ULTRAMARINES PRIMARIS ASSAULT INTERCESSOR

WARHAMMER 40,000 (MCFARLANE TOYS)

“Space Marines are the champions of the Imperium, Mankind’s most elite fighting force. The combat prowess of these heavily augmented warriors is backed up by the best weaponry and equipment the Imperium can provide. Clad in nigh-impenetrable power armor, each Space Marine combines excellent close combat skills with deadly shooting accuracy. Space Marine armies are hard-hitting, able to tactically adjust to any foe or situation. A wide range of troops and vehicles enables them to launch lightning strikes, armored spearheads, airborne assaults, or any other strategy a commander can envision. “

Have I mentioned before here that I’m a bit of a glutton for punishment?  Because I am.  Why else would I keep publicly speaking about things that I actually know nothing about?  That’s crazy.  Case in point?  Today’s review.  We’re gonna be talking about Warhammer 40,000.  I played a single small little starter game of 40K over a decade ago.  That marks my entire experience with the franchise.  Now watch me stumble my way through this toy review, I guess.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Ultramarines Primaris Assault Intercessor is part of the first series of McFarlane’s newly launched Warhammer 40,000 toyline, alongside the Necron Warrior.  There are actually two Ultramarines to be found in the assortment, the standard release and an all grey “Artist Proof” release, which  is the one-per-case variant.  I’m looking at the standard.  He’s some sort of slightly higher ranking Ultramarine, I’d guess, given the different colored helmet and the extra insignia on the shoulder, but exact rank I’ve got no clue on, because, as noted, I don’t actually know this stuff.  He’s blue and red, and big and bulky.  This guy stands 7 1/2 inches tall and he has 36 points of articulation.  Articulation is frequently an iffy subject when it comes to McFarlane figures, but they managed to do a really good job on this guy.  Despite the rather bulked up nature of this design, they’ve not only gotten quite a few joints in there, they’ve also managed to get most of them a pretty impressive range of motion on them.  The shoulders get extra joints on the shoulder pads, allowing for cleaner motion on those joints, which works quite well, and the double ball joint set up on the neck likewise gives a surprisingly fluid and mobile set up for posing the head.  The actual sculpt is cleanly detailed, solid, and just generally appropriately chunky.  There’s a good weight to this figure, and it helps to give him the appropriate presence for the whole big armored marine thing.  He also looks like the miniatures (at least what I’ve seen of them), which is kind of an important thing.  For the paint work, he is, as I noted above, blue and red, which is fairly eye catching and bold.  There’s also a fair bit of gold and white thrown in there for good measure.  The application is generally pretty good, though there are also some slightly fuzzy edges on a few of the brighter colors.  Nothing too terrible, though, and it’s certainly cleaner than a lot of the stuff that McFarlane has done in the past.  This guy is packed with a heavy bolt pistol, Astartes Chainsword, and a small display base, which isn’t a bad set-up.  The only problem I had was getting the Chainsword into the figure’s hand; he’d really benefit from a sword that split at the hilt to more easily slide in.  That’s relatively minor, though.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, I’m not a 40K guy, and I know effectively nothing about it.  Why do I have this figure?  Why would I buy it?  Honestly?  Because it looks real cool.  Also, Jason at All Time is super into 40K, and he was getting pretty hyped about this line and that may have somewhat rubbed off on me.  I just wanted to be a part of things, you guys!  It’s a really strong figure, and just a good fun toy, even without the background interest.  I can see myself definitely picking up the odd figure from this line depending on how far it goes.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this guy for review.  If you’re looking for toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.