Pre-Order the Blanks at BossFightShop – Either Female or Male!
As 2016 comes to a close, we celebrate the year of Vitruvian HACKS, a year full of thrilling new product, exciting new directions, and a rainbow’s worth of customizing blanks that continue to appear and impress.
Along with all of the vibrant colors of said rainbow, a short while ago Boss Fight Studio released their long awaited Transparent Blanks, figures produced in crystal clear colors providing a wealth of great opportunities for new characters or interesting combinations. I’ve checked out and reviewed many different colors of blanks throughout the year, but these Transparent Blanks have to be at the top of my favorites list…something about these clear figures is just too cool for words.
I’ve never really been infatuated with clear figures as some other folks are, but I can appreciate a unique design aesthetic when I see it, and these figures certainly have it. What’s especially cool is that the majority of the interior of these figures is also produced in clear plastic, so the effect of the figure is really remarkable. Obviously you do see the metal screw, but they manage to make the rest of the figure quite clear, which looks even more amazing once you start equipping the figures with gear.
While the ghostly clear look on its own is impressive in its own right, the figures really shine once armor starts being applied and you get a very spirit-like vibe with armor that appears to just float there in mid air. The result is characters that look almost supernatural.
Leveraging the different variations of translucent accessories also lends some amazingly cool looks to these clear figures, showing layers of opaqueness that really pop among more traditionally decoed and designed figures. The look of these clear figures is truly impressive, and I end up loving this blanks quite a bit. I may end up picking up quite a few more of these along the way, I can think of tons of creative uses for them.
Each blank comes with three heads, three sets of feet (boots, bare, and sandals), two sets of hands (one jointed forward/back, one jointed side-to-side) and the footpeg to help them stand. I could actually see someone producing a full line of just blanks, the fact that Vitruvian HACKS offers them as compliments to a full blown universe and toyline is absolutely amazing.
I really enjoy the way the multitude of transparent figures are coming together and make for a great group of supernatural beings supporting the Gods and bringing the battle to the Gorgon Horde!
One of the most intriguing side stories to this whole initial run of Vitruvian HACKS is the role Hades plays in the mythology, creating his own undead army to battle back the Gorgon Horde. From the Undead Warrior to the Tartarus Guard and the Underworld Warrior, Hades has created himself a nice little army of supernatural soldiers.
Now you can add the River Styx Guardian to this list, though from a color scheme perspective, he really stands apart.
Rather than the familiar purple colors that some of Hades’ other foot soldiers have, the River Styx Guardian is a really awesome vibrant light blue color, one would imagine the colors of the River Styx itself. Those familiar with Greek Mythology will know that the River Styx is where souls cross over into death, and if anyone should drink the water from this river, they could potentially gain immortality. Achilles was rumored to be dipped into the River Styx as a child, which is what gave him his abilities, and what exposed his ankle as his vulnerability (that was where the hand that held him was clutched when he was placed in the water).
Hades has created himself a crew of elite defenders of the River Styx, and they look pretty amazing.
The base figure here is a great light blue color with some awesome, freaky deco on the face showing an awesome vacant look of determination.
His armor is the great decorative armor from the Athenian Warrior layered with some terrific variations of shiney blue and white, offset by really cool lighter flecks. The contrast of the blue and the lighter spray on the torso armor is really terrific and also matches the smooth leg armor, giving things a really metallic, other-worldy appearance.
Really what separates this figure is the color scheme of very light blue contrasted with the darker blues of the armor on the torso and legs. It’s an excellent series of colors that makes the figure look very supernatural and almost like a section of water come to life. The way the armor is all different variations of the underlying blue brings the entire figure together.
Accessories
The River Styx Guardian comes with some great accessories. Three separate swords (including the slightly curved sword, which is my favorite) as well as the more ceremonial Athenian helmet, the Athenian armor, and Spartan leg armor. He has a shield with an awesome tampo of Hade’s infamous Cerebrus, the vicious dog with three heads. All of these accessories are decoed like the leg armor with a metallic blue, flecked with great lighter blues.
At first, the River Styx Guardian looked a little monochromatic, and I wasn’t sure I was sold on the figure. But being part of Hades army, and a close up look at the real intricacies of the color choices validated the decision to grab this figure. It’s a really nice compliment to many of the other figures out there, and even if the color scheme doesn’t necessarily jive with the rest of Hades’ crew, this is a great looking figure and I love the tie-in to River Styx as a whole.
River Styx Guardian
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4.1
Summary
When you’ve only got so many parts to choose from, a figure lives or dies off the story and the deco, and the River Styx Guardian does very well on both. A vibrant concert of various blues from the skin all the way to the tips of his swords, and an awesome element of Greek mythology woven into his backstory, this is a great addition to anyone’s Vitruvian HACKS collection.
When it was first conceived and revealed, the Skeleton was promised to be able to work with existing HACKS armor and fit nicely into the HACKS universe, but this is the first time the figure has been used within the confines of a retail release, and I’m happy to say, their first foray into mainstream Skeleton use is a raging success.
It’s funny, though, because as excellent the skeleton is, Boss Fight Studio still manages to simply use that as a bony canvas to establish their true artistic embellishments, and the fact that the base figure is a skeleton at all is more of a side note than the main topic of the review.
Don’t get me wrong, the skeleton is terrific, a great shade of crazy green (much like the Unearthly Green accessory pack, but not quite as neon), contrasting with an exceptional shade of metallic purple. The colors here are reminiscent of other agents of Hades, though the bio here labels the Skeleton as a soldier of Persephone, not Hades, although Persephone is the wife of Hades, it’s not established in the character’s story whether their armies are aligned.
The green and purple are a great contrast, and one that is well established throughout character design as being complimentary colors. That is no exception here. The dark and metallic shine of purple paint on the torso armor and leg armor looks spectacular, capturing the light and retaining an exceptionally cool metal look. The purple is balanced by light green and black trim, which only accentuates the great metallic colors of the armor, helmet and weapons.
The skeleton base figure remains a cool aspect of the Vitruvian HACKS figure line, with great articulation and a surprisingly durable sculpt. My figure didn’t have any limb warping and held all poses surprisingly well with the armor layered on top. The leg armor was placed on with spacers (the same spacers included in the single releases of the Skeleton figures) and stayed in place remarkably well.
Intricacies of the paint apps are present on the skeleton itself, too, with some really intriguing detail lines on the skull (they almost look like claw marks) to match the streaks on the armor. It’s a really neat detail.
I love that Boss Fight is integrating the skeleton base figure within the confines of regular retail release figures. Between this one the Warrior Skeleton rumored to be coming in Wave 7, pretty soon we should be seeing more and more skeletons making their way into the further reaches of the Vitruvian HACKS story. I’m okay with this.
Accessories
The Cursed Skeleton comes with the great armor, leg armor, and helmet, as well as two swords, his spear, and a terrific shield. Like they’ve done with many other releases, Boss Fight Studio put a terrific deco on the shield looking like a ghostly skull face, circled by sword scrapes and slashes. He also comes with the clasps for his feet on the stand and the requisite spacers for his armor.
It’s a testament to how well Boss Fight Studio has designed these figures that the Cursed Skeleton manages to slide pretty seamlessly into the collective Vitruvian HACKS army. He’s a great base figure (I love that green!) but what really sets him off is the terrific metallic purple armor and accessories. I love the Cursed Skeleton and he makes for another awesome addition to the ever increasing undead army.
Cursed Skeleton
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4.5
Summary
Their first attempt at integrating the skeleton base figure into a normal story-based release, I’m happy to say the Cursed Skeleton is excellent. They manage to build upon a greatly colored skeleton figure and make the entire figure excellent with metallic purple armor, black trim, and all sorts of interesting complimentary deco throughout. A really great figure.
Another well established character in Greek mythology, Penthesilea was the queen of Amazons and the one-time wife of Achilles himself, a voracious warrior and a tragic character within the intricate mythology. Her inclusion in the Vitruvian HACKS line is a welcome one, I love reading the history of some of these characters, especially ones who aren’t quite as well known.
With Achilles confirmed for release in Wave 6, it’s cool to see Penthesilea here (even if I need to check the spelling of her name every time) as a nice connection point between Achilles and bringing the Amazons into the story as well. As usual, Boss Fight Studio does fantastic work walking that line between the established Greek myths and putting their own unique twist on these characters.
Penthesilea is written here as the Amazon Commander and the daughter of Ares, the God of War. The story in her file card actually talks about Achilles’ betrayal of her and that she ended up leading an army of Amazons against him after he spurned her and joined the Gorgon Horde. As Achilles equal in battle, Penthesilea immediately gets some real credibility as leader of the Amazons.
As one might imagine, the base figure is the same as the Amazon and Elite Amazon, and that’s really fine with me, as the general female figure buck is one of my favorite aspects of the Vitruvian HACKS line. Her head is the long-haired female head that’s included with all of the Blanks, and I love the streak of white contrasting against the black.
Unlike both the Amazon and Elite Amazon, Penthesilea doesn’t have any tattoos, and while the gold armor matches the standard Amazon warrior, her layered blue leather skirt is a really great color. I love the shade of blue, it really differentiates her from her foot soldiers, yet still ends up looking like a realistic leather dyed material and not a completely unrealistic color.
Her articulation is terrific, with awesome rocker ankles, full range of motion throughout the limbs, and it compliments the slim sculpting perfectly as most of the female figures do. She is one great looking figure and a nearly perfect addition to the already fantastic Amazon cadre of warriors. With her different head sculpt, long hair, and streak of white she looks like an awesome elder stateswoman of the Amazons, the brave commander leading the attack against her former flame Achilles.
I certainly was never an expert in Greek mythology, but felt like I knew enough, but I had never heard the legend of Penthesilea. Now that I know it, I’m thrilled that she got her own action figure, and greatly look forward to the release of Achilles. It certainly helps that this figure has a great updated paint scheme and a head sculpt to differentiate her from her warriors.
Accessories
Penthesilea comes with a nice assortment of accessories. She has three swords, including the long sword, which is one that I really love. The sheath in the back of her skirt holds one of the swords, and she can sport the other two as she battles through the Gorgon Horde. Along with the swords she has her shield, decoed in a fantastic new paint pattern of what looks to be a winged horse attacking another horse. I’m not sure what the cultural significance of the image is, but it looks awesome.
Penthesilia is a great figure. The blue leather skirt, first use of the long hair blank head sculpt, and her awesome new shield all add some real great elements to an already impressive line up of Amazons. She fits the bill of Amazon Commander to perfection and is a really great figure to boot. Awesome addition to the mythology.
Penthesilea
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4.6
Summary
With the nearly flawless female figure buck, excellent head sculpt and great updated color scheme, Penthesilea only serves to add more greatness to the already spectacular Amazon figures. As the Amazon Commander, she leads the pack, and while she compliments the other Amazons well, she also has her own distinct look.
At first glance, I mistakenly thought the Boa Constrictor Gorgon was a mild repaint of the Coral Snake Gorgon, mostly due to the deco on the arms and the overall skin tone being a darker, brown color. Once I got the figure in person I was thrilled to see that while the Boa Constrictor does play off the Coral Snake Gorgon in her arm patterns, the rest of the figure is significantly different and compliments the entirety of the Gorgon Horde exceedingly well.
One thing I’ve really loved about the various different Gorgon figures was the fact that Boss Fight Studio wrote them such interesting biographies, which managed to take similar figures and add some distinct uniqueness to them. The Boa Constrictors are no different.
Described as the replacements for the Colubrida Guard, Medusa apparently enlisted the air of these nocturnal creatures after an almost successful attempt on her life. She keeps the Constrictors very close, even training them in the use of her personal weaponry and allowing them within her temple walls. The Boa’s listen to her and not her sisters and serve as her personal bodyguards and assassins, a really cool specialty for these really cool additional Gorgon forces.
I clearly remember the first time I got one of the Vitruvian HACKS Gorgons in hand, and marveled at the amazing feat of engineering with the tail and how well it integrated with the rest of the figure itself. Here we stand, months later, and we have nearly a dozen different variations of the Gorgon, yet still I find myself slowly shaking my head in marvel at how amazing the figure construction is, and how distinct each variant is, using the pattern of the snake scales to really separate the various Horde members.
The Boa Constrictor is no different, with an awesome dark skin tone and complimentary patterns on the arms and head. A diamond shaped black pattern really shines nicely among the darker skin tone, and the calm version of the Gorgon face makes sense for this vicious nocturnal predator.
Metallic green armor and gauntlets look considerably different from the other Gorgons and only serve to add another excellent design element.
The Boa Constrictor Gorgon has all the great fun of the existing Gorgons and does an excellent job further filling in the Gorgon Horde. A really fun addition.
Accessories
As with most other Gorgons, the Boa Constrictor comes with the skull helmet and long sword, though this figure eschews a shield and sheath for Medusa’s skull spine whip and knife. A nice assortment of cool accessories, for sure.
Like their master, the Boa Constrictor Gorgons are vicious, evil creatures that only serve to add some excellent elements to the quickly growing Gorgon Horde. With a great paint deco, awesome looking tail, and good assortment of weapons, she is a force to be reckoned with and Medusa is only stronger for having them by her side.
Boa Constrictor Gorgon
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4
Summary
Another great looking Gorgon figure that further enhances the growing Horde of snake warriors. As Medusa’s new personal guard, these night hunters look vicious and come with some great accessories. As with pretty much every Gorgon figure out there, this one is a must have.
Pre-Order the Blanks at BossFightShop – Either Female or Male!
While fans of Vitruvian HACKS wait patiently for the fifth wave of Greek Mythology figures to hit, Boss Fight Studio is continuing to release more product, most recently a new color of Blank figures, Green. Unlike some of the other selections, there doesn’t appear to be any fancy names for this color, it’s just flat out “green” but that’s okay, it’s the figure itself that’s the shining point.
As with all previous blanks, there are female and male selections of this green color, and the design expertise of Boss Fight Studio continues to be at play with the shade of green they use here. It’s a rich and vibrant color, perfect for any number of customs, whether you want to add another Gorgon to your roster, or consider developing some new Emerald Knights to your super hero shelf.
There are some great color combinations available with the green blanks as there are with many others, including black and the Unearthly Green, which adds some real intriguing brightness to the flat, muted tone underneath.
One might think that these green blanks are the same shade as some existing figures, most notably Medusa (both the post and pre-curse variety) but the color hues are just different enough to add some nice variety. They can exist alongside Medusa and still stand out on their own. With the Berzerker Gorgon on the way, and existing green Gorgons already relatively plentiful, the green blank adds some fantastic flexibility to existing parts and allows for some great mixing and matching for new color combinations.
Each blank comes with three heads, three sets of feet (boots, bare, and sandals), two sets of hands (one jointed forward/back, one jointed side-to-side) and the footpeg to help them stand. I could actually see someone producing a full line of just blanks, the fact that Vitruvian HACKS offers them as compliments to a full blown universe and toyline is absolutely amazing.
