As the fantasy universe continues to evolve we’re getting more and more great figures adding to a roster of existing races and whenever we get elves, it’s something to celebrate. I’ve never been a real huge fantasy guy, but obviously through exposure in popular culture, I’m familiar with Elves, and the race of these woodland creatures has always fascinated me. The way Boss Fight has handled them so far has been very intriguing with the Autumn Elves, Spring Elves and the Withered Branch, and even without a whole lot of new tooling I find it really exciting when new versions of these figures make it out in an assortment.
Aspen is the third “repaint” of this standard elf figure, following up from Aiyana and Cerisier, and she’s another terrific addition to the growing group of these creatures. She’s got a great, very characteristic head sculpt with an awesome “high elf” alternate head sculpt that looks to be Cerisier only with a new hairpiece. This methodology of using separate heads and hairpieces to create new identities for these characters is a really great one and allows for some nice army building without too much repetition.
Where Aiyana (the Autumn elf) was very much fall based, using variations of brown for the leaf and grass on the outfit, Aspen is from the Spring branch, using a lot of green throughout. The differing shades of green on the various sets of leaves is applied to excellence and the colors look very rich and authentic. It actually looks like she’s wearing layered grass, which is no easy thing to achieve, especially at this scale.
With every female figure, you get nearly flawless articulation and Aspen is no different, achieving some great poses, even with the grass skirt on. Like Aiyana, she manages a wide array of really great archery poses using the bow and any number of arrows included with the figure.
Yes, for the most part, Aspen is a repaint of two previous figures, but with the drastic new color pallet and the great head sculpt, you have an exciting addition to the Elf cadre.
Accessories
Aspen comes with the same exact accessories as Aiyana, only in some different color schemes. The bow and arrows are fantastic, with knocking arrows that are small enough for the fingers to grasp, yet feel durable enough to mess with. The quiver holds most of the arrows, and the bow can slip into the loop on the back of the grass skirt. She also comes with the two Elven knives that look as if they were sculpted out of stone, and I like the two-tone color pallet used here.
Aspen is another fun Elf figure helping to add to the already impressive roster. Her green colors and alternate head sculpts provide some nice variety and she’s a great new figure for the Vitruvian HACKS universe.
Aspen
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4.1
Summary
While the only new aspect of this figure is the color of her accessories and a pair of head sculpts, those changes do remarkable things for the figure. This new “Spring Elf” adds a nice new layer of backstory to the HACKS universe, and the main new head sculpt is character rich and realistic. The alternate sculpt with the long ears looks to be the Cerisier head, but with a different hairpiece, it looks like a whole new character. Love the archery accessories here as I have with each figure released, and it’s great to add more Elves to the HACKS roster. At its core, not a whole lot of new stuff here, but fantastic quality all the same.
For someone who isn’t really attached to the fantasy mythology or to medieval history I never expected to completely fall in love with the Knights of Accord, but the minute I got my hands on one of them, I knew I was in trouble. They are some of the finest action figures in the 4″ scale (or any scale for that matter) that I’ve ever seen, with construction, articulation, and paint applications that are second to none. The avenues for customization are nearly endless, even for guys like me who don’t really customize, and it’s way too easy to spiral into a full blown army building addiction, using subtle tweaks here and there to greatly expand your arsenal of fighters and warriors.
As if having that capacity with the standard Knights wasn’t enough, now we’ve got King Lance Steelblade, who is the leader of the Knights of Accord, and he comes with enough alternate heads, weapons, and armor configuration to tumble down this rabbit hole all over again.
While I love the knights, due to other recent releases, I hadn’t actually sat down and fiddled with one of my Knights of Accord very much recently, which is why it was such an immense and surprising pleasure to get my hands on one of those figures again. Obviously there were the amazing Knights of Asperity from Wave 2, but for some reason, the Accord knights have a different feel to them. King Lance Steelblade utilizes all of the great functionality of the normal knights, but is in a vibrant and gorgeous white, gold and purple color scheme that immediately stands him apart from the other soldiers. If you’d asked me ahead of time, I never would have pictured pure white armor working for one of these figures, however in execution it looks marvelous. He’s a nice bright color that looks regal in nature and stands apart from the normal Knights of Accord, even if he isn’t wearing his cape. That’s where some of the exceptional customizability with this figure comes in.
Not only can you use this to be King Lance Steelblade, but if you want to set up an honor guard or standard bearers, you can do it easily by swapping the cape out for a second included shoulder armor, and the two alternate head sculpts (not to mention helmets) that also come along for the ride.
The King only has a single face plate, but honestly that’s a tiny thing, especially when you consider the included cape and standard that more than make up for it. I also really love the color pallet on the alternate heads, giving us a standard knight head with blonde hair and the second alternate head with different facial hair color. So many different awesome combinations for a base figure that was amazing enough as it was.
Accessories
King Lance Steelblade comes with everything. Like, literally everything. Shoulder pads, cape, two alternate heads, thigh armor, the knight belt and cloth, sheath with sword, the standard knight axe, two alternate helmets and once face plate, shin and forearm armor, shield and the standard complete with the Knights of Accord crest. SO MUCH STUFF. Enough to equip an awesome king and to build out a few honor guard while you’re at it.
Using the framework of the original Knight of Accord but with a fantastic new paint scheme, Boss Fight Studio gives us a great leader for the group and a way to enhance an already impressive array of fantasy operatives. A fantastic figure.
King Lance Steelblade
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4.9
Summary
Seriously, what’s not to love here? The nearly flawless base figure of the Knight of Accord, painted up in a spectacular vibrant white and gold color scheme, who comes with nearly every accessory the knight came with PLUS an additional cape and standard. Take that all together, and add the fact that this is a new character who is the leader of the Knights of Accord, and you have a recipe for perfection. Even though I’ve a bunch of knights already, getting King Lance Steelblade in hand was a joy, as if discovering the wonder of this figure for the first time. Excellent joints, accessories that look gorgeous and stay on the figure. I love, love, LOVE this figure and continue to love Series 02. Keep ’em coming, Boss Fight!
I may not know what all of the different classes of characters in Dungeons and Dragons mean, but when I hear about a new guy coming out who is a “Dragon Priest”? Yeah, I think I’m interested! And Lord Vehemous did NOT let me down. This is one of (if not the) best figure I’ve seen in the Vitruvian HACKS line to date, which when you look at all of the others, is really saying something.
Now, as others have mentioned, he does re-use the Spartan Warrior head sculpt, but honestly, with the gray hair and the scar on the left eye, it’s hardly noticeable. It’s a head sculpt with a ton of character and suits this guy perfectly. His upper torso is brand new, a similar style of armor to what the Knights of Accord have, but with a raised collar, and some different patterning in the armored plate. The coolest thing, though, is you can tell this guy has been through the ringer. The armor is dented and dinged and has been abused over the years, either in battles against other humans, or perhaps against battles with the dragons themselves.
He uses the Knight’s arms and lower body, though the lower body is covered with a great new skirt sort of thing that is exceptionally well designed. It’s sculpted and swept in just a way to not hinder much articulation and really adds some great flair and style to the overall figure. Even the parts that are existing are given a fantastic worn paint scheme that make them look completely different from the more solid, brushed metal look of the standard Knights of Accord.
The way the parts are used and the paint applications are, this looks like an old, beat up warrior, which is a fantastic representation of Lord Vehemous, and matches the excellent character bio perfectly.
Rather than the typical shoulder pads we’ve seen on other figures, Vehemous comes with a fur shoulder of sorts (the same one that looks to come with the upcoming Naga) but he comes with two of them, and they fit on his shoulders to give him an arctic appearance, especially when combined with the Orc fur cape. It’s almost like they were all designed together (and perhaps they were). The combination of fur collar and cape are one small element in this perfectly designed figure, and I hope we have more opportunities to get them down the line. Somehow, I foresee myself ending up with a few more Vehemous figures (his biography mentions that he has followers, after all), and the extra skull head that comes with the figure supports the idea that perhaps his followers are more paranormal in nature. Either that, or perhaps, just like the Knights of Asperity, some of Vehemous’ legion end up too close to the Blasted Land and come back… changed?
Regardless, I can see myself getting more of this figure and swapping out some shoulder pads and heads to add some nice variety to a whole group of Dragon Priests or Dragon Knights. Good stuff.
Accessories
Vehemous is loaded with new accessories. Along with the fur collars and skirting, he’s got the familiar Orc hammer handle, but with a chain link and mace, putting together a spectacular ball and chain. He has the Felonious’s Mage staff in white which can also fit the barbarian mace head to make a brutal cudgel of sorts. He has the sword from the Knight of Asperity and the knife from Felonious with a new knife sheath that fits at his hip (or can be swapped out with the closed magic book he comes with as well). His excellent Dragon Knight Helmet has seen release previously with the Evil Skeleton, the Mystery Box and Locker Toys’ Hidden Character, but that makes it no less cool here, and it adds a real sense of menace and evil.
This is a terrific figure, an awesome antagonist, and pretty close to my favorite Vitruvian HACKS figure of all time. There are a LOT of fantastic figures in the HACKS line, to be sure, and one that rises above the rest is one that you should pay close attention to. This guy is it.
Lord Vehemous
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
5
Summary
Lord Vehemous is everything I want in an action figure. Fantastic sculpting from the worn armor on his torso, to the sweep of his coat and the fur lined shoulder pads leading perfectly down to the Orc fur cape. Using a healthy helping of Knight parts, yet painting them in a way to look worn and almost completely different, this figure manages to stand out from a crowd of already spectacular figures. Wonderful accessories, including an actual metal chain to create the mace, a gray-bearded face only a mother could love (no I don’t mind that they reused the Spartan Warrior head, it looks terrific). I love the Dragon Helmet…everything about this figure is about as perfect as it gets. Buy this one. Buy this one and buy a dozen more to use as Dragon minions. You will NOT regret it.
During the frenzy of the holiday season, the folks from Boss Fight offered a special exclusive Advent “Mystery Box” filled with some great Vitruvian HACKS related product. Now, with huge thanks to YoJoe member plastica, we’ve got a great look at what was inside.
I admit the title makes little sense. BUT back almost two months ago from December 6 to December 26th Boss Fight Studios had several special deals on various days most of which were one day only deals (though one deal of 15% off on all accessory sets they launched half a day early which threw me off a little.
I made use of a few of the deals (including the 15% off deal) BUT for most of us the crème de la crème was set for December 26 known in some countries as Boxing Day (and no I don’t think it’s a reference to a good ol bout between the late Muhammed Ali and Smoking Joe Frasier). This deal was for a Mystery Box that cost fifty dollars but was guaranteed to have at least $50 worth of merchandise in it.
They delivered. I actually did up a mockup of what some of the more obvious items would have cost before shipping and it was almost eighty-eight dollars.
What came in the Box well that’s the reveal part.
The First was a Decal Set. Boss Fight released a previous version so that collectors could customize the shields available in the series 1 accessory sets. This one though is a new version which includes a couple different decals for the Series 2 Knights Shields and a decal for the Series 2 Knight Standard which will come with Lance Steelblade and is already available in a couple of Character Creator Kits which are the Series 2 equivalent to the accessory sets but are geared more towards certain types of characters
Speaking of the Series 1 Accessory Sets here is one now. In this case Emerald Green Set A. From what I saw on Facebook some got Set B.
Another obvious one. A Chrome blank. When the original blanks came out they were poly bagged with a hanger tag on top but starting with the Chrome blanks they switched to boxes. Mine is female but from what I saw on Facebook some received Male blanks.
These are Blind Bag mini kits that are available on the website even now. In these you get parts in black, red, or white to make Anubis, a Boxer, a Crustacean, an Old One (what some refer to as a Cthulhu) a Robot, or even a Rodent. There is no way of knowing what is actually inside unless you open them up. (I haven’t opened mine yet). The only sure-fire way to ensure you get what you want is to order a case of them which I initially did.
This one isn’t as obvious but in looking at it this bag contains an Evil Skeleton Accessory Set. The Evil Skeleton was a special release Vitruvian Basics figure that was available for a very short time around Halloween. Unfortunately I missed my chance to get one at that time (it sold out quick). Back in December one of the deals Boss Fight had was where if you bought any two skeletons (blanks or carded) get a free evil skeleton accessory set. I took advantage of the deal.
This one actually required two pictures since you couldn’t immediately tell the contents by looking at the bag. BUT when spread out you can see what looks like an Orc Helmet, an Orc Hammer, Orc Belt, Orc Sword, and Orc Shoulder pads and belt pads. It also has four arrows that came with the Series 2 Aiyana the Autumn Elf Archer and the Vitruvian Basics Archer of Molpadia And will also come with Aspen the Spring Elven Archer though the quiver is actually the Elven Bolt Quiver that came with Cerisier the Sakura Elven Assassin. While the same quiver came with Narissa the Leader of the Withered Branch I can tell by color that this quiver came with Cerisier
This one I was able to immediately recognize as the chest armor, shield, and short sword and scabbard to the Myrmidon Warrior. From what I saw on FB some received a Myrmex shield.
Another easy one Glorious Gold versions of the Athenian Armor and the Myrmidon Helmet. These accessories were not part of the boxed A/B Accessory sets but were originally available back Easter Weekend in orange plastic Easter Eggs and in October were made available online as part of accessory Enhancement sets. As of the mid to late December the Cobalt Blue, Emerald Green and yes Glorious Gold Enhancement Packs were still available but Aged Steel has sold out.
This one is a little harder to recognize but it’s two potion bottles and a Flame which originally came with Felonious the Wandering Mage (though the colors are different and so far, exclusive to this mystery box).
Ah yes, a Skeleton. Mine is a Gray Skeleton but from what I saw on Facebook some received a black skeleton. I probably could use this with the Evil Skeleton accessories above though it wouldn’t be a true Evil Skeleton (the original Evil Skeleton base figure was a Warrior Skeleton).
The Berzerker Gorgon. The result of an interesting experiment to see what would happen if Eurayle had her sister Stheno infuse one of Euryale’s precious Disciple’s with her venom. Not a bad figure really for a male Gorgon. It’s a cool looking figure. I have a few others and my original Berzerker Gorgon has a cool looking difference from the original. A couple of my online friends thought it looked cool so I didn’t bother to file a report with Boss Fight and chose to live with it When you think about it in reality not every Berzerker Gorgon would have looked exactly the same as it is.
Now this is humorous. If receiving a mystery box is achievement #16 what were the first fifteen achievements supposed to be?
OK I posted these three pictures together for Historical purposes. The left-hand picture above contains most of the accessories to an initial test run for the ghost light accessory set. The other two pictures had they been in a box would constitute what we actually got in the Ghost Light set. The unproduced whiter sets were made available in smaller pieces in the periodic blind bag runs that Boss Fight does sometimes.
All in all what was my impression of the mystery box.
Well I was very impressed. Back shortly before Christmas I started a thread on Facebook trying to see if I could get some kind of a clue from Boss Fight on what might be in the boxes but nobody officially commented. Word was sent out a week or so before they shipped that they were waiting for an item to come in that was slated for the Mystery Box. Some people thought it was a few items from Felonious BUT I’m thinking it might have been the Decal Sheet since I bought the original version last summer and it looked different then what was in the box.
IF I was to give this a star rating it would be
Five Stars.
Though I admit it would be hard to do a full-scale rating since there are so many different parts to it.
Some exciting news from Boss Fight Studio. They have launched their own mobile app that is available for download now in your app store. The mobile app allows you to shop for figures, accessories, gift cards and much more. It also allows you the benefit of instant communication and messages from Boss Fight, as well as flash sales and exclusives offerings. Take advantage now and order Felonious on the mobile app and you will receive an additional set of flame and bottle accessories in a new color combo. Boss Fight Studio continues to find new ways to innovate and this is just one more example of their effort to get us new figures and engage their customers. Check it out today and take advantage of their exclusive offer before it’s gone. See their Facebook post below or follow them online.
One of Larry Hama’s other brainchildren, Bucky O’Hare has recently undergone an action figure resurgence with thanks to Boss Fight Studio. Their unique combination of animated styles and crazy sculpting & articulation has completely reinvented the property and catapulted it into the 21st Century.
Now, there are two more pre-orders up and ready for launch, including a super limited edition “Holiday Bucky” repaint limited to only a few hundred pieces. Don’t miss out!
