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.
A year ago, if you told me I’d be reviewing Bucky O’Hare figures on this site, I would have said you were full of it. But here we are!
You can thank the fine folks at Boss Fight Studio for not only acquiring the awesome Hama/Adams/Golden license, but for also absolutely killing it with the toy design and production. These are some fantastic, fun toys made as a labor of love and you can really tell.
Check out my brand spanking new Bucky O’Hare Review Page or click the links below to see what I thought!
Rhode Island ComicCon kicks off today in Providence, Rhode Island, and Boss Fight Studio is there already breaking some news.
Over on the Boss Fighters Facebook Group, Troy Osgood shared some images from the Boss Fight booth featuring artwork for an upcoming Kickstarter for a Vitruvian HACKS Horse! We first saw some rough test shots for this horse at New Jersey Collectors Con, but things seem to have come a very long way since then. According to the display at the booth, there is a Kickstarter planned for March.
The horse will apparently have Pegasus wings, a unicorn and dark unicorn head, various saddles, and will even be HACKS blank compatible to make freaking centaurs.
Life has been a bit crazy lately, but I’m trying to get back on the horse. Today I’m reviewing the latest release from Boss Fight Studio’s terrific Vitruvian HACKS line, Cerisier, the Sakura Elven Assassin!
A great figure with an awesome backstory, and a pleasant surprise to boot, appearing exclusively on BossFightShop.com.
She’s en elf of many names… initially revealed at the New Jersey Collectors Convention, Cerisier was a very pleasant surprise. She had not appeared on any input drawings or concepts before her reveal, and many folks were a bit confused by where she fit in.
Technically not a part of wave 3 she also had been identified by several separate names (Sakura Elvish Assassin and Cherry Blossom Elf among others) and folks were a bit unsure of her place.
Well, Boss Fight Studio gave us all a pleasant surprise, revealing that she was a BossFightShop.com exclusive and she is available for sale RIGHT NOW.
As many folks have gotten used to, Cerisier is another excellent release from Boss Fight. Using the familiar female body style with an updated head (it almost looks like Lacuna’s head with a different hairpiece) this Elf has long, pointed ears and a sleek appearance giving more credence to her role as a deadly assassin. With gray skin (colored by dark ink to blend in to the shadows) and a fantastic combination of pale colors on the secondaries, she manages to look dark and stealthy and colorful and vibrant both at the same time. The folks at Boss Fight have a true sense of artistry with these figures, knowing just how to combine the right colors, enhancing the figure. So many toys these days have colors for the sake of having colors, without those color schemes really making sense. The Vitruvian HACKS series has a clear template and purpose for each color they choose, and the end result is a far more aesthetically pleasing end product.
Cerisier uses the same secondaries as Aiyana the Autumn Elf, but with these different colors, comes across as a much different looking character, and one that I really enjoy. It goes without saying that the articulation on the H.A.C.K. part system only further accentuate the greatness of this figure, as she feels exceptionally well constructed, yet has been remarkably easy to swamp around. The female body style that Boss Fight uses is the best in the business and every time I get a new figure of theirs it’s a true highlight.
Accessories
One nice thing about Cerisier is that she actually comes with some new gear. By the looks of it, it’s gear that will be repurposed for Narissa in Wave 2, but hitting first with Cerisier gives us a nice glimpse at some items still to come. The crossbow, hip quiver, and three crossbow bolts are all really great accessories and allow this Elvish assassin some mobility as she moves about the darkness, hunting down her targets. She also comes complete with a pair of the same knives that Aiyana initially came with as well.
Cerisier was a surprise addition to the Vitruvian HACKS universe, but has been a very welcome one. The spectacular construction, functional accessories (she can actually hold her crossbow realistically!) and excellent new paint scheme all come together to give us another really great, really fun Vitruvian HACKS product.
At New Jersey Collectors Con this year we got a little peek at the upcoming Wave 3 Lord Vehemous from the Vitruvian HACKS fantasy collection. Now, we have a little more (awesome) backstory courtesy of Infinite Earths, who Boss Fight allowed to reveal the package art and temporal log.
The package art is by James Griffiths and looks absolutely amazing. I love the influence of the purple energy throughout, signs of some disturbance of the timeline by the looks of it.
Even cooler is his backstory:
Lord Vehemous
Dragon Cult War Priest Self-proclaimed leader of a sect which worships dragons as avatars of the gods. Vehemous found a tome that grants him the ability to control these mighty beasts. Using this power, he has amassed a substantial number of followers, each of whom have been granted supernatural powers by the liberal imbibing of dragon blood. The blood has addictive properties and causes physical deformities but dragon cult members do not care. The telepathic powers, immunity to disease and tolerance to pain they gain are worth it.
Temporal Log: Vehemous has lately begun to preach that a magical item exists in the blasted lands that will allow his followers to take the next step and become dragons themselves. It appears legends of Stheno’s staff have reached his ears. Will he do the unthinkable and resurrect the long absent Gorgon horde if he finds it?
Definitely take a run over to Infinite Earths to see the full reveal and this looks like another awesome Vitruvian HACKS character I’ll want to get my hands on.
