I
just love the names that Blizzard comes up with for the characters they
create.I suppose it’s
the way they attach the profession of the character at the end of the
name – like Jake Bullet, Private Investigator or Jesus Christ,
Superstar or Big Fingers Malone, Bone Crusher.It also makes me want to say their names like a wrestling
announcer.Prince Arthas, Death
Knight continues the Blizzard tradition, and Toycom scores some more
points with another WarCraft figure.
Arthas
stands just over 6” tall and does a good job of snagging the game
likeness.However, I’m
not completely sold on the head sculpt.The hair is fine but he face is only just good enough.I say this mostly because his mug is featured prominently on the
cover of WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne, which provides a great
close-up.The expression is
too neutral and too close to Fabio of “I can’t believe it’s not
butter” fame or Canada’s Prime Minister Chretien to really grab me.Other than the head, the sculpting is very solid, especially the
shoulder pads (with a big skull on the right shoulder) and the great big
sword.The details and
texture give his armor a certain level of realism.
Stability
is always a concern for those of us with shelves packed with action
figures.There’s nothing
quite as annoying as an unstable figure bringing down the whole works in
a domino effect, but that’s not something you need to worry about with
Arthas.The cape pretty
much eliminates the chances of Arthas falling over or being knocked
down.
Articulation
is pretty good, even considering his fairly obtrusive cape and shoulder
armor.There are 13 points
of articulation.(With the
review figure, I managed to snap off his left leg – a little too much
glue on the joint – so after a tricky repair, I have
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12 points of
articulation.)This means
he is quite poseable, upping his display factor.He fits right in with the other WarCraft figures.
As
you can probably imagine, there’s not a lot of playability once
you’ve broken Arthas unless you want to create some particularly
graphic dioramas.That
being said, he is actually playable and there’s been an effort to make
him so.His sword is made
out of bendable plastic.Further
to that, most of the points on his armor are all soft rubber making
impalement and impromptu acupuncture less likely.6” seems to be an industry standard, so Arthas has much
potential with other figures (including the other WarCraft figures).As for the issue of durability… well, my review is someone
clouded thanks to his left leg snapping off at the hip before I had a
chance really play with him. The
ball-jointed shoulders and hips might be susceptible to breakage under
rough play.
Overall,
Prince Arthas, Death Knight is a good WarCraft figure.How much action he’ll see depends on your habits, but you
shouldn’t be disappointed with your purchase if you’re into display
and need to round out your collection.