Greek Mythology Vitruvian H.A.C.K.S. action figures

They're here! Boss Fight Studio, an independent toy company, has created Vitruvian H.A.C.K.S (Highly Articulated Character Kit System) action figures. They were funded via an incredibly successful Kickstarter campaign back in June of 2014. After some major factory manufacturing delays (not their fault), the figures finally shipped in Spring of 2016.

The current series (available now) is Greek Mythology. You might have seen some nicely sculpted and painted PVC figures of knights, dragons, skeletons or mythological creatures before by Papo, Schleich or Safari Limited in hobby shops or places like Michael's or Target. Vitruvian H.A.C.K.S. takes this to a whole new level, because they're fully articulated, and not just static PVC figurines.

Mythological creatures from Papo catalog

I missed out on the Kickstarter back in 2014 (wasn't looking for anything like that) but it's just as well... I normally don't buy 4" action figures, and the original "price of admission" to obtain a few skeletons was too high. Once they opened their Boss Fight Studio Web Store for pre-orders without any additional purchasing requirements to obtain skeletons, I placed my order.

They've arrived, so here's my review:

MYRMIDON WARRIOR

Packaging: Most of the human and Gorgon figures come in clear plastic, collector-friendly packaging, which can be opened and resealed. This is useful if one wants to open them, display the figures and then sell them on ebay after a few years. It comes with a full-color cardboard backing card.

V-Hacks Myrmidon Warrior packaging

Accessories: The accessories vary depending on which figure is ordered. Figures can come with as many as 6 weapons, some with as few as 2. The human figures come with helmets, armor and shields, all beautifully painted and detachable! In particular, the helmet is very well sculpted, and the figure looks good with or without it. The Myrmidon Warrior figure has two swords and a shoulder belt with functional sword scabbard. Personally, I find the PVC belt to be stiff and I prefer real leather belts, but it's understandable why a toy company has to use PVC. A pair of extra hands and a base are also included in the package.

Contents of V-Hacks package

Figure: Just absolutely incredible. The best thing about them: they look like normal human beings, and they're proportioned like normal human beings. That's one of my pet peeves about 4" action figures in general (*ahem* Marvel Legends, modern Gi Joes, etc.)... toy designers attempting to maintain the "heroic proportions" of superheroes/Joes in a 4" size by making the head smaller and smaller, with ridiculously long legs. I hate those with a passion.

So, getting back to V-Hacks. The head is 14cm and the overall male body length is 104cm (I'm using metric because the math is easier). So the head/body proportion is 7.5 heads tall, the generally-accepted "normal" ratio, which is why these look so damn good.

Boss Fight Studio had smartly designed the Greek Mythology series around a base human body, wearing only trunks. Variety within the line is achieved by different body colors, different heads, different armor, and unique paint jobs on the armor and shields. By doing this, they have leveraged the cost of the molding and manufacturing in the most efficient way possible. BTW, the Boss Fight Store sells the basic body (with swappable heads/hands) without armor or accessories for those who want to make customs.

V-Hacks male body

The bodies have 25 points of articulation- a lot in a small package. The only thing that makes these figures short of perfection is the ankles and feet. They only have a 360 degree swivel joint, with no up/down or side tilt movement. Since the V-Hacks skeletons do have the additional foot articulation, it is unfortunate that the human figures do not.

V-HACKS SKELETONS

Packaging: The skeletons are packaged in a simple resealable plastic bag with a header card. They are unpainted, and do not come with accessories, although add-on packages of weaponry and armor are available. It comes with a base, and several mysterious clear plastic objects. These objects are spacers to enable them to fit the armor made for human figures, and foot adaptors to get their feet to fit on the base.

V-Hacks skeleton in packaging

My full review of the skeletons was folded into the article, "A Collection of Toy Skeletons".

It may seem a no-brainer, but the skeletons look way better with the application of a paint wash. This is with Testor's CreateFX acrylic paint wash.

V-Hacks skeleton with paint wash

CONCLUSIONS

I'd highly recommend buying these figures! First, it's supporting an independent toy company. They're out-doing the big corporations in design and quality. Boss Fight Studio doesn't have deep pockets like Hasbro, which is why they had to be funded by Kickstarter. Second, the price is reasonable for what you get. Third, the Greek Mythology line won't be available forever. Supporting them now would ensure the continuation of the planned new themes in the future. Fourth, these are very well made and a lot of fun. Channel your inner Harryhausen!

More skeleton goodness!

How to make your own "Jason and the Argonauts" mini-movie

Extra dose of skeleton goodness!

Note: Since the Myrmidon Warrior and the skeleton did not come with any spears, I created a custom one. It took about half an hour. I shaved down a bamboo skewer, painted it, made the spear head and spear butt from InstaMorph moldable plastic and wrapped some thin leather around the spear shaft. Sealed it with matte acrylic clear coat, and it's good to go!

Dioramas using these figures can be augmented with the static mythological figurines by Safari Limited, particularly the Minotaur, the Centaur, the Cyclops and Cerebrus.


RELATED PAGES:
A Collection of Toy Skeletons
Vitruvian HACKs Warrior Skeleton by Boss Fight Studio