I still remember when I first got my hands on one of the early samples for the Felonious figure, and how completely blown away I was at the level of detail and articulation crammed into a four inch action figure, including functional soft goods. Here we are, several months later and guess what – still blown away.
The entire package here is spectacular. The head sculpt is fantastic, imbued with a great sense of character (and impressive mane). From the waist up, the base figure is just the normal male blank, with the same legs as the Knight and Orc. However, they add an additional secondary on the lower legs to make the figure stand out even more, and it works exceptionally well.
Now, generally I split out talking about the figure and the accessories, but that’s nearly impossible in this case, as the figure and accessories are so intertwined they really reflect flawlessly on each other. The greatest distinction with this figure is the use of soft goods as a magic robe, somehow using thin enough fabric to look in scale, yet durable enough to move with the motion of the figure itself. In all honesty, the soft good cloak makes the entire figure, creating a fantastic aesthetic while still being functional.
Along with the cloak there’s a nicely designed belt to hold it in place and had some places to hold various accessories that he comes with as well. He’s intricately poseable, comes with some terrific “magic casting” hands (which also hold many of his accessories in some pretty interesting ways) and looks just spectacular as is. He also offers an amazing level of customization (as so many of these figures do).
His color scheme is great, too, going with various shades of green for the cloak and tan pants, looking muted, yet still very colorful, especially against the backdrop of some other more darkly colored figures.
Felonious is probably one of the most fun, most detailed, and most thoughtfully accessorized 1:18 action figures that I’ve had the pleasure to own.
Accessories
How can I even talk about all of these awesome accessories? It’s almost impossible. I’ve already mentioned the fantastic cloak/robe and belt, but Felonious also comes with a great hood and collar which add a layer of detail to an already crammed full figure. He comes with two magic potions (which fit in a hook on the belt, and in either kind of hand), a magic book (opened and closed, which can plug into a hole on his belt), and a knife. He also comes with a gorgeous dragon-themed magic staff, a fireball, and a little pet mouse. Felonious is packed with great gear and I absolutely love it.
That’s not even getting into intricate detail about his two sets of hands, which allow for great magic casting poses as well as holding the book, holding fire, or holding a potion. Plus, if you’ve got extra Jenny magic spell accessories from the Bucky line, he can use those, too. Felonious has got it all.
I can’t think of a single way to improve this figure, really. Great articulation, flawless color pallet, and the best compliment of accessories I have ever seen. Pure beauty in plastic action figure form.
Felonious
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
5
Summary
Pure perfection in an action figure. It isn’t often that I can look at a toy, even the ones made by Boss Fight, and find not a single thing that I would have done differently. Felonious quite simply does it all. From the sculpt of his head, to his magic casting hands, to his soft goods robe, to the huge assortment of terrific and varied accessories, this mage is truly spectacular and an immediate highlight of my action figure collection. GET THIS ONE.
I’ve already gone on and on about how fantastic the Vitruvian HACKS Knight of Accord is, and honestly the base figure is the same here so this figure has all of the same awesome qualities. It’s like a perfect blend of the Orc Conqueror and the Knight of Accord with just the right twist of Skeleton. How can you ask for more?
As I mentioned, the base figure is the same as the Knight of Accord, with the layered armor torso and arms, and the cloth legs, only this figure is more muted in straight black and darker wash, making for a more “evil” appearance. The colors overall are nicely different from the Knight, making him a darker, more malevolent version of the first release, which makes sense given their back story as Knights who were somehow corrupted by the Blasted Lands.
He comes with two heads, one of the same heads from the Knight of Accord, and a newly sculpted and tooled skeleton head. This is not the same skeleton head that comes on the standard skeleton figures, but a whole new head that looks really fantastic. It’s crammed with so much detail and such awesome paint work and adds a wealth of character to an already amazing looking figure.
As mentioned above, while the base is the same as the hero Knight figure, this version comes with the Orc’s spiked shoulder pads and dragon themed helmet, again giving him a more evil aesthetic. His colors are overall more muted, but still look really nice, and he’s got an arsenal of particularly nasty looking weapons.
Accessories
Many of the accessories the Knight of Asperity comes with are the same as the Knight of Accord. He’s got the belt, the cloth, the thigh armor, shin armor and gauntlets. The shield is the same, and even one helmet and faceplate are the same as well. The Knight of Asperity has a different axe with a much more dragon theme (that looks incredible, like an awesome, evil dragon spreading its wings) and the sword and sheath are slightly different as well. The Knight of Asperity also has the Orc Conqueror helmet and shoulder pads as mentioned, just to give him an even nastier twist. All of the combined new accessories add some great flavor to the same base figure, and ramp up the nastiness required.
The Knight of Asperity really is another terrific figure from the Vitruvian HACKS line. The greatness of the Knight of Accord blended with the sinister rage of the Orc Conqueror gives you this perfect combination. Great for building your army of darkness.
Knights of Asperity
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
5
Summary
True brutality. The nearly flawless base figure from the Knights of Accord combined with some of the simmering rage of the Orc Conqueror and you have one awesome looking evil knight corrupted by sinister magic. This figure is spectacular. Impressive articulation as we’re accustomed to, a great, muted paint scheme, and an amazing arsenal of new and existing accessories give us one gorgeous new figure for the Vitruvian HACKS line and the perfect foil for the Accord.
If you’re a regular visitor to GeneralsJoes, you’re probably thinking that a lot of stuff is new, I just haven’t been talking about it. And yeah, you’d be right.
Why is that? Honestly, I don’t really have an answer. I think it’s a lot of things.
After holding the torch of the G.I. Joe fandom for near twenty years, I think I’ve gotten a little tired. I’ve posted hundreds of reviews over twenty years, thousands of news stories, and seen many of the same themes come and go. Popularity swings from one extreme to the other, but a solid core of devoted, motivated fans who love the brand and want to continue to see it evolve.
One thing social media has done is provided an outlet for many of those motivated fans to continue expressing their feelings of the brand at large and as things have become more social media driven, I’ve felt like a place like GeneralsJoes hasn’t had a very large role in that. Mostly my own fault, but it is the truth.
Also I can’t help but say that my own motivation has been somewhat lacking. As many of you are aware I’ve begun focusing a lot of time and energy on my career as an independent author, an endeavor I’ve found to be exceedingly rewarding and unbelievably enjoyable. Unfortunately as a husband and father with a 50 hour a week job, I only have so much time outside of daily life to contribute to what are essentially “hobbies” at this point. Posting new FSS reviews or writing 20,000 words on a new novel? The novel is going to win out at this point. I need to do what’s best for my own self worth and my own reward system.
Lots of you will say it’s a lack of news or interest that’s driving the site into relative silence, but I can promise you that’s not the point. My site begun in 1998 when we were getting maybe 15 new figures a year (and then none in 1999). My site has survived the Direct to Consumer doldrums, the disintegration of one of my favorite brands, Sigma 6, the rise and fall of the G.I. Joe film franchise, and GeneralsJoes was right there the whole time. It didn’t go anywhere, and it’s still not going anywhere. I’m never going to abandon this site, I’m never going to abandon the G.I. Joe brand, I just have only so much time to go around, and for the moment that time is being spent on other endeavors. I truly hope everyone reading this understands.
That being said, if there is anyone reading this who wants to assist in keeping the heartbeat of GeneralsJoes alive, please drop me line (justin AT generalsjoesreborn.com). I hate to see the site dwindling into obscurity, I desperately want to keep it active and keep it relevant, but there’s only so much I can do personally, and as I said, for my own mental well-being and self-reward, I really want to continue to focus on being an author.
Who knows, if my author career takes off to the point where I can do that for a day job, then that changes my whole landscape. I don’t see that happening for a while (if ever).
That being said, there are rumors that the next G.I. Joe film will be landing in early 2020. Along with that will likely be a new action figure line. The G.I. Joe Collectors Club is officially winding down with their last convention in Chattanooga this coming year. The good news is that there are so many fans of the brand still keeping the fires lit, and trust me when I say I’m doing the same thing, I’m just doing it a bit more quietly than some others. That may change in 2018, but I can’t promise anything at this point.
Like I said, I’m not going anywhere, and if anyone wants to help keep the light on, please drop me a line. Time will tell how things look going into 2018.
