More great G.I. Joe news than you can shake a stick at! The Full Force is online with their latest episode (Series 4, Episode 3 to be precise) and they are unraveling the latest news from San Diego ComicCon as well as an exclusive interview with the folks behind the latest awesome action figure Kickstarter – Zombie Lab! Myself and Boss Fight’s Dave Proctor join Chris to talk to Andy and Alex and get the skinny behind the action figure Kickstarter going on right now!
Lots of great content to digest with this one from lots of awesome contributors including G.I. Joe artist Adam Riches, collector supreme Troy McKie and those awesome dudes from across the pond Dave Tree and Eddie Inman. Of course Chris does a great job running the show as always.
If you’ve been following G.I. Joe collecting over the past few years you’re no doubt aware of the fantastic series of modern figure guides entitled “Rank and File” that James Kavanaugh, Jr. has been producing. He’s currently selling Volume 3 on RAHCGuide.com but unfortunately, over the years, his first volume has completely sold out.
There has been a high demand to get this first volume (which covers G.I. Joe’s 25th Anniversary and G.I. Joe: Resolute series of figures) so James has turned to Kickstarter to get the funding necessary to produce it.
I am pleased to announce that, after a long wait, Rank & File volume 1 now has a chance for reprint via Kickstarter! This resource guide originally debuted in April of 2015 and sold out by June of 2016. The Rank & File series archives the history of 4″ G.I. Joe and currently has three volumes produced. This reprint was also updated to account for some carry forward figures produced after the guide’s first printing, as well as some additional information and error correction. Below is the description for Rank & File volume 1:
After a brief hiatus in 2006, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero went in a new stylistic direction that is still predominately used today! Fans revisited some of their most cherished icons within the G.I. Joe mythos and were introduced to new characters that are now known and loved.
The Rank & File Guide volume 1 fully displays every G.I. Joe action figure produced between the 25th Anniversary and Resolute, complete with every accessory and variation produced. Volume 1 begins with a introduction to G.I. Joe and discusses its 1964 origins all the way up to the A Real American Hero line in its first two generations, before fully exploring the 25th Anniversary and Resolute series. Not only are the accessories shown, they have been carefully cataloged in an upcoming volume to guarantee the proper shade of accessory goes to the appropriate action figure. To top it off, every vehicle and play set released in the 4″ era has been documented and every easily removable piece has been individually photographed, ensuring collector completion. This full color, 52 page resource manual beautifully illustrates the two series’ 275 action figures, 29 vehicles and every accessory, including all known variations. Not only is every accessory present and accounted for, they have each been assigned a unique number and identified throughout the resource guide. Each action figure has been carefully examined between its initial run and further re-releases to ensure that an accurate sample is clearly and concisely presented, perfect for the collector who is identifying individual action figures or sorting through unorganized lots.
Whether you’re a seasoned or rejuvenated collector, enthusiast, or toy vendor; the Rank & File Guide is the definitive compilation for G.I. Joe action figures, vehicles and play sets produced between 2007 to today. Let the Rank & File Guide serve as a reference for completion or a scrap book to the next big turning point of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero.
This Kickstarter not only allows you to be the first to have a reprint of Rank & File volume 1 in hand, it also provides a chance to obtain some rare and fun items, primarily some of the very action figures cataloged in the 25th Anniversary series. The demand has been listened to and the time is nigh, let’s bring back Rank & File volume 1 for another round.
A great late summer present as Boss Fight Studio launches their second series of Vitruvian HACKS introducing us to their world of Fantasy!
Check out my Vitruvian HACKS Review Page or just link to the reviews directly below. Believe me, these figures are just as amazing as you expected them to be.
This is one bad ass looking fairy. Though it looks like the proper terminology here is faerie. I’m not sure of the difference from my perspective (to be honest, when I started GeneralsJoes.com I don’t think I ever envisioned myself reviewing an action figure of a fairy or faerie or anything in between) but I know a great action figure when I see it.
As a Cavern Faerie, Lacuna’s obvious trademark are her wings, looking much more bat-like than the insect wings what I’m familiar with when it comes to faeries, but honestly, that’s totally cool with me. It makes perfect sense as well, with Lacuna being a “cavern” faerie that her wings should be more adaptable to creatures who live in caves.
Lacuna is the first figure to feature this new rear torso piece for the HACKS line which has twin ports for her wings (and additional arms!). That’s right, the plugs for the wings are the same as the plugs for the female arms, so not only can you tweak Lacuna to have four arms, but you can also make her more like a “harpy” by giving her wings instead of arms. As one would expect with the HACKS line, they are always pushing their limits.
The majority of the figure uses the familiar female blank template (except for the back of to the torso) and that suits me just fine. In all of our experience with female figures throughout Series 1, it’s certainly clear that the base figure there is pretty great and can be used for countless different figures, apparently even including cavern faeries.
Lacuna’s head sculpt is pretty fascinating, with a huge, meandering hair style and a pair of goggles (apparently developed by dwarves to help filter her vision in sunlight). Apparently driven from her caves by a mysterious skeleton attack, Lacuna now finds herself up among the other denizens of this fantasy world, and she doesn’t seem especially pleased about that fact.
As I mentioned, she has ports in her back for wings, and she comes with two different sets of wings, one closed and one open, which is a nice touch. Each wing has a nice multi-joint peg as well, so they can be posed in either formation, making for a wealth of opportunities for cool displays. Lacuna’s skin color is a nice gray/blue which seems to fit with her cavern lifestyle in great ways. She is an intriguing looking figure and even as a faerie doesn’t follow many of the traditional call outs, definitely going her own way as so many Boss Fight designs tend to do.
Accessories
The first thing you’ll notice about both Lacuna and Aiyana is that neither of them come with as many accessories as the Knight or Orc, but honestly, I don’t feel like they have to. Lacuna’s wings are large enough to make up for it, and as a faerie she travels pretty light anyway. Along with the wings, she comes with a fantastic looking scythe made from what looks like a tree branch and some kind of cave grown crystals that are cast in translucent colors that look spectacular. Her other weapon is a scepter, a magic device that enables her to be a “lightcaster” which is a really awesome story element added to the character. She can hold the weapons very well and their designs are exceptional.
Lacuna is a great figure built around an increasingly interesting character. I don’t know a whole lot about the whole faerie race from fantasy stories, but Lacuna seems like an interesting evolution to the typical narrative and fits the concept perfectly.
Lacuna
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4.7
Summary
Gray skinned and bat winged, Lacuna immediately brings up some awesome imagery and story ideas for the fantasy series, taking the concept of faeries and adding some really awesome twists to it. Boss Fight continues to do a great job taking existing tooling and evolving it with torso pieces supporting wings, and many other great additions to their already excellent core concept.
So I did it again. Back when Vitruvian HACKS Series 1 was first in its Kickstarter phases, I looked at the offerings and while I fell in love with many of them, there were a few that didn’t especially tickle my fancy, most notably Eurayle. I mean, she seemed neat, but was basically a female blank with some accessories and not much more.
Then I got her in hand and was promptly blown away.
History has repeated itself. While I love the idea of elves, and they’re one of the few fantasy concepts that I feel like I have some exposure to, Aiyana wasn’t knocking my socks off. She didn’t have as much gear as the knight or the orc and she didn’t have the awesome wings of Lacuna. I mean, she looked great, as all of the HACKS figures do, but I wasn’t enthralled.
I am now.
Like Eurayle, the simplicity of Aiyana is one of her strengths. With a simple grass top and grass skirt (plus the gauntlets and leg coverings) you can truly appreciate the impressive sculpting and articulation of the base figure, which is the same as the female base figure we’ve gotten countless times before, but that doesn’t detract from the amazing articulation, balance and poseability that exists within it. Aiyana’s joints are smooth and pose well, and I really love the way her rocker ankles work. I keep hoping that perhaps somewhere along the way, the male figures will get the same treatment.
The sculpting and material of the secondaries for Aiyana help sell the figure as well. They are soft and malleable, easily moving with the limbs and maintaining an awesome look. They fit snugly, yet are easily removable, the perfect combination of aesthetics and function.
Aiyana’s head sculpt is great as well. Her understated pointed ears are complimented by the nicely sculpted and decoed hair, which gives her a ton of character.
But at the end of the day, as usual with these simpler figures, it’s the accessories that really take the figures to the next level.
If I have any complaint with this figure or with Lacuna it’s that the female feet still have a real issue fitting on the Boss Fight display stands. It’s an issue that Boss Fight is aware of, I know, but it would be nice to have that little issue resolved. It’s tough to do with how small the feet are, though, I’m sure, and in the meantime, the rubber clamps that come with the dozens of skeletons you bought can work just fine.
Accessories
Aiyana comes with a nicely sculpted bow and set of six arrows, which gives you just enough arrows to fit in the quiver with one extra to be fired by the bow itself. Speaking of the quiver, it’s a great look, definitely capturing that wilderness feel, but with some impressive functionality. Along with a chamber to hold five arrows, there are also twin sheaths that hold both of Aiyana’s knives.
And her knives are awesome. The deco and rigid nature of the material makes them look and feel as if they’re sculpted stone. She can hold both knives very well and they fit perfectly into the quiver as well. The design of all of these accessories makes them look as if they were crafted by nature, which suits the story of the elves to perfection, yet the gear is all functional and looks great as well. Aiyana can hold the arrow perfectly between her fingers and can be posed firing the bow better than any 1:18 figure I’ve ever seen.
Yes, Aiyana is a great figure that I didn’t give enough credit to when they were all first revealed. As an Autumn Archer, I’m looking forward to seeing what else evolves from the elf story, especially the Withered Branch and the potential for spring elves down the line.
Aiyana
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4.6
Summary
With her woven grass outfit, her naturally sculpted quiver and what look to be wooden bow and arrows, Aiyana is truly a creature of the forest. A great head sculpt underscores a fantastic figure with an assortment of great accessories. She is the perfect introduction to the HACKS version of the elf and makes for a really fun figure even if she doesn’t quite have all the bells and whistles of some of the others in this assortment.
