I wanted to be more excited about this figure because it was the 3AA membership figure for 2013. I barely signed up for the membership as I noticed that the number of my 3A purchases were declining over the last year, and I wasn’t certain of what would be offered this year. There haven’t been very many new ‘bots shown over the last year, and the ones being shown, Harold and Dropcloth v2, just weren’t hitting the mark with me. Additionally, there’s only been a few Action Portable figures that have interested me. But I bit down and bought the membership — at least I would get a cool t-shirt.
Blanc Hunter is sporting the new “de Plume v2” look that was launched last year and that Canonball reviewed here. I don’t have much more to say. This figure comes on the standard body that was launched a while ago. The body really isn’t much different than the what was reviewed before in the archives. Since this used the standard body, the figure looks OK without his shirt on, but the shoulder engineering isn’t pretty to look at. It’s very mechanical, which is OK if you want your figures to have a cyborg quality to them.
The articulation is standard. All the joints are there and there are no surprises. The list is:
double ball ankles.
double knees
thigh swivel
ball hips
ball waist
ball abs
rocker shoulders
ball shoulders
bicep swivels
double elbows
ball wrist
I think the fingers are supposed to be articulated with wires in them, but I’m not feeling it if this is the case. It could be I have bad hands and that the wires are broken, too short, or aren’t long enough. Whatever the case, I’m disappointed.
The figure bears a different shirt from NOM 4, this is a thin-hooded shirt with a long right sleeve and short left sleeve, much like the standard “de Plume” figures, only this time around the right sleeve isn’t colored from the bicep down, it’s just a long sleeve. A really long sleeve. The fabric is different from the standard t-shirts; it’s a thinner linen and not a t-shirt cotton. which doesn’t make sense since this is a “Blanc,” a cold weather NOM, a guy out in freezing weather. Unless that is the point of the thin hoodie, because he’s Blanc Hunter and a total badass and doesn’t need no stinking warm clothes? As you can tell, this design isn’t calling out to me.
The one interesting tidbit is the “NOM 6” painted on his shirt. Hmm….
I love the new boots; the soft (fabric) goods here is fantastic. You get an incredible range of motion at the ankle, a vast improvement over the rubber boots from before. And they look fantastic, like real boots and the lace-up aspect is just great. I’ve yet to attempt an unlacing and won’t since I know my fat fingers will struggle getting the laces tied again.
Blanc comes with the same two guns as NOM 4, pouches, and baton. Same same. The head sculpt is still the fantastic bit on this figure and a joy to look at. In fact, the sculpting is on par with most of the usual 3A offerings, so no complaints there. As this was a 3AA membership exclusive, you’ll be hard pressed to find one online — these are not available at retail.
You can discuss this figure further on the fwoosh forums.
