The Myrmidon Warrior was a figure whose backstory I knew nothing about when it was first released in the initial Vitruvian HACKS Kickstarter. I’d heard of the Athenians, the Spartans, etc… but for whatever reason the Myrmidons was a group I was unfamiliar with. I did some quick research leading up to reviewing the figure and was quite pleasantly surprised to see them affiliated with one of my favorite Greek Mythology heroes, Achilles.
When it was revealed that Wave 6 would include not only Achilles himself, but also the Myrmex Warriors, another evolution of his mercenary team, I was extremely excited. According to mythology, many of the Myrmidon Warriors were created from armies of ants, and they seem to be taking this concept close to home with the Myrmex Warrior who is quite obviously patterned with those ants in mind.
The base figure itself comes with one of the short haired Blank heads which is great, and of course the Myrmidon Warrior armor (chest and legs) for obvious reasons. What I love most about the figure is the deco, with a healthy amount of red, complimented by brown and gold trim, which ties him in nicely with Achilles himself and with the rest of the Myrmidon crew.
Articulation and paint is fantastic as we’ve come to expect with the Vitruvian HACKS figures, and while I’m not sure the Myrmex Warrior is a hole I felt needed to be filled, I do find this figure it be a fun addition to the steadily growing human legions.
Accessories
The Myrmex Warrior comes with a basic accessory compliment, including the Myrmidon themed armor pieces I mentioned above, a short sword with sheath, a spear, and the shield with a really nice ant tampo. It’s fine, though nothing exceptional and not a whole lot that you can’t necessarily find elsewhere with other figures. Like all of the shields from Wave 5.5 on, the handle has been extended slightly to allow for an easier grasp with male hands.
This figure is nice. He does somewhat get lost in the shuffle with three other far superior aesthetic figures in this wave, but he’s a welcome addition to the ever growing Achilles division, and I’m glad to have him.
More great stuff from Boss Fight Studio!
Myrmex Warrior
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
3.7
Summary
Now that we have Achilles, and we already have the Myrmidon Warrior, I was excited to get some more great supplemental troops to fill out his mercenary strike team. According to Greek Mythology, the Myrmidons/Myrmex Warriors were created from armies of ants, so using the ant deco on this figure makes a lot of sense. The color scheme here is intriguing with fantastic red highlights complimented by the great brown shade that ties in well with both Achilles and the Myrmidons. I will say this figure is somewhat outshined by the other terrific Wave 6 offerings, but he still makes for a fun complimentary trooper with his own cool design aesthetics.
Ever since we first read the Odyssey as a class in fifth grade I had some fascination with the characters from Greek Mythology, especially as it pertained to characters with greater than human abilities. After all, I was a comic book fanatic back then as well, so the idea that a character like Achilles who was more or less described as a super hero really appealed to me. When Boss Fight Studio released the Myrmidon Warrior in their first series, it was clear that they at least had Achilles in their viewfinder. Once Penthesilea was released, Achilles’ character grew even more fleshed out, and here, in Wave 6 we finally get our hands on him as his own figure.
He does not disappoint.
The basic figure buck is obviously the same one we’ve seen numerous times at this point with great construction, sculpting and articulation. His head sculpt is the same short haired head we get with the Blanks, but in full deco you can barely tell the reuse.
One awesome aspect of the figure, too, is that he also comes with the bald head from the blanks as well as a swappable right foot so Achilles can also serve as another sort of Myrmidon Warrior to help further his personal army and also help get some great mileage out of this figure. I know I have plans to buy more of these figures to now use as troopers.
Speaking of the right foot, the silver foot was included to show Achilles’ wearing some kind of protective armor, since that’s the most vulnerable part of his body, and it’s a neat look, certainly separates him from the crowd in some good ways.
The overall look of this figure is excellent. Using the Myrmidon torso and leg armor ties him in with his troops, and the deco here is spectacular with some very nice golden trim, it really helps blend Achilles with his army, but also sets him apart. The brown color of the armor is very leather-looking, but a slightly different shade than some others, showcasing the awesome ability of the Boss Fight folks to choose just the right color tone for these figures.
Accessories
I really enjoy Achilles’ accessory assortment. As I mentioned previously, the armor looks great with the dark brown and gold trim, and the deco on his shield is astoundingly great at such a small scale. His helmet, spear, sword and scabbard have great paint applications that blend with the rest of the armor nicely, and I’m always a fan of the throwing axes. Black and gold handles with silver axe blades are great combinations of colors and finish of this compliment of accessories to perfection. What really strikes me about all of these parts is the vibrant colors. The silvers are just stark and bright and amazingly well chosen.
The shield certainly deserves some attention. It’s an amazing array of symbols very closely based on Achilles’ legendary shield. Obviously on a smaller scale not quite all of the different layers can be applied, but I think Boss Fight did a spectacular job approximating the overall look and feel of this piece of epic equipment for one of Greek Mythology’s most iconic warriors.
A terrific character which builds on the existing Vitruvian HACKS mythology while also bringing some new elements to the table is something I will always embrace enthusiastically, especially a key character like Achilles. Add to that the inclusion of spare parts to turn the character into a trooper, excellent adjusted paint deco and a great accessory compliment, and you have one heck of a great figure for Wave 6.
Achilles
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4.5
Summary
As a rabid comic book fan I found myself really drawn into the stories of Greek Mythology while in school and Achilles was a huge reason for that. The “best warrior” on the field of battle with only a minor weakness, Achilles always appealed to me as a kind of early man’s Captain America. I absolutely love the way his story unfolds with the moral conundrum between himself, Penthesilea and Eurayle and I’m thrilled to see him included in the Vitruvian HACKS toyline. I know the Spartans vs. Gorgons series is winding down and we’re getting ramped up for Fantasy, but I’d have loved to see some more Odyssey influenced characters. Great thing about the customizability of this series, though, is I can make them myself!
The evolution of the skeleton figure in the Vitruvian HACKS toyline has been pretty impressive, and this Warrior Skeleton is only more proof of the amazing sculpting and production values of those figures.
Initially part of their wildly successful Kickstarter, the Skeletons were seen as add on items that could compliment the already impressive hordes of humans and Gorgons, but as time went on, they got wrapped into the story a bit more fully, especially starting with the Wave 5 Cursed Skeleton figure, which was the first to include the Skeleton as an actual base figure to build a packaged figure around.
Here we get the Warrior Skeleton which dials back the hyper-enchanted look a little bit and dives deeper into realism, but the end result is the same. The figure looks spectacular.
First and foremost, unlike any of the other skeletons to date, Boss Fight Studio went super realistic here, adding very nicely layered paint wipes to a white Skeleton base giving us a figure that looks a lot like a living, breathing Skeleton with worn bones as if it pulled itself right out of a freshly dug grave. The texture achieved with the added paint is fantastic and brings this figure to a whole new life (no pun intended).
Along with the excellent new deco on the Skeleton, we see Medusa’s arm armor in a very nice golden bronze paint finish alongside the Amazon skirt and the Myrmidon helmet, which sets the whole figure off nicely. The accessory color is so bright and clean that it just looks striking, an amazingly cool combination against the worn and hewn bones of the living skeleton wearing it.
The combination of armor and the intricately painted skeleton underneath is truly awesome and really portrays a sense of dead soldier come to life. As with all of the other Skeleton figures, I’m astounded by the level of articulation and sculpted detail within a figure that is so skinny, but Boss Fight managed to make a Skeleton that looks like a true 1:18 scale Skeleton and is still a very functional toy. It’s pretty amazing, and this one is no exception. I’ve been really impressed with the durability of this figure, the movement, and the fit of the armor, it’s been exceedingly impressive.
Accessories
I really love the somewhat outside the box armor choices and the octopus tampo on the shield is really terrific as well. An excellent and interesting logo, though I’m not sure what the specific inspiration was. A combination of brown and gold/bronze gives a great sense of realism, and I enjoy the helmet choice as well. This is a great figure and comes with some excellent, if understated, accessories.
Another excellent entry into Boss Fight Studio’s increasing skeleton army. He looks great alongside all of his skin and bone comrades (and in fact, his excellent worn paint scheme makes some of the others feel a little under-detailed) and I’m excited to scoop up some more of these bad boys to stock up my skeleton legions.
More great stuff from Boss Fight Studio!
Warrior Skeleton
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4
Summary
Somehow Boss Fight Studio pulled off the nearly impossible. They crafted a fully functional 1:18 scale skeleton that looks like it belongs inside the bodies of the other surrounding figures AND manages to be well articulated and relatively sturdy. The paint deco on this skeleton is especially fantastic, truly looking like worn human bone come to life and I am in love with the gold deco Medusa armor and Amazon skirt just finishing the figure off to perfection.
There hasn’t been much in the way of G.I. Joe news this weekend at Toy Fair, but statue company Prime 1 has stepped up to the plate in a HUGE way over at the Tokyo Winter Wonder Festival previewing some fantastic looking G.I. Joe statues including Serpentor and Destro!
Toy Fair is this weekend, and we’re starting off with some exciting news from our good friends at Boss Fight Studio and Continuity Comics! The official press release for the upcoming Bucky O’Hare action figure line (co-created by G.I. Joe legend Larry Hama) has been sent out, with some spectacular new images of the work in progress sculpts and designs for Bucky himself. Things are looking pretty great! Check out the press release and the images below and join me in your anticipation of this fun upcoming toy line from Continuity Comics and Boss Fight Studio!
Boss Fight Studio has teamed up with Neal Adams’ Continuity Studios to celebrate the hero who goes where no ordinary rabbit would dare!
The upstart toy company will be producing highly-articulated collectible toys of Bucky O’Hare, his S.P.A.C.E. allies, and Toad enemies! Created by Larry Hama and Michael Golden, Bucky O’Hare tells the story of a brave band of mammal freedom fighters trying to save The Aniverse from the all-conquering Toad Empire. As part of a special gallery show at Continuity Studios’ New York headquarters, showcasing collectibles and the classic comic art that inspired them, Boss Fight is giving the public a first look at the new product line with a prototype of Bucky O’Hare. This all new figure features spectacular detail, super articulation, interchangeable hands and faces and his trusty automatic, self-cleaning laser pistols. Bucky is on display alongside Golden’s original graphic novel cover art!
The Bucky O’Hare product line is planned to be offered for preorder in late Spring of 2017. As they did with Vitruvian H.A.C.K.S., Boss Fight Studio will be sharing regular in-progress updates with fans via social media outlets.
Drawing from the original comics, animation and more, this is sure to be a dynamic and KOMPLEX collection!
Available NOW at bossfightshop.com is a limited quantity of the hard to find Bucky O’Hare comic!
