Good morning!
Well, I’m kicking off Vitruvian HACKS week today, and the first celebration of the second shipment of Kickstarter product is a look at getting my product on YouTube.com.
This video also features a look at my toy room and some wonderful British interludes by Chris from The Full Force. Check out the unboxing video below, then keep watching, because the first HACKS reviews hit today!
Pre-Order from BossFightShop!
The latest in a long line of Gorgons, the Green Mamba uses the same parts formula as the Black Racer, but in my opinion, executes it 100% better. During the initial Kickstarter campaign, I fell in love with the Black Racer and considered it the top of the Gorgon heap, but for whatever reason, getting it in hand, I lamented somewhat the lack of interesting deco. The Green Mamba takes what I love about the Black Racer, (most notably the awesome rage-induced fang-filled scream face) and convert it into a fantastic green and yellow deco reminiscent of an actual Green Mamba itself.
I find the texture of the surface of the tail works a lot better with the brighter colors and more elaborate patterns on the skin, and the more I look at these gorgons the more ecstatic I get about these figures.
At this point, the Green Mamba is like the fourth or fifth Gorgon that I’ve opened and I never get tired of them. The various poses allowed due to the flexibility of the tail, the structure of the female tooling, the various accessories, it all adds up to build a veritable legion (or horde if you will) of figures that are exciting to display, pose, and play, even after you’ve amassed a small group of them.
The paint work on the Green Mamba is spectacular as well. The bright green surface is offset nicely by the yellow underbelly, and the patterns along the back is really great. There are some minor layered paint differences throughout the body of the snake that look excellent. The gold armor (and helmet) is vibrant and exceptionally shiny, making the Green Mamba really stand out against the more subdued armor of the Black Racer.
Accessories
Like the other Gorgons, the Green Mamba is outfitted with stone deco weaponry, but instead of a sword, she comes equipped with the bad ass two battle axes (along with the standard shield). As if the bright colors and awesome deco weren’t enough, the two axes put this figure even further ahead.
Yes, it’s another Gorgon, and no there aren’t any dynamic new structural elements that make this figure great. However, I absolutely love the build of these gorgons, and the colors here really rock. Add that to the fact that she comes with nearly perfect accessories, and you have a gorgon that rests at the peak. She is my favorite gorgon horde member to date, and I suspect I’ll be getting a few more down the line.
Summary
The familiar Gorgon structure with a fantastic new patterned snake motif, the Green Mamba has quickly become my favorite member of the Gorgon Horde. That screaming head looks fantastic in green, I love the deco pattern on the tail, and her accessory compliment is a nice shift from the more standard deployment of sword and sheath. The highlight of Wave 2.
Available for Pre-Order from BossFightShop!
It certainly seems like Hades is a pretty big player in this little Gorgon war. Along with the Undead Warrior, the Tartarus Guard, and the purple skeleton, this Underworld Warrior can be added to list of Hades’ minions.
This particular figure comes with a pretty neat twist, however.
Reading the bio on the back of the package, you see that the Underworld Warrior isn’t just a soldier for Hades army, he’s actually the result of cursed Spartans being reanimated and crafted as defense against the Gorgon horde. Looking at the Cursed Spartan figure next to the Underworld Warrior, you can see many similarities, almost as if Hades walked up to that figure and used his magic to bring it to life. There are some accessory differences, but the essence is there.
The Underworld Warrior is a much darker stone deco than the Cursed Spartan, interwoven with some really nicely done magma kind of paint applications. The effect is very cool, looking almost as if the hapless stone Spartan is splitting under the raw power of Hades’ energy, being forced to life and into battle. The slightly different shades of red, orange and yellow create a really neat decorative effect that not only looks nice, but also creates a really great story.
Colors are pretty basic and not exceptionally varied here, but they look interesting and I really like how the bio card takes the Cursed Spartan into consideration, which leaves some room for interesting story telling behind the scenes.
Accessories
The Underworld Warrior is built much like the Cursed Spartan with the same armor, helmet, and sheath. He’s got two swords, the spear and a more standardized stone shield. That appears to be the main difference, where the Cursed Spartan has that stone Medusa themed shield, the Underworld Warrior’s looks more straight stone without that unique look.
On the surface, the concept of the Underworld Warrior is neat, and I enjoy how it builds upon the Cursed Spartan. I much prefer the Tartarus Guard and Undead Warrior, but at a certain point, complimenting those troops with mindless stone automatons is a really cool concept.
Summary
Hades continues to unleash his minions against the Gorgon Horde, and I couldn’t be more excited. The Underworld Warrior takes a different track than some of the other Hades oriented folks we’ve seen so far, but I love the idea of him reanimating the stone-crusted corpses of men who have fallen before Medusa. It’s a really neat concept and the magma like deco looks pretty awesome. Some purple elements would have been cool to tie this guy in with some of the others, but I can see how that might not make much functional sense considering where these guys are coming from.
Available for Pre-Order at BossFightShop.com!
With the Vitruvian HACKS Kickstarter, I officially learned something new… I learned that Medusa actually had sisters. I guess I hadn’t been paying attention during my Greek mythology classes at school.
Stheno is the eldest Gorgon sister, sinister, vindictive, and hateful for what the Gods have cursed her sister with. She stands tall and proud with an amazingly elaborate mane of snake themed hair. Like Medusa, she can also turn men to stone, but her bite also transforms normal humans into Gorgon soldiers. She’s a very intriguing character who I was fascinated to learn more about.
As for the figure itself, Boss Fight gave themselves quite the challenge when they designed Stheno, building out an incredible head sculpt with intricate woven snakes for hair, giving Stheno a quite imposing presence above her two sisters. The result is a figure who I will admit is a little top heavy, plus with her bare feet/rocker ankles, I’m sorry to say the footpegs don’t work quite as well as I’m sure Boss Fight intended.
The figure itself looks magestic and regal with the ornate chest plate armor and snake skin skirt, with trims of gold and a fantastic decoed snake pattern on the back of the skirt. The texture almost looks as if she skinned a large snake and is wearing its hide for protection, which is an intriguing concept.
Her snake themed forearm guards are really nicely done, and the complex pattern of the shin armor looks regal and authoritative as well. Combine this with her head dress and you have an elder Gorgon sister who looks like she’s the maternal member of the clan.
Accessories
Stheno doesn’t come with a lot of accessories. She has a really nicely designed snake themed staff which looks very cool and definitely accentuates the regal nature of her character. Along with that she has a nicely built dagger that is small, but lethal looking. She has the normal battle stand and replaceable hands to round it off.
Stheno looks really nice. Her sculpting is excellent, the overall design is busy, but still incredibly appealing. The deco work is spectacular, and while her accessories are few, they make sense. The sheer weight of her head, a slight lack of functionality due to her overall design aesthetic, and the issues with her foot holes drop down her score somewhat, but as a compliment to her sisters, she still feels like a necessary part of any HACKS collection going forward.
Check out the video review below!
Summary
An impressive and powerful looking character with some amazing design aesthetics and impressive sculpting. The size of her head and hair can limit her poseability somewhat, and the issues with her feet fitting in the footpegs are things that Boss Fight needs to (and likely will) address. All in all, a gorgeous looking figure that would be exceedingly tough to translate into plastic, and Boss Fight does an excellent job doing so.
Available for pre-order at BossFightShop!
Where the Spartan Warriors are described as being more intense and aggressive soldiers, the Athenians are described as being more strategic, with an expertise more in organized naval combat rather than the “in the dirt” battle that the Spartans apparently excel at. The look of the Athenian corroborates that story, dressed in white layered armor, looking quite a bit more ornate than their Spartan comrades.
The base figure is the same as many others we’ve seen, with the plain male body and a bald male head. Spectacular sculpting and excellent articulation highlight the base figure as they do with every human figure we get in the line. I find myself really liking the look and texture of the armor, and it’s the same look that we got with the Undead Warrior from the Eternal Struggle 2 Pack just a short while ago. Mostly white with some red and gray trim, the Athenian looks significantly different than the Spartan and complements the growing human army nicely.
It’s pretty impressive how figures with the exact same base body and only some minor changes to secondary accessories on top of it can really grow new life, and I find that I’m really impressed with the Athenians, simply due to their brighter colors and more decorative armor. Sometimes the small things help.
The addition of the new bald head sculpt is a very nice change as well.
Accessories
The Athenian is decked out pretty well. He has two separate helmets, one pretty vanilla and the other much more ceremonial, both helmets having come with the NJCC exclusive Ultimate Spartan. He has a shield with a great deco, a sheath with sword, and the familiar spear. All of these weapons can be held easily on the figure, thanks to the loop on the back of the vest. I really dig the face on the shield, which appears to represent the Barbarian, a theme that the Greeks often used to represent menace and danger.
Ultimately, I think I prefer the Spartans with their “down and dirty” combat togs, but the Athenians certainly look cool as well. Their brighter and cleaner overall appearance contrasts nicely with the polished bronze look of their brothers in arms in their battle against the Gorgons. The base figure is fantastic, as they all are, and the accessories add some nice flair.
For the video review, look below.
Summary
An excellent compliment to the Spartan Warrior, I love that Boss Fight is pulling from various parts of Greek Mythology here. With some new helmets, a great new bald head sculpt, and really cool expanded paint deco, we have a whole new addition to the Vitruvian HACKS roster of characters. The Athenian Warrior seems a bit more ceremonial than the Spartan, and ultimately I think I might prefer the Spartan somewhat, but this soldier definitely packs his own impressive punch!
Just in time for the Capitol City Toy and Collectors Show this weekend in Concord, NH, I’m reviewing the Vitruvian HACKS Eternal Struggle 2 Pack! This 2 pack is their travelling convention exclusive, meaning every time they attend a show, they’ll be offering the 2 pack for sale at the show and on BossFightShop.com!
Boss Fight Studio WILL be attending the show this weekend, so if you’re in the New England area, it might be worth making the trip. Check out the show’s flyer below, and the direct links for the Eternal Struggle reviews below that. Some great stuff coming out from Boss Fight Studio these days!
