It turns out the moderate lull in G.I. Joe news presents a great opportunity to focus on an obscure new toy line that I’m sure nobody reading this page has ever heard about…
I was fortunate enough to be able to get my hands on the second shipment of HACKS figures from my Kickstarter pledge… now seven days, nearly 800 images and 4 gigabytes worth of digital files later, the reviews can now begin!
My intention is to devote a day to each wave, then to the exclusives, then the accessory packs, blanks and skeletons. I’m still working on these, so time will tell how successful I am at meeting that schedule, but I’m giving it the old college try.
Today, over on the Vitruvian HACKS review page, I’ve posted the full line up of Wave 2 carded figures, including Stheno, Underworld Warrior, Athenian Warrior, and the Green Mamba.
I’ve been friends with the folks in Boss Fight for many years, but I am trying very hard to look at these things through an unfiltered eye. Hopefully I have some success. Check out the reviews below and I look forward to rolling through this fun week of HACKS greatness!
It certainly seems like Hades is a pretty big player in this little Gorgon war. Along with the Undead Warrior, the Tartarus Guard, and the purple skeleton, this Underworld Warrior can be added to list of Hades’ minions.
This particular figure comes with a pretty neat twist, however.
Reading the bio on the back of the package, you see that the Underworld Warrior isn’t just a soldier for Hades army, he’s actually the result of cursed Spartans being reanimated and crafted as defense against the Gorgon horde. Looking at the Cursed Spartan figure next to the Underworld Warrior, you can see many similarities, almost as if Hades walked up to that figure and used his magic to bring it to life. There are some accessory differences, but the essence is there.
The Underworld Warrior is a much darker stone deco than the Cursed Spartan, interwoven with some really nicely done magma kind of paint applications. The effect is very cool, looking almost as if the hapless stone Spartan is splitting under the raw power of Hades’ energy, being forced to life and into battle. The slightly different shades of red, orange and yellow create a really neat decorative effect that not only looks nice, but also creates a really great story.
Colors are pretty basic and not exceptionally varied here, but they look interesting and I really like how the bio card takes the Cursed Spartan into consideration, which leaves some room for interesting story telling behind the scenes.
Accessories
The Underworld Warrior is built much like the Cursed Spartan with the same armor, helmet, and sheath. He’s got two swords, the spear and a more standardized stone shield. That appears to be the main difference, where the Cursed Spartan has that stone Medusa themed shield, the Underworld Warrior’s looks more straight stone without that unique look.
On the surface, the concept of the Underworld Warrior is neat, and I enjoy how it builds upon the Cursed Spartan. I much prefer the Tartarus Guard and Undead Warrior, but at a certain point, complimenting those troops with mindless stone automatons is a really cool concept.
Underworld Warrior
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
3.8
Summary
Hades continues to unleash his minions against the Gorgon Horde, and I couldn’t be more excited. The Underworld Warrior takes a different track than some of the other Hades oriented folks we’ve seen so far, but I love the idea of him reanimating the stone-crusted corpses of men who have fallen before Medusa. It’s a really neat concept and the magma like deco looks pretty awesome. Some purple elements would have been cool to tie this guy in with some of the others, but I can see how that might not make much functional sense considering where these guys are coming from.
