The figure that started it all… when Boss Fight Studio first announced this new Vitruvian HACKS line, the Spartan soldier was front and center, and from my perspective, things have only gotten better.
As I mentioned in my overview of the line itself, I don’t have any particular love for Greek mythology or the whole Spartan concept, but I can appreciate good action figures, and that’s exactly what we’ve got here.
Under the covers, the base figure is a picture perfect example of what happens when you combine incredible sculpting, intuitive design, and great construction all into a single figure. The musculature of the Spartan Warrior is tightly designed and nearly seamless, yet retains an incredible amount of articulation, more than I’ve seen on almost any other 4″ action figure ever. Even without armor, just posing and playing with a plain Spartan figure has been a blast, making small adjustments to waist rotation, torso posing, etc…
The joints move very freely, yet hold tight, remaining solid even after taking parts off and replacing with others. The base figure itself is pretty incredible, and I’m thrilled that it will remain the base figure for many future waves. Boss Fight certainly started on the right foot here.
A relatively plain looking bearded head sits utop the Spartan figure, with no alternate heads in the package. It’s a great head sculpt and looks relatively generic enough, though once some flesh colored blanks become available, it’ll be nice to add some variety to be sure. Paint apps here are pretty straight forward, with a base flesh color, brown shorts, and nicely detailed sandals. Interesting to note is that the feet do not contain rocker ankles, just a swivel and tilt. When rocker ankles are done well, I think they’re very effective, but I’ll fully admit that it’s very tough to do them well.
On top of the figure we have a great piece of chest armor with decorative tail, adding some beef and protection to the Spartan underneath. The polished metal paint apps look great and the armor fits exceptionally snugly, so it doesn’t end up restricting range of motion much at all even when on.
Spartan Warrior also comes with a helmet, spear, two swords and a single sheath, fully equipped and ready for battle. The spear and two swords are rigid plastic, and he can hold all of his weapons really nicely in either set of hands. The helmet is a bit different than the other two Spartan type figures in this wave, with a braided tail that comes off the end of the headdress on top. I really like that he comes with a pair of swords, that adds a neat element to the figure that keeps him apart from the others.
For someone who is usually a fan of extremely intricate futuristic military figures, it feels odd to be so interested in a figure based on centuries old mythology. That being said, the construction and execution of the Spartan Warrior is enough to win me over, even without any tactical vests or heavy machine guns.
Spartan Warrior
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4
Summary
The fiercest soldier in all of history gets translated into especially hard-edged plastic, with Boss Fight Studios’ fantastic foray into Spartan mythology. Excellent articulation, great paint deco, and a level of interchangability the likes of which have never been seen in a 4″ toy line. The Spartan Warrior is spectacular.
In the grand scheme of things, as much as I’m a toy fan, I’m also a story fan, and I’ll be honest, I wasn’t real sure on where the “story” elements of a toyline based on Greek mythology would come from. Thankfully, Boss Fight has done a really good job building a story with the filecards on the back of the packages, and even two figures made to resemble statues can somehow end up having personality.
The Cursed Spartan is obviously based on what might happen if a Spartan got caught in Medusa’s gaze, but the way the story is written, these Cursed Spartans could have strange superhuman powers while being frozen in stone, and if Medusa is slain, they could end up coming back to life, even in a more modern era.
Obviously, main story aside, it’s the deco of these two figures that really makes them stand out.
The Cursed Spartan is painted to resemble a stone texture, with some layered grays and a darker overspray that mimics some of the texture you might see with stones or rocks. The figure comes with a bald head, rather than the bearded head of the Spartan, but comes with the same smooth chest armor as the Spartan Warrior. On his lower legs is the same armor as the standard Spartan as well, nicely form fitted, but removable, made of a softer material than the regular plastic. It’s amazing just how snugly the leg armor fits over the lower legs, it’s completely removable but does not look at all bulky or out of place.
One thing I did notice was that the paint on the chest armor was still just a little bit tacky. Not terrible, but there’s definitely some stickiness there.
Along with the armor, Cursed Spartan comes with a stone deco helmet, sword, spear, and shield.
Overall, I really love the deco, the overspray paint applications look remarkably like stone, and it’s amazing how detailed the paint work is, and how much some simple color layers can replicate material.
If I have any complaints, it might be that while the straight Spartan Warrior comes with only a bearded head, the Cursed Spartan comes only with a bald one. It would have been neat if they both could have had the same head, so you could have this figure be a stone version of the existing Spartan Warrior. A very minor complaint in the grand scheme of things.
If you’d told me I’d be in love with two figures who were painted to look like immovable artwork, I’d have said you were crazy, but the variations in paint scheme with both figures truly injects new life into the Spartan base figure, and I find myself truly enjoying the way they both look.
As I went through this review I found myself swapping out Spartan parts for Cursed parts, and showing a cool series of “progression” shots as a hapless warrior was turned to stone. This figure is just a heck of a lot of fun.
Cursed Spartan
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
3.6
Summary
Yay, a stone statue of the world’s most deadly warrior. That would make for a great toy (said no one ever). Yet, somehow, Boss Fight manages to do just that. With a spectacular stone spray deco and the excellent base figure underneath, the Cursed Spartan manages to look fantastic and be just as fun to play with as his more lively brother.
While I can appreciate great toys, I’m one of those pesky collectors who likes to know where my characters come from. As I mentioned in the Cursed Spartan review, Boss Fight has done a great job building a story with the packages, and even two figures made to resemble statues can somehow end up having personality.
Talos, the Eternal Bronze Warrior is based on the legend of Talos, the man of bronze, who circles the island of Crete, protecting it. The filecard actually mentions four separate men (army builders GO!) made of bronze who traveled under the sea in pursuit of Poseidon.
Obviously, main story aside, it’s the deco of these two figures that really makes them stand out.
Where the Cursed Spartan is layers of gray and black, Talos is colored a very metallic bronze, with some faded green highlights, giving the impression of an aged bronzed statue, just as one might expect. The effect is truly stunning. As I was taking pictures for this review, I was messing with the sharpness settings and it’s incredible just how metallic Talos looks in the images, simply from a perfectly executed paint scheme.
Talos was a Kickstarter exclusive, so is not available on the pre-order page, but even as such is a figure you’ll want to track down. The metallic paint spray is nearly flawless, making the figure truly look like a statue come to life. Like other Spartan based figures, he has a helmet, spear, shield, and sword with sheath, also coming with two sets of hands.
His head is a bearded head, not the bald head of the Cursed Spartan, and he looks old and grizzled, which is a pretty cool look. I believe the head he sports is the same one that will be used with the upcoming Leonidas.
His armor isn’t the same smooth armor as other figures, but instead is a more chain mail look, and I really love the texture mixed with the layers of metallic paint. It has a raised hook in the back of the vest, too, I imagine to hold the spear (at least that’s what I have it doing.
Ultimately both Talos and the Cursed Spartan had the potential to be dull, simply because they’re figures built to look like immovable objects. Thanks to some clever history, however, and terrific paint work, both figures manage to illicit a ton of play value as well as looking great on the shelf. Who could ask for more?
Talos, the Bronze Warrior
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4
Summary
I half expected this figure to feel like a lead miniature when I picked it up, just because the paint work was so flawless it looked metallic. One of those especially photogenic decos, Talos is an intriguing and fun addition to the Vitruvian HACKS toy line, and I’m really having a blast with him. His armor and leg guards are slightly different than the other two released Spartan figures, adding some nice variety, and I’m really digging his thick, curled bearded head. A far better figure than I thought it might be.
The Combiner Wars theme, I’m happy to say, has had far more “hits” than misses, and I feel comfortable saying that Bruticus is another solid home run. Using the same connection template as the previous combiners, the limbs all say firmly secure, yet offer very nice poseability, as the other combiners do.
Perhaps what puts Bruticus over the edge is that he is a combiner team I actually owned part of when I was younger (as a G.I. Joe fan back then, I naturally gravitated towards the military theme) along with the Stunticons and Aerialbots. Unlike the Stunticons and Aerialbots, however, I don’t believe I ever owned the entire set of Combaticons, so this is like a new world for me, and it’s one that I like.
Britucus’ very distinctive head sculpt is translated perfectly with this combined figure, and I love the broad, triangular chest plate. He looks imposing and powerful, and unlike Menasor, he doesn’t feel like he exists just to topple over. The wide stance of his legs (like Defensor) holds him in poses really nicely, and even though the individual Combaticons have some pretty different, distinctive colors, he still makes for an awesome combined character.
Bruticus is great, all things considered. I think I may still like Superion the most (well, unless you count Devastator), but Bruticus is a close second, followed by Defensor. Menasor needs to rethink his outlook on life.
Combiner Wars Bruticus
Character
Articulation
Robot Mode
Transformation
3.9
Summary
Beware the military machine! The Combaticons combine to form Bruticus, one of the most feared and sinister combiners ever. The Combiner Wars version takes his unique look and translates it perfectly to the Combiner Wars formula, recreating everyone’s favorite bad ass Decepticon military weapon. The color scheme is great, and very vintage inspired, and even if some of the components aren’t the best (Blast Off and Brawl I’m lookin’ at you) the end result is another great gestalt from the Combiner Wars. As cool as Titans Returns looks, I’m not sure I’m ready for the Combiner Wars to be over.
It’s amazing what some minor changes can do to change one character into another, and those minor changes work wonders for Onslaught.
Obviously based on the Hot Spot tooling, Onslaught has just the right changes to completely redefine the figure into a different, more effective character. The elaborate hook and ladder system on his back in vehicle mode is now a triangular mount for his two cannons, and not only does it look more potent and deadly in vehicle mode, but the it converts nicely into an effective chestplate for Bruticus.
The vehicle itself is narrow and sloped, like the fire truck, but still makes for an excellent military type vehicle, although not especially vintage accurate. Like Hot Spot, transformation is relatively intuitive and easily accomplished, and as cool as the vehicle is, the robot mode is even better. Articulation is spectacular, with great movement at all necessary joints. I love how imposing the armored shoulder pads look, and the intricate lined sculpting in robot mode is seriously impressive.
Sculpting in the new head is nearly flawless, and it’s amazing to me how a featureless robot can express such emotion with the different positions of his head and body.
The twin cannons can stay attached to the back like you might expect, but are also removable and can be held as robotic guns, too.
Like the rest of the Combaticons, Onslaught’s colors are based more strongly on the classic toy than the animation, but work well in that regard, and as a lifelong G.I. Joe fan, I’m extremely attached to the military angle of all these Combaticon toys. Onslaught is a great vintage update and makes for a fantastic centerpiece to the Bruticus combiner.
Combiner Wars Onslaught
Character
Articulation
Vehicle
Robot Mode
Transformation
3.8
Summary
A healthy retooling of the Combiner Wars Hot Spot, this Combaticons leader looks and feels great. Sturdy and well articulated in both modes, and with a fantastic vintage inspired color scheme, this version of Onslaught is everything that has made Combiner Wars fun. The fact that they can take an existing toy and tool it just enough to feel fresh and exciting is a great surprise and helps them get more mileage out of their production budget. His new head sculpt is great, and the retooled gun mounts (instead of the ladder) does exactly what it needs to do. Great update.
Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve always understood Swindle to be probably the most famous of the Combaticons, and one of the characters that has somewhat transcended his role as merely one part of the larger whole. That might be just because of my fascination with Transformers: Animated and the fact that he had such a distinct role there, but that’s the impression that I get.
Hasbro does a good job of taking the classic elements of Swindle and integrating them a bit more into an effective “combat” vehicle, using a healthy helping of Rook, but adding some very nice tweaks with some rollbars and more identifiable “Jeep” parts. The result is a bulky, armored combat jeep that manages to maintain all the hallmarks of the vintage original, yet plenty of more modern power while they’re at it.
One of the best parts of the figure is the new head sculpt, which is chock full of that Swindle arms dealer character. With his trademark purple “sunglasses” and grimace, the head and face definitely resemble the Swindle that we know and love. He’s got a very unique head that is translated quite nicely to plastic form here, and I love it.
With a nice mixture of orangish/brown, Hasbro takes some queues from the vintage version and both the vehicle and robot look the part. It certainly helps that Rook is one of my favorite base figures, too, and I’m really glad they’re leveraging him for both Swindle and Hound. It makes for a great base, and with just the right tooling tweaks, they look separate enough to work nicely.
Swindle is pretty great. I daresay he’s the highlight of this wave of Deluxes for me, easily pushing aside Brawl, who I just assumed would be my odds on favorite.
Combiner Wars Swindle
Character
Articulation
Vehicle
Robot Mode
Transformation
4.2
Summary
One of my favorite Combaticons, mostly due to his portrayal in the Transformers: Animated series, I was really looking forward to this version of Swindle, especially because it uses the excellent Rook template figure, and with creative retooling, turns him into more of a jeep than an armored transport. The removal of the top and integration of a new rollcage system does a great job changing up this figure (and looks awesome on the upcoming Hound as well) and the end result is a very nice update to the original (somewhat dated) army Jeep. The new head sculpt is a great look as well.
