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We already took a look at the heroic Bronze Dwarf Legion Builder, so now let's examine its more evil counterpart.
Judging by the side of the package, the
Orc Legion Builder belongs to the Legion of Arethyr. Considering that they're "made up of the most savage and brutal warriors that Mythoss has to offer" and that "when given the choice between reason and blunt force, reason never wins out," that seems perfectly reasonable.
After all, our modern concept of orcs comes from the same place as all our fantasy tropes: the totally-not-racist-you-guys JRR Tolkien. I mean, brutish dimwits suitable only for being cannonfodder soldiers in others' armies? That's straight out of Sauron's playbook, and yet it's the way pop culture always treats orcs, because that's what we've come to expect. You really want to throw everyone for a loop? Give us an orcish culture based on Ancient Greece, with philosopher orcs wandering around in togas and inventing democracy, while the elves are the ones going into battle naked and painted blue.
This figure was one of the Kickstarter's stretch goals, unlocked at $190,000, which I think means it took about 20 minutes for it to get there? That's an exaggeration, but not a big one - the Horsemen's Kickstarters always fill up fast. The Legion Builder shares a lot
of his parts with Urkku, a named orc that had already been unlocked, but while that figure was barechested and wore silver armor, this one has a breastplate and armor that's closer to black. Gunmetal grey, let's call it.
The chest and skirt armor is all the same as the Bronze Dwarf wore, which really shows off the differences in these figures: the loincloth that hung down to the dwarf's mid-shin doesn't even reach the top of the knees here, despite being the same mold. The orc boots and gloves are very angular and jagged, which suits them as a race, and there are lots of scratches, cuts, and pitting sculpted in. To make his chest look different, he's got an add-on collar that plugs into the back of the neck. His upper arms and legs remain bare.
The standard orc helmet is pretty imposing. A sharp ridge runs over the top like a mohawk, coming to a sharp point in the front so that he can kill people by headbutting them. The eyes are concealed in dark slits, but then there's a gap for his nose and space for his big underbitten
tusks to jut out. His large ears poke out the sides, so there's no confusion about his species.
Unsurprisingly, the paint on these figures is superb. As mentioned, the armor is dark grey, and there are some silver scratches painted on the collar piece. His skin is olive green, and there are some darker shadows airbrushed expertly along the low points of his anatomy. The teeth are off-white, and there's no spillage anywhere. Terrific work!
The Mythic Legions figures are
incredibly well-articulated, and also incredibly modular. The Orc Legion Builder has a balljointed head, swivel neck, swivel/hinge shoulders and elbows, swivel forearms, swivel/hinge wrists, balljointed waist, swivel/hinge hips, swivel thighs, swivel/hinge knees, and swivel/hinge/swivel ankles. Pretty much every one of those joints can be pulled apart with only a modicum of force, allowing you to mix and match parts to create your own unique designs. The waist armor is all soft PVC, so the legs don't get impeded at all.
Building a ragtag army is tough when everybody looks completely identical, so this figure comes with a selection of accessories that allow you to customize his appearance. We begin with an axe and a two-handed
sword, both of which also came with the dwarf. You'll remember that the axe is itself slightly modular, in that you can remove the spike from the back and replace it with a second blade, but you can also take the caps off the ends of the handle. Beyond those, he has a second, plainer sword, a brown strap that can slip around his chest, and a pair of shoulder pauldrons that are just as pointy and wild as his boots and gloves. By swapping different accessories on and off, you could easily make dozens of orcs with different load-outs, and yes they'd all look like they belonged to one army.
But even if you only get a single Orc Legion Builder, he's still going to be good. You could get absolutely no other Mythic Legions figure and still find uses for him. Maybe he's one of Skeletor's minions. Maybe he's trying to invade Asgard and Thor is fighting him back. Maybe Wonder Woman is going to send him back to Tartarus. Maybe make up your own story if you want. But if you miss the Mythic Legions, you'll be sorry.
-- 07/03/16
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