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Upgrade Shark

Fortnite
by yo go re

You're gonna need a bigger fishing rod.

Okay, I don't know why Hasbro is calling this an "Upgrade Shark," when in the game they're known as Loot Sharks. Introduced in Chapter 2 Season 3, after the island was flooded, Loot Sharks swam around the coastal areas, eating any loot they came across and attacking players if they entered the shark's eyeline. If you killed the shark, it dropped all the loot it had eaten - but with 2,000 hit points, that was no easy feat, especially since they could do 60 damage to you per attack.

Loot Sharks are based on great whites, so in the game, they're really quite large in comparison to the player. This one is about 10" long, which is far from insubstantial, but is probably better scaled for Jazwares' 4" line than Hasbro's 6". The body is blocky, fitting the Fortnite artstyle, and it's sculpted with various nicks and wrinkles. The body is molded with a bit of dynamism, a few bends rather than just being straight. The only articulation is the hinged jaw - though they did it in such a way that the upper teeth move as well, to do that thing where a shark's gums become visible when it opens its mouth to bite. Keen!

There's a bit of fishing line wrapped around the shark's fin, representing its secondary (tertiary?) in-game effect: there's fishing in Fortnite, and if you cast a line in front of a shark, it will bite it and start dragging you around like a water skier. You can steer it, boost its speed, make it jump, use it to attack other players... it's technically a vehicle.

This set includes a fishing pole and the skis that instantly appear on your feet when the shark grabs your line - sadly, my Meowscles isn't compatible with them, so let's thank Rippley for modeling. The pole has a real string line, and the bobber can plug onto the tip for storage. technically the line around the fin should be the same as the line from the pole - it has its own bobber and hook - but that's just faked here. The accessory has a small hook that can fit snugly into a loop on the bigger version, allowing you to at least simulate the proper connection.

When you defeat a Loot Shark in the game, it just sort of spasms and then fades out like any other beaten target, leaving behind whatever loot was in its belly. This toy is a bit more visceral. The shark is done in two pieces, and you physically split it in half. Impressively, Hasbro's sculptors detailed the insides; it's not guts or anything, but there are ribs rib-like structures (since sharks don't have bones) and is molded in pink instead of grey. There are matching indentations in the front half of the body, so those "ribs" help hold everything together.

A Loot Shark with nothing in it wouldn't really be a "Loot" Shark, would it? So even beyond the fishing rod and water skis, this set includes some more extras: a large jar of Shield Potion, a Pump Shotgun, and the Shrimpy back bling, which is a giant piece of sushi nigiri that can plug into the uniform backpack hole on Hasbro's figures. Neat! And while the temptation might have been to load the shark up with the fishing rod, the skis, and then three random pieces, making them standard was the right way to go.

The quote/unquote "Upgrade" Shark is sold in packaging similar to the other Fortnite Victory Royale Series figures, though here its' horizontal rather than vertical, and there's no window showcasing the figure inside (because, like so many vehicles over the years, it had to be done unassembled to easily fit in the box). Both McFarlane and Jazwares before Hasbro have released vehicles for their FN figures, but neither of them did it as quickly, or did they do one that's at once a ride, an enemy, and a mobile treasure chest. The Loot Shark is a neat offering, showing there's more potential in this line than just "here's a new, popular skin."

-- 01/21/22


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