Thursday, September 23, 2021

McFarlane Toys Geralt of Rivia - Witcher 3 Video game (Kaer Morhen Armor)

 


Geralt is the legendary monster hunter protagonist of the Witcher book series and games. Witchers, for those unfamiliar, are magically mutated and highly trained monster hunters whose primary goals in life are to mercenary out their services in the practice of their craft. As the main character of the franchise, he is rough around the edges and brooding. He is also sympathetic and helpful (for some coins!). The game itself made him seem a lot more in touch with humanity than the books or other media make him seem. He carries two swords; his regular steel sword and his silver sword for monster slaying (many seem vulnerable to silver in this universe). Witchers have also undergone deadly trials of poisonous mutagens that give them enhanced strength, speed, and agility. Their eyes have mutated to be able to see well at night, and they are able to use rudimentary magic called signs.

This figure version of Geralt is wearing the standard armour he starts with out of Kaer Morhen, the training location of the School of the Wolf. They did fairly well for the sculpt and details here. The face isn't perfect to the game, being a bit of a soft sculpt for the contours of the jaw and cheeks. The articulation holds up fairly well with parts of the body being a rubbery overlay. I don't super like how when that is done, the figure barely crunches forward or back at all. He strikes a pose very well and has good reach with his arms for a double-handed sword grab or a sword draw. The only other thing I wish is that the swords were better painted. They're alright, but the blade itself starts to look somewhat like translucent plastic in the right light instead of solidly painted steel or silver colour. 

Wednesday, September 15, 2021

McFarlane Toys Eredin - Witcher 3 Video game

 

Eredin Breacc Glas AKA Sparrowhawk is the fearsome leader of the Wild Hunt in the appropriately titled Witcher 3: Wild Hunt video game by CD Projekt Red. It was a fantastic game, and I think I liked the two DLC's Blood and Wine and Heart of Stone as much as the original game story content. ANYWAY, Eredin is an elf who by succession becomes the leader of the wild hunt, whose original objective was to raid villages and take humans as slaves for the elves. Over time, they lose the ability to use gates to travel to different worlds. The only way to quickly travel again was to use Elder Blood, present in the mysterious Cirri, adopted by Geralt the Witcher. This said, Eredin for the main villain gets the LEAST screentime I've ever seen, not that it isn't impactful or ominous...but it's very little. 

This figure is a great representation of Eredin, full of great armoured textures, with a fantastically sculpted skull helm worn by him in the game. Too bad they never go with an unmasked head but instead save it for extra sales mileage in another figure that is nearly identical. A lot of the armour and parts are surprisingly rubbery, which I wasn't expecting. Even the shin guards!