Pulp Arcana Studios: Went Down to the Crossroads

Went Down to the Crossroads: Mythic Legions’ The Warrior and The Revenant

Mythic Legions is hands down one of the best figure lines out there right now. Each figure is absolutely filled with character and presence. The motto for Pulp Arcana Studios is “Every Figure Tells a Story.” No line embodies that ethos quite like Mythic Legions, so naturally I have fallen in love with these figures. One of my favorite bits of story lore that Four Horsemen Studios uses is the legend of the Crossroads. You can read it here. I have always had a soft spot for stories of crossroads bargains, and this one is definitely fantastic. When I heard that the figures from this fiction piece would be available at LegionsCon this past year, I was bummed knowing that there was no way I was going to make it out to New Jersey for the event.

Enter the Cabal. The Mythic Legions Cabal is a Facebook group and the semi-official fan group and community for Four Horsemen Studios and Mythic Legions in particular. I have mentioned before that the Cabal is by far the best online community I have ever encountered. Case in point, when I mentioned my sadness at missing out on these figures, Cabal member Mattieu Sanchez came to the rescue. Mattieu offered to pick me up the two Crossroads figures. This act of kindness is emblematic of the type of people that populate the Cabal.

This review is dedicated to the Mythic Legions Cabal and to Mattieu in particular. Thank you brother!

A PULP ARCANA FIGURE FIELD REPORT Mission Brief:

Artifact Identified:

The Warrior/The Revenant

Mythic Legions

Four Horsemen Studios

OUT OF THE CRATE:

The box is a step above the standard Mythic Legions fare. It is a cool grey that captures the darker mood of the Crossroads legend really well. The figure is fully on display through a clear window, showcasing a mixed build of the figure. Fantastic photography work on the back and the story of the Warrior on one side panel and the Revenant on the other complete the package.

The box is marked as a LegionsCon exclusive, and includes the year. This looks great and actually gave me a bit of pause before I opened the box. Now, I have made no secret of the fact that I love getting my figures out of the packaging for photos, but this special edition packaging was good enough to make me have second thoughts.

THE DEVIL’S IN THE DETAILS:

Out of the packaging, the figure is staggeringly good. The detail work on the figure is magnificent, even by the standards of Four Horsemen Studios. Every rivet on the armor has sculpting and paint, and if you look closely, you can see marks on the armor plating from previous battles. The color scheme is a dark and dingy gunmetal grey that works beautifully to sell the story of the Warrior and the Revenant paths on the Crossroads.

And that leads us to one of the greatest features of this figure. With the absolutely massive amount of accessories that comes with the figure, you can create either the Warrior or the Revenant, or mix and match the parts to create the version of the figure you most desire. This is something I have seen before and loved in Mythic Legions and their sci-fi line Cosmic Legions. I specifically called this out in both my Kalian Shunn review and Ph’shr Ryyce, and it is the best. Two figures in one. This figure was purpose built to do this and as a result, you get an amazing customizing experience.

To accomplish this, Four Horsemen Studios has absolutely loaded this figure with accessories. Two different torsos with different armor styles. Two different waist pieces for the armor. Two different sets of pauldrons. Three sets of hands. Belts and straps. For weapons, we get an excellent long bladed sword (a montante style sword I believe), a vicious looking curved blade with a bone handle, and a beautifully sculpted axe. A large kite shield with two different styles of attachments round out the armaments.

The real stars of the accessories though are the heads. The head that comes on the figure in the package is a full helm with a raising visor, with a skull face plate inside. The skull looks incredible, but even better, you can swap the faceplate with a human face with vibrant red eyes if you want a different look. A second helmeted head has a more normal human face and a different style visor. All look fantastic, and these will be the heads that come with the figure when it has a normal release. But for the LegionsCon edition, it also comes with two more heads. One is a screaming zombie head and matching neck peg that is a great vibrant yellow-green. The other is a fantasy style helm with dragon or bat wings that can peg into the side. This one is my favorite and the one I chose to do the photo shoot with. All look incredible, but even better, each one gives you a completely different character. Absolutely love this.

MOBILITY AND MANEUVERS:

In regards to articulation, we have a slightly improved version of the standard mythic, legions articulation suite. A ball joint on top of the neck peg allows, not only easy swapping between the various heads but also a good range of motion to get some good expressive head tilts out of whatever portrait you choose to put on.

This figure uses the Four Horsemen‘s new updated body and gets quite a bit more movement in the arms. This is incredibly helpful, especially when trying to pose with the large two handed sword. You can get a really good double handed pose, which was much more difficult on the old body. There’s also better movement in the abdomen, which provides some really nice posing opportunities as well.

I find the biggest improvement on the new body is the lower body. I found I could get deeper bends to the knees and wider splits at the hips. This goes a long way to getting the figure into more action oriented poses, whether for the shelf or for photography.

While the shifts in articulation may not seem major, these changes to the main body of the line have gone a long way to improve one of the only limitations of Mythic Legions. The beauty of the sculpt is now matched with an impressive articulation suite that just takes everything that much further.

RECOVERED EVIDENCE:

FINAL RECKONING:

In a line known for absolutely incredible figures, this one stands out. The Warrior/Revenant is legend in a collection of legends. If you are drawn to the dark fantasy aesthetic of games like Dark Souls, then this is right up your alley. The ability to customize this figure with all the additional parts sparks creativity and imagination in a way that is so wonderful. It looks beautiful on a shelf and the camera absolutely loves it. The only negative I can say about this figure is that it was incredibly limited in its availability. However, I have heard that Four Horsemen Studios will be releasing this figure at a later date, minus the exclusive heads. When it comes available again, do yourself a favor and snag it. You won’t be disappointed.