Even as Boss Fight Studio revealed their first Gorgon releases, many folks were asking them about the potential for an “albino” variation of their sinister snake sisters. Well, it took until the very end of Series 01, but they came through in a huge way with the Serpentess Order Gorgon!
But this isn’t just a plain white albino deco. This is a clear example of why the Boss Fight Studio designers are the best in the business. They could have decoed up a pale white figure and be done with it, but instead they worked in a very pale pink hue and created this astounding pearl-like color scheme that is just phenomenal. I can’t quite explain the effect of the deco of the snake skin, but it looks as if it’s crafted from the surface of a valuable jewel with this slight hint of pink and a gloss that is unlike much of anything that I’ve seen on an action figure before.
This slight pink color is offset amazingly well by the translucent purple armor, gauntlet and Gorgon skull helmet, which offsets the pearl sensation of the underlying body in such a way that the figure looks almost ephemeral, which completely backs up the excellent storyline crafted around this character.
According to the bio, the Serpentess Order Gorgons are nearly mystic, with the ability to speak or understand any language, raise and commune with the dead, and produce venom that imbues the same mystical powers upon those who drink it. The Serpentess Order is fascinating from a story standpoint and spectacular from a design standpoint. It truly is an almost flawless combination of two key components of action figure development.
Accessories
Along with the terrific paint scheme, the Serpentess Order Gorgon has wonderful accessories. I’m a big fan of the long swords, and she has two of them in terrific crystaline color schemes, which follows the backstory of her using crystal armor and weapons as part of her mystical nature. The transparent nature of her armor and helmet is really beautiful and with the shimmering white flesh underneath it, we have a very spiritual looking figure. Great, great accessories to go along with a spectacular figure.
I can’t say enough good things about the Serpentess Order. She has a great backstory, an astounding and understated paint scheme, and terrific overlay of fun (and functional) accessories. This is just about as good as it gets, folks. Pick her up!
Serpentess Order Gorgon
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4.7
Summary
How many ways can I say how great this figure is? With an illuminating, pearlescent color scheme, wonderful crystal weapons and armor, and an intriguing backstory to the character, this figure is the perfect way to round off Series 01 of the Vitruvian HACKS toyline. She is a sinister, mystical creature of sorts, a mysterious spirit with a powerful punch, and I really love every single aspect of the Serpentess Order.
Ever since the majesty of Medusa was first revealed, G.I. Joe fans everywhere have been dreaming of a male figure build with the snake tail for…well, for reasons. With their seventh wave of Vitruvian HACKS figures, Boss Fight Studio has delivered, and what’s especially nice is that they’ve delivered a pretty damn cool action figure in its own right to boot.
Ever since first reading the biographies for Eurayle and her Disciples I became extremely interested in that element of the Gorgon universe. Devoted human soldiers under the hypnotic trance of one of the Gorgon sisters seemed like a really intriguing twist on the infamous Medusa mythology. With very cool pale green skin tones and some great weapons, I ended up buying a few of the Disciples and love where that story is going (especially with Achilles’ release in Wave 6). The fact that Boss Fight Studio bumped up production of their male lower-torso (initially slated for release with the Naga Serpent in their Fantasy series) to work it into a Series 1 release is really awesome from a fan point of view.
The Berzerker Disciple Gorgon is a figure that works exceedingly well in many different ways. The various shades of green throughout the figure compliment each other flawlessly and put together a strikingly beautiful look. Familiar light “Disciple” green along the belly, embraced by a much darker, vibrant green at the edges makes for one heck of a nice looking Gorgon. He’s got the bald Blank head with a two-toned green deco that further emphasizes his “berzerker” nature.
I’m happy to see that the articulated snake tail works to perfection with this new male lower torso and the entire figure feels like it was designed this way from the beginning, from head to toe…err… tail. Construction, deco, and character concept are all terrific.
Accessories
The Berzerker Disciple Gorgon doesn’t come with a ton of weapons, but what he does come with makes for a fascinating combination. He has two separate sheaths, which ends up in a great cross-strap look across his bare chest (he doesn’t come with armor) and the darkened Gorgon skull helmet sets it all off nicely. He comes with two short swords dipped in venom and looks like an excellent fast attack, lethal trooper. I really like what he’s got.
To say I was excited when Boss Fight announced the early release of the Berzerker would be a wild understatement. One might say I went “berzerk”. He’s a fun, intriguing figure with some unusual accessories and for the first time since Wave 4, a newly tooled part included (with the lower torso). Great, GREAT figure and a nice compliment to my already growing horde of Gorgon villains.
Berzerker Disciple Gorgon
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4.6
Summary
So much to love. The first male Gorgon figure released in the line, and one that’s dovetailed into the Eurayle story, which is an offshoot of the HACKS storyline that I grow increasingly fascinated with. Excellent paint job, a nicely different accessory compliment and just a really fun looking figure makes for the perfect early release for Wave 7. I was thrilled they announced him and I’m even more thrilled to have him.
Throughout the Vitruvian HACKS toy line to date there’s been a healthy helping of influence from the Greek Gods, and the Helios Warrior is no exception. Helios is a titan, (which I believe is actually an elder to a God) and is the physical manifestation of the sun in Greek Mythology. Like several of Hades operatives that have already been released, the Helios Warrior serves the will of the titan against the Gorgon Horde.
Purely from a design perspective, the Helios Warrior is simply beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous. One of the few unsung aspects of the HACKS line has been their use of translucent plastics throughout different figures, and it is used to perfection here. The base color of the figure isn’t like the existing Transparent Orange, it’s much brighter, and is offset beautifully by the metallic red shine of the Spartan armor. These two colors combined together really produce a fantastic “flame warrior” effect that works in concert together and provides a terrific supernatural vibe.
I know there has been some hypothesis that the base figure for the Helios Warrior is little more than a Translucent Orange Blank, but I will tell you that this is definitely not the case. The Helios Warrior is a very vibrant, almost clear gold figure that looks starkly and amazingly different than the standard clear orange blank, something that is clearly evident when looking at them side by side. The Helios Warrior is on your left below:
Along with the excellent combination of light translucent and metallic red, the phoenix deco on the armor is fantastic as well, adding some real spirit to the figure. Intricately painted flame wings and the upturned beak look really, really nice, with a great concept and even better execution.
Accessories
For the most part we’re not seeing a whole lot of new excitement when it comes to Wave 6 accessories, since they’ve all been released several times already. However, looking at the Helios Warrior accessories I see a ton of vibrant color combinations that truly bring this gear to life. Red handles and orange blades, not to mention the Phoenix tampo on the shield all add some real awesome spark to these existing accessories. The yellow trim on the red leg armor is fantastic as well and only goes to further accentuate the “fire” elements of this figure. The red isn’t merely “red”, it’s got a spectacularly rich finish with a great shine to it, the very definition of “candy apple” red you’d be more likely to see on a fancy sports car than an action figure, but it works to perfection.
Ever since we got our first glimpse of the Helios Warrior I was looking forward to getting this one in hand. The Undead Warrior is already one of my all time favorite figures, mostly due to his transparent deco, and the Helios Warrior now joins him in this fantastic supernatural cadre coming in to do battle amidst the Spartans and Gorgons. I’m really looking forward to seeing the Eos Warrior as well in Wave 7, and I think they’ll both make fantastic compliments to each other. Great stuff!
Helios Warrior
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4.5
Summary
Saying this figure is striking would be a massive understatement. The unique combination of translucent parts and a vibrant, metallic red paint scheme really makes this figure and character come to life. The phoenix deco on his armor and shield as well as that nearly perfect shade of red and orange combine together to create this amazingly cool looking new character and figure. It truly is impressive.
The Myrmidon Warrior was a figure whose backstory I knew nothing about when it was first released in the initial Vitruvian HACKS Kickstarter. I’d heard of the Athenians, the Spartans, etc… but for whatever reason the Myrmidons was a group I was unfamiliar with. I did some quick research leading up to reviewing the figure and was quite pleasantly surprised to see them affiliated with one of my favorite Greek Mythology heroes, Achilles.
When it was revealed that Wave 6 would include not only Achilles himself, but also the Myrmex Warriors, another evolution of his mercenary team, I was extremely excited. According to mythology, many of the Myrmidon Warriors were created from armies of ants, and they seem to be taking this concept close to home with the Myrmex Warrior who is quite obviously patterned with those ants in mind.
The base figure itself comes with one of the short haired Blank heads which is great, and of course the Myrmidon Warrior armor (chest and legs) for obvious reasons. What I love most about the figure is the deco, with a healthy amount of red, complimented by brown and gold trim, which ties him in nicely with Achilles himself and with the rest of the Myrmidon crew.
Articulation and paint is fantastic as we’ve come to expect with the Vitruvian HACKS figures, and while I’m not sure the Myrmex Warrior is a hole I felt needed to be filled, I do find this figure it be a fun addition to the steadily growing human legions.
Accessories
The Myrmex Warrior comes with a basic accessory compliment, including the Myrmidon themed armor pieces I mentioned above, a short sword with sheath, a spear, and the shield with a really nice ant tampo. It’s fine, though nothing exceptional and not a whole lot that you can’t necessarily find elsewhere with other figures. Like all of the shields from Wave 5.5 on, the handle has been extended slightly to allow for an easier grasp with male hands.
This figure is nice. He does somewhat get lost in the shuffle with three other far superior aesthetic figures in this wave, but he’s a welcome addition to the ever growing Achilles division, and I’m glad to have him.
More great stuff from Boss Fight Studio!
Myrmex Warrior
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
3.7
Summary
Now that we have Achilles, and we already have the Myrmidon Warrior, I was excited to get some more great supplemental troops to fill out his mercenary strike team. According to Greek Mythology, the Myrmidons/Myrmex Warriors were created from armies of ants, so using the ant deco on this figure makes a lot of sense. The color scheme here is intriguing with fantastic red highlights complimented by the great brown shade that ties in well with both Achilles and the Myrmidons. I will say this figure is somewhat outshined by the other terrific Wave 6 offerings, but he still makes for a fun complimentary trooper with his own cool design aesthetics.
Ever since we first read the Odyssey as a class in fifth grade I had some fascination with the characters from Greek Mythology, especially as it pertained to characters with greater than human abilities. After all, I was a comic book fanatic back then as well, so the idea that a character like Achilles who was more or less described as a super hero really appealed to me. When Boss Fight Studio released the Myrmidon Warrior in their first series, it was clear that they at least had Achilles in their viewfinder. Once Penthesilea was released, Achilles’ character grew even more fleshed out, and here, in Wave 6 we finally get our hands on him as his own figure.
He does not disappoint.
The basic figure buck is obviously the same one we’ve seen numerous times at this point with great construction, sculpting and articulation. His head sculpt is the same short haired head we get with the Blanks, but in full deco you can barely tell the reuse.
One awesome aspect of the figure, too, is that he also comes with the bald head from the blanks as well as a swappable right foot so Achilles can also serve as another sort of Myrmidon Warrior to help further his personal army and also help get some great mileage out of this figure. I know I have plans to buy more of these figures to now use as troopers.
Speaking of the right foot, the silver foot was included to show Achilles’ wearing some kind of protective armor, since that’s the most vulnerable part of his body, and it’s a neat look, certainly separates him from the crowd in some good ways.
The overall look of this figure is excellent. Using the Myrmidon torso and leg armor ties him in with his troops, and the deco here is spectacular with some very nice golden trim, it really helps blend Achilles with his army, but also sets him apart. The brown color of the armor is very leather-looking, but a slightly different shade than some others, showcasing the awesome ability of the Boss Fight folks to choose just the right color tone for these figures.
Accessories
I really enjoy Achilles’ accessory assortment. As I mentioned previously, the armor looks great with the dark brown and gold trim, and the deco on his shield is astoundingly great at such a small scale. His helmet, spear, sword and scabbard have great paint applications that blend with the rest of the armor nicely, and I’m always a fan of the throwing axes. Black and gold handles with silver axe blades are great combinations of colors and finish of this compliment of accessories to perfection. What really strikes me about all of these parts is the vibrant colors. The silvers are just stark and bright and amazingly well chosen.
The shield certainly deserves some attention. It’s an amazing array of symbols very closely based on Achilles’ legendary shield. Obviously on a smaller scale not quite all of the different layers can be applied, but I think Boss Fight did a spectacular job approximating the overall look and feel of this piece of epic equipment for one of Greek Mythology’s most iconic warriors.
A terrific character which builds on the existing Vitruvian HACKS mythology while also bringing some new elements to the table is something I will always embrace enthusiastically, especially a key character like Achilles. Add to that the inclusion of spare parts to turn the character into a trooper, excellent adjusted paint deco and a great accessory compliment, and you have one heck of a great figure for Wave 6.
Achilles
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4.5
Summary
As a rabid comic book fan I found myself really drawn into the stories of Greek Mythology while in school and Achilles was a huge reason for that. The “best warrior” on the field of battle with only a minor weakness, Achilles always appealed to me as a kind of early man’s Captain America. I absolutely love the way his story unfolds with the moral conundrum between himself, Penthesilea and Eurayle and I’m thrilled to see him included in the Vitruvian HACKS toyline. I know the Spartans vs. Gorgons series is winding down and we’re getting ramped up for Fantasy, but I’d have loved to see some more Odyssey influenced characters. Great thing about the customizability of this series, though, is I can make them myself!
The evolution of the skeleton figure in the Vitruvian HACKS toyline has been pretty impressive, and this Warrior Skeleton is only more proof of the amazing sculpting and production values of those figures.
Initially part of their wildly successful Kickstarter, the Skeletons were seen as add on items that could compliment the already impressive hordes of humans and Gorgons, but as time went on, they got wrapped into the story a bit more fully, especially starting with the Wave 5 Cursed Skeleton figure, which was the first to include the Skeleton as an actual base figure to build a packaged figure around.
Here we get the Warrior Skeleton which dials back the hyper-enchanted look a little bit and dives deeper into realism, but the end result is the same. The figure looks spectacular.
First and foremost, unlike any of the other skeletons to date, Boss Fight Studio went super realistic here, adding very nicely layered paint wipes to a white Skeleton base giving us a figure that looks a lot like a living, breathing Skeleton with worn bones as if it pulled itself right out of a freshly dug grave. The texture achieved with the added paint is fantastic and brings this figure to a whole new life (no pun intended).
Along with the excellent new deco on the Skeleton, we see Medusa’s arm armor in a very nice golden bronze paint finish alongside the Amazon skirt and the Myrmidon helmet, which sets the whole figure off nicely. The accessory color is so bright and clean that it just looks striking, an amazingly cool combination against the worn and hewn bones of the living skeleton wearing it.
The combination of armor and the intricately painted skeleton underneath is truly awesome and really portrays a sense of dead soldier come to life. As with all of the other Skeleton figures, I’m astounded by the level of articulation and sculpted detail within a figure that is so skinny, but Boss Fight managed to make a Skeleton that looks like a true 1:18 scale Skeleton and is still a very functional toy. It’s pretty amazing, and this one is no exception. I’ve been really impressed with the durability of this figure, the movement, and the fit of the armor, it’s been exceedingly impressive.
Accessories
I really love the somewhat outside the box armor choices and the octopus tampo on the shield is really terrific as well. An excellent and interesting logo, though I’m not sure what the specific inspiration was. A combination of brown and gold/bronze gives a great sense of realism, and I enjoy the helmet choice as well. This is a great figure and comes with some excellent, if understated, accessories.
Another excellent entry into Boss Fight Studio’s increasing skeleton army. He looks great alongside all of his skin and bone comrades (and in fact, his excellent worn paint scheme makes some of the others feel a little under-detailed) and I’m excited to scoop up some more of these bad boys to stock up my skeleton legions.
More great stuff from Boss Fight Studio!
Warrior Skeleton
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4
Summary
Somehow Boss Fight Studio pulled off the nearly impossible. They crafted a fully functional 1:18 scale skeleton that looks like it belongs inside the bodies of the other surrounding figures AND manages to be well articulated and relatively sturdy. The paint deco on this skeleton is especially fantastic, truly looking like worn human bone come to life and I am in love with the gold deco Medusa armor and Amazon skirt just finishing the figure off to perfection.
