Tag Archives: Funko

#1097: Hoban “Wash” Washburne

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

HOBAN “WASH” WASHBURNE

FIREFLY LEGACY COLLECTION

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So, last Sunday, I reviewed a K-2SO figure, and the Sunday before that I also reviewed a K-2SO figure.  Well, I’m all out of K-2 figures, but I do have the next best thing.  Yes, it’s that other famous Sci-Fi character played by Alan Tudyk, Hoban “Wash” Washburne!  I’ve already looked at two Wash figures on this site, but there’s one more that I never got around to taking a look at, and he may just be the best one in the lot.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

washlegacy2Wash was released as part of Funko’s Firefly Legacy Collection, their third attempt at launching a Firefly line.  There were five figures released, and Wash was #4 in the set.  The figure stands a little over 6 inches tall and he has 26 points of articulation.  While many of the Legacy figures used the same costume designs as their ReAction and Pop! figures, Wash actually got a slightly different look for his Legacy entry (in fact, Wash has gotten a slightly different design for all three of his figures), based on the gear he was wearing in the promotional shots for the series.  In my opinion, it’s the quintessential Wash look, so I’m actually happy to have seen in turn up here.  Wash sports a wholly unique sculpt.  It’s admittedly a little more cartoony than I was expecting, especially after the Game of Thrones and Rocketeer figures, which are more in the style of The Black Series.  There’s a lot of decent work, but there’s definitely a bit of stylization going one here.  This is especially evident when it comes to the likeness on the head, which certainly encapsulates the figure and does bear a resemblance to Alan Tudyk.  That being said, there’s just something off about the look.  Like, they got all the obvious details of the likeness, but missed the more minor bits that really seal the deal.  So, while the figure looks like Wash at first glance, it starts to be less on the nose when you take a closer look.  The figure also feels rather narrow shouldered, but this is actually a common issue with the Legacy figures.  Lastly, there’s the hands, which are rather on the large side, but there’s actually a reason for this, which I’ll touch on in the accessories section.  The paintwork on Wash is pretty good overall, though not perfect.  It’s about on par with prior Legacy figures.  The colors are well chosen, and detailing on the clothes (especially his shirt) is top notch.  The head is alright, but a little messy.  I do like the variation to the skin tone, though; it makes him look more lifelike than, say, the GoT figures.  Wash is packed with a pair of toy dinosaurs (because what else would you give him?).  The hands have been slightly enlarged to better hold the dinos, which they do very well, certainly well enough that it doesn’t bug me how large those hands are.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I took my sweet time getting this guy.  When Funko picked up the Firefly license, I was very excited.  I ended up picking up a full set of the ReAction figures, despite them not necessarily being my preferred style, in the hopes of getting the whole crew at some point.  Then Funko sort of gave up on the ReAction figures, and released the Pop! figures, however, they once again released the same five characters and no one else.  Then they announced the Legacy figures, which was really the style I wanted to begin with.  Problem?  Same. Five. Characters.  As cool as the figures were, I had trouble spending $100 and ending up with yet another incomplete line-up.  Over the summer, I ended up finding this Wash figure at Think Geek’s brick and mortar store in the Westminster Mall, for just half of his original price, which was enough encouragement for me to pick him up.  Wash isn’t bad.  Is he perfect?  No. Is he enough fun that I’m glad I got around to picking him up?  Yes, yes he is.

#1074: Tormund Giantsbane

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

TORMUND GIANTSBANE

GAME OF THRONES

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So, today is, among other things, Rogue Friday, the day when the first wave of all the product for the next Star Wars film, Rogue One, hits retail shelves.  While we’re on the subject of grand, sweeping, fantastical tales of swords, “sorcery,” evil paternal figures, loss of limbs, and incest, here’s something about Game of Thrones! (Hell of a segue, right?)  This past spring, I got into the show pretty hardcore.  I even picked up the whole assortment of Legacy Collection figures that Funko put out a few years ago.  Unfortunately, that line was rather short-lived, leaving a number of important characters unreleased.  Funko still has the license, and decided to give GoT figures another shot, albeit in a different format than before.  The figures have moved to the smaller 3 3/4-inch scale, and, though they haven’t gone quite as “retro” as the ReAction stuff, they’re decidedly more old-school than the last set of figures.  There’s a handful of figures available, but I’ve only picked up one so far: Tormund Giantsbane!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

tormund2Tormund is one of the 9 figures in the first series of Funko’s new Game of Thrones line.  All of the figures in the first series are themed around the Wall (of which there is a playset, due out some time soon), which makes Tormund right at home, being one of the Free Folk and all.  The figure stands a little over 4 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  The articulation is a lot more basic than the Legacy figures, and in the case of the knees, it’s practically not there at all.  Tormund’s good for standing there, but you won’t really be getting much else out of him.  The lack of even some cut joints for the wrists seems like a missed opportunity.  Also, there’s very little attempt to work the movement into the sculpt naturally.  It’s just sort of there, where ever there may be.  Tormund’s sculpt isn’t terrible.  It’s certainly better than Funko’s prior work in this scale.  He’s less detailed than a Legacy figure, but at 2/3 the scale, that’s understandable.  Granted, I think he could be a little better, but he has a suitable amount of detailing for his size.  He does seem a little skinny for Tormund, though, especially around the neck.  The head sculpt exhibits a passable likeness of actor Kiristofer Hivju.  It’s far from spot on, and the hair seems rather tame compared to the show, but you can sort of see who he’s supposed to be.  Likenesses have never been Funko’s thing, and Tormund sort of showcases that.  The paintwork on Tormund is fairly well handled.  He’s got a lot of brown going on, which isn’t terribly exciting, but it’s accurate.  The hair sort of is an issue again; I feel like it should be more stark (heh) red than it is now.  Tormund’s only accessory is a small sword, which he holds alright, but it looks a little loose there.  At least I didn’t have to almost break his fingers to get it there, though, so maybe Funko’s learning.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

It was actually this line of figures that got me interested in the whole GoT thing.  That being said, I’ve not had much luck finding them at retail.  I found Tormund at Complete in Box, this really cool game store in PA, while out with my brother on his birthday.  I wasn’t going to get him, but Super Awesome Girlfriend decided to buy him for me (because she’s an enabler and all).  Is Tormund a fantastic figure?  No, not really.  He’s an average figure at best.  Compared to the larger figures, he’s a bit of a letdown.  This whole line seems a bit odd, because it’s hard to tell exactly what audience Funko’s aiming for with these guys.  They’ve got this sort of nostalgic quality to them that doesn’t make much sense for a line based on a show from the last six years.  That being said, if this smaller line takes off and Funko can get us some more of the characters that the larger line never offered, I could see myself picking up a few more of them to go along with Tormund here.

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#1025 – Addendum: Jon Snow Quick Fix

Posted by Ethan Wilson in General and tagged with , , ,

 

In my review of the Jon Snow Legacy Collection figure, I touched on how much of an effect a bad paint job can have on a figure. My initial opinion of Jon was rather low, given his almost complete lack of resemblance to Kitt Harrington (Tim and Jill pointed out that he actually looked a fair bit like Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham, an assertion I agree with). While writing the review for the figure, I noticed that the paint on the eyebrows and beard didn’t at all follow what was sculpted, so I did a quick photoshop just to see what the figure was supposed to look like. And that made me realize that the figure could be better than the final product ended up.

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As I showed with my Aliens customs post, I used to do a fair bit of customizing (though, I’ve sadly gotten away from it in recent years). So, I dusted off my old paints and set my sites on improving this guy. A quick skin tone touch-up and some new eyebrows later, I can’t help but feel that this guy is, like, *a lot* better. The whole shape of his face is different, the likeness is better, and his proportions even look a bit less out of whack. He’s not a perfect figure, but he’s certainly much improved from where he started. Imagine what someone with more talent than mine could do!

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#1027: Khal Drogo

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

KHAL DROGO

GAME OF THRONES: LEGACY COLLECTION

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For the final day of Westeros Week, I’ll be heading back over to the Essos side of things, and taking a look at the Dothraki, once one of the most feared factions in the series. Oh how the mighty have fallen. They were set up as this great threat; an unstoppable army under the control of the last Targaryen. But, by the end of the third season, they’ve been pretty much entirely replaced by the Unsullied and the Second Sons as Daenerys’s forces. Their exit from the series can best be attributed to the loss of their leader Khal Drogo, a warrior undefeated by anyone. Well, apart from an untreated infection. That killed him real good. Despite only being in the first season of the show, Drogo made an undeniable impact, and still has quite a few fans even six seasons later. So, it’s not a huge shock that he got an action figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Drogo2Khal Drogo was released in the second series of Funko’s Game of Thrones: Legacy Collection. He was figure number 10 in the set, which places him right smack dab in the middle of Robb and Arya Stark. Drogo is the last figure I’ll be looking at from this particular series (though he’s not the last figure I haven’t covered. There’s a Daenerys variant that I don’t see myself getting). The figure stands about 6 ½ inches tall and he has 26 points of articulation. Drogo really only had the one look in the first season of the show, though he was seen both with and without the war paint. This figure opts to give him the war paint, which is good, because that makes him a bit more visually exciting. Drogo isn’t the most posable action figure, due to his design being a bit on the constricting side of things. That being said, Drogo wasn’t the most agile guy on the show, seeing as his bit was to be the person equivalent of a wall. Drogo has one of the better sculpts from the line. The proportions are nicely balanced, and the detail work on his clothing is up to the same great standards as the rest of the line. The likeness to Jason Mamoa is pretty decent, if not spot-on. You can definitely tell at a glance who it’s supposed to be, which is the important thing. The hair and beard braids are a bit in the fragile side (one of the beard braids has already had to be repaired), but that’s not a huge surprise, given the intricate nature of the design. Drogo’s paintwork is pretty well handled overall. In particular, the fact that the war paint actually looks like body paint is pretty impressive, since just getting decent coverage in the first place can be difficult. The figure includes two larger sickle-style swords and two smaller blades that can be stowed in the sheaths on his belt.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Drogo is another of the Game of Thrones figures I got as a birthday present from my parents. After getting Dany, Drogo definitely was high on my list. He’s a fun character with a fun design, and he translates quite nicely into action figure form.

And that marks the end of my Game of Thrones: Legacy Collection reviews. The line isn’t without its flaws, but it has overall been a very fun little subset of my collection. Honestly, the biggest flaw the line has is its limited run. What I wouldn’t give for a Catelyn or Sansa, or even Ceresi and Joffery. Heck a Season 6 Jon would be awesome too. I’d love for Funko to come back to this line, but the recent move to a smaller scale indicates that won’t be happening. And that’s a shame.

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#1026: The Hound

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

THE HOUND

GAME OF THRONES: LEGACY COLLECTION

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It’s really hard to start up a review of the Hound without using any obscenities. Like really hard. Because obscenities are sort of his thing. Yes, for day 6 of Westeros Week, I’ll be taking at Sandor Clegane, better known as The Hound. He’s a character who starts off rather unlikeable, and, well, I can’t say he becomes likeable, but the audience starts to like him. Greater evil and all that. It also helps that he’s the least evil Clegane we’ve met (though being less evil than the Mountain doesn’t take much doing). He was popular enough to get himself an action figure, which I’ll be taking a look at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Hound2The Hound is another figure from the first series of Funko’s Game of Thrones: Legacy Collection. He’s figure 3 in the line, and he’s also the last figure from Series 1 that I haven’t reviewed. He’s based on Clegane’s look during Seasons 3 and 4 of the show, when he’s off on his own and then later when he’s Arya’s captor. The figure stands 6 ¾ inches tall (making him the tallest figure in the line) and he has 25 points of articulation. He lacks any sort of waist movement, which is rather restrictive, but his articulation is otherwise pretty decent. His sculpt is overall pretty good. The armor is very nicely detailed, and he chainmail is handled surprisingly well. The build and size of the figure looks appropriate to Rory McCann’s appearance on the show, which is good. The weakest piece is definitely the head. The likeness to McCann is there, but the likeness to the Hound is not, if that makes any sense to anyone. One of the distinctive traits of the Hound is the rather grisly burn on the right side of his face. Here, it’s little more than a slight bump on his forehead. Now, like Jon, it’s hard to tell Hound4how much of this is the fault of the sculpt and how much of it’s just poor paint. There’s definitely some texture on the face that the paint just sort of ignores. The worst offense of the paint is the right eyebrow. Going by the show, it shouldn’t even be there, but on this figure, they’ve given him a pair of matching, perfectly intact eyebrows. It throws the likeness way off, and he looks much better with the right one removed. The rest of the paint’s actually pretty good, especially the wear and tear on the armor. The Hound includes his distinctive helmet (with a moving visor), as well as two different broad swords. One of the swords can be stowed in the permanently affixed sheath on his back, while the other goes in the removable sheath on his left side. The side sheath is held in place by slipping it into a little loop on Clegane’s belt, which, it should be noted, tore right off the first time I tried to use it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like yesterday’s figure, the Hound was a birthday present from my always supportive parents. He’s not one of my must-have figures, but rather just someone who fills out the set. That said, eyebrow issue aside, this is a pretty solid figure, on par with the rest of the line.

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#1025: Jon Snow

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

JON SNOW

GAME OF THRONES: LEGACY COLLECTION

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Welcome back to Westeros Week everybody! In any long-running series, there are inevitably the breakaway hit characters. Characters who start off as just a member of the ensemble, but become slowly more and more prominent, until they’re a major character. While he was certainly set up as an important player from the very start of the series, Jon Snow wasn’t one of the leads. He’s off on his own, with hardly any input during the show’s first season. Heck, Kit Harington was ninth billed during the first season (and he didn’t even get a credit all to himself; he shared with Harry Lloyd). In season 6, he was fifth billed, and he had a number of episodes devoted primarily to his story. Not bad for a bastard! Now, let’s look at a one of his action figures, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

JonSnow2Jon Snow was released in the first series of Game of Thrones: Legacy Collection. He was figure number 1 in the line, because Funko knows what’s up! Jon Snow is seen here in his standard garb following his acceptance into the Night’s Watch, which is a good look for him. The figure is 5 ¾ inches tall (which is about right for Harington), and he has 26 points of articulation. Jon Snow has some of the better articulation in the line. Everything is pretty smooth and solid. Unfortunately, the articulation comes at the price of the sculpt. Jon Snow has easily the weakest sculpt in the line. The body is the worst offender yet in terms of the narrow shoulder issue that plagued these guys. Jon Snow’s not a huge guy, but with the big fur collared cape and everything, he should definitely be a lot bigger than he is here. Most of this line has stood out for its attention to detail on the costumes, but Jon Snow doesn’t quite live up to the rest of the line. Most of his clothes are rather plain and untextured, and the fur on the cape in particular just looks too even and artificial. Also, while just about every other figure in the line has managed to do a decent job of hiding the mid-torso joint within the clothes, Jon Snow’s joint is just there, for the whole world to see. It honestly looks a bit like he’s wearing a belly shirt over another shirt. Not ideal. The last part of the sculpt is the head. It really doesn’t look much like Kitt Harington. That being said, it’s hard to say how much of the issue is the JonSnow4actual sculpt and how much is just poor paint choices.  It definitely feels a bit on the large side, though. The paint on Jon Snow is…well, it could definitely be better. The face is the worst part. The beard and whole mouth area are just really odd looking, but the most annoying part is the eyebrows. Those aren’t Kitt Harington’s eyebrows, and if you look closely, you can see that they were sculpted correctly, but the paint just totally ignored it, which throws the entire likeness off (it improves quite a bit if you fix them). The body fairs a bit better, since it’s mostly just straight black with a few details here and there. It looks like they tried to do an effect similar to what we saw on Robb’s cape, but it didn’t work quite as well this time. Jon Snow is packed with his sword Longclaw, which is one of the cooler swords the line gave us.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This figure was a birthday present from my parents, who helped me complete my GoT set. Jon is one of my favorite characters on the show, so I definitely wanted to get a figure of him. However, I purposefully held off because I knew this wasn’t one of the line’s stronger figures. It’s kind of a shame, because the rest of the line is pretty strong, and I’d love to have a Jon Snow of an equivalent quality. Purely looking at the quality of this guy just as a cool action figure, he’s not bad. The poseability makes him one of the more amusing figures from the set to play with. However, he kind of fails as a figure of Jon, and he almost feels like he’s from an entirely different line than the rest of the figures.

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#1024: Daenerys Targaryen

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

DAENERYS TARGARYEN

GAME OF THRONES: LEGACY COLLECTION

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Today is Day 4 of Westeros Week (though for today’s review, it might more aptly be named Essos Week). In lieu of an actual intro, I’m just gonna write out the character’s full name. Yes, today I’ll be taking a look at Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen, First of Her Name, Queen of Meereen, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Lady Regent of the Seven Kingdoms, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Mhysa, Breaker of Chains, the Unburnt, and Mother of Dragons. Get all that? Good, let’s get on to the figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Daenerys2Daenerys was released in the first series of Funko’s Game of Thrones: Legacy Collection. This is the first of the two Daeneryses that Funko released in this style. She was figure 5 in the set, making her the second to last figure in the first series, chronologically. Daenerys is based on her Dothraki garb from the latter half of Season 1. While it lacks some of the elegance that she’s become more known for as of late, it’s a pretty solid look, and comes from the period in the show where she really kicked off her main character arc. The figure stands about 5 ½ inches tall and has 24 points of articulation. While her sculpt doesn’t have quite as much detail work as some of the other figures in the line, Daenerys still exhibits some pretty awesome sculpted work. She’s got one of the better hair sculpts the line gave us (it’s even shaped to sit nicely on her shoulders and chest), and her various garb all has the appropriate texturing. The face isn’t quite Emilia Clarke. You can tell who it’s meant to be, but there’s something just off about it. Daenerys’s hands are both sculpted as though they’re meant to hold something, but as I’ll touch on when I talk about the accessories, she doesn’t actually have anything to hold. With that in mind, I kind of would have liked to get more pre-posed hands, allowing for a bit more expressiveness. It’s not something I can really hold against the figure, though. Daenerys’s paintwork is overall pretty decent, but there are a couple of issues, mostly to do with the face. The paint on the face (and the rest of the areas of exposed skin, for that matter) is rather on the thick side, which makes the sculpt feel a bit softer, and she also has some issues with the application of her eyes and brow, which look just slightly wonky on my figure. Nothing terrible, but noticeable nonetheless. The rest of the paint is pretty solid, though, and the accent work seems to work particularly well on this figure. For accessories, Daenerys includes her dragon Drogon. Drogon can plug into Dany’s shoulder (via the rather obvious holes around the joint), and looks pretty decent perched there. Technically, this Dany wouldn’t have Drogon, of course, but I’m not really that bugged by it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When I first started collecting the GoT figures, I didn’t really plan on getting a Daenerys. It’s not that I dislike her, but she was someone that I took a while to warm up to, and I really was trying to draw the line somewhere. While I was on vacation this year, I spotted this figure at Yesterday’s Fun, and managed to resist the urge to buy her on three separate occasions. Unfortunately, I mentioned this resistance to Super Awesome Girlfriend, Tim, and Jill, and they wouldn’t let me go home until I bought her. They’re kind of a terrible influence are they? Daenerys is a pretty decent figure, though I can’t say she’s one of the best from the line.

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#1023: Tyrion Lannister

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

TYRION LANNISTER

GAME OF THRONES: LEGACY COLLECTION

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All hail the half-man!  For the third entry in Westeros Week, I’ll be taking a look at everybody’s favorite pint-sized Lannister, Tyrion!  Tyrion is probably as close as the story will ever get to having a clear cut protagonist, being one of the few characters to get a consistent level of screen time throughout the course of the series.  He’s also one of the most consistently enjoyable characters, and one of the few prominent characters to have anything resembling a moral compass.  And he slaps Joffery a lot, which never ceases to amuse.  I’m getting distracted.  Let’s look at the figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Tyrion2Tyrion Lannister was released in the first series of Funko’s Game of Thrones: Legacy Collection.  He’s figure 2 in the set.  There are actually three different versions of Tyrion, all of which make use of the same number.  The basic Tyrion depicted him in his battle armor from the end of season 1, and the SDCC variant of that gave us Tyrion from the second season’s Battle of Blackwater, which was the same as the basic figure but with a new, scarred head.  The figure I’m looking at today, however, is the Walgreens-exclusive Hand of the King Tyrion, based on his appearance when he took on the role in Season 2.  I prefer Tyrion to be more of a planner and less of a fighter, so this was definitely the look I wanted.  The figure stands about 4 ½ inches tall (Peter Dinklage is 4’ 5”, so the figure seems to have gotten the height down pretty well) and he has 26 points of articulation.  Like Ned, Tyrion’s elbow movement is incredibly limited.  Must be a Hand of the King thing.  Maybe that’s why they all die (well, okay, not all)!  Fortunately, the limitation isn’t quite as big a deal with Tyrion as it was with Ned.  Generally speaking, I think Tyrion may have one of the better sculpts in the Legacy Collection.  The likeness is definitely there (I suppose the hair could be a touch longer to be the appropriate length for Season 2, but that’s super minor).  The detailing on the clothing is once again superb.  Each little crease and stitch is there, and you can even tell the difference between the different types of materials, which is quite impressive.  Also, Tyrion might be the first figure I’ve looked at in this line where his shoulders aren’t too narrow, which is definitely a plus.  Tyrion’s paintwork is pretty solidly handled.  Most of the base color work is pretty clean (excepting the quite noticeable slop on the edge of his collar) and there’s plenty of great accent work to sell all the various layers of the sculpt.  Even his painted stubble doesn’t look too bad.  I do wish the Hand of the King pin looked a bit less gummy, but that’s pretty minor.  Tyrion includes a dagger, which can be held in the sheath on his belt.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Tyrion was picked up from Yesterday’s Fun while I was on vacation last month.  This was actually a figure I was planning to get anyway, so when I found him there, I was pretty happy.  Tyrion’s probably one of the best figures that the line had to offer, though I’m not really sure why this version ended up as an exclusive, rather than the default.  But hey, I’ve got the figure, so that’s all that matters.

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#1022: White Walker

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

WHITE WALKER

GAME OF THRONES: LEGACY COLLECTION

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As awful as the characters in Game of Thrones may get, the show likes to devote at least a portion of every season to reminding us that, no matter how bad things may seem, there’s perpetually a greater threat in the horizon in the form of the White Walkers. Whoever may be left standing after after all the warring factions have settled will still have to deal with these ugly suckers. So, for my second entry in Westeros Week, I’ll be taking a look at one of their number. Let’s see how the White Walker fares!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

WhiteWalker2The White Walker was released in the first series of Funko’s Game of Thrones: Legacy Collection. He’s figure 3 in the line-up, which weirds me out for some reason. He feels like a 6 to me, but I don’t know why. There were two versions of the Walker available: regular and glow-in-the-dark. Mine is the regular. We’ve seen a few White Walkers over the course of the show, most of which share a number of common traits (excepting the Night King, of course), but they all have a bit of their own flair. This particular figure is based on the White Walker that attacks Sam in the Season 2 finale, which is probably the closest look we’ve really gotten at one of them. The figure stands 6 ½ inches tall and has 28 points of articulation. Sculpturally, he’s a little skinnier than the Walker we saw on screen, especially in the arms and shoulders, but he’s not terribly far off. The level of detail on this guy is quite impressive, even among the other Legacy figures I’ve looked at. There’s no part of this guy that doesn’t have some bit of sculpted texturing. His skin is rough and decaying and his clothing is worn and decrepit. If there’s one part of this sculpt I’m not 100% sold on, it’s the hair. It’s a separate piece, glued in place, like a lot of the hair in this line. However, this time, it feels like a wig, not just because of the obvious connection, but also because it feels a bit under-detailed and artificial when compared to the rest of the figure. It also flows outward at an odd angle, which makes getting the head into a pose where the hair looks natural quite difficult. The paintwork on the Walker continues the same trends seen with the sculpt. The hair once again sticks out, being rather starkly contrasting, especially right at the edge where it meets the head. The rest of the paint, however, does a wonderful job of highlighting and accenting all of the cool sculpted textures on the sculpt, making the figure look quite lifelike. The White Walker includes a spear, which fits pretty well in his hands. I had a bit of difficulty getting my figure to hold it, and noticed that one of his wrists was almost broken in the process, so be careful there.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up the White Walker at the same time as Ned. I really hadn’t intended to get this guy, since the White Walkers don’t really “wow” me on the show, at least in terms of design. But, he was cheap, and I didn’t have him, so there it is. I’m actually pretty happy with this guy, so I’m glad I found one for a deal, or else I never would have gotten him.

(Yes, I know this last picture is off.  Robb never fought a Walker, but I didn’t have Jon, so Robb served as a stand-in)

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#1021: Ned Stark

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

NED STARK

GAME OF THRONES: LEGACY COLLECTION

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Remember when I had FOUR Game of Thrones figures and that was all sorts of crazy excessive? Four? A whole four? Hey, guess what? Yeah, there’s more of ‘em now. Without further ado, I’m officially kicking off Westeros Week! Let’s get this thing started!

One of the best known things about Game of Thrones is the rather high mortality rate amongst its stars. And what better way to get that idea across from the very start than casting perennial dead guy Sean Bean in one of the lead roles for the first season? Ned Stark’s name might as well have been Toast Stark. Typical of many of Sean Bean’s characters, despite Ned’s unfortunate demise during the show’s first season, he’s still one of the show’s most memorable characters. So, unsurprisingly, when Funko started making figures, Ned was one of the very first.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

NedStark2Ned Stark was released in Series 1 of Funko’s Game of Thrones: Legacy Collection, as figure #6, which makes him chronologically the last figure in the series. The figure is 6 inches tall and he has 26 points of articulation. Ned’s just a smidge taller than his son Robb, which is true to real life; Sean Bean is an inch taller than Richard Madden. Ned’s appearance is based on his look during his time serving as Hand of the King, specifically in the episode “You Win or You Die,” which is a pretty pivotal episode for Ned. I know a lot of people had wanted a Winterfell Ned, which is probably the slightly more interesting look. That said, this is Ned’s basic look for a good chunk of his time on the show, so I can hardly fault Funko’s choice. The whole Game of Thrones: Legacy Collection was sculpted by Gentle Giant Studios, Ned included. His sculpt is pretty strong, at least on par Robb’s. At first glance, it seems like Ned shares a number of pieces with Robb, but after close examination, I think the only piece that’s the same is the skirt of his tunic. The level of detail, especially on the clothing is once again very impressive. The stitching and the patterned textures look really nice. As far as build, it does seem to me that Ned is a bit on the skinny side, and his shoulders seem a little narrow. In addition, his hair seems a bit thicker than it was on the show, which doesn’t really help the issue of the narrow shoulders. That said, the overall appearance is a pretty good rendition of Sean Bean as Ned. You can definitely tell who it’s supposed to be. Ned’s sheath for his sword is a separate piece, glued in place. Well, it’s supposed to be, anyway. Mine was rattling around in the bottom of the package when I got the figure. It’s nothing major, as a small spot of glue is all that’s needed to fix it, but it’s still a little frustrating to have to do such things myself. Ned’s paintwork is pretty well done. The clothes have some very nice accent work to bring out the sculpt’s details. There’s a bit of slop here and there, especially on his Hand insignia and around his mouth/beard, but the overall appearance isn’t bad at all. Ned is packed with both a standard broadsword and his family’s ancestral Valeryan Steel sword Ice. The standard sword isn’t bad, and can be sheathed on his belt. Ice itself isn’t a bad piece (though it does seem a bit comically large), however, Ned’s limited elbow movement means he can’t really hold it, even to do the signature “Winter is Coming” pose. It’s also too bad we couldn’t get Ice’s wolf pelt sheath, but I guess that would have been too much.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After my first round of watching Game of Thrones, I liked Ned, but not enough that I felt the need to buy his action figure. Then two things happened. First, I started rewatching the show with Tim and Jill, and realized I liked Ned quite a bit. Then, I stopped by the closing Movie Stop near me (which has since officially closed), and Ned was one of the three GoT figures they had left, so I got him for a decent deal. Ned has his flaws, but he’s a pretty solid figure. It’s a shame we didn’t get more of the Starks.

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