I may not know what all of the different classes of characters in Dungeons and Dragons mean, but when I hear about a new guy coming out who is a “Dragon Priest”? Yeah, I think I’m interested! And Lord Vehemous did NOT let me down. This is one of (if not the) best figure I’ve seen in the Vitruvian HACKS line to date, which when you look at all of the others, is really saying something.
Now, as others have mentioned, he does re-use the Spartan Warrior head sculpt, but honestly, with the gray hair and the scar on the left eye, it’s hardly noticeable. It’s a head sculpt with a ton of character and suits this guy perfectly. His upper torso is brand new, a similar style of armor to what the Knights of Accord have, but with a raised collar, and some different patterning in the armored plate. The coolest thing, though, is you can tell this guy has been through the ringer. The armor is dented and dinged and has been abused over the years, either in battles against other humans, or perhaps against battles with the dragons themselves.
He uses the Knight’s arms and lower body, though the lower body is covered with a great new skirt sort of thing that is exceptionally well designed. It’s sculpted and swept in just a way to not hinder much articulation and really adds some great flair and style to the overall figure. Even the parts that are existing are given a fantastic worn paint scheme that make them look completely different from the more solid, brushed metal look of the standard Knights of Accord.
The way the parts are used and the paint applications are, this looks like an old, beat up warrior, which is a fantastic representation of Lord Vehemous, and matches the excellent character bio perfectly.
Rather than the typical shoulder pads we’ve seen on other figures, Vehemous comes with a fur shoulder of sorts (the same one that looks to come with the upcoming Naga) but he comes with two of them, and they fit on his shoulders to give him an arctic appearance, especially when combined with the Orc fur cape. It’s almost like they were all designed together (and perhaps they were). The combination of fur collar and cape are one small element in this perfectly designed figure, and I hope we have more opportunities to get them down the line. Somehow, I foresee myself ending up with a few more Vehemous figures (his biography mentions that he has followers, after all), and the extra skull head that comes with the figure supports the idea that perhaps his followers are more paranormal in nature. Either that, or perhaps, just like the Knights of Asperity, some of Vehemous’ legion end up too close to the Blasted Land and come back… changed?
Regardless, I can see myself getting more of this figure and swapping out some shoulder pads and heads to add some nice variety to a whole group of Dragon Priests or Dragon Knights. Good stuff.
Accessories
Vehemous is loaded with new accessories. Along with the fur collars and skirting, he’s got the familiar Orc hammer handle, but with a chain link and mace, putting together a spectacular ball and chain. He has the Felonious’s Mage staff in white which can also fit the barbarian mace head to make a brutal cudgel of sorts. He has the sword from the Knight of Asperity and the knife from Felonious with a new knife sheath that fits at his hip (or can be swapped out with the closed magic book he comes with as well). His excellent Dragon Knight Helmet has seen release previously with the Evil Skeleton, the Mystery Box and Locker Toys’ Hidden Character, but that makes it no less cool here, and it adds a real sense of menace and evil.
This is a terrific figure, an awesome antagonist, and pretty close to my favorite Vitruvian HACKS figure of all time. There are a LOT of fantastic figures in the HACKS line, to be sure, and one that rises above the rest is one that you should pay close attention to. This guy is it.
Lord Vehemous
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
5
Summary
Lord Vehemous is everything I want in an action figure. Fantastic sculpting from the worn armor on his torso, to the sweep of his coat and the fur lined shoulder pads leading perfectly down to the Orc fur cape. Using a healthy helping of Knight parts, yet painting them in a way to look worn and almost completely different, this figure manages to stand out from a crowd of already spectacular figures. Wonderful accessories, including an actual metal chain to create the mace, a gray-bearded face only a mother could love (no I don’t mind that they reused the Spartan Warrior head, it looks terrific). I love the Dragon Helmet…everything about this figure is about as perfect as it gets. Buy this one. Buy this one and buy a dozen more to use as Dragon minions. You will NOT regret it.
I’m far from an expert on Dungeons and Dragons, it’s one of the few geeky properties that I just never latched onto, but I’m certainly familiar with the nature of Orcs and mages and knights, etc.. Plus I just like awesome action figures and obviously these fit that mold as well.
The female Orc Conqueror had at one point been called the Warband Leader (if I remember correctly) but upon release she is simply the Orc Conqueror (like the first figure) but in the female gender. Ever since the release of the first series, with figures like Precurse Medusa and Eurayle I’ve really enjoyed the functionality of the female buck in the HACKS figure line. The narrower limbs retaining the same solidity and fluidity of movement is very impressive, and the rocker ankles work remarkably well. Unfortunately the peg holes on the feet continue to be an issue even with these new feet and it was a challenge getting my Orc Conquerors to stand on their stands.
As with any of the HACKS figures out there, these Orc Conquerors are sculpted and designed immaculately well. Great construction, near flawless articulation, and some excellent color choices combine to create yet another new addition to your Series 02 Vitruvian HACKS family and one that’s very much worth checking out.
Interestingly, they did make this version of the Orc a slightly different green skin color than her male counterpart, but she still blends with the rest of the clan really well. Like many of the figures being released these days, this female Orc comes with two terrific heads, one with a sculpted-on skull helmet/facemask and another without one. Both are fantastic sculpts full of character.
If I have any real complaints about the look of the figure, it’s that compared to the male version, the female version almost looks a little too polished. The male Orc has a much more “rugged” wilderness look, like it’s got battered, worn armor and the hide of fur covered animals as its clothes. Meanwhile, the female Orc has glossy, polished armor and a very decorative belt that makes it stand out somewhat with its broken down counterparts.
That being said, the figure still looks really great.
Accessories
The female Orc Conqueror comes with two heads, an Orc shield, an Orc knife & club, a belt with two armored hip covers as well as the Medusa armor with a set of gauntlets for the other arm. I love the accessories here, though as I mentioned in the review, she does end up looking a little more advanced and regal compared to her male counterparts, but she’s written that way as well in the figure bio. The accessories are really good overall and add some nice spirit to the figure.
Another great figure from Boss Fight Studio. She uses mostly existing armor but manages to add so many new, interesting twists to them that the figure ends up looking and feeling very new. It helps that the new legs and heads are fantastic as well.
Really great end result.
Female Orc Conqueror
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4.1
Summary
Another inspired female figure from the Vitruvian HACKS figure line from Boss Fight Studio. Great sculpting, excellent paint deco and some pretty fun accessories combine to provide collectors a nice addition to their growing Orc armies. While the armor makes this figure look a bit more ceremonial than her male counterpart, the figure is still a heck of a lot of fun and looks great with her fellow clan.
Here’s where I start to reveal just how clueless I am about Dungeons and Dragons.
I believe Narissa, who is being billed as the leader of the “Withered Branch” is what is known as a “dark Elf” or maybe even a “Drow”. I had a brief fling with D & D in college and I seem to remember digging the Drow’s as a somewhat evil race of Elves. They’re described as elves with dark skin and white hair, and that certainly seems to apply here.
What also applies is Narissa’s flirtation with evil, which is evident in her bio. The figure itself is a pretty nice one, though I’ll be the first to admit that the Stheno torso armor isn’t my favorite accessory that Boss Fight has managed to put together for their HACKS line. The colors used and the method its used for with Narissa works pretty well, giving them a more armored look than their leaf-covered counterparts, yet the armor still looks somewhat natural and organic thanks to the shapes used for Stheno back in Series One.
Like the female Orc Conqueror, Narissa has the decorative armored belt (though without the thigh armor covers) which adds a bit more flair to the figure as well. The base figure itself is essentially the same as the female Orc, with the new legs and is just as well articulated (yet also suffers from the unfortunate peg hole issues).
Like the Orc, Narissa comes with two heads, which is great because you can buy a few and swap heads around to give her a small army of dark elves to boss around. The head sculpts are both very well done, I love the sculpting of the hair and the different colors used. The white hair is cool, but I really love the shade of blue used for the other.
Accessories
Narissa comes with the two separate heads, the crossbow, bolts, quiver, two elven knives the Stheno armor, Gorgon gauntlets, and the ceremonial belt. I suspect her accessories would have packed a bit more of a punch if they hadn’t come with Cerisier first, but I still really dig the crossbow and bolts. I’ll never get tired of those cool knives either.
The leader of the Withered Branch comes lightly equipped with some smaller and easier to carry accessories so she can leap from tree to tree and do her bad ass drow stuff. I like the accessories for the most part, though as I said, I’m not a huge fan of the Stheno armor. That being said, the figure is nice. Probably not my top favorite figure or anything, but a decent one with a potential for adding a nice army of dark elves to the HACKS roster.
Narissa
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
3.9
Summary
Though I love the idea of the dark elves, Narissa isn’t my favorite figure to hit the HACKS display so far. She’s got the same great articulation and paint applications that we’ve become used to, though I’m not a huge fan of the Stheno armor, and she doesn’t bring a whole lot of new stuff to the table. I love the idea of the Withered Branch, and I look forward to possibly seeing more additions to it, but for whatever reason, Narissa doesn’t knock my socks off.
I still remember when I first got my hands on one of the early samples for the Felonious figure, and how completely blown away I was at the level of detail and articulation crammed into a four inch action figure, including functional soft goods. Here we are, several months later and guess what – still blown away.
The entire package here is spectacular. The head sculpt is fantastic, imbued with a great sense of character (and impressive mane). From the waist up, the base figure is just the normal male blank, with the same legs as the Knight and Orc. However, they add an additional secondary on the lower legs to make the figure stand out even more, and it works exceptionally well.
Now, generally I split out talking about the figure and the accessories, but that’s nearly impossible in this case, as the figure and accessories are so intertwined they really reflect flawlessly on each other. The greatest distinction with this figure is the use of soft goods as a magic robe, somehow using thin enough fabric to look in scale, yet durable enough to move with the motion of the figure itself. In all honesty, the soft good cloak makes the entire figure, creating a fantastic aesthetic while still being functional.
Along with the cloak there’s a nicely designed belt to hold it in place and had some places to hold various accessories that he comes with as well. He’s intricately poseable, comes with some terrific “magic casting” hands (which also hold many of his accessories in some pretty interesting ways) and looks just spectacular as is. He also offers an amazing level of customization (as so many of these figures do).
His color scheme is great, too, going with various shades of green for the cloak and tan pants, looking muted, yet still very colorful, especially against the backdrop of some other more darkly colored figures.
Felonious is probably one of the most fun, most detailed, and most thoughtfully accessorized 1:18 action figures that I’ve had the pleasure to own.
Accessories
How can I even talk about all of these awesome accessories? It’s almost impossible. I’ve already mentioned the fantastic cloak/robe and belt, but Felonious also comes with a great hood and collar which add a layer of detail to an already crammed full figure. He comes with two magic potions (which fit in a hook on the belt, and in either kind of hand), a magic book (opened and closed, which can plug into a hole on his belt), and a knife. He also comes with a gorgeous dragon-themed magic staff, a fireball, and a little pet mouse. Felonious is packed with great gear and I absolutely love it.
That’s not even getting into intricate detail about his two sets of hands, which allow for great magic casting poses as well as holding the book, holding fire, or holding a potion. Plus, if you’ve got extra Jenny magic spell accessories from the Bucky line, he can use those, too. Felonious has got it all.
I can’t think of a single way to improve this figure, really. Great articulation, flawless color pallet, and the best compliment of accessories I have ever seen. Pure beauty in plastic action figure form.
Felonious
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
5
Summary
Pure perfection in an action figure. It isn’t often that I can look at a toy, even the ones made by Boss Fight, and find not a single thing that I would have done differently. Felonious quite simply does it all. From the sculpt of his head, to his magic casting hands, to his soft goods robe, to the huge assortment of terrific and varied accessories, this mage is truly spectacular and an immediate highlight of my action figure collection. GET THIS ONE.
I’ve already gone on and on about how fantastic the Vitruvian HACKS Knight of Accord is, and honestly the base figure is the same here so this figure has all of the same awesome qualities. It’s like a perfect blend of the Orc Conqueror and the Knight of Accord with just the right twist of Skeleton. How can you ask for more?
As I mentioned, the base figure is the same as the Knight of Accord, with the layered armor torso and arms, and the cloth legs, only this figure is more muted in straight black and darker wash, making for a more “evil” appearance. The colors overall are nicely different from the Knight, making him a darker, more malevolent version of the first release, which makes sense given their back story as Knights who were somehow corrupted by the Blasted Lands.
He comes with two heads, one of the same heads from the Knight of Accord, and a newly sculpted and tooled skeleton head. This is not the same skeleton head that comes on the standard skeleton figures, but a whole new head that looks really fantastic. It’s crammed with so much detail and such awesome paint work and adds a wealth of character to an already amazing looking figure.
As mentioned above, while the base is the same as the hero Knight figure, this version comes with the Orc’s spiked shoulder pads and dragon themed helmet, again giving him a more evil aesthetic. His colors are overall more muted, but still look really nice, and he’s got an arsenal of particularly nasty looking weapons.
Accessories
Many of the accessories the Knight of Asperity comes with are the same as the Knight of Accord. He’s got the belt, the cloth, the thigh armor, shin armor and gauntlets. The shield is the same, and even one helmet and faceplate are the same as well. The Knight of Asperity has a different axe with a much more dragon theme (that looks incredible, like an awesome, evil dragon spreading its wings) and the sword and sheath are slightly different as well. The Knight of Asperity also has the Orc Conqueror helmet and shoulder pads as mentioned, just to give him an even nastier twist. All of the combined new accessories add some great flavor to the same base figure, and ramp up the nastiness required.
The Knight of Asperity really is another terrific figure from the Vitruvian HACKS line. The greatness of the Knight of Accord blended with the sinister rage of the Orc Conqueror gives you this perfect combination. Great for building your army of darkness.
Knights of Asperity
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
5
Summary
True brutality. The nearly flawless base figure from the Knights of Accord combined with some of the simmering rage of the Orc Conqueror and you have one awesome looking evil knight corrupted by sinister magic. This figure is spectacular. Impressive articulation as we’re accustomed to, a great, muted paint scheme, and an amazing arsenal of new and existing accessories give us one gorgeous new figure for the Vitruvian HACKS line and the perfect foil for the Accord.
NOTE: Boss Fight Studio has informed folks that the connecting joints for the replaceable faces and hands are a bit tighter than anticipated. You will want to apply some heat to ensure safe removal. Either a quick burst with a hair dryer or some warm water will do the trick.
Okay – I admit it. Before Boss Fight Studio got the license, I knew next to nothing about Bucky O’Hare. I mean, I worked retail in a toy store in the 90s and I was a huge fan of Larry Hama, so I was aware of the brand’s existence, but I hadn’t watched any of the animated series or read any of the comics, even though Neal Adams and Michael Golden, two legendary comic creators to go along with Mr. Hama, were involved.
That being said, if I know anything about action figures it’s that Boss Fight Studio are some of the best in the business, so I was pretty sure that regardless of my lack of knowledge about Bucky O’Hare, I’d likely be jumping into that series.
Now, as I have the two introductory figures in hand, I’m really glad I did.
First Mate Jenny has the same dubious distinction that many female characters did over the years – a popular media character that never got her due in action figure form. She was planned for a second series of Bucky action figures, but even though that series made it fairly far along in production, she was never actually released. For that reason, this figure is an important one in Bucky mythology, being the first time Jenny is available as a toy.
They certainly start off on the right foot.
As with most of the figures that Boss Fight Studio touches, the sculpt work and articulation is fantastic. They manage to maintain a great animated style, while also having impressive range of motion and articulation throughout. Ball jointed hips and shoulders, knees, elbows, ankles and swivel wrists give us a wide range of different poses that Jenny can achieve, and I continue to be amazed at the variety of Boss Fight’s talents. The fact that they can make a hyper-realistic action figure like the HACKS stuff, then turn around and do something like this, in the same super-articulated style just blows my mind. Jenny does have some very narrow limbs and joints, which should obviously be treated with care, but she also feels pretty resilient in spite of that fact.
Then we get to the paint applications. The color choices are near perfection here, with a great brushed metal silver and black, a vibrant color pallet that balances with excellence. The purple jewels stand out nicely as well and blend perfectly with her various magic effect accessories.
Before Boss Fight’s announcement, I couldn’t have told you much about Bucky O’Hare and certainly had only tangentially heard off Jenny as a character, but I find this figure to be a lot of fun, and even with her exorbitant animation-accurate hair style, she’s able to maintain a bunch of really cool poses.
Boss Fight really went smart with Jenny’s design, purposefully representing her tail and hair so she could look animation accurate, yet still have a counter-balance for offering impressive poseability and stability.
Accessories
NOTE: Boss Fight Studio has informed folks that the connecting joints for the replaceable faces and hands are a bit tighter than anticipated. You will want to apply some heat to ensure safe removal. Either a quick burst with a hair dryer or some warm water will do the trick.
I kind of struggled where to fit some of this stuff in, because while they are technically accessories, they become a very key part of the action figure itself. As a female cat from the planet Aldebaran, Jenny has mysterious magical abilities, so Boss Fight Studio included magic blasts, additional hands firing magic blasts, plus several other replacement hands and face expressions in order to mimic whatever mood Jenny might be in. The replacement face expressions are especially awesome, allowing the collector to give Jenny any manner of faces to mirror what she may have looked like in the animation or comic panel of your choice. They fit and stay really firmly and look excellent. The hands are swappable, yet also stay firm, and the magic effects lock nicely around the wrist. I especially love the way the magic shooting hands and wrist-mounted magic effects combine to give us a really spectacular version of the first mate of the Righteous Indignation.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the fantastic package art as well. Brian Hickey assisted in the design of the packaging and did an exceptional job leveraging color, artwork, and a great vintage aesthetic. The package is also collector friendly with a removable bubble just like the HACKS package. Gorgeous stuff.
Coming from someone who really had little attachment to Bucky O’Hare, I find myself being really excited and into this new iteration. The figure design is excellent and the execution is close to perfect. A really awesome new generation of a classic property with all the hallmarks of your favorite toys from Boss Fight Studio.
First Mate Jenny
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4.1
Summary
Better late than never, and while Bucky O’Hare fans had to wait until 2017 before they could get their hands on an action figure for Jenny, I’d say the wait was very worthwhile. Great animated style sculpting, excellent articulation and a terrific paint scheme all come together to create a really great looking figure. Add to that the clever use of accessories and the stunning packaging and you have a great new series from Boss Fight Studio!
