Four Horsemen Studios Mythic Legions

altcunningham said:
I don't have the source, but when I used to watch Four Horsemen content regularly on YouTube, that was absolutely a discussion that came up from... What's his name, Jeremy? They totally mentioned that they like to just kit bash things together and go well, that's cool and occasionally make a new head or something for it.
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I could get behind that if it were once in a while and the kitbash comes together naturally and is just so cool they need to make it official. But looking at their output, it's so obvious that it's just.. EVERY kitbash becomes a figure because it's easy and cheap to do. There's no art to it. It's just 'slap all these parts together and give it a REALLY stupid name.' And you end up with an entire toyline where 50% of it looks like the kitbash army that it is.
Which, don't get me wrong, if that works for people that is great. But in such a case I'd still say their work is over-priced, takes too long, and is often under-accessorized (or at least two out of the three.. take your pick).
 
Damien said:
No, that's definitely something I notice when looking at peoples' photos of their collections and the different factions. Like, it feels like there's very little legitimate identity to anything in the line because it's based so heavily on re-use with little to no attempt made to hide it in the way Classified does.
And in some ways, the figures look to me like they were based more on what parts were available than actually creating a character. You know, the sense of "why is this character made up of these parts?" and the answer is "we slapped all these parts together on the table and named them, that's why."



Different lines, though. So different tolerances. To my point earlier, I think you get away with it a LOT more in superheroes because they're all wearing spandex and a lot of the arguments come down to whether individual collectors think this or that body -really- works for that character. It's more about interpretation.
With Legions you can make the same argument that the parts work elsewhere, but it's a more obviously manufactured excuse than a legitimate reason with foundation in previous media. Ten superheroes share the same body because they're just muscley guys with basically the same build and those figures are fairly accurate to the existing source they're based on. Ten Legions figures share the same body because the 4H wanted to save money.

That being said, I think the big complaint is, again, the combination of things. Like.. there's tons of re-use, but the figures take a really long time to come out AND they cost a lot. All three of those things should not be true at the same time. And with all that re-use, the 4H can't throw in the extra hands with the figures - you gotta buy them for half the cost of the figure itself? That doesn't make sense. Especially when you realize something like extra hands are so often thrown in with other lines specifically because they cost almost nothing to make and add a perception of value to the package.

I've said it before so it won't surprise anyone; I just think the 4H get WAY too much credit and far too much slack from collectors because of a cult of personality around them. Not because of anything they do to earn it.
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And not even mentioned in the argument above (with which I agree) is that 4H joints are designed poorly and often start loose or get loose through minimal posing and/or heated pop and swap, and they don't get nearly enough pushback on that either. $50 figures shouldn't fall apart because joints are over-tailored for swappability.

They do photograph well because they've top notch sculpting and paint, but they're nowhere near as fun to pose as a Marvel Legend. And posing a Marvel Legend doesn't generally loosen the joints.
 
bat said:
And not even mentioned in the argument above (with which I agree) is that 4H joints are designed poorly and often start loose or get loose through minimal posing and/or heated pop and swap, and they don't get nearly enough pushback on that either. $50 figures shouldn't fall apart because joints are over-tailored for swappability.

They do photograph well because they've top notch sculpting and paint, but they're nowhere near as fun to pose as a Marvel Legend. And posing a Marvel Legend doesn't generally loosen the joints.
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Oh, absolutely. I cited that a ways back as a top reason I stopped buying 4H figures in the first place; they couldn't hold a pose after a few sessions messing around with them, if they could to begin with. Half of them couldn't stay standing on their own within a month of owning them. And I heard it got a lot worse when the parts-swapping became more prevalent in the line than it was during the Birds/1.0 Knights days.
I've been told they're better now but also I've been told their not.
 
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I haven’t ordered the new wave yet. Not sure what to get and whether to order at 4H or BBTS this time.

One can easily get sucked into the story and want the whole wave. But the standouts to me are Delphina and Vitus since I loved the originals, and these updates look great. And the crab looks very cool. A treasure chest would be a lot of fun.

Regarding the other conversation, Mythic Legions has fantastic sculpting and paint work. And nobody else makes knights and horses like these.

There’s reuse but also a lot of new parts being developed. Everything has been upgraded. The knights now all use the superior Valiant Knight body. The skeletons got upgraded. The basic muscular body and 2.0 body are getting upgrades as well.


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Akatsuki said:
There’s reuse but also a lot of new parts being developed. Everything has been upgraded. The knights now all use the superior Valiant Knight body. The skeletons got upgraded. The basic muscular body and 2.0 body are getting upgrades as well.
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Oh, for sure. But let's not forget that the first Kickstarter for those 1.0 knights was almost a decade ago. It's not like the 4H exactly jumped into upgrades. They absolutely got their money's worth on anything they designed before all these upgrades they're selling people on.
(I actually did pre-order the new knight dude with the lion-face helmet... he looks cool as shit -- I'm just not sold on re-buying him again 47 more times just so the 4H can laze about throwing paint colors at a model in photoshop and giving it new names.)
 
Damien said:
I could get behind that if it were once in a while and the kitbash comes together naturally and is just so cool they need to make it official. But looking at their output, it's so obvious that it's just.. EVERY kitbash becomes a figure because it's easy and cheap to do. There's no art to it. It's just 'slap all these parts together and give it a REALLY stupid name.' And you end up with an entire toyline where 50% of it looks like the kitbash army that it is.
Which, don't get me wrong, if that works for people that is great. But in such a case I'd still say their work is over-priced, takes too long, and is often under-accessorized (or at least two out of the three.. take your pick).
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When I was in the Cabal and other high end figure custom groups, I always wondered why they just don't sell blanks or parts regularly since most of the people were getting these individual figures to tear down and mash up. I know there are those who do enjoy the lore and the characters matter, but it just feels like money left on the table.

We do have the knights now. These thoughts predated that. But they can do more.

Anyway. Really want Delphina 2.0.
 
They did that Legion builder thing recently as well, but my understanding is that's a convention-only thing. So... punishing people that don't have the money or live in just the right place to travel to go see them, I guess.
 
I know the appeal of this wave really should be the monstrous folks because those have the most changes, but for me, battle-banker, greed-demon, and "used his face to stop a moving ship" pirate were what really caught my eye in this wave, plus I've wanted Delphina and Vitas for a long time and the reissues will be better than the originals, so they got me on those. I went back and forth on the walrus fisherman and decided he'd be my weirdo pickup for preorder. I may nab a few of the others through BBTS, too. I want to love the mermaid/siren but I haven't seen a single figure on that tail body yet adn I want to see one in action before I buy one.

The crab is nifty but I can't find room for my trolls as it is.
 
I went with Vitus, Delphina, Imp with the treasure chest, and Prosperius (because the soldier look is cool and the soft goods surcoat will look cool on a knight).

Conflicted on the giant crab. I want to see how the articulation works.


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You're not alone. The most compelling figure in the wave to me is the Imp. If he weren't wearing all the weird armor pieces, I probably would have tried to pre-order him somewhere. Or he'd at least be on my 'when he's in stock' list.
 
They're "anticipating a 2027 release". So possibly not until 2028? I'll wait and see how they are when they make it out.
 
Tough choices. I really wish I could swing the all-in as I'm probably gonna end up with most of these when all's said and done but I ended up grabbing the two big boys — the crab and the walrus — since the 25% preorder savings is a bit more than the standard figures. I also couldn't stop myself from grabbing Delphina and Vitus as well as the chest set.
 
I’ve been avoiding All-In orders for a while now. Rising prices and my realization I need to be more choosey. Also, I’ve been with the line since the start and have hundreds of figures from it. Hard to keep that passion and dedication going.

That said, I didn’t pre-order anything from this wave via the 4H. Yes, their prices are cheaper. But they have higher shipping than BBTS. Some figures end up going on sale. Empire also often has sales on their MyL figures. And the 4H requires money upfront. When your order won’t fulfill for 18-24 months, it’s a turnoff to pay it upfront.

So I preordered the crab and walrus from BBTS. All told, it’ll probably cost me about $20 more. If I want more (manta ray and Vitus maybe), I’ll just order them from BBTS or someone else.

Regarding the line in general. They’re finally improving articulation. They sure were slow to roll out new parts in the line, but they seem more willing to do so lately. Adding softgoods to many figures obviously does add to the cost. So yes, there’s reuse but the softgoods aren’t reuse. Every toyline has reuse. They see what and where they can reuse stuff. Occasionally make new parts here or there and sometimes make an all-new figure. The 4H have always been good at reusing stuff and making it feel new with a different paint scheme. Their great paint apps do a lot of heavy lifting. Obviously the reuse sticks out on things like the legion builders and reinforcements. I do feel like recent waves have done a good job of making characters stick out and feel different. But the line in general is getting more expensive and gotten to the point where I’m buying way less.

While trying to decide on what to preorder from the new wave, I watched the reveal video for it. skipped through most of it as it was a 4hr panel (woof). The RPG is a dumb thing and I don’t really want to open that can of worms too much. The Kickstarter for it starts at the end of February. I don’t give a shit about the game or minis, but the associated figures could be good. They showed a paladin guy, like SDCC one but in red/gold. It’s a base figure. You can then buy a cleric accessory pack (new head, weapons, and accessories). What I found interesting is the cloth goods on the base figure are plastic. Which I assume brings the cost down quite a bit. So these base “build your character” figures could be a good way to get some basic figures at a lower cost. They also mentioned head and weapon packs for this system.

Lastly, regarding selling parts separately. I don’t think it would be worth it for them. Having to produce and store a ton of extra parts. And fulfill orders for all that. So much easier for them to just sell you a complete figure. Way less SKUs for them to wrangle. And they can oversell you on a regular or deluxe figure to get the parts you want.
 
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