Boss Fight Studio Vitruvian HACKS Cursed Spartan

by generalsjoes | Mar 3, 2016 | Boss Fight Studio, Other Toys, review-no-frontpage

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.

Pre-Orders available at BossFightShop.com!

Boss Fight Studio Vitruvian HACKS Talos (Bronze Warrior)

by generalsjoes | Mar 3, 2016 | Boss Fight Studio, Other Toys, review-no-frontpage

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?

Pre-Orders available at BossFightShop.com!