Third Party Figures

Tip of the Day: do not spill her pint.

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She looks ace, is generally solid but holy hell, whoever thought that scabbard connection was a good idea deserves a punch to the balls.
 
I received my Queen of Shadows not Sylvanas from 5k.

I don't play Warcraft anymore. Sometimes I'm tempted but I don't think it holds anything for me these days. But I have a lot of nostalgia for the actual franchise. Warcraft 3 and the Frozen throne is one of my favorite strategy games for gameplay and story. I have always loved the Horde in WoW, and I was a blood elf Paladin for most of that career as soon as I was able to jump to a blood elf. Which are high elves. Which is what Sylvanas was.

So to have a Sylvanas figure after 22 years. Damn.

I know there have been statues and I think a Heroes of the Storm line, but I never had them.

I have to preface all that history with the character because it colors some of my opinion on this, but even without franchise nostalgia, I love this figure.

It looks high quality. It feels high quality. It feels sturdy. Hasbro couldn't even give Kitty her boot piping, but this figure has a spinal cord bow, spinal knives, and a bunch of painted and sculpted detailing on the leather armor. You get a wired cape.

But above all. As much as I love the previous blood elf death knight, this figure feels sturdy. This figure feels like the reliability of a Hasbro or a McFarlane, with import detailing and articulation. And the fact these are third-party amuses me.

The accessories (knives, bow, quiver) are minimal but essential. I won't count the hands and alternate heads because I think that's bare minimum these days, domestic or import. Obviously they go above and beyond all of our beloved domestic companies with the portraits and hand assortment.

I think this one snuck in at the last minute to become my figure of the year. It's the perfect mix of great engineering, amazing artistry, playability, and just hitting that nostalgic frequency that drives our whole hobby.

Worth noting that I would also throw Rebecca and Not Chun-Li on my top 10, so it's a good year for the gray market.

I also mentioned I'm purging again, and it's figures like this that really make it easy for me to reassess things on the enjoyment scale. Can't wait for Tyrande. I think I have to go back and find that undead warlock now too. And the orcs. Here we go.
 
I'm still mad about those old McFarlane Metal Gear Solid 2 figures only having swivel shoulders and hips! As a kid I was so stoked to finally have MGS figures and McF did us dirty.

Anyway, Hildr looks nice, but this girl looks much better (IMHO):
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2026 I'll be investing heavily in muscle gals, Hasbro and Mattel are dropping the ball on female figures so I'll just give small companies that money instead.
 
Ugh the preposed and articulation on those MGS2. Raiden perma crouched. Build a Ray was cool, though.

Yeah, I will invest in these for sure. It's the year of my barbarian woman, and I'm down.
 
I received my Queen of Shadows not Sylvanas from 5k.

I don't play Warcraft anymore. Sometimes I'm tempted but I don't think it holds anything for me these days. But I have a lot of nostalgia for the actual franchise. Warcraft 3 and the Frozen throne is one of my favorite strategy games for gameplay and story. I have always loved the Horde in WoW, and I was a blood elf Paladin for most of that career as soon as I was able to jump to a blood elf. Which are high elves. Which is what Sylvanas was.

So to have a Sylvanas figure after 22 years. Damn.

I know there have been statues and I think a Heroes of the Storm line, but I never had them.

I have to preface all that history with the character because it colors some of my opinion on this, but even without franchise nostalgia, I love this figure.

It looks high quality. It feels high quality. It feels sturdy. Hasbro couldn't even give Kitty her boot piping, but this figure has a spinal cord bow, spinal knives, and a bunch of painted and sculpted detailing on the leather armor. You get a wired cape.

But above all. As much as I love the previous blood elf death knight, this figure feels sturdy. This figure feels like the reliability of a Hasbro or a McFarlane, with import detailing and articulation. And the fact these are third-party amuses me.

The accessories (knives, bow, quiver) are minimal but essential. I won't count the hands and alternate heads because I think that's bare minimum these days, domestic or import. Obviously they go above and beyond all of our beloved domestic companies with the portraits and hand assortment.

I think this one snuck in at the last minute to become my figure of the year. It's the perfect mix of great engineering, amazing artistry, playability, and just hitting that nostalgic frequency that drives our whole hobby.

Worth noting that I would also throw Rebecca and Not Chun-Li on my top 10, so it's a good year for the gray market.

I also mentioned I'm purging again, and it's figures like this that really make it easy for me to reassess things on the enjoyment scale. Can't wait for Tyrande. I think I have to go back and find that undead warlock now too. And the orcs. Here we go.
I got this one yesterday. Last year, Mithril released Guardian of the Horde and she turned out to be a surprise favorite. My Queen had a hip joint that got tighter and squeekier the more I moved it and I made the mistake of deciding to pop it off for a better look. Now it pops off a little too easily if I extend the leg either too far in a split pose or too high of a leg kick. It's still very functional, but this turned out to be FAFO situation on my part. I should've let the shock oil eventually work it's way into the joint.

This is my second not Sylvanas and I've never played one second of Warcraft. I also have this one in 1/6 released a number of years ago. It's not quite as nice as these promo pics, but still a decent figure (with terrible ankles).
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