Funko made a pretty loud noise when they entered the 6-inch action figure world. They had scooped up the licenses to make some pretty diverse action figures, and while Game of Thrones, Firefly, and Rocketeer all seemed like no-brainers, Magic: the Gathering was by far the most left-field choice. There seemed to be a lot of head-scratching and utterances of “who?” when characters such as Garruk Wildspeaker, Nissa Revane, and Chandra Nalaar made their debut. But there was absolutely no doubt that these were some cool-looking toys, and you could see the tide shift from “who?” to “gottahave” quickly.
I’m not a tabletop gamer guy. I’ve never played any of the mainstays of the genre and have never had any interest in doing so, though being interested in things like comics and toys means having at least a peripheral knowledge of the goings-on of that hobby just by osmosis. But a cool toy is a cool toy, and a new universe of characters is something that intrigues me. I don’t think I’ll be sitting down with a deck of cards any time soon, but I’m not going to say no to the toys.
Garruk Wildspeaker was at the top of my list of the first wave of Magic figures, and when they became available on Barnes and Noble’s website right around the same time I had a nice 20 percent coupon, the stars seemed aligned. I liked the looks of his bulky frame and his huge axe, and I wasn’t disappointed when I got him; he’s a massive and heavy chunk of toy, way heavier than I was expecting. At a normal price of 5 dollars more than most toys, these are not cheap, but all of a sudden the price didn’t seem too bad. Well, almost.
Garruk is an interesting character from a visual standpoint. He has a ton of variety in his sculpt. Almost every inch of him is either covered in an overlay or is a uniquely sculpted part of all variety of materials, from mesh to cloth to metal. Some of the other figures have had evidence of paint application drop off from proto to final product, but Garruk’s more muted color palette either makes it unnoticeable or he just lucked out.
Being tall, hulking, and laden with the same type of overlays that Funko’s Game of Thrones line has become known for, I was worried that Garruk would essentially be an impressive looking statue, but there’s a surprising range of motion beneath all of those overlays. He has plenty of motion in his arms and can even spread them wide despite what should be restrictive shoulder overlays. He has a combo swivel/crunch in his torso with a nice range of motion, so that despite his chest cover he is capable of bending over and looking down.
His legs won’t spread completely, but they have more than enough range for a super-wide stance in addition to a nice range in his double-jointed knees. His ankles are probably the most restricted of all his articulation points due to his shin coverings. There is still some wiggle room there, but he can’t bend either of them fully. He’s extremely stable though despite his size, and he can balance well enough with those big wide feet, so the loss of some range there isn’t missed too much.
With so much of his articulation covered by overlays, he has a more realistic look to him than a lot of other toys that feature the same level of super-articulation. While it’s not possible with every toy, I like it when a design and a toy’s articulation come together in such a synergistic way, especially at this height and price point.
He had none of the fragility or wobbliness that the two GoT figures I own sported right out of the box. Instead, he had tight joints that needed a little cracking to free up. Once free, though, they moved easily without being loose. It looks like Funko listened to their customers and really ramped up the quality and durability of their toys. I’m looking forward to not having that slight trepidation at moving my toys around.
Garruk comes with a gigantic axe that he can easily hold in one hand, or in both for a resting pose. With his shoulder coverings he can’t quite make an over the head axe-swinging pose, but he can get pretty close. His grip is tight enough that despite the size and weight of the axe it’s hard to find a pose that he can’t support while holding the axe.
Garruk Wildspeaker was a definite check in the win column for Funko’s first wave of Magic: the Gathering figures, and though he was bought as a test figure, he has guaranteed future purchases. I can’t wait to see what else this line will bring.
Video review by canonball:
“By far the most left-field choice?” I agree it was surprising, but not NEARLY as left-field as Fantastic Mr. Fox.