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Vitruvian HACKS Week continues on YouTube!

Even though the written reviews have wrapped, there’s still more Vitruvian HACKS goodness over on the GeneralsJoes YouTube Channel!  I’ve just posted video reviews for the NJCC Exclusive Ultimate Spartan and Kokomo Toys/All the Cool Stuff Amazon (Elite Warrior)!

More HACKS video reviews soon to come, but until then, check out these two additions embedded below.  As always, please let me know if there are things I could do to make this better.

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GeneralsJoes Wraps up the HACKS Reviews – Blanks, Accessories and Skeletons!

Okay, I approached these reviews a little differently.  I wasn’t going to break down every individual blank or every individual skeleton or every individual accessory pack.  That felt like overkill.

So instead, I’ve framed these reviews at a more high level, looking at these three elements conceptually, with how well I think they were executed overall.  There are no real review scores for the blanks or accessories, and while I did use one for the skeletons, I’m not sure it really works.

None of these are individual characters, nor are they really designed to come with accessories, and the paint applications are purposefully simplified, so it didn’t feel appropriate to judge the success of these items on those prerequisites.  That being said, I still took a ton of pictures and gave my opinions on the themes as a whole.  They’re all posted on the Vitruvian HACKS Review Page or you can check them out individually below.

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What’s on Joe Mind is getting caught up with Episode 103!

G.I. Joe fans have been asking, and we’ve been hearing…it’s been a while since the What’s on Joe Mind Podcast was updating regularly, but us and our esteemed editor are working hard to get back on track!

Episode 103 has just been posted to our What’s on Joe Mind Podbean page, and while it’s still lagging a few months, we are making our way back to cover all of the latest G.I. Joe news and toy hobby discussions.  Check out Episode 103 on Podbean, or the embedded player below.

It’s the Christmas in…May edition! Yes, yes, this is another one of those episodes we recorded months ago and are just now getting around to finish editing and posting it.  In this episode, we have a hearty discussion about the Joes from 2003.  In the news we spend a lot of time talking with Justin about working with Hasbro for the Fan’s Choice Kindle World’s Character voting process.  Justin also asks Joe about her pie.  Yes, it is the truth.  It’s a little more than 90 minutes of fun, so have fun listening!

Print

IDW G.I. Joe Solicitations for August, 2016

Things look to be getting somewhat quiet on the IDW G.I. Joe comic front as we move towards the end of summer.  IDW Publishing has released their solicitations list for August, 2016 and there is essentially just a single new entry on it (with the other being the final TPB collection of Transformers vs. G.I. Joe)   Check them out below.

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Transformers vs G.I. Joe, Vol. 3

Tom Scioli & John Barber (w) • Tom Scioli (a & c)

The biggest space battle ever grows to universal proportions! Will the G.I. JOE team and the AUTOBOTS make peace—before COBRA and the DECEPTICONS end the war… the bad way?! Collects issues #10–13.

TPB • FC • $19.99 • 120 pages • 7” x 11” • ISBN: 978-1-63140-693-5

Bullet points:

  • The series you never thought would happen comes to its thunderous conclusion!

Offered Again!

Transformers vs G.I. JOE, Vol. 1 • FC • $19.99 • ISBN: 978-1-63140-190-9

Transformers vs G.I. JOE, Vol. 2 • FC • $19.99 • ISBN: 978-1-63140-270-8

GIJoeRAH231-cover

G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero #231: Snake In The Grass, Part 2

Larry Hama (w) • S L Gallant (a & c)

Duke reckons with the most difficult choice of his life… while COBRA scrambles to contain the dangerous new agent in their midst!

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero #231: Snake In The Grass, Part 2—Subscription Variant

Larry Hama (w) • S L Gallant (a) • John Royle (c)

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:

  • Betrayal might bring the end to G.I. JOE and COBRA!

Boss Fight Studio Vitruvian HACKS Skeletons

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Pre-Order this now on BossFightShop!

And, so, here we are.  The infamous Boss Fight Studio Skeletons.

Aside from Medusa, the Skeletons felt like one of the main focuses of the Kickstarter, a fully functional, fully articulated, fully in 1:18 scale Skeleton figure that looked as if it crawled from the corpse of a 4” figure, yet still managed to pose like one.

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Honestly, many folks had their doubts that it could be done.  Even with the decades of toy design experience Boss Fight has, they were attempting something that not even global toy brand powerhouses have been able to pull off.

Would it work?

Does it work?

Oh hell yeah it does.

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Every time I’m sure I’m prepared to extol the virtues of these great action figures, I remember something else.  First it was the fact that even just the human skull itself makes for an awesome prop (and actually has a movable jaw!).  Second it was remembering that the Skeletons themselves could also be disassembled like the blanks and reassembled in different ways.  Third it was the realization that the Skeletons were skinny enough to look realistic, but just bulky enough for armor to fit in key places.  Fourth it was DOUBLE JOINTED KNEES ON A FRIGGEN SKELETON.  Then I started to lose count.  From the different colors to the amazing sculpting on the bones, these figures are really amazing to look at.

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Now, the pieces are thin.  Like pretty thin.  But throughout my review, I wasn’t exactly gentle, and considering I had almost 20 of the things sitting in front of me, I certainly posed them, removed parts, and swapped things around quite a bit, and I’m happy to say, all of my Skeletons remain completely in one piece.

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Incredibly, even as skinny as they are, they retain ball joints in the shoulders and hips, very poseable elbow joints, moveable wrists, ball joint neck, base of the spine, double-jointed knees, and at the ankles.  These things can move like freaking crazy.  They are light as a feather, yet seem to hold up to reasonable punishment.

Now obviously you need to be reasonable.  The plastic is thinner than the normal standard figures, and the joints are a bit smaller as well, so take the proper care and attention, and don’t be afraid to use a hair dryer when swapping limbs around.

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Obviously if you’re going to be swapping hands around and removing limbs, take some care and apply some heat!  That will ensure that the material has enough “flex” to allow for things to be removed and replaced without fear of breakage.

The Skeletons come in white, black, yellow and translucent purple, with a surprise bonus hot pink one as a free gift to supporters who had to wait a little while for the product to be done.  Each color is gorgeously chosen, and if you want to go “full bone” a light dark wash will truly bring out some amazing detail on the white and yellow versions.

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Personally, I find myself in love with the purple ones.  Ever since the release of the Eternal Struggle 2-Pack I’ve become infatuated with Hades and his crew, and these purple skeletons are the perfect compliment to the Undead Warrior from that 2 Pack.  Toss in some Tartarus Guards (and pink Skeletons to go with them) and you’re quickly amassing an awesome pink/purple army for the God of the Underworld to set loose upon the world.

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I will say one of my purple Skeletons did come through pretty bow-legged, I’m thinking mostly due to the material of the plastic that’s used to make transparent figures.  I applied some heat and reshaped the legs somewhat, and it seems to be a lot better.

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Each Skeleton comes with a footpeg and a series of clear plastic devices that seem a little strange if you don’t know what you’re looking for.  The two curved pieces have holes on the bottom and plug into the battle stand so that the Skeleton can use the stand more effectively.  Obviously his bony little foot is too narrow to get a peg hole in there, so these clasps make for an excellent work around.

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Along with those two items are four different “spacers”.  These spacers can hook into various places on the Skeleton’s narrow frame to allow for larger armor pieces to fit snugly without moving around.  Most of the female armor slides right on with no issues, but if you want larger male armor (especially leg armor) to work, you need to clip on a spacer to fill in some of the gaps.

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Boss Fight truly thought of everything.  These skeletons are a hell of a lot of fun, and add yet another intriguing dimension to a toyline which is already completely full of intriguing dimensions.  There are so many things to love about Vitruvian HACKS and it seems like as I push through these reviews I continue to be amazed and surprised by what I find.

A final note about this review…  I’m not sure I’m giving this figure appropriate credit and he doesn’t really jive with my format for reviews.  He ended up with 4 Stars, but when you look at what had to be overcome with the overall structure and durability of a human skeleton, what Boss Fight did with this figure is completely and truly remarkable, and deserves far more credit than my review score can accurately depict.

These figures are a ton of fun.

Vitruvian HACKS Skeleton
  • Character
  • Sculpt
  • Articulation
  • Paint Deco
  • Accessories
4

Summary

If I wasn’t holding it in my hand I wouldn’t have believed it, but I can vouch for the fact that these skeletons manage to be functional, aesthetically pleasing, fun, well articulated, and customizable! It’s a trifecta of coolness from the Boss Fight Studios Vitruvian HACKS line. It’s tough to portray how much I love these with my review scores, since I do focus on character and accessories, but trust me when I say these things are SWEET.