition to the Mythic Legions armaments and it makes me wish even more that they will one day tackle scabbards for the swords. Hey, they could easily release a scabbard pack with different decos for the existing swords. I’d buy it!

Is this the part where I say Lucretia may be my new favorite figure in all Mythic Legions? Well, I’m trying not to throw that word around as much this time, but she is simply awesome and well worth a consideration as one of the better figures in this line. The black and purple deco of her armor really sings to me, the quality of the paintwork is gorgeous, the weapons are well-curated, and all in all this figure has a lot of personality. She makes me excited to know that I have two more vampires from Advent of Decay waiting to be opened and that Carpathias will eventually be on the way.

Oct 24 2018

Mythic Legions (Advent of Decay): Gwendolyn Heavensbrand by The Four Horsemen

If you follow me on Twitter, than you know I spent this past weekend absolutely obsessed with Mythic Legions! It was back in February of 2017 that I backed Advent of Decay, The Four Horsemen’s second Mythic Legions Kickstarter. With something like 43 figures offered, this project was even more expansive then the first, and it introduced some new elements to the mix, like female characters, as well as Elves and Goblins. I gladly forked over my entire 2017 tax return (and maybe a little more) in what was the largest sum I had ever spent on a single toy purchase. Yeah, it was 34 figures, but still all in one lump sum. And then the long, hard wait began. The figures were originally planned to arrive in April of this year, but if you’ve Kickstarted anything, you know that delays are nearly inevitable. And that was fine with me. You can’t rush art, not even in 6-inch action figure form. And art is exactly what we got.

That’s not to say I got everything yet. The figures finally started shipping last week, and I got my first box this past weekend with 24 figures. T4H are shipping some larger orders separately, which isn’t a bad thing because it’ll give me time to really enjoy these before getting more. It took me quite a while just to open these figures and give them a once over for QC purposes. And while I admit, I’ll rest easier once I get that second shipping notice, I’m content to wait so that everyone can start getting their figures in a timely manner. Anywho… I thought I’d kick things off with Gwendolyn Heavensbrand, since she was the figure I chose as my backer reward, before adding 33 more to the Backerkit. I’ll note here that the above is the last packaged shot I’ll be doing for this series. These packages take up a lot of space and I’m going to be putting them away in storage for the time being, and probably eventually getting rid of them. Suffice it to say, the packaging hasn’t changed much since the previous series. It is collector friendly, there have been some minor art changes on the card, and you get a character bio printed on the side of the bubble insert. All you really need to know is that she’s Sir Gideon’s sister, so let’s get Ms. Heavensbrand out and see what we’ve got!

I have a running gag with my other Mythic Legions reviews, where each one I open is my new favorite. Here’s a case, where it may be true. No, I’m serious! Well, if she isn’t my favorite, then I have to say Gwen is one of the most visually striking figures I own in any line that I collect. The new female armored buck easily rivals anything we got in the first assortment, and nudges that bar up just a tad. The armor is just bulky enough to be convincing, and yet still keeps all of Gwen’s curves in tact. At the same time the sculpted detail here is just insane. Every over-lapping plate, every segmented hinge, every little rivet, strap, buckle, fastener, even the glimpses of chain mail exposed at the joints, it’s all lovingly crafted on this figure. To say nothing of the etched ornamentation present on the center stripe running down the chest plate. This is a fine example of T4H at the top of their game, and that’s really saying something, because their worst is on par with most other companies’ best.

Likewise, the paintwork on this figure has all the chops needed to compliment the sculpt. The sumptuous gold leaf paint used on the armor is rich and satiny with just the right amount of sheen. This stuff makes Sir Gideon’s gold armor look rather flat by comparison. Add to that the metallic purple used on the secondary panels, and you have a deco that really pops beautifully. And then we come to the finer details, like the individually painted silver buckles on those straps, the tiny silver painted rivets, and the slightly more gray finish of the exposed chainmail. The choice of colors, the quality of paint, and the precision of application are all excellent. One thing that’s different this time around is the joints on the figure are left unpainted. I think this was a good idea, as the painted joints in previous assortments would sometimes cause stuck joints and the paint would usually just rub off anyway as the joints were worked. In some areas, like the backs of the knees, it looks OK as the gray plastic sort of matches the chainmail. It’s a lot more obvious on the shoulder hinges, but only if you choose to display the figure without the shoulder armor.

Gwen comes out of the package wearing her helmeted head and it is a lovely portrait. The previous assortments of Mythic Legions didn’t feature a lot of human head sculpts, and I think that was a good thing, because I didn’t find any of the human portraits to be exceptional. Here, it feels like T4H upped their game a lot. Gwen is quite the looker, and I’m particularly impressed with the paint on display here. Both the eyes and lips have a really nice glossy finish to them and there’s a bit of rosiness to her cheeks. The form fitting helmet features the same luscious gold paint as the rest of her armor with a little of that metallic purple carrying over to the chin. And you can’t miss that monstrous purple plume spilling out of the back and flowing down the back of her head. It’s a separate piece that plugs into a socket at the back of the helmet.

While it’s a shame to mask all that beauty, the visor on Gwen’s helmet can be lowered into place to protect her from messing up her pretty face in the heat of battle. Between the classical design of the helmet and the gold paint, I’m instantly reminded of the vintage Marx Knights, and that’s not at all a bad thing. The protective bars on the visor are wide enough that you can easily see her face through the visor, and I really dig the pierced breathing holes down around the lower face. And since apparently two display options for the head aren’t enough…

We also get an un-helmeted head, and… Wow! Everything I said about the Gwen’s face on the helmeted head goes double here. I love the paint on her eyes and lips and I really dig the sweeping motion of her hair and the way it partially obscures the left side of her face. It adds some wonderful depth to the portrait, and I’m not even concerning myself with the fact that there’s no way she could get that coif contained within that form-fitting helmet of hers. I’m worried that deciding which head to display this figure with is going to keep me up at night. But then these are good problems to have. Let’s talk swords and belts…

Gwendolyn comes with the ubiquitous brown sword belt that we’ve seen with every Mythic Legions figure since the line began. Part of me wishes T4H had tweaked this design a bit, and maybe even worked on some proper scabbards, but then these belts work fine and I’m happy to keep them for aesthetic continuity. The belt rests loosely on her hips and the sword passes through the loop where it can rest on her hip, down the front, or as I like to do it, a little behind the hip. Any of these configurations work fine for her standard single-handed sword.

The sword itself appears to be new, but it’s extremely similar to the one included with her brother, Sir Gideon. Mythic Legions is a line that’s all about the economy of parts sharing and sometimes that’s more evident in the accessories than the actual figures. With that having been said, I like the no-nonsense design of the weapon. It’s got a classic cruciform hilt with a straight crossguard and a disc pommel. Gideon’s sword had a grip that swelled in the middle, whereas this one tapers toward the pommel. The hilt is all in gold with the blade painted a bright silver. Of course, when Gwen wants to make more of a statement…

She also has a much larger two-handed sword. As always, you have the option to use the belt as a shoulder strap to sling the sword diagonally across the back, which is great for Gwen’s larger sword. On the downside, this method works best when you remove one of the pieces of shoulder armor, and if you’re a fan of symmetry like I am, this may not be the look for you. It’s also worth noting that Gwen’s copious plume gets in the way a bit, but it will work.

This sword is a beautiful piece, with a golden hilt, extended grip, fluted pommel and down-sloping crossguard. There are even a pair of red painted crystals in the hilt. The long double-edged blade even features a pair of parrying flukes extending from the blade. One of the things about this line reusing so many weapons: When you get a new one like this, it sure is a treat!

Gwen also comes with a shield, and here we see some old and new. The shield itself is the same configuration we’ve seen dozens of times over. This one is even painted to match her brother’s although the size and placement of the crest is a little different. The edges are painted silver and the face is gold to match her armor. My shield has some notable scuffs and brush marks on it, which I’m going to assume is not intentional, although it does look like it could easily pass as weathering. So what’s different?

The grip! Gone is the plastic clip and in it’s place is this L-shaped grip, and I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, the old clips could be at risk of stressing and snapping the more you take them on and off the figure’s arm. Granted, I haven’t had that happen with any of mine, but it has happened with one of my Marvel Legends Captain America shields, and that works on the same design. Also, I sometimes worry about the clip scratching the paint on the figures when putting it on and taking it off. This new system definitely sets aside either of those concerns, and it certainly works, but it feels a lot more unwieldy. It looks fine when viewed from the front and you can still position the shield in almost any orientation, but when viewed from behind or the side I think it can look awkward. Of course, the peg it attaches to is the same, so you can feel free to swap it out with any of the shield clips from the older Mythic Legions figures.

I’d apologize for all the gushing, but when it comes to my Mythic Legions reviews, everyone should expect it by now. It seemed only right to start out with Gwen, since I started with her brother back when my Mythic Legions reviews began, and I think it was cool they offered another one of the Heavensbrand clan as a Backer Reward this time around. And thus begins what will be a long stretch of Mythic Legion Wednesdays as I work my way through this amazing collection of figures. I’m even going to do my best to squeeze another one in on a Tuesday or Wednesday when time allows. I know there have been smaller assortments of figures leaking out since the last Kickstarter, but damn it feels great to have a whole box of brand new Legions again!

 

 

Oct 19 2018

Vitruvian HACKS (Series 2): Female Orc Conqueror by Boss Fight Studio

It’s been a while, since I last looked at some Vitruvian HACKS figures here at FFZ. My original plan was to get through all my backlog of this line before Mythic Legions: Advent of Decay started shipping. But guess what’s showing up at my door later on today! Yup, a big chunk of my Mythic Legions figures. And while it’s too late to make up for lost time now, I thought I’d sneak one more HACKS figure into the mix before I have to give up one day a week to Advent of Decay for the foreseeable future. And yeah, I know I was supposed to do another Super7 Masters Classics review this week, but I’ll come back to those next week. Anywho… today I’m dipping back into the fantasy inspired Vitruvian HACKS Series 2 and opening up the female version of the Orc Conqueror!

As always, these 4-inch figures come in a collector friendly card and bubble with some solid artwork on the front and a “Collect Them All” style layout on the back. You also get a bio on the back that tells us a little about the She-Orc. While the male Orc was dubbed a “Savage Warrior,” the female appears to be the brains of the Orc outfit, as her title is “Female Orc Strategist.” In case you missed it, I reviewed the Male Orc Conqueror way back in April.

From the waist up, this green femme fatale is built off of BFS’ regular nude (but green skinned!) female buck, which means all the costume bits on her upper half are separately sculpted and actually worn on the buck. These include her shoulder armor, the bracers on her biceps and forearms, and her battle-bra. All these pieces are painted in a nice gold finish, and they each feature some great sculpted details. Some notable touches include the spikes on her shoulder piece and the tiny spiked rivets on her bracers. It never ceases to impress me the way BFS are able to craft removable armor pieces at this 4-inch scale and have them fit so well and look so good.

Alas, I have to point out a little QC problem on my figure, where the shoulder strap for the armor was separated from the cross strap on my figure. It looks like it just pulled apart and it can probably be glued back into place, but it’s worth noting nonetheless. It’s also the first time I’ve encountered any kind of QC problem on any of my HACKS figures, and I’ve opened and reviewed nearly twenty of them so far. That’s not a bad track record, but at about $20 a pop, I’d just as soon not have any issues. Anyway…

Below the waist, her legs are sculpted with trousers and high boots, so nothing removable down there, ya pervs. She does, however, have armor for her hips, as well as the front and back of her groin, which is sculpted as a separate piece and painted in the same sumptuous gold as the rest of her armor. The belt and hip armor fits well, but it tends to ride up when posing the figure in wide stances. And while the coloring is quite nice on this figure, the paint feels a bit more basic than what I’ve seen on other figures in this line.

This Fem-Orc comes with two different head sculpts, the first of which is a regular unmasked head. This is a solid head sculpt, but not really extraordinary. I think they tried to go for an attractive look, and I would have preferred something a little more savage. Her dainty little tusks protruding from those full and pouty lips is a tad weird to me. The red eyes are a nice touch, and she has a well-defined nose as well as strong contours to her face. I also think the hair sculpt is a bit of a strange choice. It reminds me a little of something I’ve seen actresses from the 1940’s wearing. So, all in all, not a bad portrait, but maybe not the direction that I would have gone.

The other head sculpt features a really cool skull battle mask, and this one I dig a lot. The detail and paint on the skull are both superb, and I love how clearly they sculpted the area around her eyes that can be seen through the mask. The skull piece covers up most of the mouth, as well as the front part of the hair, and just looks a lot more savage and warlike. I also like the option of using this head for potential troop building. If these figures were a little cheaper, I’d definitely pick up another pair of these, remove the shoulder pieces and have them wearing the masked heads and flanking an unmasked She-Orc as her personal guards.

The HACKS line has been pretty great about including loads of extra accessories, but Ms. Orc here comes up a little short in that department. In addition to the ubiquitous Boss Fight Studio themed figure stand and the extra set of hands with the differently aligned wrist hinges, she comes with two weapons and a shield. The first weapon is this big and beefy knife. It looks like it was forged out of a single piece of metal with some leather wraps to make up a grip. I like the nicked edge and the scrapes on the face of the blade. It looks crude and well used, just like any Orc weapon should!

And then we have the club and the shield. The club is even more crude looking than the knife, with a twisted head and spikes that look like they’re made out of claws or teeth woven into it. The grip is sculpted to look like it’s wrapped and there’s a hooked talon protruding from the end. It’s just an ugly tool for killing and I dig it a lot.

The shield is the same one that came with the Male Orc Conqueror and that’s fine by me because I absolutely love this thing. The surface is sculpted to look like it’s made from wooden boards and the sculpted metal rim and central boss are pitted and worn, with several nicks and pieces missing around the edge. It’s got a ton of personality. The reverse side is equally detailed with two sculpted “metal” strips reinforcing it and a grab bar running down the middle. There are also a pair of loops if you want to attach a string so she can wear it on her back.

I like the Female Orc Conqueror a lot, but there are a few minor hiccups here, which places her a notch or two below what I’m used to seeing in this line. The QC issue on the shoulder strap is certainly disappointing and I’ll also toss in here the fact that I had to shave some mold flashing from around her elbow joints to get them to work. And while I’ll admit two weapons, a shield, and an extra head is not too shabby, the package still feels really light on the accessories, especially when compared to the Male Orc Conqueror’s vast inventory of goodies. That’s not to say I’m in any way sorry I picked her up, and if BFS ever happens to have a sale, I may find myself with a couple more!

Jun 29 2018

Vitruvian HACKS: Berzerker by Boss Fight Studio

Once again, I’m ending the week with a look at another Vitruvian HACKS figure from Boss Fight Studio. I’m still sticking with Series 1 for now, but this time venturing far into Wave 6. I’ve only reviewed a handful of figures past the initial four waves, but don’t worry, they’re all coming eventually. As for today’s choice? Well, I’ve just finished rounding out my look at the three Gorgon Sisters and Eurayle’s Disciple, so it seemed only right to go with the Gorgon Berzerker this week.

What do you get when you cross one of Eurayle’s warrior slaves with Stheno’s snake-morphing bite? A male Gorgon Berzerker who will stop at nothing to fight back the Spartan and Myrmidon armies. The Berzerker comes on your typical landscape-styled card featuring some nice character art on the front, and shots of the various figures from Waves 5-7, as well as the mysterious lost wave of variants. As always, the bubble is totally collector friendly and the package can be displayed standing on a shelf or swinging by a peghook.

While the idea of going with a male Gorgon flies in the face of the Sisters’ matriarchy, it feels like a no-brainer for a line that likes to mix and match parts and I think the result speak for itself. The lower half features all the great articulation and texturing of the female Gorgons. The tail is segmented into multiple ball joints, which can be turned and twisted into a variety of poses, and I’m still amazed at how easily these half-snakes can be made to balance on their own when the tail is coiled up to form a base. We’ve had Gorgons in all different colors, but the tail on this figure is a very dark green with a lighter green underbelly.

The sculpted scales go up past the tail to encompass the abdomen, with things smoothing out above the ball joint that connects the upper portion of the humanoid buck. I love that they did this, rather than just slap half a regular buck onto the tail. The dark and light green deco also carries to the figure’s upper half with the light green coloring the chest, the hands and the chin. The head sculpt is a fairly generic bald head with piercing red eyes. I also dig the pattern printed on the figure’s back. There’s nothing terribly flashy here when it comes to the colors, but I think it works perfectly for an army builder like this guy. And since you can’t have your Berzerker going berserk without his weapons, let’s get this fella all geared up!

For starters, we get the skull and spine style helmet that we’ve seen with many of the lady Gorgons. This one is sculpted in black plastic with white paint on the fangs. The design of these pieces is just fantastic. The spine curves down the back of the neck, while the open jaws frame the figure’s face. If a half-snake warrior wasn’t intimidating enough, this headgear really launches him over the top.

The Berzerker also comes with a pair of matched leaf-bladed short swords, each secured in its own scabbard with shoulder strap. The scabbards are black with silver fixtures and red tassels to match the red hilts of the swords. These look great on his hips with the two shoulder straps crisscrossing his chest. The buckles on the straps are also neatly painted silver to match the fixtures on the scabbards. The straps were originally made to be worn by the warriors over their armor, so they are a tad loose on this figure.

The sword blades are painted silver and have some green blood spilled on them. At least I’m assuming it’s green Gorgon blood. The bio makes a point of saying that once in the rage of battle, the Berzerkers don’t stop once their enemies are vanquished and are likely to turn on their own. I would have preferred human blood on the blades. I might just consider the green stuff to be some kind of poison.

The Berzerker can hold the swords perfectly and he also comes with an extra pair of hands so you can have the wrists hinges bend side to side or forward and backward. Oddly enough, he also comes with the usual pegged figure stand, which he obviously can’t use because he has no feet. Some may scoff at the fact that he doesn’t come with more accessories, but with how much extra plastic goes into the tail, I think it all works out in the end. I will confess that I will probably end up giving him a spear.

The Berzerker is definitely one of the more unique figures in the line, as he even stands out among the myriad of different colored female Gorgons.  He doesn’t come with a lot of stuff, but he is a fantastic figure with some great sculpting and coloring. Doing a male Gorgon was kind of a no-brainer, even if they had to bend their own rules to do it. I like how they worked it into the fiction, though. Of course, the rub here is that he’s an army builder and while I’d love to pick up some more, at $25 a piece, I’ve been trying to avoid troop building any of the figures in this line, so for now I may have to be content with just the one… maybe two at some point, but I doubt any more than that.

Jun 22 2018

Vitruvian HACKS: Stheno (Eldest Gorgon Sister) by Boss Fight Studio

It’s another V-HACKS Friday, Toyhounds. As promised, Today I’m finally wrapping up my look at the three Gorgon Sisters from Series 1 of Vitruvian HACKS. I checked out Medussa waaaaay back when I reviewed the very first wave from the Kickstarter. I had a look at Eurayle, the youngest of the three, just a few weeks back. And now it’s time to check out the oldest of the three Sisters, Stheno!

Here’s the usual HACKS packaging, featuring the landscape-orientated card, collector friendly bubble, and some really beautiful character art. The back of the card has the usual “Collect Them All” headshots of the first four waves and a little bit of a bio of Stheno. The Eldest Gorgon Sister can not only turn her victims to stone, but she can also transform humans into Gorgon soldiers with a simple bite. She was released as part of the second wave of Series 1 and I’m super excited to finally get her open and check her out!

Hot damn, is this a gorgeous figure! I love how each of the Gorgon Sisters have their own thing going on. Medusa is the classic half-snake lady, Eurayle is the most human, with just the snake hair to give her away. Well, Stheno lies in between. She’s mostly human looking like her youngest sister, but she’s got the full on snake hair mantle that puts Eurayle’s to shame. But I’m getting ahead of myself. First off, Stheno is built on a dark-skinned female buck, and as usual her entire costume is made of separate pieces and actually worn by the buck. That’s especially impressive here because of how intricate the costume is and that it’s all done in 4-inch scale. It’s also interesting to note that to my knowledge, BFS has never reused any of these armor pieces. That makes this figure one of the most distinctive looking releases in the Series.

The costume consists of some very intricate gold armor strapped to her lower legs. The criss-crossing gold is a little evocative of a snake pattern, but with the pincer-like ends at her knees, I also find them to have a scarab-like appearance, giving her a bit more of an Egyptian flavor than Classical Greek. She has a pair of painted panties and above that a belt, again with an intricate golden weave pattern and a snake-skin skirt that hangs off the back. Her top features a golden brassiere and some beautifully sculpted shoulders. She also has a pair of arm bracers with some remarkable snake texturing on them. I really have to give BFS some major kudos for the amount of detail they’re able to pack into such small pieces. All that gold in Stheno’s outfit is broken up a bit with some purple stones and beads. This costume is quite simply striking in every way imaginable.

And yet the real selling point of this figure is still probably the majestic head sculpt. Stheno’s face is beautifully sculpted with some pronounced cheek bones and sharp paint to the eyes and lips. Her headdress features more of ornate gold finery to match the rest of her outfit, with a purple bauble right in the middle of her forehead. And then you have her outrageous mane of cobra hair. It’s something that just has to be seen to be believed. The individual cobras fan out to both sides with each of their hoods fully deployed. Amazing!

Now, as fantastic as Stheno looks, all this detail comes at a bit of a price and the articulation, poseability, and overall stability falls victim to the character design. While the buck features all the great points of articulation that I’ve come to appreciate in this line, the top of her armor keeps her arms from being able to go flush with her sides, so they’re always going to be sticking out. On the other hand, her tight fitting snake skirt means that her hip articulation is a bit hindered as well. Finally, the giant snake mane combined with tiny bare feet means that Stheno is not a figure that is easy to keep standing upright. She’s quite back-heavy and in virtually all of the shots in this review, I’m using some kind of assist to keep her standing. I don’t want to harp on these points too harshly, because I think it’s a fair trade-off to get a figure that looks this striking.

While Boss Fight tends to stuff these figures with tons of accessories, Stheno comes up short in that regard with only her serpent staff, figure stand, and an extra pair of hands in her inventory. Again, it’s not something I’m going to get upset about because clearly a lot of attention went into this one-and-done outfit, plus the extra plastic needed for her slithering coif is probably the same amount that goes into all those accessories included with other figures.

Now, with that having been said, the staff is a very cool piece and feels very appropriate for the character. The gold staff features a purple globe at the top and a gold cobra spiraling up the rod and crowning the purple orb with his open hood.

Vitruvian HACKS is a line built around parts sharing and recoloring and there’s nothing wrong with that because Boss Fight knows how to make it work. But it also makes it all the more special when you get a figure like Stheno in the mix. She’s a stand out addition to the collection, not only because she’s an absolutely gorgeous sculpt, but also because she feels more one-of-a-kind than a lot of the other figures in this Series. That’s not to put down the myriad versions of Hoplites and snake-lady repaints, as they’re all excellent figures. I’m just glad I waited until this late in the game to get around to opening Stheno, because she adds a strong shot of variety and distinctiveness among the legions of Greek Soldiers and Gorgons. And while I appreciate the fact that this costume hasn’t been used since, I wouldn’t mind seeing it recolored and used in Series 2 on a female enchantress of some sort.

Jun 15 2018

Vitruvian HACKS: Disciple of Eurayle by Boss Fight Studio

Who’s up for ending the week with a little Vitruvian HACKS? I sure am, because I really want to get all these remaining HACKS figures reviewed before the new Mythic Legions figures arrive and take over my Wednesday slots for… well for the rest of the year. I’m not even kidding! The last time I visited with Boss Fight’s awesome line of 4-inch plastic peoples from Greek Mythology, I opened up the youngest of the three Gorgon sisters, Eurayle and today I’m going to check out one of her Disciples! Yes, I know I promised to be looking at the last of the three Gorgon sisters this week, but I’ll get to her next week. Promise! No, really… this time I mean it!!!

As always, unless it’s some kind of exclusive, the HACKS figures come on these snappy landscape-orientated cards with colorful artwork and a clear bubble that extends out to hug the edges of the card and can be easily removed without damaging anything. I love it! Actually, the character artwork on this card isn’t the greatest, it’s actually pretty bad. But it’s the figure inside that really counts. Unlike her big sis, Medusa, Eurayle chooses not to turn her victims to stone, instead she bewitches them into joining her army of slaves, and that’s where the Disciple of Eurayle fits into the big picture. Hmm… useless lawn ornaments or slave army? I think she’s got the right idea!

There’s nothing in this package that we haven’t seen before, but the HACKS line is all about mixing and matching parts and adding new color schemes to come up with new figures, and The Disciple is another great example of just how good BFS is at it. This figure features the typical male buck, cast in a cool sickly green colored skin to make him look like he’s been partially snake-ified. The body features the standard sculpted and painted sandals on the feet, and adds a couple of black snake-like tattoos printed on the biceps. As always, articulation is made up of a lot of pegged hinges (in the shoulders, elbows, wrists, ankles) so the figure can be taken apart, and you also get ball joints in the hips and double hinges in the knees. There’s a ball joint in the torso, buried under the armor, and a double ball joint in the neck.

The armor consists of a Spartan-style hauberk of scale mail, and is colored in a dark olive green and features some gold paint apps for the trim and rivets. The sculpted detail on the hauberk is especially nice for a figure in this scale, not to mention it’s an actual separate piece of costume that’s worn by the buck. The same goes for the sculpted grieves, which are painted gold and have green snake motifs sculpted onto them. The only article of clothing you can’t take off this figure are the sculpted sandals.

The head is bald and has some splendid facial details. Indeed, I’d go so far as to say this is one of the best 4-inch had sculpts I’ve seen in a while. The grim visage works well as a mindless warrior zombie and I especially like the bright red eyes.

The Disciple also comes with a standard hoplite helmet with a high brush comb. The helmet is painted in dark olive to match the hauberk and there’s a gold zigzag pattern painted along the crest and under the comb. As always, the helmet fits the head quite well. Let’s move on to have a look at the rest of his gear!

First up, he comes with a gold short sword with a leaf-shaped blade and a simple hilt. The sword comes with a scabbard attached to a shoulder strap that works really well and looks great on the figure. The scabbard is painted brown and features some gold fixtures and a pair of sculpted tassels painted pale green to match The Disciple’s skin. The buckle on the shoulder strap is also painted gold. The sword fits in just snug enough so it doesn’t fall out, but it’s not too hard to draw either.

If you’d prefer, there’s also a loop in the back of the armor, which can be used to store the sword on his back. Honestly, I love the look of the scabbard too much not to use it, but it’s always nice to have options. And who knows, I may wind up giving him another sword someday.

And since swords and shields go together like PB&J, Boss Fight threw a standard shield in here as well. This is the same sculpt we’ve seen over and over again in this line, painted in gold, but I’m not complaining. The front face of the shield is sculpted with a hammered finish and has a red snake motif painted on it. The reverse of the shield features sculpted rivets and reinforced plates. There’s a grab bar as well as a pliable plastic sleeve for the forearm, both of which help the figure to hold it perfectly. I don’t think I’ll ever stop being impressed by how well the equipment like this shield or the sword scabbard work with these figures, despite only being 4-inch scale. There are also tiny loops on the back of the shield. I presume these are so you can tie some string around them as a means of hanging the shield on the figure’s back.

Now, if you are looking for something a little more exotic than the traditional sword and shield, The Disciple also comes with gold versions of Eurayle’s katar-style weapons. I like that they included these as it further ties the look of the Disciple to his mistress. The first pair includes blades with a snake head motif near the hilt and some jagged cuts in the edges.

The other more distinctive pair are comprised of coiled snakes. As I’m sure I said in the Eurayle review, I love these designs, but I would imagine that they aren’t terribly practical as weapons. Although, I wouldn’t want to get run through by one of those.

At this point, some of the Series 1 HACKS are getting harder to find at decent prices, but Boss Fight still has a selection available on their website, which is where I was able to hunt down this Disciple of Eurayle. And while there’s nothing here I haven’t seen already, in terms of both the figure and the accessories, I’m really glad I decided to pick him up. He’s a great looking addition to the collection, and I really like the story behind him. Maybe even enough to pick up a second so that I can give the youngest of the Gorgon Sisters a pair of guards to display with her instead of just the one lone Disciple. After all, a figure that’s worth literally ten times what I paid for her a couple of years ago needs a good guard detail.

May 25 2018

Vitruvian HACKS: Eurayle (Youngest Gorgon Sister) by Boss Fight Studio

My last bunch of Vitruvian HACKS reviews have been focusing on the Series 2 sword-and-sorcery fantasy figures, but I still have plenty of unfinished business with the Series 1 and all it’s Greek Mythology goodness. Indeed, I’m pretty sure that the last few times I reviewed HACKS, I promised to go back to Series 1 for a while, and so I’m going to start making good on that now. Today I’m checking out Eurayle, the youngest of the three Gorgon Sisters.

As usual, the figure comes on a landscape-orientated card and the bubble is part of a clear plastic piece that covers the card and folds around it at the edges. As a result you get all the classic presentation of a carded figure, while still being totally collector friendly. The front of the card features some great character art, and the back has the “Collect Them All” layout with head-shots of all four waves of Series 1. There are a total of 16 figures in all, but that doesn’t count the exclusives, and I think there have been some new releases since then. And if you haven’t collected them all yet, be prepared to pay top dollar for some of these. But more on that later.

Eurayle hails from the third wave of Series 1 and she’s a standout figure, not only because she’s really well done, but because she’s one of the few figures from Series 1 that isn’t a variation of a Greek Hoplite or a Gorgon. Well, technically she is a Gorgon, but not in the half-snake, half-lady sense of the term. It’s complicated. The bio tells us that instead of turning her victims to stone, she brainwashes them to join her army of disciples. Either way, on the surface she’s just a scantily clad Greek babe. One of the many cool things about Series 1 is that the outfits are sculpted in separate pieces and actually worn by the figure. In this case that includes a white top and white sash, both held on with some electric blue snake straps. These fit the figure pretty well and I’m still amazed at how well BFS makes this work so well at the 4-inch scale.

I really dig what they did with the head sculpt here. Eurayle isn’t overly beautiful, but she’s not ugly either. The facial features are very well defined and she sports a lot of character. The paint applications on the face are done with precision and she even has some blue lipstick to match the blue snake motif on her outfit. But the real distinctive feature of Eurayle’s portrait is her snake hair. She may not have gone full-on half-snake like her sister Medusa, but she still shares the family resemblance in her slithering green coif. The tangle of snakes blows (or slithers) off to the side behind her and I love how they sort of turn into cornrows as they get to her scalp. Finally, she has a blue hair band that looks like… you guessed it! Snakes! Overall, the portraits in this line have been pretty solid, but I’d rate Eurayle’s up with some of the best of them.

While Eurayle doesn’t sport a whole lot of clothes to hide her modesty, she does know how to accessorize, as she comes with four different coiled snakes that she can wear on her arms and legs. These are painted to match the blue snakes on her outfit. These are all held on simply by tension and some work better than others. I wound up putting one small one on her right wrist, one small one on her left ankle, the biggest one on her right thigh, and the middle sized one on her left bicep. The only one that really gives me trouble staying put is the one on her bicep. It has a habit of sliding down to her elbow, although trying to hook it onto her shoulder seems to help.

Other than her snake accessories, Eurayle comes with an extra pair of accessory-holding hands, so you get one pair that’s hinged to angle forward and one hinged to go side-to-side. She also comes with two matched sets of katar-style push daggers, although I suppose these are long enough to be called swords. Both of these are painted to match her electric blue theme. The first pair have some really cool looking solid blades.

The second pair feature more of a snake motif and these look especially wicked, but I’m not sure they’d be quite as effective as weapons. They don’t seem to have edges, so these would be primarily stabbing weapons, but I guess that was largely the point (no pun intended) of the katar anyway. Besides, I don’t want to criticize these weapons by overthinking them, because I think the designs are awesome and these are the ones I’ll be going with when I display her.

And as always, the figure comes with a standard issue black Boss Fight Studio embossed stand. I’ve had some issues using the pegs on these with some of the previous barefoot figures because the foot pegs are more shallow, but Eurayle’s work just fine. Although she is a surprisingly well balanced figure on her own.

Back when I was crunching numbers for Add On’s for the HACKS Kickstarter and trying to stay within some semblance of budget, I very nearly nixed Eurayle in favor of another warrior variant, but I finally convinced myself that I wanted all three of the Gorgon Sisters and so she ultimately made the cut. And it’s a good thing too, because for reasons unknown to me, she goes for all the monies now on the second-hand market. I mean, sure, some Series 1 HACKS can go for double what they originally cost, but lovely little Eurayle here seems to go in the vicinity of $150-200, and that’s if you can actually find her for sale. To be honest, a little piece of me was hoping that I was going to be unimpressed with her and willing to let her go for that kind of money, but as it turns, out I’ll be keeping her. And next time I revisit the HACKS line, I’ll check out the final Gorgon Sister, Stheno!

May 23 2018

Mythic Legions (The Coliseum): Black Knight Legion Builder by The Four Horsemen

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.

May 11 2018

Vitruvian HACKS (Series 2): Lord Vehemous by Boss Fight Studio

Last week I got a new box in from Boss Fight Studio with some figures from the newest wave of Vitruvian HACKS, Series 2. I’m quickly getting backlogged with this line, as I still have plenty of figures from Series 1 to review, but when these showed up they just looked so damn good that I decided to bump a few of them to the head of the line. Today, I’m checking out Lord Vehemous, the self-proclaimed Dragon Cult Warrior Priest.
If you’re new to V-HACKS, Series 2 is all about a fantasy-style theme somewhat inspired by the likes of AD&D and other sword-and-sorcery type franchises, but the characters and designs are all original.

As always, the figures come on a landscape-orientated card with some colorful character art on the front and a “Collect Them All” layout on the back showing the figures from this wave, which I believe is the third, and the previous one. You also get a bio that tells us Lord Vehemous and his followers not only worship dragons, but gain supernatural powers by drinking their blood. F’cking-A hardcore! As you can see from the bubble, this figure comes packed with a ton of extra goodies, so if you’ll give me a minute to get him all geared up, we’ll check him out!

Vehemous sports a half-suit of armor, with full plate from the waist up and a long medieval-style skirt (for lack of a better word) covering his legs and most of his boots. The armor reuses some parts from the Knight of Accord, like the legs, arms and lower torso. He even has the slots on the outside of his thighs to tab in armor pieces, even though he doesn’t come with any. The chest armor, on the other hand, is different, as it features a well-worn, pitted finish and even some nasty looking cracks. Indeed, all the armor is colored to look like it’s old, possibly made out of bone, and has seen better days. I really dig the sculpted detail in the robes and belts, and there are peg holes on his hips to attach some of his gear. The various buckles and studs on the belt are all painted gold.

The optional parts for the armor include a pair of sculpted fur shoulder pads and a matching half-cape, the last of which we’ve seen a few times before, but most recently with the Orc. I say these pieces are optional, but Vehemous does have some pegs sticking out of his shoulders to attach them, so if you don’t equip the shoulders, these look exposed and awkward. Of course, you could always borrow different shoulders from one of your other HACKS figures, as mix-and-match is a big part of the charm here.

The head sculpt is excellent. Vehemous is a distinguished old and gray fellow with a rather nasty scar running down his left eye. They’ve even painted that eye gray to show that the damage isn’t just superficial. I’d say this is easily one of my favorite head sculpts in the entire HACKS line. It really is excellent. It seems a shame to cover it up, but you can do just that thanks to the included helmet…

The helmet is made of soft, pliable plastic and fits over the head quite well. It’s cast in the same color plastic as the rest of the armor, giving it an ancient bone-like finish and the design is just superb. I just love the configuration of the horns and the way the figure’s eyes line up with the eye holes in the helmet. This piece certainly adds a lot of intimidation factor to the figure, while also allowing some display variety. I could easily see picking up a few more Lord Vehemous figures, put the helmets on two of them and just display them behind the unmasked figure as his fellow cultists. Damn, I think I’ve just talked myself out of another forty bucks. But if you really want to go nuts, you have one more noggin option…

And that’s the skull. I’m not sure where or how skeletons fit into the whole Dragon Cult business, but this is a beautiful skull and it sure looks great on the figure. The sculpt is incredibly well detailed for a figure in this scale, but I shouldn’t be surprised as the folks at BFS have been sculpting these skulls plenty of times and have had a lot of practice. The skull is cast in a creepy yellowish-green and features some wash to bring out all the little details. Seeing as how the skull still features the red gash running down over the left eye, I’m guessing this is some kind of magical transformation. Alright, so we’ve looked at the figure and the heads, let’s check out the accessories.

For starters, Vehemous comes with this cool book, no doubt an ancient tome dealing with dragon lore and spells that you can do with the blood of the Great Wyrms. I’m pretty sure this is a repaint of the book included with Felonious from Wave 2, but I haven’t opened or reviewed that figure yet, and he’s out of bounds for comparison until I do. Sorry, but thems the rules! Either way, the book features a blue binding with a leather-like texture as well as sculpted gold fixtures and an ornamental piece on the front cover. As a reformed antiquarian book collector, I really dig this accessory a lot. It even has a sculpted chain that you can use to attach it to his belt. Of course, knowledge is power, but nothing beats cold hard steel, so let’s move on to some of Vehemous’ many weapons.

You can’t go wrong with a sword and dagger and Vehemous comes with both, each in their own scabbard and sheath, and each with pegs to attach them to his belt. The scabbard and sheath are a bit on the chunky side, but I’m willing to forgive that in this scale. Both are painted blue to match the shirt that peeks through the armor, you get some sculpted brown “leather” straps and the throats and tips are painted gold. The blades fit in well and can be drawn without much effort. I like that the peg hole for the dagger is angled a bit to the back so I can have him wear it horizontally. The gold hilts are matched (or “en suite” as they say) with pointed pommels and simple cross guards. Both have sculpted ribbed grips painted blue. The blades have a nice silver paint finish and Vehemous comes with two pairs of hands to hold them, one pair is hinged to angle forward and the other to bend side-to-side.

Next up, Vehemous comes with this bitchin’ spiked flail. The handle has sculpted “leather” wrappings and a pretty sharp spike capping off the end. The spiked ball hangs from a chain with gold painted loops securing it at both ends. I’m a sucker for a good flail, and I’m actually surprised that the Vitruvian HACKS 4-inch line beat the Mythic Legions 6-inch line, by doing a flail first. And they did a damn fine job with it.

Lastly, you get a spiked mace with a really long handle, making it look more like a staff than a practical weapon. Not that you couldn’t do some crazy damage with this thing if you were to swing it at the busy-body knights who show up to crash your Dragon Blood Rituals. The spiked ball looks like the same one used for the flail, and the shaft is white with some gold fixtures.

The best compliment I can pay an action figure line is to say that every time I open one, I want to buy another. That’s high praise, especially when we’re talking about 4-inch figures that run me about $25 each. I’ve been suitably impressed with Vitruvian HACKS ever since the first Kickstarter, but damn, Lord Vehemous really ups the ante. This figure is a 4-inches of masterpiece. This is an example of a fantastic original character design that has been executed it brilliantly, and the generous dose of extras and accessories make him a well-rounded package. Next week, I’m going to commit to going back and reviewing another figure from Series 1, before pressing on with more of the Series 2 figures.

Apr 27 2018

Mythic Legions (The Coliseum): Brontus the Arena Troll by The Four Horsemen

Today, I thought I’d do a public service announcement by way of review. If you missed out on the Mythic Legions Advent of Decay Kickstarter, and you want to get in on some of these amazing figures, today is your last day to drop in pre-orders over at Store Horsemen. In the meantime, I’m opening the last of the figures that I picked up from small interim assortment called The Coliseum. These weren’t part of a Kickstarter, but rather went straight to pre-order and included a handful of regular figures and the third Deluxe Troll of the series. I already checked out Raygorr and Rahmulus, and now it’s time to have a look at Brontus the Arena Troll!

Brontus comes in a satisfyingly large window box that has a nice bit of heft to it.  The box is identical to the ones they used for the Forest and Stone Trolls and features some nice artwork and lets you get a good look at the big beastie inside. The packaging here is collector friendly, so long as you’re willing to practice a bit of patience when removing all the wire ties. I’ve actually been displaying my Stone Troll in the box up at the top of one of my display cases, and I’ll likely do the same with Brontus here. Sadly, I didn’t have the funds for the Forest Troll at the time, and unless T4H decide to do another run on him, I doubt he’ll ever wind up in my collection. There are usually just a couple on Ebay at any one time, and they sell for stupid amounts of money! Anyway, I’m not here to dwell on the past, so let’s get Brontus opened and check him out!

Here’s the big guy out of the box and in all his orange-y Troll glory. And damn, ain’t he pretty! Brontus uses a repaint of the exact same body as the Forest and Stone Trolls and it’s worth pointing out that this is an incredible sculpt. Every bit of him is covered with some kind of detail, including a leathery skin texture and various fissures and cracks here and there that suggest there is no word for moisturizer in the Troll language. The body is also studded with rock-like scales, which work pretty well on this guy and the Stone Troll, but felt a little out of place on the Forest Troll, which is why that one didn’t make the cut when I was budgeting what I was going to buy.

One of my favorite little details on the Troll body is the way his paunch that hangs over his belt, suggesting that this fellow is well fed on the bodies of his fallen foes. The belt itself is part of the body and has a cool hammered metal look to it as part of the sculpt, which matches his wrist cuffs perfectly. He’s also wearing a real fur diaper, which I believe is the same one that came on the Forest Troll. Under the fur there are leather-like strips that come down and these I’m not all that keen on. They’re made from a very stiff material and rather than hang naturally, they just sort of jut out in all different directions. I’m thinking I might be able to steam them to get them to fall more naturally, but that seems like a lot of work for something that is really just annoying. Brontus also comes with a rather long brass chain that goes around his neck and hangs down.

I can’t say enough good things about the coloring on this figure. The gradations of orange used for the body give him a real premium look and it looks like they used a subtle wash to really bring out all the little cracks and crevices in his disgusting Troll skin. Each of the rocky bits on his skin are individually painted too. His back reminds me of the Horta from the original Star Trek series, and that ain’t a bad thing!

The only new piece of sculpting on this guy is his head, and Brontus is indeed a cyclops, which meant I was powerless to resist this purchase. Why there aren’t more cyclops action figures is a mystery I will never understand. Whatever the case, this is a superb portrait and the paintwork T4H invested in Brontus’ one giant eye is absolutely superb. Couple that with the pointed ears, flat nose, and the broad down-turned mouth, and you’ve got a face that is brimming with personality. Brontus looks slightly pensive and more than a little sad. I don’t think he likes life at The Coliseum.

Because he uses the same body, the articulation here is identical to the previous Trolls. You get rotating hinges in the shoulders and elbows, as well as swivels in the hips, ankles and wrists. The neck also has a swivel, but because of the way he’s hunched over it allows Brontus to tilt his head from side to side, rather than actually rotate it left and right. All in all, you aren’t getting a super articulated beast here, but the points of articulation are solid and useful, and strong ratchets in the shoulders mean that he can hold aloft his gigantic weapon, which in itself is no small feat. So let’s take a look at that weapon.

Brontus wields a giant troll skull mounted at the end of a tree and that’s one of the most badass things I’ve ever heard of. The handle is the same piece used for the Stone Troll’s giant boulder mace with a fresh coat of paint and sculpted iron bands with rivets to fortify the weapon. I really dig the way they have the nub of a branch coming off the handle, as this fits in between the fingers and helps him hold it securely. The skull itself has a bit of a wash to it, but overall looks like it was bleached in the sun before being converted into a weapon. Based on the configuration of the teeth, I’m thinking this is probably from a downed Stone Troll and love the fact that they put a massive iron spike at the end of it, as well as riveted a band of metal to help hold it together.

And there are a few shots of Brontus with Rocky, which is the name I chose for my Stone Troll. Considering that the bodies are shared 100%, I think they still look pretty distinctive from each other.

These guys also scale really well with the regular figures. Brontus towers over Rahmulus, and the troll hands are sculpted so that they can easily pick up and hold pretty much any Mythic Legions figure.

The Trolls were $100 at the time of pre-order and I’m pretty satisfied with that price, especially considering what they go for now on the secondary market. Yes, these are rotocast figures, and they would probably cost only a fraction of that if they were mass market releases, but it’s not like you’re seeing figures like this at retail these days. Plus, the quality of the sculpt and paint, along with how massive his weapon is, really justify the asking price here. If the Forest Troll went back up for pre-order, I’d grab one in a second and that should tell you just how much I love these big guys. And it might just be that the new Troll euphoria hasn’t worn off yet, but right now I’d say Brontus is my favorite of the bunch.