by Taylor Smart
Hello again mini figure fanatics! I hope you all had a good holiday and have some fun plans to ring in the New Year! As for myself I had a great holiday spent with friends and family, eating food, playing games, it was most enjoyable.
Whilst browsing a local store recently I came across one of Mega Bloks newest lines, Assassin’s Creed. I am a big fan of the games and couldn’t resist buying up a pack to sample the Mega Bloks brand. This is my first Mega Bloks purchase so I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, and I gotta say I was not disappointed. Without further ado I present my views on Mega Bloks: Assassin’s Creed Borgia Guard Pack. Check out what Entertainment Earth has in stock.
THE MEAT
After opening the box I naturally went straight for the mini figures, of which this pack contains five, four Borgia guards and an Assassin. Initially I was quite impressed with these little guys, they are very articulated which makes them ultra poseable. While I was fiddling around exploring the limits of the joints on the assassin I noticed there isn’t much detail on the figure itself, somewhat disappointing in my opinion. The only paint on the whole head is two slim eyebrow lines which look fine but don’t add any expression to the character at all. The guards have three different heads between the four of them, two plain like the assassin, one with a mustache, and one with a full beard which also has black hair instead of brown like the rest. The guards also differ in that all of their pieces aren’t monochromatic. The armor has great paint apps and much stronger detail lines than the assassin does.
These figures also come with some good accessories, including: a red sash, a hidden blade, three cutlass swords, and two halberds. According to Mega Bloks the assassin’s robes are also an accessory, I wouldn’t consider it that way because the figure looks ridiculous without them which makes it more of a necessity.
The last thing included in this pack is a terrain feature. It’s an arched gate that comes from the games, used as a fast travel portal. The designers really nailed it on this piece, the bars, columns, and arch just feel like Assassin’s Creed. The gate is mounted on a couple of small plate pieces which makes it easy to snap figures in while posed.
THE POTATOES
As mentioned above I feel like some of these figures lack facial detail. The beard and mustache look good on the two that have them but they could all use a couple of thin lines to distinguish the jaw line, give detail to the mouth and make the eyes less flat. This would require a fine tip paint brush and a very steady hand, which I lack so I won’t be attempting this myself.
Another thing about these figures is that instead of painted eyes they have small holes drilled in the eye sockets. While somewhat creepy, it doesn’t look that bad. I would still prefer a small spot of color, to provide some variety.
THE DESSERT
All in all these figures are very good and I will definitely purchase a couple more Assassin’s Creed packs, and at least consider other licenses that Mega Bloks uses. The stylization is good but I can’t help but wonder what Diamond Select Toys could do with the Assassin’s Creed license. I find myself preferring the blocky style of Minimates to the stylized “micro action figures” of Mega Bloks.
Q: Do you have any Mega Bloks? What do you think of them? Drop us a line and let us know!
Little Rubber Guys recently showed off some pictures of their upcoming wave 2, roughly due in February, this time in army green. The green used matches up with the latest Onell Design drop as well as the upcoming Banimon figures (due after the new year).
Not really news per se, but while out shopping I found some Star Wars Command figures (last week's column) for 50% off at Smith’s, an affiliate of Kroger. If you are considering purchasing some of these I would try to find them on sale. I got 33 figures for $12.50, that’s roughly 38 cents a figure!
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