We’re back with another Amazon exclusive, the Praetorian Guard with heavy blade. I’ve heard a lot of negative reactions to this design, heck my own son says that they look like twizzlers, but I’ve grown to really like these outlandish helmets. It’s like the design is a cross of a fencing mask, a chess piece, and religious garb. Let’s take a look at the Praetorian Guard with heavy blade!
The guard came shipped with an outer mailer box which protected the standard Black Series box nicely. It also gave me warm fuzzy nostalgic feelings for all the old mail-aways from the past.
This version of the guard comes with a blade with a long handle and a sword that kind of resembles a bamboo training sword. Both are cast in a solid plastic and hold their shape well. I don’t love the bright red plastic as it’s semi-translucent and the paint hits are a little sloppy in spots.
The detail is very nice, though. I think the sword transforms into a type of whip based on the segmented design and a smaller figure has a whip like device.
The sculpt looks to be mostly re-used from the wave two Praetorian guard with a new head. I really like this head because the face guard is upturned kind of like a classic medieval knight.
I like that the guard can hold both of his weapons with two hands in front of the body. The back of the head on mine is a little messed up. I wasn’t sure if it was just the design, but I think the paint dried weird and left some odd shapes on the back of the head.
The paint is mostly a nice gloss red that matches pretty well with some of the gloss red plastic. It has a nice Stormtrooper armor feel that I like.
The articulation is pretty good with the standard Black Series POA with:
- Swivel/hinge neck, shoulders, elbows, hips, wrists and ankles
- Ball and socket mid-torso
- Double hinged knees
- Swivel thigh
It all moves pretty well and the skirt is flexible enough to allow for free movement, though it can look a little odd in a deep crouch. The elbows are a little tough to get moving, but have almost 90 degree bend which I think is pretty good considering the design of the armor.
Overall this is a pretty nice figure and I’m really enjoying the look of all of these guys together as a group. I’m really hoping they do something fun in the movie. The guard is available for order on Amazon now.
