The hits just keep on coming today! Registration has just been announced and now we have two brand spanking new figure reveals. Sky Patrol Sgt. “Airborne” Six comes at us alongside the long requested Cobra Flying Scorpion!
Flying Scorpion was initially a Brazilian release (Escorpaio Voador) using Cesspool’s head and other mixed parts, released alongside Black Vulture (Abutre Negro) who is also slated to come with this Con set.
The two reveals today look pretty spectacular. Loving the new head sculpt and urban camouflage on Airborne (and is that a Retaliation Firefly torso… great use!), and I love that Flying Scorpion comes with the Pursuit of Cobra jetpack. GREAT looking figures!
Registration has begun for the 2016 G.I. Joe Collectors’ convention June 16-19, being held in the beautiful city of Loveland, Colorado
Fort Worth, TX – Fun Publications, Inc., licensee for Hasbro’s official G.I. Joe Collectors’ Convention, G.I.JoeCon and the show’s sponsor, the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club, has begun registration for this year’s annual convention being held at the Embassy Suites Loveland Hotel June 16 through June 19 in Loveland Colorado, (just north of Denver). Fans once again will come together from around the world to celebrate another exciting year of all things G.I. Joe at this fantastic event!
Kicking off the weekend events will be the G.I. Joe Parachute drop! Three hundred G.I. Joe action figures will be launched on Friday, June 17th at 10:30 a.m. from inside the Embassy Suites, making for one spectacular visual as these fighting heroes come flying down in to the lobby! The annual parachute drop is always a big event, with kids and adults both enjoying the display!
For those who wish to attend, they can select from different attendee packages with the two most popular packages being the American Hero’s package and the General’s package. The American Hero’s package includes a 15 figure 3 ¾ inch “Real American Hero” box set featuring the SKY PATROL. The General’s package features a reimaging of The Adventures of Eight Ropes of Danger, which also includes a reproduction of the rare and hard to find 1969 release of the Adventures of G.I. Joe AQUANAUT!
Fans and collectors who register for G.I.JoeCon as either a Real American Hero or General package holder will receive an exclusive convention box set, admission to the Friday private sales room experience, priority seating at all panels and seminars throughout the weekend and admittance to the Saturday evening Casino Night and Awards Party. Finally, Real American Hero or General package attendees will also receive a special bonus G.I. Joe item to go along with their convention box set. General Admission for non-registered guests will be available on Saturday and Sunday only.
For more information on G.I. JoeCon, including general admission times, costs, activities and the exclusive figure offerings please visit GIJoeCon.com.
There were times I wasn’t sure this was going to come together this week. Every time I thought I was done with images, I came up with something else, which is a testament to just how feature packed and revolutionary these action figures are. Whether you’re a Greek Mythology fan, or a customizer, there is a LOT to love in almost every part of these spectacular figures.
I have posted reviews for all the character based toys now (the Blanks are coming soon). Check the links below for all the review action. I have posted a quick dio-story in the “Overview” section, so don’t skip it! 🙂
Disclaimer – I feel it only appropriate to mention that the folks behind Boss Fight Studios are close friends of mine, and I work alongside them assisting with web development and technical support.
All that being said, I will try as hard as I can to frame this review with an unbiased tilt, looking at Vitruvian HACKS as they stand, and not as creations of my good friends.
Disclaimer over.
Now, I’ve got a dramatic confession to make.
I really don’t care a whole lot for Greek Mythology.
Sure, there was that semester stretch in elementary school where we covered the Oddysey and it sounded pretty awesome, and then I watched Clash of the Titans, and that was pretty neat, too. Sure, I saw 300 and watched until I intimidated by Gerard Butler’s abs, and it was pretty entertaining as well.
But really, I don’t feel especially devoted to the overarcing theology that drives Greek myths. As the basis for many a comic book super hero I can really appreciate the characters and the superhuman beings sprinkled throughout, and the stories themselves are pretty deeply embedded into normal every day life. But if you’d asked me two years ago if I’d invest heavily in an action figure line surrounding Greek Mythology, I would have immediately said “no way.”
Well, I would have lied to you.
Because, you see, as much as I have no affinity for Greek Myths, I DO have an affinity for great toys, and I can say without qualm or hesitation that the first run of Vitruvian HACKS action figures are truly, unequivocably GREAT toys. They are the kinds of toys that transcend their source material and manage to appeal to those of us who aren’t quite as invested in the characters and theories surrounding them. Take a modern/futuristic military fan like me and get me to care about vintage armor, bladed weapons, and a surprisingly intricate storyline that ties things all together.
I think most folks reading this are probably G.I. Joe fans, and I think most of you folks would agree that G.I. Joe as a toyline reached a nadir recently in 2011 – 2012 with the Pursuit of Cobra/30th Anniversary/Renegades line where sculpting, articulation, and aesthetics just came together into one short burst of near perfection. Well, those same elements are in play here, and the results are pretty revolutionary.
The folks developing HACKS aren’t just developing great action figures, but they’re developing a whole new action figure system, allowing for great customization, and they’re engineering a whole new style of design, with the Gorgon snake tails and the way the humans pose and display.
For fans of 1:18 scale toys, no matter what style you prefer, there are things to like here. Not just like, but things to love.
Yes, it’s taken a while to get here. Boss Fight Studio is a new company and they have learned a LOT over the past couple of years, and I’m sure the learning process was painful for all concerned. But the first run of toys are here, and dare I say, they were worth the wait.
Check out more individual reviews of the product below:
Medusa’s most identifiable trait throughout all renditions of the character was, no doubt, the slithering snakes she had for hair. While Boss Fight Studio certainly included fantastic looking aspects of that, they decided to go a step further and put her into full on Gorgon “snake” mode, engineering, from scratch, a fully articulated snake’s tail using ball joints to try and mimic the pose and movement of a real snake.
Throughout the entire concept and design process, how this new engineering would work was probably my biggest question, especially since they used it on so many different characters.
Now, after seeing it born and evolved over the past couple of years, I’m ecstatic to say, it works GREAT. Like, really, really great. The sculpting and texture are amazing, Dave and Fred (the Boss Fight sculptors) put their usual 110% into the sculpting work of the scales and the contours of the under belly. What really puts me over the edge, though, is the material used. Over a solid plastic armature consisting of posts with ball and socket attachments, is a very soft, almost rubber snake skin, that allows for nice movement, but still bends and is contoured like you might expect an actual snake to be.
The weight and balance of the tail are both terrific, and it can twist and pose in many different ways, allowing the figure to be tightly coiled or slightly elevated, without risk of falling. It’s a terrific balance between aesthetics and functionality, and I’m ecstatic with how well the design team pulled it off.
Medusa’s torso and arms are the same as Coral and Black Racer Gorgons, tightly sculpted, but slender…however, even though they’re slender, they still remain very durable and highly articulated. I’m amazed at how thin the body is, yet how much movement it retains, as well as still feeling like it can take some punishment. In fact, I accidentally knocked Medusa off of a display shelf from about five feet up onto my concrete floor, and she remained fully intact afterwards.
Looking at paint applications, Medusa is fantastic, with a great shade of greek skin and a really nicely developed pattern on her snake body. The overall combinations of different shades of green really looks spectacular together. The head sculpt as well, is immaculately done with all of her separate snakes sprouting from her head and her hissing, angry mouth. Intricate paint details abound here as well, making her look nasty and about as realistic as a green, snake-haired reptile woman can look.
But her nastiness doesn’t stop with attacking humans. She comes with what look to be a dagger and whip made out of reptilian backbones, very nicely designed. They are a rubbery material, but don’t seem to be at all warped.
Her armor is different from the other two Gorgon releases, with a great shoulder pad and brushed metal armor on her right arm, a really nice looking breastplate (removable if you take her apart at the mid-section joint) and nice armor at her hips as well. This does a great job differentiating her from the more standard Gorgon “infantry” and gives her a sense of leadership. It would be pretty awesome so stockpile some other Gorgons and perhaps outfit some with this various of armor to make “Black Racer Leaders” or what have you.
No doubt I’ve been excited to finally get my hands on the Vitruvian HACKS figures, and I dare say that my expectations have actually been not just met, but beaten. The material of the snake tail is fantastic, and even though I know these designers well, I had my own doubts about how well they’d pull off the snake body. Well, they pulled it off in spades. The figure looks beautiful, and even better, is exceptionally playable, meaning you can pose it around and just have fun with it. In a time when retail offerings seem to just be continuously offering collectors more of the same, it’s a brisk breath of fresh air to get my hands on something like this, which is offering a completely new outlook on 1:18 scale action figures, and is a line I can see a long and rewarding future from.
Medusa
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4.5
Summary
The queen of the Gorgons is certainly representative of her namesake, with her vicious, green, reptilian tail, horrific, stone-turning face, and the countless slithering snakes emerging from her scalp. She is the most sinister representation of Medusa that I’ve ever seen in plastic form and perfect in execution. Her highly articulated snake tail balances and poses well, is full of detail, and from head to toe…. errr… head to tail, she is one of the most fun action figures I’ve displayed in a very long time.
