Regular readers will remember that in 2006, The Four Horsemen did a very cool exclusive based on fan input. This was the first FANtastic Exclusive, developed in conjunction with fan input right from the start. I reviewed the Champion of Mynothecea last summer, and so it’s only fitting that I cover one of the 2007 FANtastic Exclusives as well.
Yep, they did it again for the 2007 SDCC, but unlike last year in which they did one figure with a number of paint variations, this year they went all out, producing 9 different figures. Of these nine, several are entirely new head sculpts!
The main character was Ramathorr, the Elephant Swordsman. He was available at SDCC, or through the Store Horsemen where he’s available for $25. The next announced figure was the Hammer of Gholl, another elephant but with a slightly different head sculpt. He’s a Diamond Comics exclusive, so you may be able to pick him up at your LCS. Next up was the Mace of Broggah, another elephant guardsman with a different paint job and some new armor. He’s available through October Toys and is limited to just 300. But wait, there’s more! Then the Club of Thraugnn was announced, a red version of the Mace of Broggah elephant. He was sold through Fwooshnet.com. Ah, but then things took a turn with the Shield of Draumm! The warriors stopped being elephants, and switched to new creatures. The Shield (as his friends like to call him) is a hippo! It’s the same basic body, with a new head sculpt. He was sold through Raving Toy Maniacs.
*whew*. Next came the figure I’m reviewing today, The Gauntlet of Vaskkh. This guy is a rhino, so there’s a whole new head sculpt again. He was sold through Action Figure Express. The Helm of Xaanm continues this style, but he’s a warthog this time. Big Bad Toy Store was the exclusive retailer on him. But with all these good guy warriors, where’s the bad guys?
That’s where the 7th and 8th variant figures come in. They are Ggruxx (carried by Toy Rocket) and Ssejjhhorr (carried by Figures.com), twin bad guys with a different paint job. But what are they? Mutants, and not very attractive ones at that. But they look great as villains!
So that’s the full line up of nine figures. They are all limited editions of course, in that 250 – 300 range depending on the character. They all run around $25 – $30 each, depending on the retailer. Tonight’s review covers the rhino, Vaskkh, who was $30 from AFX.
FANtastic Exclusive 2 – The Gauntlet of Vaskhh
While all the elephants are cool, I have to admit that the combination of the elephant with the rhino, warthog, and hippo makes this series special. Stick these guys with your cow from last year, and you have one very cool if anthropomorphic display of bad ass warriors!
Packaging – ***
The packages are quite large, but so are the figures. The only problem with such a large bubble and such a heavy figure is that it can cause separation from the cardback. If you’re a MOCer and going to store these, it might be tricky.
Sculpt – ****
Outstanding! But then, we have come to expect no less from the Four Horsemen. The detail work is excellent, especially on the rough skin texture and uber-cool armor. These figures are some of the best looking produced this year, and are certainly the best exclusives at this year’s SDCC.
This guy is big, standing at 9 inches tall at the ear tips. The hands are sculpted to hold the weapons, and they work nicely. While the hoof feet aren’t huge, they are large enought give him a good, solid base for deeper poses.
Most folks will spend their time oooing and ahhhing over the quality of the sculpt, but the quality of the engineering should not be overlooked. They managed to develop a beautiful base figure that allowed them to produce not one or two but eight very cool variants. Even when swapping the heads to entirely new animals, the base body still looks terrific. That was a tall order to cook up, but they managed to do it and do it within a pretty tight budget I bet.
Paint – ***1/2
The paint work is also strong, although I do wish there was a bit more highlighting and wash to bring out a bit more of the cool skin texture.
The quality is very high in general though, with little to no slop or poorly cut lines. There’s a terrific palette of colors here too, with some nice golds and blues to offset the basic gray skin. With a licensed property, the toy manufacturer is usually stuck with whatever color scheme the original character uses. Here, with an in house developed property, we can see the artistic talents of the Four Horsemen set free, and the choices they made were excellent.
As I mentioned, there isn’t a lot of washing or dry brushing though, which has its pros and cons. On the plus side, these techniques can be easily overused and ruin an otherwise great figure. On the con side, without them the great detail work, especially on the skin, tends to blend in. The figure could have used a little more punch in that area, but I’m not dropping the score in any major way because of it.
Articulation – **1/2
The one disappointment here for me was in the articulation. It’s not about how much there is, but rather the tightness of the joints.
Vaskkh has a ball jointed neck, although the large head restricts it a bit. He also has ball jointed shoulder (jointed on both sides), pin elbows, pin wrists, and a cut waist. Below the waist are ball jointed hips (again, jointed on both sides of the ball), pin knees and pin and rocker ankles.
That’s plenty of joints, and you can get some terrific poses out of them. Unfortunately, the joints below the waist are very loose, and his upper body is quite heavy. Those two things together means that getting him to hold those great poses for long periods can be pretty tough. These seems to be a pretty common complaint across the entire wave of 9 figures.
Accessories – ***
Vaskkh is a tad light on the accessories considering the price point, but he does come with two very cool weapons. These axes can fit nicely in his hands, or snap onto his backpack for easy carrying. The sculpt and paint are terrific, and the style of the weapons matches the type of animal, if that makes sense. Perhaps there’s something about the sculpt that reminds me of the horn, or perhaps, there’s something about their bulk that relates to the bulk of a rhino. Whatever the case, these were well thought out.
Value – **
Ah, now here’s the rub. Last year’s exclusive was $20, but some of these (like this guy) were up to $30. Several of the exclusives were slightly lower though at $25. Considering the extra bulk of these characters (and the very low edition runs/exclusivity), I can understand the $25 price tag, and would give him **1/2 at that price point. But at $30, this guy loses another half star.
Fun Factor – ***1/2
Even with the loose joints, this guy is still one fun figure. Kids could play with him with little fear of breakage (or at least not more than the usual mass market toy), and the bulky axes are less likely to pose any threat of injury. These bad ass beasts also fit in with a general ‘animals as warriors’ theme that we’ve seen for years in kid’s action figures. They are a great example of a ‘collectible’ staying true to its roots.
Things to Watch Out For –
Since you can do much about the joints til after you have him, there really isn’t much to watch out for on this guy.
Overall – ***1/2
The Four Horsemen have another hit on their hands with this year’s FANtastic Exclusive. It’s too bad that more folks don’t know how terrific these figures are, but they did seem to sell out pretty well, so word must be getting around. If you have a chance to check one of them out, I highly recommend it. And the process for the FANtastic Exclusive for next year’s SDCC should start soon, so get involved!
Where to Buy –
That depends on which version you’d like:
– Ramathorr (standard elephant) is available at the Store Horsemen.
– The Hammer of Gholl should be available at your local comic shop.
– The Mace of Broggah is available through October Toys.
– The Club of Thraugnn is available through Fwooshnet.
– The Shield of Draumm can be found at RTM.
– The Gauntlet of Vaskkh is available through Action Figure Express.
– The Helm of Xaanm was sold through Big Bad Toy Store.
– The Mutant Ggruxx is available through Toy Rocket.
– and finally, the Mutant Ssejjhhorr is available through Figures.com.
Related Links:
Check out the Four Horsemen’s site when you have time, and don’t forget my review from last year’s Fantastic Exclusive. The Four Horsemen also have a site set up specifically for the FANtastic Exclusives.
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