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.
I’ve had this wonderful book in my grubby hands for a very long time, and shame on me for not reviewing it before now, because anyone who is a fan of Vitruvian HACKS needs to check this book out.
Total HACKS is a fantastic creation by the brainchildren of Brian Hickey and Paddy Lennon who worked on a similar book for G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Paddy is also the one writing the bios for the Vitruvian HACKS characters on the packaging, so he is certainly fully immersed in the universe.
Brian also does the design work on the Bucky O’Hare packaging, so you can believe his eye for design and production is second to none.
Check out my review of the Total HACKS book right here, and from now until December 31st, this book is only $19.99 at BossFightShop.com. You DON’T want to miss out. It’s great.
Over the past few years there has been a propensity of books being funded and sold throughout the online fandom, many of them being done through Kickstarter. Brian Hickey and Paddy Lennon (who frequently appear on the always entertaining Full Force Podcast) went another route, producing the book entirely out of pocket for sale directly to collectors.
Their work on Total Retaliation, covering the G.I. Joe: Retaliation action figure line was fantastic, and their look at (most of) Series 01 of Vitruvian HACKS is equally spectacular. Actually, moreso in many ways.
Total HACKS is an almost 100 page coffee table book crammed full with action figure profiles, fantastic diorama shots and short fiction stories interwoven within the universe of HACKS. It truly is a magnificent book from many different perspectives.
The action figure profiles have great images of each figure (up through Series 01 Wave 6) as well as the Skeletons, with many really fun diorama images worked in along the way. See really awesome battle sequences, interesting connectivity with other toy lines and some fantastic conversation pieces.
Taking all of that, you then get exposure to the wider Vitruvian HACKS universe with the great short stories by Paddy Lennon mixed within the other elements. Paddy is also the one writing the bio’s on the action figure packages, so he certainly is immersed in the HACKS universe and is the perfect choice to be telling these stories.
If you haven’t checked this book out yet, you really need to. It’s at a discounted price at BossFightShop.com through December 31st, and it’s worth every single penny. The quicker they sell through Total HACKS volume 1, the quicker we can get volume 2 rolling and I’m pretty fired up to see what they come up with for that.
It’s great stuff. During this awesome month-long series of sales at BossFightShop.com you need to just toss it in your cart and prepare to find new ways to love Vitruvian HACKS.
The Full Force has posted Series 4, Episode 9 of their awesome podcast, this time featuring a plethora of content about Transformers! They speak to former Hasbro Transformers and G.I. Joe manager Marc Weber and dig into the awesomeness that is Transformers lore for a solid NINE HOURS.
It’s bound to be some good listenin’! Check out the latest episode on Podbean (also embedded below and be sure to check out the show notes on the Full Force Facebook page, they always have a ton of images and great details straight from the show.
