Jon Snow

Meet Jon Snow. He knows nothing. Nothing except how to please a woman. BOOM! John Snow is the illegitimate son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark Ned Stark and a barmaid named Wylla - thus the surname "Snow," which is the sign of bastards in the North (other regions have their own specific names). Not recognized as a legitimate heir and unable to inherit any of his father's property or power, he opted to travel north to the Wall and join the Night's Watch: Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come. Jon Snow is played by Kit Harrington, an actor who's best known for playing Jon Snow. The likeness (by Edward Mosqueda) is decent, but it's kind of brought low by the paint. His beard is too full and thick, and his eyebrows are both too high and too arching, like he's been taking makeup advice from the cholas. With some work on your part, this could be nearly perfect. Joining the Night's Watch is also known as "taking the black," because that's what they wear - it's also why the wildlings call them "Crows." The idea is that they've rejected allegience to any specific noble house, so they reject all the heraldry, as well. Jon is wearing the Watch uniform: typically faux-medieval-ish gear, all done in black. Rene Aldrete has sculpted him a heavy cape with fur on the shoulders, and a gambeson that buckles down the left side of the chest. His belt is looped over around itself, and he's wearing thick boots and gloves. He's ready for the Ren Faire! The paint is mostly matte black (actually dark grey), but there is a little bit of color to be found here: silver buckles and brown straps holding his shirt closed, with a drybrushing along the lower edge. There's also a drybrushing on his feet, but it ends immediately at the ankle - they didn't bother to continue it on the other parts of his leg. The idea is probably to look like that frosty crust that forms on your clothes when you're trudging through the snow every day (Great Lakes region represent!!), but in practice it just ends up looking like a paint mistake. The paint effect is carried over to his cloak, as well, but there it's even more obviously just stripes. Jon's articulation is good. He has a balljointed head and neck, swivel/hinge shoulders, elbows, and wrists, a balljointed torso, balljointed hips, swivel thighs, double-hinged knees, and hinged/rocker ankles. The joints are molded from clear plastic, which we can say with all certainty because his right leg and his head are supremely easy to disarticulate. [His head comes off? Guess he really does take after his dad! BOOM! --ed.] They're also easy to put back on, thank goodness, and nothing has broken yet; I'm lucky in that regard, because a lot of people have been having trouble. So be careful, and test the figure as soon as you get him in case you need to exchange him for one that's not broken. He comes with a single accessory: Longclaw, the Valyrian steel sword he was given by Lord Jeor Mormont. Longclaw is (fittingly) a bastard sword, which means it's longer than a longsword, but shorter than a greatsword; bastard swords are also called hand-and-a-half swords, since you can comfortably wield it either two-handed (for power) or one-handed (to use a shield in the other). The accessory is 3¾" long and fits in the sheath on his left hip perfectly. The blade has an intricate sculpt, but the pommel still looks like a bear, not the wolf that it was remade as when it was passed to Jon. Jon Snow isn't as impressive a figure as Daenerys was, but he's still really good. Probably not $20 good, but that's a decision you have to make for yourself. -- 06/04/14

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