Toy Review: Warriors Three

06/2/11

Warriors Three

 

So I’ve done the reviews for Marvel’s Frost Giants, Battle Hammer Thor, and Secret Strike Loki. What’s left from the Thor movie toy line?

Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg of course.

The three are recurring characters in Marvel’s tales of the Norse god of thunder. They are Asgardian warriors that accompany Thor on many adventures in the comics. Despite their Wikipedia article, my impression of them is the same as the part usually reserved for scantily clad females in barbarian genre films.

Thor: Let’s pick a fight!
Warriors Three: YEAH!
Thor (brushing off enemy attack): Is that all you’ve got?
Enemies: No! We saved a Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal just for this occasion!
Warriors Three: Thor, save us!

Which is exactly how it went in the movie.

 

The packaging of Wave 2 of the line isn’t any different from Wave 1. Card backed plastic bubble, with a heat molded plastic tray to hold the figure in place.

I really wish they’d put some graphic on the top instead of Thor’s face. It was a chore sorting through pegs and pegs of Thor figures to find these guys. A portrait on the top that showed which figure was what, or a description on the side would have been super. They do it with the Marvel Universe cards right?

This second wave of basic figures seems to be under ordered locally, with only a few cases making to shelves. Even Megamall, which gets the bulk of stock since it is the main branch of Toy Kingdom, only got a few pieces of the three figures. Most other branches only got one set.

I can’t blame Playkit since the Thor line doesn’t seem to be doing too well, and historically, the second wave of a toy line doesn’t really hold up sales after the hype of the movie has died down. Plus, interest in this line wasn’t all that strong to begin with. I’m hoping that they at least ordered a few of Wave 4 since that includes the Sif figure which I need to complete my movie line up.

That’s why I finally decided to pick these up when I saw a complete set at Megamall, despite my reservations. I didn’t think we’ll see restocks of the line in the future and since I loved the Thor movie, I want something from it in my collection.

My impressions of the three figures are about the same as my impressions of the Secret Strike Loki figure. If you’ve read that one, you can probably just skim and look at the pictures, because it’s going to be roughly the same.

 

Harpoon Blade Fandral was the one that I was most ambivalent about. I’d seen the figure several times in other branches, but I’d always passed. The way his scabbard is positioned really made it look as if it locked his entire leg in that position. It was also mis-proportioned and looked unbelievably ugly.

When I got it out of the package, I was pleasantly surprised that it was not as restricting as I’d thought it would be, and with a little work, you could even remove the ring that attaches to his thigh, giving him more range. I wish I could remove it altogether, but you need to pop his chest apart, or pull off his legs to do it, and I’m afraid I might mess him up. I’m thinking of just cutting the thing off completely…

Other than that, the articulation is excellent.

 

Of all the Thor figures, I love Fandrall’s face sculpt the best. All the other toys have a blank look to them, but his has a tiny smirk. It’s a perfect expression and makes him look so smug you want to smack him. He reminds me of Cary Elwes in The Princess Bride.

Dread Pirate Roberts custom anyone?

 

The rest of his sculpt is great. The armor is decorative and flashy, just like most of the Asgardians in the film. I love the way the cape is done. I’m not sure if it is the same in the movie, but the cape is designed to simulate two lengths of cloth that are attached to a piece that fits over his shoulders. The middle area of his back is exposed. I find it more appealing than the plain, full cape that Odin and Thor have. I do wish they’d used real cloth rather than the rubberized plastic that Marvel figures always do.

 

Aside from his cape and scabbard, he’s also got his sword. It’s a nice looking thing, properly sized, and well fit for his fist. The basket on the hilt is a great touch. Sadly, they added a little too much softener in the plastic and it’s REALLY floppy. It’s like he’s holding a wet noodle.

Like all the rest of the Thor figures, Fandral has an accessory that includes an action feature. In this case it’s a LAUNCHING “HARPOON!”. Frankly, I doubt this thing could “harpoon” anything. Its projectile looks like a hammer. I’d fly about a foot in real life and fall on your foot. Launch it into the trash and just enjoy the figure.

 

The biggest problem with Volstagg is his scale.

Played by Ray Stevenson (Punisher: War Zone) in the film, he should tower over the smaller warriors, but the toy version is about the same size, maybe smaller. Where did all the plastic go? Around his gut.

 

Since Volstagg is supposed to be a voracious eater, he naturally has a belly. The toy does a good job of giving him one while not restricting his movement to much. Sadly, it apparently means that Hasbro subtracted that extra plastic and made him smaller than he should be. It looks like each wave can support only one “big” figure, and that’s already taken by the Fire Blast Destroyer.

His articulation is just as good as Fandral’s, if not better. He doesn’t have a cape or cloak to hamper his range like the other two, but his beard does get in the way of his neck joint. There’s enough clearance to get him to look up and down slightly (they all have ball-jointed necks instead of the swivel hinges recently designed figures have sported).

 

Ram Smash Volstagg comes with two accessories, again one in scale and one with an action feature. The action feature one is a SPINNING AXE RAM! with spinning… Well, I don’t know what they are. They don’t really look like blades, and don’t seem to be oriented in a way that would increase the efficacy of the implement. I can only guess at what the designers were thinking when they conceived these things.

Toss it.

 

The axe he carries looks a bit small, but it fits nicely in his hands and is ornate enough for me not to care. It’s a little weird, though. It’s got four blades, two double-bladed plates sandwiched together. What?

Nevermind that, though. It’s a great accessory.

And did I mention the beard? He’s got a beard. I wish I had a beard like that. I’d stroke the shit out of that beard and drink ale like a mother fucking Valhalla-bound Viking.

 

 

 

The last of the set, Blade Battle Marvel’s Hogun, was the hardest to find. Before I saw this thing in Megamall I had only ever seen Fandral and Volstagg. People seem to want him and not the set, which is understandable. This toy is gorgeous looking.

Unlike the rest of the line, he’s got a distinctly Eastern flavor to him. His armor looks like it’s got more of a Japanese Samurai influence more than a Lord of the Rings or Eaters of the Dead vibe. The addition of the rubbery cloak gives him even more presence.

 

It’s a little restricting, but you can move it up like I did in the photos and you’re golden. You can also remove it as well by popping off his head.

The second accessory he has is his signature mace. Like Fandrall’s sword, it’s absolutely frightening how limp this thing is. I’m not sure if I’m in favor of it. Less likely to break, but I feel like it’s going to melt. You can easily bend it in half. It fits well enough in his hand, though.

The last accessory (or accessories) is the AXE “BLADES” BECOME FIST “BLADES!”.

It’s a three part weapon that isn’t so dis-proportionate. It would go well in the hands of Volstagg. It looks too Chinese for him, though. The gimmick is that the blades of the axe come off and Hogun can carry them in his fists. They’re not too big to look totally off, but I still prefer his mace. The haft portion actually looks better, sort of like a spear.

 

Overall, I feel very positive about these toys. They still have the same problem as the rest of the line; they’re colors are relatively drab and they don’t pop on the shelf, but once you get them out and in hand, they’re a lot of fun. Especially with the rest of the line to pose them with.

They’re hard to come by locally, and it doesn’t look like we’ll be getting restocks, but there’s always eBay. Php 500.00 may be a little pricey for 3rd tier characters, but these are the first modern toys of any of them that we’ve gotten of any of them, so it’s hard to argue with it.

Highly recommended.