Considering the showcase of the Vitruvian HACKS Kickstarter was Medusa in her vicious snake-like Gorgon form, I wasn’t quite sure where a pre-curse version of Medusa would fit in. Offered an exclusive to BossFightShop.com (as well as included with the All In Kickstarter) this pre-curse Medusa showed the young Gorgon as a green skinned woman before being transformed into her hideous snake form. Considering how awesome the snake Medusa looked, I wasn’t sure what to do with this version, but one thing is clear, I need to find some kind of way to work her into this universe.
Like her younger sister Eurayle, this pre-curse version of Medusa is an exceedingly solidly built figure. In fact, Pre-Curse Medusa essentially is a repainted version of young Eurayle, and if I’m not mistaken, even shares her head, only with the snake Medusa’s more fearsome hairpiece.
Articulation and sculpting is spectacular, using the female buck with the two piece uniform that Eurayle wore, looking really great and allowing for flawless range of motion. The way the joints feel when they move is terrific, and I find myself trying to find a way to introduce this more human version of the sinister Gorgon.
Medusa’s green skin is executed very well, a softer, somewhat warm shade of that green which makes the figure look vibrant and differentiates her nicely from Eurayle. I do find it curious that all three Gorgon sisters have different skin tones, and I’m not sure if those were design choices or dictated by the mythology itself. That’s something I may have to look into. I do like the idea that even before the curse Medusa had green skin, though even with that strange hue on her flesh, she certainly looks more human and more beautiful than her post-curse version. From snake head to toe, this version of Medusa is terrific, another excellent rendition of this figure, one of the best of the HACKS line.
Accessories
Medusa isn’t loaded down with accessories, but she comes with some neat ones. Like the post-curse version, she has the snake skeleton whip and dagger, as well as the very cool snake-themed gauntlets which help break up her skin a bit. Her clothes are darker color rather than the light colors of her sister, and the silver trim is bright and nice.
Pre-Curse Medusa is another pleasant surprise in a long line of them from the Vitruvian HACKS line, which is quickly reaching elite status with the number of exciting figures available in their debut offering with the massive 50 figure Kickstarter they’re in the midst of shipping out. Many figures are simply terrific, and PreCurse Medusa is definitely one of them.
Precurse Medusa
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4.5
Summary
I love the Gorgons so much, the mere idea of finding a way to use Precurse Medusa seemed like a losing proposition… then I got her in hand. She is just as much fun as her younger sister Eurayle, plus has the fantastic green paint scheme with darker secondaries. She’s fantastic. I love the different head sculpt, though I do wish she maybe came with some more intriguing accessories. As it is, this is a heck of a figure.
Every once in a while you come across a figure that you really like and the love of that particular figure and character manages to spill over into other figures in the line, and that’s precisely what’s happened here. I was immediately captivated by Eurayle, and because I found her so great, I now find myself really enjoying the Disciple of Eurayle figures, too, her own personal highly trained strike force of completely devoted foot soldiers. Rather than aligning herself purely with the Gorgon Horde, she is amassing herself a human army of hypnotized slaves for unknown nefarious purposes.
The figure itself is the normal male figure with a great bald head sculpt. Impressive articulation as we’re used to, but what really sets the Disciple apart is the pale green skin tone. It’s an awesome look and makes it really feel as if he’s infused with some kind of sinister energy (or Gorgon venom as the case may be). He looks strong, powerful, and completely within Eurayle’s control.
Twin snake tattoos adorn his arms, adding to the intrigue with the deco choices, contrasting nicely with the lighter, more “zombie” like skin color. It’s a great combination of interesting colors that makes him stand out among his human peers, yet also separate from the more typical Gorgon arsenal.
Wearing the same layered armor as the Myrmidon Warrior (and Talos) he looks fearful and well protected, and you can immediately picture Eurayle sending a squad of these death dealers into battle towards her own secret goal.
Accessories
As mentioned, the Disciple of Eurayle comes with the great body armor of the Myrmidon Warrior (as well as Talos) including the more decorative leg armor as well. He has a great helmet with awesome darker green deco, nicely balancing the lighter, paler green of his skin. A familiar short sword and sheath, with the typical human shield gives him an initial burst of offense, all done up in gold color. The snake tampo on his shield is the first indication enemy forces might have that something’s up.
I do have to mention that the longer of the two solid bladed weapons was a little warped out of the package. Not sure why (the one that came with Eurayle was fine) or if its a persistent problem or not.
As a finishing touch, he also comes equipped with the same four knives that Eurayle comes with, too, immediately connecting the Disciples with their trusted and valued master. It’s a really nice compliment of interesting weaponry, for sure.
The Disciple of Eurayle was another one of those figures that looked interesting during the Kickstarter, but I wasn’t entire sure how they would work into my universe. After falling in love with Eurayle, my interest in her corner of the HACKS universe intensified greatly, and the Disciples have been caught in that wake. A really cool addition to this world, and the figures are executed to perfection as well.
For the video review, look below.
Disciple of Eurayle
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4.1
Summary
A figure I wasn’t sure I needed and darn well wasn’t sure I wanted, but my infatuation with Eurayle has spilled over and now I find myself thoroughly enjoying her disciples. A terrific paint scheme does a great job of separating this figure from the pack, and the awesome deco of his armor only solidifies how cool he is. I like his backstory, love his ties to my favorite HACKS character, and the overall figure is about as solid a build as you can get. A win all around.
The time has finally come. A time that I often felt would never get here…
If folks have been paying attention, I’ve been singing the praises of the Stonefist character for a while, and for good reason. First and foremost, I’ve been fortunate enough to call the folks involved with Boss Fight Studio friends of mine for a very long time. I’ve known many of them for over a decade, and I couldn’t be prouder of their success.
During some conversations for the Vitruvian HACKS Kickstarter, I had made an offhand suggestion about a “Gorgon Hunter” character who had been partially turned to stone, but somehow had survived and swore to bring the Gorgons to justice. From that little nugget of an idea, the Boss Fight folks ran with it and Stonefist was born! I am extremely excited to see the character fleshed out in plastic form, and I will endeavor to approach this review as impartial as I can, but I kind of consider Stonefist my baby, so that might be tough to do. 🙂
The concept behind Stonefist is that during his transformation into stone he carved out his own eyes to stop himself from looking at Medusa. As a result of this, he was imbued with enhanced senses, and retained full functionality of his stone arm, making him perfectly equipped to track down every last Gorgon and eliminate them.
The base figure is a familiar formula, bald headed male figure with the same incredible sculpting and articulation we’ve seen elsewhere in the line. When the base figure is as fantastic as this one is, it’s tough to complain about its reuse. Obviously the most distinctive part of the figure is his left arm, decoed to look like an arm in mid stone transformation, and the texture is applied so nicely it looks very authentic.
Stonefist certainly appears to be Athenian, wearing the battle armor very similar to the Athenian Warrior in both texture and color, though his true history has been lost to the sands of time. I love the brightly colored armor and its connection to Athens, although at this point, it’s tough to know whether it’s his armor or if he appropriated it during a particular hunt.
On his head there is some great deco work, representing the scars he incurred when he blinded himself during Medusa’s attack on him, and it’s another really neat touch to make the character unique.
Accessories
Stonefist is loaded with some really awesome, interesting weaponry. First, he has the standard battle helmet, only with some great face deco along the side flaps. His shield is Athenian as well (another connection to that branch of the human army), only the eyes are scratched out as an homage to his own fate. He has a sheath with two swords, a spear, and the same extra hands and battle stand that we’ve seen in times past.
Stonefist is awesome. Obviously I’m a little biased, but I can’t get over how great the execution of this character is. I love that he’s playing a strong role in the Gorgon war, and his bio card even seems to indicate his fate lies beyond the Greek Mythology timeline, which makes me giddy with anticipation of things to come. His deco work is great, the unique accessories really carry the figure, and the fact that a character that I had some small part in creating is now a reality fills me with a sense of joy. Being a small part of the toy world for three decades has given me some great opportunities over the years, and I consider this a highlight in all this work that I’ve done. I can’t thank the Boss Fight folks enough for taking my little idea and really fleshing it out into someone incredible.
Stonefist
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4.5
Summary
It’s a monumental day in the Bell household, so hopefully folks can forgive my raging excitement and bias towards this figure. Stonefist is a lot of fun, and I think he makes for a very cool addition to the HACKS mythology, and I’m beyond excited to see him here in front of me in plastic form. The paint work is great and the Boss Fight folks did a stellar job fleshing out his character. Great stuff here.
Even after three waves (plus exclusives) of frequent releases of Gorgon figures, you would think new Gorgons wouldn’t be quite so exciting, but I find myself enjoying every new release. The Colubrida especially is an awesome entry into the Gorgon horde with a really cool, interesting new color scheme. Based off a snake entitled the Colubrid (or Milk Snake) the primary color on this one is orange with various striations of slightly different twinges of orange and white stripes. It’s a striking look that has a great combination of colors.
But for the Colubrida Guard, it’s about much more than just cool colors, its their backstory, too. According to the bio cards, the Colubrida are cannibalistic, immune to other Gorgon venom and the commanding generals of the entire Gorgon horde. Rare in number and strategic geniuses, these orange serpents are feared across the entirety of the Gorgon and Human armies. Very cool.
As more and more retail toys are based off of movie and television properties, the opportunities to get creative with color pallet gets reduced, but what I love about Boss Fight Studio is that they are really turning up the creativity factor with their color selections. The orange, white and black all balance themselves off perfectly creating a character that is really intriguing. Armor and gauntlets are a glossy almost metallic black shining against the more matte finish of the figure itself.
Of course the structure of this figure is just as perfect as every other Gorgon we’ve received to date, and as I get more and more of these I only feel myself loving the format more. An absolute marvel in engineering and a cool character to boot.
Accessories
The Colubrida Guard comes with much the same as other Gorgon figures. Her snake skull helmet is a brighter white and looks very much like the bone structure it’s supposed to mimic. She has the stone sheath and stone shield as well as a pair of stone swords. Extra hands and the foot peg finish off her assortment of gear.
The Colubrida Guard is an impressive new entry into the Gorgon Horde, a commander of the snake army and a terrific deco on the figure to boot. Really great.
Colubrida Guard
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4.3
Summary
One of the commanding generals of the Gorgon Horde, the Colubrida Guard looks menacing and packs a punch. The figure looks really nice with a colorful paint deco in a really nice and vibrant shade of orange and white, contrasted well by the glossy dark color of her armor. I love the story written into her bio, and every time I get a new gorgon, my life has a little more meaning. Great stuff.
Due to some of the manufacturing delays there were cases that we actually received repaints of figures before we received the original figures themselves. In some cases this has created a little bit of a sense of subdued excitement for the originals. A figure like Leonidas was one of the ones I was really looking forward to, but upon getting the Ultimate Spartan first, the anticipation of that figure was at least somewhat reduced.
I think the same holds true for the Amazon Warrior. I remember the excitement of the Kickstarter campaign and how thrilled backers were when the Amazon was unveiled. We were all greatly looking forward to it and now that we received the Amazon Elite Warrior exclusive (from Kokomo Toys and All the Cool Stuff) first it sort of feels like we’ve gotten this figure already.
But you know what? Much to my surprise, I still feel like this is something pretty new and exciting. By changing the skin color and armor hue, the Elite Warrior repaint becomes something pretty different, and I find myself unexpectedly thrilled at this rendition of the Amazon. Structurally, the figure is the same as the exclusive, though the head sculpt looks as if it might be slightly tweaked. Her build is slender and extremely well articulated from the ball joint neck to the very nice rocker ankles. Because she has the sandal feet, those ankle joints do not inhibit her standing on the foot peg either.
The standard Amazon has a much brighter paint scheme, with the bronze/gold armor and brown leather skirt rather than the silver and black. Ultimately I think I might like the silver/black combination a little better, but the more vibrant shade of silver makes her feel like the “elite” warrior that she is. Paint deco tattoos are the same as the elite version, too, but the different skin color nicely separates the two and makes them feel like two truly unique versions of each other. I continue to be exceedingly impressed at how Boss Fight Studio handles female action figures, balancing durability, aesthetics and articulation to near perfection. Rarely in an action figure line (I’d almost be willing to say never) have females played such a large role, and it’s fantastic to see the figures produces so exceptionally well.
Speaking as someone with two daughters, I love this mentality, and so do my kids.
Accessories
The Amazon comes with some familiar gear, including the spear and two different length swords. She has the Spartan helmet with the tail at the back and the same deco shield that came with her Elite counterpart, only in gold trim instead of silver. Of course accessories are rounded off with two extra hands and the foot peg.
Even though we’ve essentially received this figure before as a store exclusive, I can’t help but find a lot to love with this version as well. Hopefully there are even more Amazons on the horizon, or if not, I may end up buying a couple more of this one to compliment my Elite and help the Spartans fight against the ever increasing Gorgon Horde.
Check out the video review below!
Amazon Warrior
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
3.8
Summary
One of the most fearsome warriors on the planet, the Amazons bring a great new element to the HACKS universe and compliment the exclusive Amazon Elite Warriors to perfection. The gold armor and brown leather balance out the silver and black, and add just the right variety, while still building the army to a small degree. She’s got great weapons and intricate paint deco. A great addition to the already nice HACKS roster of human soldiers.
As I looked through images of the Vitruvian HACKS figures throughout the Kickstarter and with every update that Boss Fight Studio, I had visions of which figure I thought would be my favorite. At first it was Leonidas, the ruler of the Spartan army with his identifiable visage, arsenal of weapons, and great armor. Then I thought it would probably be one of the Gorgons with Medusa and Black Racer edging their way up towards the top.
From a character perspective, I latched onto the Myrmidon Warrior as a great looking mercenary, and of course my own personal favorite Stonefist. As the new engineering and gear became more visible, I found myself looking past figures that seemed more… I don’t know… ordinary? Someone like Eurayle, who looked fine, but was essentially a female figure in some kind of ceremonial two piece. She looked fine, but didn’t knock my socks off.
Well, I got her in hand, and much to my own surprise, she rocketed straight to the top of my favorites list. I can’t even explain it. The construction of the figure just feels perfect. The weight, the durability, the articulation, it all comes together and feels about as right as a 4” action figure can feel. Each joint is the perfect tightness, her secondaries look great, but don’t restrict movement at all, and the sculpt of her pulled back snake hair simply looks fantastic. She’s slender, but looks exceedingly strong, a powerful figure in the Gorgon mythology.
Her characterization in the bio card is great as well, the youngest Gorgon sister who seems to have her own hidden agenda as she hypnotizes a private army of Disciples who are willing to do anything for her. I was so captivated by the figure and the character, that I was thrilled that I had a few extra Disciples, and just feeling how great Eurayle was actually made me even more thrilled about the Precurse Medusa, who is built on the same framework.
Everything comes together here. A great character, a nicely poseable figure, nearly perfect construction. She may not have the state of the art engineering of the poseable tail or the layers of body armor and armory of weapons, but everything about her just feels right. She may be one of the best 4” female action figures I’ve ever held in my hand.
If I have any complaint it’s that due to the bare feet of the figure and the rocker ankles, she has some trouble standing on the foot stand. This is an ongoing issue that we’ve seen many times before, and while Boss Fight managed to get around that with the sandled feet and the booted feet, the bare feet don’t fare quite so well. Knowing Boss Fight Studio like I do, I suspect they have some plans to resolve this in some way or another going forward.
Accessories
Eurayle comes with some great weapons as well. Two sets of ornate bladed weapons of varying lengths manage to look regal and lethal all at once. My favorite is probably the longer of the solid blade weapons, though a truly love the look of the interwoven snake-handled knives as well.
Along with this, she comes with arm and leg bands, which at first I thought would be a real pain, but they’re exceedingly flexible and manage to stay in place fairly well, even when moving the figure all around. I was quite surprised at how nicely they compliment her and do not negatively impact the figure as a whole.
Eurayle wasn’t even really on my radar during the Kickstarter, and actually I probably only own her because she was part of the All In package, but good grief I’m glad I got her. Far and away one of the nicest 4” action figures I’ve ever held, she manages to stand out amongst an already crowded field of fantastic Vitruvian HACKS figures which is really saying something.
Check out the video review below!
Eurayle
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4.9
Summary
The younger sister of Medusa is also the best Gorgon sister of them all. Flawless construction, understated, yet perfect paint applications, and just the right assortment of cool accessories gives us one of the finest Vitruvian HACKS figures I’ve seen to date and one of my favorite female action figures ever. Stellar, stellar work to all involved. This one is an absolute winner.
