Boss Fight Studio Zorro and Flash Gordon – The Hero HACKS we deserve
by generalsjoes | Feb 15, 2021 | Boss Fight Studio
These products are available for sale at BossFightShop.com!
The last year or so has simultaneously felt eternal and like one long blur of machine gun events that, in retrospect, seem to be the stuff of pulp novels. I should know, I write them for a living (among other things).
It seems only fitting, in times like this, pulled from the pages of some of those timeless serials, that two characters should come to life thanks to the toy design wizards at Boss Fight Studio. The small toy studio, which catapulted itself into existence thanks to one of the most successful action figure Kickstarters of all time stunned the pop culture world when they announced that they acquired the license to produce toys for several brands from King Features, including Zorro, Flash Gordon, Tarzan and The Phantom. Releasing them under a new "Hero HACKS" banner, the figures would be 1:18 scale and be fully compatible with their existing Vitruvian H.A.C.K.S. action figure line, which was already wow'ing collectors with their Greek Mythology and Fantasy based figures.
Built with articulation and customizability in mind (hence the "A" and the "C" of the H.A.C.K.S. moniker) these figures have been a hit throughout the collecting community and now, some famous licensed characters would be joining them.
There was much anticipation for these new additions, and in the past couple of months, we have seen the first three figures released – Zorro, Zorro w/ Tornado, and Flash Gordon (movie) with Lunchbox.
In short, these figures are just what we wanted and more.
I haven't necessarily been a massive fan of these characters throughout my comic and toy collecting fandom, but I can certainly appreciate the timeless nature of these infamous brands. One of the best things about the Vitruvian H.A.C.K.S. universe is that it's built around the concept of an unreliable time stream which crosses through era's and universes, giving collectors the opportunity to let their imaginations run wild.
That just happens to fit in perfectly with the acquisition of these brands– in my little H.A.C.K.S.verse, the corrupt timestream has dragged many of these warriors into its muddy waters and now Zorro and Flash Gordon have joined Leonidas, Stonefist, the Knights of the Accord and Q'al Varis in a desperate attempt to save the timestream from Medusa and her sinister sisters. It's a battle for the ages– quite literally.
It certainly helps that these figures are fantastic. The standard release Zorro and the Zorro that comes with Tornado are both built of the same cloth, but each with some unique twists. Single pack Zorro comes with a terrific secondary head, while the one with Tornado has a cloth cape — the easier to mount a horse with.
(Check out the differences and simlarities at VitruvianFACTS.com)
Articulation and poseability remain top notch, and the sculpting is simply perfect, bringing these characters to three dimensional life. The H.A.C.K.S. figure system is fully intact and functional, and I can just imagine how much potential there will be for future figures, not just from these two universes, but beyond.
Tornado should look familiar to anyone who backed the Mighty Steeds Kickstarter and is just another example of how smartly Boss Fight Studio is approaching their selection of tooling and licenses. The cross-purposes for so many parts and pieces helps them get some much needed mileage out of their expensive tooling, yet manages to bring exciting new things to the table with each iteration.
Flash Gordon is a relatively straight forward release, a football player in a t-shirt and pants, but he manages to greatly resemble the movie version of the character. So much so that the Queen theme song seems to play somewhere in the distance every time I play and pose this figure.
This movie version of the character comes with an awesome metallic lunchbox, something that is becoming a Boss Fight Studio staple (Bucky O'Hare's Deadeye Duck and Leonidas both graced lunchboxes in the past). The head sculpts are where this figure really shines, however, with three different iterations of the actor's likeness. Once again, I can see Flash Gordon leaping from the timestream, egg-shaped artifact in hand, ready to throw down with some Gorgons, awesomely hokey orchestra music playing in the background.
Add that to the fact that he's got alternate hands, including closed fists, and Flash Gordon is ready to throw haymakers.
And again– the customization options are fantastic, especially with Series Z right around the corner.
Each of these figures is now available at BossFightShop.com and honestly, they are among the best 1:18 scale figures for your money. Hero H.A.C.K.S. just blew the doors wide open, not just in this world, but in the collecting world in general. This is just the beginning, and as the saying goes — there are no limits!
GeneralsJoes reviews Boss Fight Studio Gazoge
by generalsjoes | Jun 9, 2020 | Boss Fight Studio
Man, there's just something awesome about reviewing a Vitruvian HACKS figure, and Gazoge is a truly awesome one to get back into after a short gap from covering these great toys.
Gazoge is a warlock aligned with the Knights of Asperity and is available exclusively from the Roma Collectibles eBay store this Saturday, June 13th at noon eastern!
Thanks to Roma Collectibles for providing a sample for review and you can check out the review right here, or check out the Vitruvian HACKS Review page.
GeneralsJoes Reviews Boss Fight Studio Bruiser
What can I say, I'm in a review groove! Doing all of those G.I. Joe: Classified reviews has gotten me revved up to do a few more.
Perfect timing, too, as the fantastic Bruiser figure from the Boss Fight Studio Bucky O'Hare line just hit my mailbox and was ready and waiting.
Check out the review right here, and it's also linked in my Bucky O'Hare Review Page.
GeneralsJoes Reviews Vitruvian HACKS Mighty Steeds Frankie
by generalsjoes | Mar 5, 2020 | Boss Fight Studio
How's that for a mouthful!
After a somewhat long hiatus from the review game, I'm more than happy to jump back into things with a review for Frankie The Unicorn, the first Mighty Steeds offering from Boss Fight Studio that I've gotten my grubby hands on.
As one might expect from the toy wizards at Boss Fight, it's pretty amazing.
Check out the review here, and you can find it on BossFightShop.com right now!
Boss Fight Studio Vitruvian HACKS – Mighty Steeds Frankie
by generalsjoes | Mar 5, 2020 | Boss Fight Studio, review-no-frontpage
Available now from BossfightShop.com.
I'm not sure who was looking forward to these more– me or my ten year old daughter.
Thankfully I convinced her to let me play— err… review this one even though it's been mostly living in her bedroom.
Along with their shipment of the Mighty Steeds Kickstarter figures, Boss Fight Studio also unveiled a surprise Steed – Frankie the Unicorn! I was thrilled to see this, because I realize the Boss Fight crew has several thousand items to gather together and ship from the Kickstarter and any opportunity to get my greedy hands on one of these Mighty Steeds is a good one in my book!
Many folks have been asking about Frankie and how he differs from Sara Francis, which was a Kickstarter exclusive.
Sara Francis and Frankie look very similar on the surface, but Frankie has silver hooves and horn (where Sara Francis has gold) and Frankie has a teal shine over his white coat where Sara Francis is more purple.
But forget all that — how is this Mighty Steed?
Pretty fun, all things considered. Granted I don't have any tack or any creature kits yet so I can't speak to some of the cool stuff I've been looking forward to like wings, armor, and saddles, and just focus mainly on the base horse itself. To put it simply, this thing is a marvel of engineering.
The sculpting of the horse is simply magnificant with the intricate muscles, veins and even visible underlying skeleture throughout the magestic looking creature. The articulation is subtle, yet exceptionally functional, providing a wealth of posing options that look great standing still or in motion, without the visible joints totally disrupting the flow of the horse's sculpt.
Even the spot where the lower torso connects to the neck (which is removable so the piece can be added to provide recepticles for wings, etc…) is sculpted almost flush to the rest of the body, providing very little disruption in the look or feel of the creature.
The mane and head all work really well, too, and in the unicorn's case, the layered horn looks really awesome in either gold or silver.
In Frankie's case, the paint work is truly exceptional. There's the immediately evident stuff like the vibrant rainbow mane and tail and more understated silver hooves and horn. But where this creature really shines is the subtle teal overspray which adds some excellent color to an otherwise plain white horse that truly gives the unicorn a more magical look and feel.
Frankie the Unicorn is a spectacular introduction to the Mighty Steeds line from Boss Fight Studio. I find myself even more excited and eager to get my hands on the rest, and I think once I get the tack and creature kits, my love for this new segment will only increase.
Frankie the Unicorn is now on sale on BossFightShop.com and the rest of the Mighty Steeds should be coming along soon. As usual Boss Fight has absolutely knocked this out of the park and I can't wait to get my hands on more.