I know what you’re thinking. McFarlane Toys. Game of Thrones. Arya Stark. But you’re wrong. Mostly. Give me a chance to explain. Just a few minutes of your time, that’s all I need.
BUT…..before I begin, we were told at Toy Fair the company has a new-found appreciation for super articulation due to the popularity of their Fortnite line. They will be putting that scheme, which they refer to as “22 POA”, into most of their properties. Unfortunately Game of Thrones wave 1 was too far into production to benefit from the updated articulation. I was bummed. Looking at promo pics I thought “Hmmm, maybe shoulders and knees, no neck, elbows? Hips? Are those swivel wrists?”
WRONG!
Surprisingly, yesterday as I messed more and more after ripping into the package, I kept discovering more movement and the joints that allow it. The torso has a rubber overlay as not to hinder the neck, which DOES have a ball joint hidden at the bottom, and shoulders. Figuarts-type joints at the wrists. Dumbbell joints at the ankles. Full range at the hips and shoulders, and while the knees and elbows don’t bend past 90 degrees, there are hinge and swivels there.
Really, if there was more than a swivel to the waist or something added to torso at all, which is to say there is nothing but one horizontal twist between the neck and legs, the posing would be on par with a lot of lines that tout super-articulation. And that’s to go along with the sculpting we expect from McFarlane Toys and a nice paint job over it.
If you’re skipping the video and only looking at the pics here while slightly browsing the text, I did cut open the skirt on each side to allow for more leg movement. The material is nice and thin and soft, it just traffic coned a bit because it was one piece all the way around. The sculpt has natural looking seams to slice though, I went for it. It worked, I think.
Another thing, Arya is a bit tall compared to the old Funko line, which honestly had scale problems of it’s own anyway. I feel this line is more “American 6-inch scale” where it’s skirting closer to 7-inch, but that’s also a hard call to make with only Arya to go by. Jon will be the defining factor in that debate.
So cast aside your preconceived notions and give the line, which is up for pre-order on Amazon right now, a chance. I was ready for a nice Game of Thrones line that will hopefully go deeper than the Funko series and was pleasantly surprised by Arya, especially with the movement. Plus we were told that the new articulation would be considered for future waves, so there’s that too.
I’m excited.
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