You knew that the Four Horsemen Studio’s Gothitropolis line has been very popular with discerning collectors since the announcement of Scarabus, right? Online buzz and sell-outs helped confirm that, but if you needed some real number to prove the popularity of this line, you need to look no further than Kickstarter. Yep, the Horsemen went the crowd funding route with their follow-up Raven figure and their original $65,000 goal was pretty aggressive since this was the first high-profile crack at Kickstarting an action figure line. Well, $303K and countless variants and add-ons later proves that they Jersey Boys are definitely on to something. The birds have started to land on doorsteps across the country and I can tell you right now, these guys are worth the wait.
I wanted to get a look at a couple of the figure up quickly because I have been so excited about them, but I would imagine that some of the other guys on staff will have looks at some of the others soon enough. Because it is my nature, I went with the wackiest entrants into the line for my collection, Flamingus (the battle flamingo!) and the Kickstarter-exclusive Minotaur the Duck. From the early pictures, whether you are into ravens, cardinals, hawks, phoenixes or insanely patriotic eagles, there doesn’t look to be a weak figure in the assortment, so I hope you were able to get your order in for something that you like.
Personally, I LOVE the idea of a warrior flamingo based on the sheer audacity of the concept and if there is something cooler than a duck named Minotaur sporting a horned helmet, I don’t know what it is. So, while I would have LOVED to have gotten all of the different figures, I had to make some choices (I collect a LOT of stuff) and at the end of the day, there was just no way I was going to be able to pass these two up. Hey, the Fwoosh Red Elephant and the delightfully pink Chalice of Gudenuph are two of my favorites from past Horsemen lines, so these guys are right up my alley. I know that we have been “living” with these for awhile now thanks to the Horsemen keeping us updated at all the turns of the process, but it is worth taking a minute to talk about the final production pieces.
Let’s face it, coming from the 4H, you knew the sculpting on these babies was going to be off the chart, and it can tell you that it is, and no detailing was lost in production. The Horsemen are masters of the their craft and thanks to some time working on Masters of the Universe and DC, they have certainly gotten their licks in with sculpting feathers and scales. There are a lot of intricate little details that are very sharp and crisp, so they got good tooling patterns from the factory. It amazes me just how much Flamingus looks like a real flamingo (aside from, you know, wearing armor) and somehow he is able to convey a sense of imposing toughness like the species has never seen before.
The armor is another spot of sculpt detail insanity and there is a LOT going here. Sure, these figures all share (basically) the same base body, but thanks to the armor design and paint scheme, there is a ton of variation between them. Speaking of paint, that is generally the spot where most of the production fall-off occurs, but in this case, I cannot spot one loss or compromise of applications. There are so many different paint applications form base color to armor distress, I cannot even begin to count them all, and I applaud both the Horsemen and the factory for getting this so right in terms of choices. I know there were some production challenges that caused a few delays along the way, but if it was to get the tooling and paint applications so perfectly right, it was completely worth it.
Now, these guys are loaded with articulation as well so I am positive there will be a lot of battle bird posing coming up in pictures soon. The upper part of the body takes advantage of all of the points well and be they in action or stoic posturing, they will look convincing. There is a lot of articulation in the legs, too, but their bird anatomy keeps them from some poses. This is not the fault of anything really, just that bird legs have been a punchline for a long time now, and their funky knees take some finagling to get into a nature pose (past just standing). I am positive some better posers than me will be showing off some cool stuff soon, though.
Now the Horsemen sent out a Kickstarter update about being careful the joints when you first open the figures. I would certainly agree with that as it is the approach I take with ANY new action figure, but I am happy to report that these two figure have zero issues in terms of quality control. So, if you are concerned, take it easy at first, but know that (hopefully) the fates are on your side.
The basic figures also come with a couple of accessories: their spear and swappable feet. The latter is a bit misleading because you actually get FOUR total sets of feet with these figures. There is the standard bird feet and two variations of attacking and gripping poses depending on what you are going for. The last set is webbed so they look more natural on the birds like flamingos and ducks. I LOVE the webbed feet and will be keeping those on my figures.
If I had one tiny nit with these is that their spears, while completely serviceable, just aren’t as dynamic as the figures themselves. I know, they are not supposed to be, but they don’t really carry the same level of detail as the birds, so they fall a little flat. I like the idea of a spear for a flying character and a the mace at the other end is a nice touch, but I wish there just a bit more to them, perhaps some embellishments like in the belts.
Listen, I could go on all day singing the praises of these figures and Four Horsemen themselves. I love that these are a bonafide success because they are fantastic figures and it could not have happened to a nicer group of guys (and girl!). The evil Scarabus now has some opposition from this bird crew and I hope that many of you were able to get the entire set, I am very envious now. Hopefully this will be encouraging and the Horsemen will go back to the well for Gothitropolis again, but in the meantime, there is a TON to love here. So thanks, Horsemen and congrats on such a great line and Kickstarter success!
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