I ordered this two Mondays ago, and BigBadToyStore shipped it so fast from Wisconsin via Fedex that SKELETONS ARRIVED ON HALLOWEEN.
BBTS has been my go-to site for high-end figures on sale for a while now. Figures I’m not interested in paying full price for. They’ll frequently put MAFEX, Figuarts, Ultimates, or Storm Collectibles shit on sale, and sometimes, rarely, those prices match up with my value math.
When they put the Golden Axe dwarf with the weird chicken mount on sale, I passed. When they put the bikini babe with the dragon mount on sale, I passed. But Ax Battler, dragon mount, and TWO skeletons? For less than $40 per figure? That had to happen.
This is my first item from Storm since my splurge preorder of the MK11 Goro still hasn’t come out, and I’ve been wondering what justifies their pricing compared to other lines. And… I’m still not sure? Maybe it’s my low vision, but I don’t see what you get necessarily for a high-two, often low-three digit price per figure compared to other lines.
I mean, they’re VERY good. Don’t get me wrong. Just not $80 a figure good.
I will say that, ignoring the price point, Storm is kind of a “best of all worlds” company. Super7 has impeccable paint and sculpts, but skimp on articulation. Figuarts and (I believe, I still don’t own any) MAFEX style figures have great detail and accessories, but are fiddly and a bit… not fragile? But also not sturdy?
The Storm figs aren’t fiddly, are sturdy, have Ultimates-level sculpt and paint, lots of accessories, and Marvel Legends level articulation (for the most part). They are the complete package, with no real drawbacks beyond the super-premium price point. They don’t have quite the level of engineering and poseability that your Jada Street Fighters do, but neither does anyone else.
So, yeah. Ax Battler is great, if a bit plain. Double knees, butterfly shoulders, double elbows that the sculpt gets in the way of, a soft rubber upper torso with lots of bend and crunch, ankles, toe joints, omnidirectional wrists, the whole kaboodle except for the neck which doesn’t move much. Hes got his sword, which is shiny, a second head, and a whole passel of hands.
The dragon mount is full of detail in the sculpt and paint, and is almost as articulated as any mount usually is. Would I have liked more of a ball joint deal in the hips and shoulders? Absolutely. But I’m not surprised they’re not there. And it is stunning looking, and comes with a fireball that can fit in the mouth or on a clear stand. The clear stand can hold multiple fireballs, but it only comes with one.
And then there are the skeletons. The skeletons are missing double elbows and knees because frankly there kind of isn’t room for them, but they do go a little past 90. There’s to joints and a jaw joint and they’re just fantastic if the skeleton I ordered a year ago ever ships it’ll be interesting to compare. They also have five pairs of hands each, a sword, and a shield
All in all, an excellent set, but not worth full price unless you’re really into Golden Axe and have piles of disposable income, in which case you already have it.
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