Tag Archives: vitruvian hacks

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 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 20 2018

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

While I may be almost caught up on Mythic Legions, I’m still swimming in Vitruvian HACKS figures, both from Series 1 and 2, that are waiting to be opened and reviewed, so I thought I’d end the week dipping back into the fantasy-inspired Series 2 with the last figure I have to review from the first wave. Let’s check out the Male Orc Conqueror!

As always, the regular HACKS releases feature a colorful portrait-orientated card with a plastic bubble and overlay that hugs the sides and allows for the best of both worlds: A traditional carded look, while still being totally collector friendly. BFS hasn’t messed with this presentation since Series 1 and I hope they never do! And just look inside that bubble! This guy comes packed with a ton of stuff, making him feel more like one of the Ultimate Exclusives from Series 1, than a regular release. If you read my review on the Knight of Accord, you’ll have a good idea about what to expect here, as this fellow is basically the Orcs answer to that figure, with the same types of extras. I’ll note that the word “Male” doesn’t actually appear on the card, but BFS has used it in their catalog listing to distinguish it from the Female Orc that followed.

Here’s Mr. Orc out of the package and stripped down to his bare essentials. Unlike the Series 1 figures, which featured separately sculpted outfits, the bulk of the Orc’s outfit is sculpted as part of the buck. This includes the chest and back plate, which has a cool hammered metal finish, sculpted olive green trousers, and the basic boots. Articulation, however, remains unchanged from the Series 1 figures, and while I would really like BFS to add swivels in the thighs, what we get here is still plenty good.

Additional separate pieces provide his wide belt with sculpted fur and the large medallion belt buckle, the wrist wraps, and the furry fringe at the tops of his boots. There are also two spiked plates that tab into the slots on the sides of his legs. The chest harness is also a separate piece. All the detail here is quite exquisite for a figure in this scale, right down to the tiny sculpted buckles meant to hold on his thigh straps. And while the colors on the outfit tend to be drab, the green skin adds some flash to the overall deco and the steel paint for the armor looks quite nice.

There’s also a pair of spiked shoulders that can be pegged into place and a fur half-cape that an go with them. The shoulders stay on securely, and be careful about those spikes, because they are sharp!

You get two head sculpts to choose from, which is very welcome, because rather than representing a single character, this figure is meant to be customized in different ways to build your Orc army. The stock head features a full beard, as well as great little details like the nose ring and the protruding lower teeth. The alternate head is clean shaven and without the nose ring. Both feature some very sharp details, particularly in the pointed ears. The paint is overall pretty sharp and clean, although my bearded had has a slightly wonky eye. It’s nothing too bad, but if you happen to be picking up this figure at a convention, you might want to check out the eyes before buying.

In addition to having two heads to build off of, you also have a number of helmet combinations to work with. First off, you get an open-faced helmet with knobs on the sides to attach one of the two face-plates, and also works quite well as a helmet all on its own. This system works the same as it did for the Knight of Accord, which is to say it doesn’t work all that well. The masks have holes that are supposed to peg through the knobs on the mask, but the ends of the knobs are too big for the holes. Also, the holes on the mask are located near the edges and I’m afraid if I force them, I’ll tear the edge of the mask. As a result, these will hold onto the helmet fairly well in an opened or closed position, but they won’t hinge up and down as intended.

Both of the masks are beautifully sculpted and look very Klingon to me with those stylized forehead ridges. Indeed, they look so damn Klingon, I’d be surprised if that wasn’t the intention. Both of the masks have a skull vibe going on, designed to strike fear in the hearts of all who cross blades with them. One features a fully sculpted beard.

The other piece of headgear is a full helmet with some rather sinister looking wings and cheek-plates. This piece is sculpted with the same hammered finish seen on the chest armor, and a mohawk of nasty and crude looking spikes. I like the design of this helmet a lot, but I also think it would fit more on an evil knight than it does on an Orc. If I do wind up troop building some of these guys, I’ll definitely reserve this helmet for the leader. And speaking of troop building, between all these different helmets and the two heads, you could probably buy a half-dozen of these Orcs and have no two look alike, and we haven’t even come to the weapons yet. So let’s talk weapons!

The Orc comes with a sword and shield, and each of these are wonderfully crude weapons certainly befitting of a savage Orc. The sword looks like someone took a farming implement, gave it a couple of wacks with a blacksmithing hammer to shape it into a something a little more befitting of butchering manflesh and handed it out to the next Orc in line. It’s jagged and primitive edges give it the no no nonsense look of a cleaver for the rank-and-file soldier and that’s pretty much perfect for this guy. The blade’s finish has a nice metal sheen to it and the grip features a sculpted wrap that looks like it’s meant to be animal hide.

The shield is without a doubt the showpiece of this figure’s accessories, as it is nothing short of a masterpiece. It’s a circular type with sculpted wooden planks, which have seen better days. They’re riddled with slash marks and have whole pieces taken out of them from the rigors of battle. The edge and center are sculpted to look like hammered metal, and they too have some pretty major wear from use. The attention to detail is every bit as strong on the inside as on the outside, where you get reinforcing metal strips bolted across. The shield is held using a simple grab bar, which has a beautiful woodgrain finish painted onto it, and there are also some loops, which could be used with a string so the Orc could wear the shield on his back.

If swords aren’t your thing, the Orc Conqueror also comes with this nifty battle hammer, which looks like a cross-section of a tree with metal spiked caps on the ends and a pole stuck into it. It’s crude, it’s vicious looking, and the detail is off the charts. The bark on the tree-section is beautifully sculpted and painted and the hammered-spiked caps feature sculpted rivets. The handle has a sculpted wrapped grip, and there’s another spike at the end of the shaft. This thing is the perfect Orc weapon, it looks devastating, and I only wish the shaft were a little longer so he could better wield it using both hands.

Finally, the figure comes with the usual black Boss Fight Studio stand. These are always a nice bonus, but the figure stands fine on his own, so it’s not necessary, unless you’re setting up all your figures for display and don’t want to risk them toppling into an avalanche.

The Conquering Orc makes for another great addition to the Vitruvian HACKS Fantasy Series. There’s no denying that the folks at BFS put a lot of love into this guy, from his head sculpt to his outfit and weapons. The attention to detail is superb and the options for display are many. I could easily pick up four or five of this figure and outfit them as a squad of unique looking Orc soldiers. But of all the things to love here, I think my favorite is the fact that this figure looks like someone took one of my beloved old AD&D miniatures and gave him articulation and removable accessories. I have to imagine that’s exactly the feeling they were going for, and it’s exactly the sort of thing which will keep me coming back to collect all this line has to offer.

Apr 4 2018

Vitruvian HACKS (Series 2): Cerisier (Sakura Elven Assassin) by Boss Fight Studio

Did you pop in here yesterday and wonder where I was? Are you wondering why I’m here posting on a Wednesday? Well, in case you missed the Easter memo, my weekday updates for April are happening on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with the occasional Anime Saturday post when I have the time. Today, I’m dedicating myself to getting caught up on my Vitruvian HACKS reviews before the mother lode from that other Kickstarter, Mythic Legions hits later in the Summer and buries me in figures. I’ve got a good mix of the newer Series 2 figures as well as the many Series 1 figures I’ve yet to review. This time, I’m having a look at Cerisier, a Series 2 release that was exclusive to Boss Fight Studio’s webstore last year.

Most of the Series 1 HACKS Exclusives that I looked at last year were released in partnership with Kokomo Toys and those shipped in illustrated cardboard boxes. But this BFS webstore exclusive comes in the regular carded packaging with a landscape-orientated card and bubble. The packaging is totally collector friendly and features some nice character artwork on the front of the card and a “Collect Them All” style layout on the back as well as a pretty cool little bio that tells us Cerisier is one of the Queen’s Elite Corps of archers, who bathe daily in dark ink, can see in the dark, and have their voices magically removed. Badass! There is no explicit call-out on the package that Cerisier was a webstore exclusive, but the figure is also not pictured on the back with the regular releases.

From the neck down, both the body and costume of this figure is a straight repaint of Aiyana, the Autumn Elven Archer. That’s not a bad thing, because both are excellent sculpts and the re-coloring goes a long way to make this figure feel unique. The gray skin tone gives her a sinister and shadowy visage and the autumn colors of Aiyana’s costume have been replaced with some brown, pink and white. Yeah, the color pink doesn’t really scream shadow assassin to me, but I still dig it. The detail in the costume sculpt is still quite amazing when you consider it’s done in the 4-inch scale, and little details like the sculpted leaves that make up her skirt and the thin painted cord that’s meant to secure her leg wraps go a long way to make this figure look extra special.

As always with these figures, Cerisier’s costume is all comprised of separately sculpted pieces and is completely removable, which links in with the customization aspect of this line. The standard female HACKS buck features some solid articulation too. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, and wrists. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, have double hinges in the knees, and the ankles have both hinges and rockers. There’s a swivel in the waist, a ball joint under the chest, and the neck is ball jointed.

The head sculpt is new and I really like this one a lot. It’s more angular than Aiyana’s and I’d dare say prettier as well. I really dig how pronounced the pointed ears are here, and just the fact that there are variations in the ears among the HACKS elves. The hair is sculpted as a separate piece and pulled back tight, which would seem practical for an assassin. She also has some flowers sculpted into her hair, which are painted pink to match her top. What? Assassins can like pink! We’ve already established that!

Most of Cerisier’s accessories are new, but she does come with repaints of the same two daggers we saw with Aiyana. She can wield them in both hands, and there’s also a slot on the back of her skirt where she can store them.

Cerisier’s main weapon is her crossbow, which is a classic medieval style weapon with a lever-like trigger in the handle and a stirrup mounted on the front of the bow. There are three loose bolts included, which can be loaded into the weapon, but there isn’t a lot to hold them in there very securely. Still, I was able to get them to stay put for a number of different poses without any trouble.

She also comes with a quiver to hold her extra bolts. This quiver is sculpted with a hook that can hang off the slot at the back of her skirt, provided you aren’t using that slot to hold her daggers. Nope, Cerisier can’t carry all her weapons at once.

And, as always, the figure comes with a standard black Boss Fight Studio figure stand. The pegs on these stands don’t work all that well with the barefoot characters, because the foot pegs aren’t that deep, but I was able to make it sort of work. You don’t really need the stand, though, because Cerisier stands quite well on her own. I’ll also point out that she comes with an extra pair of hands with the axis of the wrist hinges changed, so one pair bends side to side and the other forward and backward. These are also pretty standard on all of the HACKS figures.

Cerisier is another solid figure in the HACKS Series 2 foray into the fantasy world. I’m a big fan of the elves, and I plan on picking up all of them, but then I’ve pretty much been all in on this line anyway. I think Cerisier also makes for a perfect exclusive, since she does reuse a a lot from one of the existing regular releases. If you weren’t able to track her down, but you have Aiyana you then aren’t completely missing out, but I’d still recommend her for a pick up if you’re collecting the line. At the time I’m writing this, she’s even still available through the Boss Fight Webstore. At about $25, the price of the Series 2 figures has gone up a bit, but that may have to do with the fact that the first series was Kickstarted and these are being sold through pre-orders. Either way, I think these figures are still well worth it and it’s a line that I’m enjoying a lot.

Mar 16 2018

Vitruvian HACKS: Warrior Skeleton by Boss Fight Studios

Yesterday, I reviewed the last Mythic Legions figure that I had left to open. I also realized how woefully behind I am on that other Kickstarter line that I collect. Boss Fight Studio’s 4-inch Vitruvian HACKS line is well into Series 2, some of which I’ve already looked at here, but I’m still not done opening and reviewing the first series. So, let’s start knocking these out today with a look at the Warrior Skeleton! Ever since I first saw Jason and the Argonauts as a kid, I’ve been fascinated by the images of Harryhausen’s skeletal armies making war against the Greek heroes. So much so, that I was surprised and a little disappointed that the initial offering of HACKS didn’t include any. Well, it took a wee bit longer, but they finally delivered.

I’ve shown off this packaging plenty of times, but I still enjoy it so much. The figure comes in a bubble set on landscape-orientated card with some great original artwork of the character on the front, and a classic “Collect Them All” presentation on the back, along with a bio about the character. Although, today’s figure isn’t a specific character, but rather an undead army builder. I actually own two HACKS skeletons, which were included as bonuses in some of my orders. They’re neat, and they gave me a great feel for the skeletal sculpt, but both of them are cast in hot pink plastic, so I don’t have much use for them. But this guy? Oh, hell yes!

The skeleton comes out of the package with remnant pieces of Greek armor, presumably from when he was alive. His ensemble includes a pair of gold grieves on his lower legs, gold armor pieces on his right forearm and bicep, and a gold shoulder piece on his right shoulder, held on by sculpted straps. He’s also wearing a hoplite-style skirt to protect his vacant skeletal modesty. The skirt has an ornamental gold buckle on the front and painted lacings on the back.  I’m pretty sure we’ve seen all of these pieces before on other figures, but then it’s the mix-and-match nature of HACKS that makes it such a versatile line. All of these pieces are beautifully detailed and painted, but the shoulder armor stands out as being especially nice.

In theory, you can take all the armor off this guy if you want to have a plain skeleton for your display. I say “in theory” because I was not able to easily remove the grieves. I’m sure I could, but I didn’t want to stress anything on the figure by forcing them. Either way, the skeleton buck is excellent, especially for a figure in this scale. It has a finish that looks like authentic weathered bone and some of the highlights of articulation include rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, wrists, and hips, as well as double hinges in the knees, hinges in the ankles, and ball joints in the neck and middle of the torso. The lower jaw will even open a bit. Some of these joints are super thin, but I didn’t feel like normal handling and posing was ever going to present a problem. I will say that I found it difficult to pose him without his legs looking pretty wonky, but maybe skeletons aren’t too stable when they stand.

The skull looks really fantastic. There are some great cracks and fissures sculpted into it and I really dig the weathering. The sculpting on the teeth is rather soft, and it’s hard to make them out from certain angles, but let’s remember that this is a 4-inch scale figure.

The figure comes with a helmet, but I think it’s a shame to cover up that wonderful skull, so I doubt I’ll be displaying him with it, unless I get some more and I want to vary them up a bit. It’s gold with a black comb on top, and again it’s an accessory that we’ve already seen several times in this line, but that doesn’t make it any less welcome. This one may wind up getting loaned out to one of my other figures.

Of course, every Skeleton Warrior needs his weapons, and this fellow comes with some cool ones. Like his armor, we’ve seen all of these weapons before, as they have been released with previous figures. First off, he has a short sword which he can carry through a strap on the back of his skirt. It has a leaf-shaped blade that’s painted silver, and a simple hilt painted gold. He can hold it perfectly in either of his boney hands.

Next up, he comes with a spear. It has a leaf shaped blade at one end, and a sharp, spiked cap at the other. The shaft is gold and the blade and cap are painted silver.

And finally, he has his shield. This is the same large round shield we’ve seen plenty of times before in the line. Here it’s gold with a black Kraken painted on the front and a black border running around the edge. The interior features a grab bar and a soft plastic sleeve, both of which allow him to hold it quite securely, and the front has a hammered metal finish sculpted into it.

The Skeleton comes with the same Boss Fight Studios stand that we’ve seen with each and every figure. He does not have peg holes in his feet, but they included these translucent pieces that will peg to the stand and you can slip his feet through them.

I really dig this figure a lot. Yeah, his legs are tough to work with and it’s hard to get them to not look a bit awkward when he’s standing on his own, but I can live with that. The skeleton body itself is practically worth the price of admission, but when you toss in all the cool weapons and gear, he really is an amazing little figure. This fellow was issued in one of the later waves of Series 1 and I actually missed out on his release completely. Luckily I was able to track one down at Kokomo Toys. I hope the folks at Boss Fight turn out something similar for their Series 2 line, because I’ll take as many Warrior Skeletons as I can get.

Nov 22 2017

Vitruvian HACKS (Series 2): Aiyana (Autumn Elven Archer) by Boss Fight Studios

With the second wave of Vitruvian HACKS Series 2 upon us soon, I thought I’d better kick it into high gear and have a look at another figure from the initial wave. And with tomorrow being Thanksgiving, it seemed like the optimal time to check out Aiyana, the Autumn Elf Archer!

I won’t go on about the packaging, because it hasn’t changed from Series 1, and we’ve already seen it twice in Series 2. It’s basically a horizontal card with a plastic bubble and covering, which allows it to display like a classic carded figure, but still be collector friendly. You get some nice artwork on the front, some character information on the back, and pictures of the other Series 2 figures that are available to collect.

Aiyana harkens back to the Series 1 figures by offering a standard buck with all of her outfit sculpted in separate pieces and actually worn on the figure. It’s quite an achievement for 4-inch scale figures, and since it’s all removable, it gives you some options to mix and match with other figures if you want. The costume certainly has a strong autumn flavor and includes a separate top and bottom, as well as wrist and ankle bracers. All of the pieces are sculpted with fall colored leaves, cloth, and what looks like vines or twine, giving the outfit a very primitive look. What doesn’t look primitive is the craftsmanship that went into the sculpt and paintwork. The detail on the tiny leaves and wraps is quite extraordinary and the mix or orange, yellows, and browns makes me want to run outside and play in a leaf pile. There’s a hole in Aiyana’s back, which we’ll soon see can equip her quiver, but it can also take a peg from any number of import figure stands for those action poses. I’ve covered the articulation in these female bucks quite a few times in the past, so I’ll forgo it here and refer you back to one of my earlier reviews.

I like the head sculpt well enough, although from certain angles the lips can look a little odd. The hair is sculpted from a separate piece and the way the bangs hang over the forehead gives it a nice sense of depth. The paint on her eyes, eyebrows, and lips is fairly simple, but applied with precision, and her pointed ears are a lot more understated than what we saw on Laguna, her cavern dwelling cousin a few weeks back.

As an archer, Aiyana comes with the tools of her trade, which include a bow, a quiver, and a bunch of arrows. The quiver pegs right into the hole in her back and is painted to look like leather. It has some sculpted lacings holding it together and it can comfortably hold three arrows, but I can get a fourth one in there if I really want to. The figure actually comes with six arrows total. The bow is a pretty simple sculpt, with a painted grip, and there are notches in the ends so that you can string it if you want. I may eventually do that, but for now, I left it the way it is, so we’ll just have to use our imaginations.

Aiyana features breaks in between her fingers where she can hold the arrows very securely and knock them into our imaginary bow string. The articulation works beautifully too, so you can get some nice poses of her withdrawing an arrow from her bow, or preparing to shoot.

 

What happens when an Autumn Elf runs out of arrows? She relies on her twin daggers, and I absolutely love the distinctive designs on these fearsome blades. There are slots on each side of her quiver where you can store these. Or if you prefer, there’s also a loop on the back of her skirt where you can tuck both of these into. I’m not sure if this is the intention, as I have a little fore knowledge about what this is used for on another figure, but I think it works pretty well for the daggers. Either way, it’s possible to get her to carry all her gear on her at once, well… except for some of those surplus arrows.

In addition to the weapons and extra arrows, Aiyala comes with some extra hands and the standard Boss Fight Studio figure stand. The pegs do not go that far into the holes on her feet, but I was still able to get it to work. I should also note that this figure has some incredible balance and even with a quiver full of arrows on her back, she can stand pretty well on those tiny bare feet without the aid of a stand. The mid-air poses and one legged stances? Well, that’s a different story.

So far, Vitruvian HACKS Series 2 is firing on all cylinders. And while I confess to grumbling a little about having to leave the Greek Hoplites and snake monsters of Series 1 behind, it hasn’t taken long for this new Fantasy theme to win over my heart. I really dig the diversity of this first wave, especially the fairies and the elves. And we haven’t even met The Orcs yet. But I’ll remedy that the next time I revisit this series. In the meantime, these figures should still all be available on Boss Fight Studios’ webstore and even at about $25 a piece, I’ve got no complaints!

And just a reminder, I am taking tomorrow off for Thanksgiving, but Transformers Thursday will be back next week, and I am planning on being back the following day with DC Friday. In the meantime, I have plenty of things to be thankful for, but I’m particularly thankful for everyone that reads my toy nonsense, comments, emails or tweets me. I have met so many wonderful people doing this silly blog, and you all make it worthwhile. I count so many of you among my friends, even the ones I’ve never met. Have a happy Thanksgiving, be well and be safe!