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Series: Warcraft
III
Craftmanship: 9.4
out of 10
- Heavy, heavy figure
- Weapons stay secure
in his hands
- Stands easily
- Moderate poseability
- Excellent paint application
Playability: 8.9
out of 10
- Big weapons and skull pack
hard to lose
- Helmet easy to lose
- Big fights with Medieval Spawn and Small Soldiers
figures
- Solid and sturdy
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Muradin Bronzebeard (Warcraft
III)
Most people don’t think about action figures when
someone says “Blizzard.” You might think “computer games” or you might think
“the average September in
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Edmonton”, but not action figures. All Blizzard
really has to worry about is making games, which is why it’s so heartening to
see how much effort has gone into the Warcraft III figures. They could have
churned out crap, but they went that extra four or five kilometers to make these
figures not only appeal to fans of the Warcraft series, but also casual
collectors and kids.
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Muradin Bronzebeard is a very good example of this ethic.
He stands about 6 ½” with his helmet on and cuts a decidedly Orc-crushing
stance. The amount of detail is commendable. Each scale of armor, each fold in
his ear lobes, each chip and etch on his hammer and axe, the skull pack, the
braided hair, the scratch marks on his left shoulder, his gauntlets… Muradin’s
one of those figures you can stare at all day and still find more small touches.
Highlighting all this sculpting goodness is an outstanding paintjob. His
screaming mouth exposes a detailed color job – each tooth is defined. I looked
hard for any oversplash but couldn’t find any.
Standing Muradin is a simple matter of finding a flat surface. He’s very stable
owed to the size of his feet and the general immobility of his legs, which
results in a “one stance” situation. He has articulation at the hips, waist, and
just below his knees. He has corresponding articulation in his upper body and
these allow for quite a few different poses. Although his neck is articulated it
might as well be immovable since his beard gets in the way. So while he’s no
match for Super Poseable Spider-Man, he’s got enough mobility to give you more
than one pose.
This limited articulation boosts the Playability score quite a bit.
There are no delicate points of articulation – he’s built like a rock and
actually weighs about as much as one. The only real subtractions from
playability are the skull pack and helmet. Both come off easily – the helmet
more than the pack – and can be lost. If you lose the helmet you can’t get away
from the fact he certainly looks like Mr. Clean’s extremely angry alter-ego. But
if you’re concerned about losing either item, gluing them in place is an easy
out. (They peg in otherwise.) The hammer and axe are way harder to lose – mostly
because they fit his hands so well. Once they are installed they’re not easily
removed, which comes in handy when smacking around Small Soldiers figures or
facing off against Medieval Spawn figures. There are many play possibilities but
if all else fails, set him up with the other Warcraft III figures – they make
quite the trio.
If you’re a Warcraft fan, you should definitely have at least two of the three
figures, and one of them should be Muradin – this is one dwarven explorer you
don’t want to miss. For everyone else – I’m thinking of the occasional buyer –
Muradin’s worth the money because you get a good-looking figure that holds up
well to rough play.
- Omni
(July 11, 2002)
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