Spero Studios’ Animal Warriors of the Kingdom line has intrigued me from day one, but I never got into it because I already collect so many lines and this was not in my preferred scale. Fortunately Spero sent along some review samples, so I was able to get some hands-on time with these figures. Let’s take a look at Animal Warriors of the Kingdom’s Atreius, Pale, and The Horrid Ravagers!
These figures come in a collector friendly blister card with a cool character checklist on the back.
The Horrid Ravagers
The Horrid Ravagers (THR) look to me to be an army builder and as such come packed with quite a few weapons and three heads. The head pops off fairly easily, but it is a little nicer to heat up the neck for a second to get the alternate heads on.
I love the alternate heads. One is another take on the helmet and the other is an ape with some cool markings on his face and hair and a super long ponytail. Ponytail feels more like a leader than the other two.
The weapons are really cool and include a spear, a club, a sword, and a cutlass. The spear has a neat feature where the point can be used as a knife. I did have a bit of a trouble getting the spear head and staff to connect on this weapon so I did a little peg trimming and just glued it together.
The sculpting on this figure is fantastic. All the fur detail is nice and sharp and while the same body is re-used across all three figures, the armor pieces and alternate heads differentiate each character well.
The paint is pretty nice on these figures and the weapons especially have a nice wash that brings out the detail. I also like the little pin-prick eyes. It’s simple and solid, but also works for me in the way that an animal’s eyes will glow in the dark.
The articulation is very good and has a nice range of motion at all points. The shinguards for the THR even hinge a bit to allow for foot movement. The figures have the following articulation:
- Swivel/hinge shoulders, elbows, wrists, and ankles
- Ball and socket neck, mid-torso, and hips
- Double-hinged knees
The figures came with the above admonition to heat the joints before moving and for the most part I noticed this was not necessary until I opened THR and I twisted the elbow off. So I would take this seriously when you open these.
Pale
Pale comes with a spear, a sword, a bow, and an alternate head.
The alternate head is a wolf and it really brings to mind how much I like how the base body works for multiple animal-man types.
Pale can hold all three weapons pretty well, though the right hand is a little loose for the spear. The bow does not have a string, but there is a notch on each end, so perhaps you can string your own.
Pale’s armor has a great, sleek design and rests securely on the figure. I especially like that the shoulder strap has an extra bit of detail with a pad where it rests on his shoulder. I also like that he can store his sword back there.
Pale’s face has this great placid expression, a killer mohawk and some prodigious sideburns. I get a real “Monkey King” feel from this guy that I enjoy. The paint is good with nice metallics on the weapons and an effective drybrush on the figure.
The articulation is the same as THR’s and I especially like how expressive the head movement is due to the double barbell head sockets.
The figures scale well with Star Wars figures and I’ve seen Empire Toy Works integrate them into his Rotgut station display to great effect.
Atreiu
Atreiu comes with an alternate head, an axe, a sword, and a knife. The alternate head has even stronger feline features than the standard.
The weapons do fit nicely in the hands and feature nice metallic paint and an effective black wash.
The armor is much like Pale’s, but has a different chest armor that gives him a completely different look. The style has such a great ’80s vibe and the only critique I have is that I’d love it if there were spots to store the weapons.
I do have one articulation critique in that the swivel hinges swivel where it connects to the shin rather than swiveling where it attaches to the foot like a Marvel Legends figure. In this way it doesn’t have the rocker action that helps stabilize a pose.
Overall these are three really great figures. They definitely have a flashy style to the designs and effective articulation that makes for a fun figure. Thanks to Spero Studios for sending these along, though now that I have my first taste, I may be addicted!
The figures are available to buy here.
