For the past ten months (give or take), collectors and fanboys have been enjoying their Vitruvian HACKS figures, recreating ancient Sparta’s battle against the nefarious Gorgon Horde. Well, Boss Fight Studio is poised to take this timeless battle to the next level with their debut of the Knight of Accord, one of their first official reveals for their upcoming fantasy action figure line!
Yes, we did see some test shot reveals at GraniteCon last year, but this figure looks to be much more polished and in a finished state and WOW. Spectacular.
Expected to launch in the fall of 2017, this Series 02 of the already super popular Vitruvian HACKS line is going to another level. The detail in the sculpting, the expertly crafted paint applications…this is one fantastic looking early sample, and if we’ve learned anything from previous reveals, unlike the mass market toylines, in many cases the final version is a pretty close match to what we see up front.
It looks incredible. Definitely keep watching Boss Fight Studio on Facebook and support their work on the fantasy series by hitting up BossFightShop.com and snagging some Series 01 gear! Heck, pre-orders are rolling for Wave 6 as well. Lots of good stuff happening, and that means GREAT stuff for collectors.
Yes, the review sections have been neglected in the past months, but I hope to play some catch up this week.
Starting it off is a look at the Virtuvian HACKS Crystal Clear Blanks, the new transparent blanks that were released a short while ago and have proven to be an excellent addition to the Blank library.
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!
Hot on the heels of some exciting reveals at GraniteCon, Boss Fight Studio has posted their fifth wave of Greek Mythology figures up for sale on BossFightShop.com!
To celebrate this exciting announcement, I’ve posted full reviews of each individual Wave 5 figure in the Vitruvian HACKS Review Section. Lots of stuff to love with these four latest figures, but don’t listen to me, check out the images for yourself.
If you like what you see, skip on over to BossFightShop.com and snag ’em up!
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.
