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Forces of Valor
Pirates, Knights and Romans!

L is here tonight with a review of the new Forces of Valor historical figures - take it away, L!

"Forces of Valor" is a line from a somewhat smaller toy company called Unimax, and until recently they've exclusively been manufacturing 20th century military toys, primarily die-cast tanks and plastic figures in 1:32 scale. While Target has seen a limited selection, hobby shops have sold a constant stream of varied kinds of armored vehicle in this line for quite some time now -- the hobby shop versions are more elaborately painted, and typically come with more accessories.

Recently, Target started receiving shipments of a new line for Forces of Valor, "Historical Legends." The HL line features four genres of fighting man -- ancient Romans, 100 Years' War i.e. knights, Vikings, and pirates. They are all in 1:32 scale (which means they are about 2" high), and none of them is articulated. There are two large packs for each genre (except Vikings, which only has one), as well as a smaller pack; most figures are repeated in the packs, but some are not, which means that if you want them all, you'll end up with several more than once, but if you are content to be missing just one figure, you'll be okay buying just one pack. 

I'll be reviewing one of the larger blisters for 3 of the 4 genres -- Pirates, Vikings, and Romans. As a result, I'll be covering most of the figures now starting to show up, but not all.


Packaging - ***
These are standard blisters for mass market products, and as a result, there's no real flash or dazzle here. That said, they are quite nice. The cardback is a nice parchment-colored, pockmarked image that resembles a map, and the figures are clearly displayed along with their accessories and the name of the product. It ain't flashy, but it's attractive. These are pretty collector friendly, too, in that there are no twisties anywhere; everything just pops right out once you tear off that blister. The package is pretty efficient, too -- no wasted space, really, and not a lot of extra cardback, so they'll pack up neatly for any MIB collectors. Of course, the design makes it impossible to put anything back once it's been opened, so you'll probably be tossing the packaging if you open these.

Sculpting - ***1/2
I almost gave these three stars, because there are problems, but then I thought better of it. The faces on most of the figures are somewhat lacking in detail; the paint is a bit thick, too, which doesn't help, but in general they don't take your breath away with how impressive they are. At the same time, the rest of the sculpts are quite nice, far nicer than the WWII figures this line has released. The buckles and straps and weapons are all sharply defined, the complex armor on the Romans is extremely well executed, the flow of the sashes on the pirates, as are things like the wood grain in the Viking shields and the hay in their blockade. The folds in the clothing are well done, enough so that in some cases it really is astonishing that these are such a small scale. On figures this small, it is impressive to see just how much detail can be packed in. It also helps that the poses are so classic. Sure, one of the pirates looks like he's in the middle of some unfortunate convulsion, but with just about everyone else you've got the poses you'd pretty much hope to get. There is a fencing pirate, a commanding pirate leading a charge, a pirate firing a rifle. There's a Roman charging through a line of foes on horseback, another throwing a spear, another at the ready with a sword. There is a Viking ready to throw an axe, one firing a bow, and another leading a charge. All classic poses for figures like this, all dynamic and interesting and fun -- these figures actually work well if you get duplicates, as a mass of them together on display make a colorful, interesting warband.

Paint - ****
The sculpt is nice, but admittedly it isn't flawless and you aren't going to be screaming for joy about how perfect it is. The paint, however, is pretty stunning. If these were poorly painted, it would make the whole concept pointless, so Unimax went all out here. The color choices are fantastic, with bright colors where appropriate (Viking heraldry, Pirate overcoats, etc) and washes to bring out the detail. Most importantly, however, there is no bleed at all. The lines on the striped pants on one pirate are crisp and clean; the harness on the Roman horse is sharply defined; buckles and weapons are clean and sharp. There may be a few places I haven't checked, I'm not quite as thorough in my paint examinations as some collectors. Still, the paint job on these is impressive enough that they make a fantastic first impression, and they hold up pretty well to closer examination as well. It's enough to earn a top score from me, at least. Again, though, I have to note that the faces are not quite what they could be -- even if the sculpt problems are not due to over painting, there is not much painted detail on the faces either. They are adequate, but not spectacular.

Articulation - Nada
I almost skipped this section, since these are not designed for articulation, but I didn't want anyone to miss this. These are little green army men, they aren't action figures. No articulation at all, not even a little bit. Not even a little little. Nothin'. 

Accessories - ****
I don't care for accessories with action figures, since most of the time they take up too much space and are pretty irrelevant. But for a line like this, accessories are crucial. Figures in small scales are primarily accessories themselves, designed to work with playsets and accessories to create whole environments; if this line were just a bunch of small figures it'd be neat, but hardly worth getting excited about. But what makes this line promising is the accessories included. The Vikings include a barrier of hay and shields pierced with arrows, as well as two spare shields. The Romans include a ballista (essentially a catapult that fires giant spears instead of rocks) and ammo for it. The pirate pack is both the best and the worst of this lot -- on the one hand, it includes two crates of cannonballs, a positionable cannon (with rolling wheels), a treasure chest overflowing with booty, and two mysterious cloth sacks. On the other hand, the accessories feel far too small for the figures. The cannon is tiny, the cargo sacks are miniscule, the only thing that feels like it could be the right size is the treasure chest, and it wouldn't be a problem if it were twice as a large. It's a shame, since the accessories themselves are such great ideas, and such classic piratical gear. Other sets include barrels, crates, a wheelbarrow full of hay. Aside from the scale problems with the pirate gear, these are great accessories, really nicely done, and they add to the atmosphere of a display with these guys immensely. Based on previous product lines, it's a safe bet that more accessories are on the way. If we're really lucky, and the line takes off, we might see things like vehicles (rowboats for the pirates and the Vikings, carts for the knights, etc.) Oh, each figure also comes with a removable base as well. No spare weapons, though, at least in these three sets -- extra shields for Vikings and siege weaponry for the Romans, but that's it.

Fun Factor - ****
I suppose some kids are real sticklers for articulation, or only care about licensed properties. Fun is pretty subjective, after all. But still, these are colorful, durable figures in dynamic poses that can fight each other. Pirates and Vikings and knights and so on -- what kid can resist that? And this is one of those times when "Fun factor" doesn't translate to "Will kids like it?" These are simply fun toys, fun for any age. Colorful, small, durable, cheap -- FUN.

Value - ****
I almost rated these at four stars, but I couldn't quite bring myself to do it. The smaller packs are $5 each, for two figures and a small assortment of accessories. The larger packs are either four figures, or two figures and a cavalry figure, and sell for $10. Personally, I'd rather see the four figure packs sell for $8, an even two bucks per figure. That strikes me as a great value. At $10, I'm paying a tiny bit more than I'd like, enough to make me feel like it's worth getting, but not worth raving about, and not enough to make me buy the same sets repeatedly. Still, the value score does get a bump in that Unimax gives you the option of buying a $5 pack to get that single figure you won't get in your $10 blister, rather than making you buy the OTHER $10 blister for the one figure you don't have. This way, you only spend $15 to get a whole set, and you only repeat one figure. This isn't the best bargain in the world, like I said, but for $10 you get a bunch of figures and accessories, and that's not bad.

Overall - ****
I am being pretty subjective here and rating these with an overall score that reflects a hidden category: PIRATES and VIKINGS and ROMAN SOLDIERS are FREAKING COOL. If you are not all that enthused by the concept, or toys that aren't from a licensed property, or you simply don't like small scale little green army men, your mileage will, as they say on the interwebs, vary. But these are exactly the types of toys that don't see much attention any more, and they are a ton of fun. Plus, with all that pirate goodness in the air, isn't it nice to have something slightly off the beaten path to break the monotony of Yet Another Jack Sparrow Action Figure?

SCORE RECAP:
Packaging - ***
Sculpt - ***1/2
Paint - ****
Articulation - Nada
Accessories - ****
Fun Factor - ****
Value - ***
Overall - ****


Figure from the collection of L.

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