Review of Arya Season 8
Game of Thrones sixth scale action figure

Introduction

Threezero continues with their excellent line of sixth scale figures based on the show Game of Thrones, releasing three new figures in fairly quick succession - Tormund Giantsbane, Jaime Lannister from season 7, and this Arya reviewed tonight. There's also two more already on pre-order: Jora and Sansa. Hopefully, we'll see some additional pre-orders pop up soon.

This figure is a follow up to their first Arya, released a couple years ago. This is her at her most bad ass in season 8, ready for battle. She will run you around $180, depending on the retailer.

Packaging - ***
I really like the skinny boxes we get with a lot of the threezero releases. They can't always work based on the accessories involved, but when they can, it means a lot less waste and space required for storing. This is one of those skinny boxes, and the double plastic trays inside hold everything save and sound, all in a collector friendly way.

The exterior slip cover has some nice silver leaf print and the embossed house sigil, the wolf.

Sculpting - ***1/2
I'm really happy with the final result, especially after I heard some complaints from folks about the sculpt.

This is clearly Arya, and they've filled out the face a bit from the previous sculpt. As she got older on the show, she actually got a little fuller in the cheeks and lower face, less gaunt. It was also because in earlier seasons she wore her short hair down along the sides of her face, but in later seasons it was generally pulled back.

They've captured the look of the eyes, nose, and lips extremely well, and while the sculpted hair could use a little more definition, it flows great into the rooted hair in back.

In fact, this is easily the best combination of rooted and sculpted hair I've seen. The sculpt matches the flow nicely, but it's really in the next category - Paint - where the big difference lies.

I do think that she looks a little too puffy in the jaw and cheeks from certain angles. I actually don't think this is due to the sculpt, but rather the decision to use the two piece head and neck. Because this means the neck is thinner along the jawline, it makes the face seem wider than it is.

They went with a slightly stern look, but nothing too emotive. It works best with simple standing poses, slightly less useful for action shots.

If I had one real complaint, it's that the legs on the standard female figure are a tad skinny. It's not too obvious in photos, since you'll largely focus on the outfit, and it covers most of the legs, but in hand it's more noticeable.

She stands about 10 1/2" tall, fitting in nicely with the rest of the line. I've included a couple shots with her brothers for you to get an idea of scale.

Paint - ***1/2
Comparing this version to the earlier Arya, you can see where threezero has improved.

The skin tone and slight freckling are great, and very realistic. This isn't an old, grubby dude, but a young girl, and they capture the softer, more youthful skin nicely. The eyes are glossy enough to catch light, and the hair line is much improved. You'll remember they painted a slight hair line down on her forehead with the previous release, trying to blend in with the rooted hair. It worked, but wasn't perfect. Here we see a much more subtle painted hair line that blends up perfectly into the sculpted edge.

The eyebrows remain the big issue, still too heavy and thick. It obscures any detail in the hair, and looks a bit toy-ish. But the rooted hair color matches the painted hair color extremely well, and that's tough to do.

It's also worth noting in this category the weathering and snow effects on the costume. I'll go into it a bit more later, but the effects involving paint on the costume are extremely well done.

Articulation - ***
The underlying body works great - we've seen it with other threezero female releases. But there are a couple spots where I had more issues than I'd like.

The rooted hair in back means you'll have no problem with the head and neck. You can get lots of lean, tilt, and turn action, and add personality to your poses.

The shoulders, elbows, and wrists are a bit more restricted by the costume than you might assume. Part of this is because of the weathering, which makes the material on the arms more rigid, and part is just because it's a tight costume. This goes for the torso too, where you can get a little twist and lean, but not a ton.

The wrists also frustrated me a bit when posing, because the posts like to pop out quite easily. On the other side, the hands are a tight fit, so swapping can be a little annoying.

The hips, knees, and ankles can manage shallow to deep poses without a hitch. The excellent two piece boot design allows for a ton of ankle movement, and the ankles are true ball joints, making it easy to keep the feet flat on the ground even with the legs wide. It's helpful to remember to push the boot top down on the ankle after you've posed her though, and I wasn't always good about that when I was doing the shoot.

The included cape has a thick wire edge as well, which is very useful. You can use it to add some dynamic movement, or tighten up the fit of the cape around the body in more static stances.

Accessories - ***
She's not heavily outfitted, but there's the critical extras.

She comes wearing some relaxed grips, and there's a set of fists and a set of tight grips to go with them. The hands are a little tough to swap, but you'll get the hang of it. There's a couple extra wrist pegs in case, or you can do what I do, and just put them on the tighter grips. I never use fists in my stances, so the one extra set of pegs works great for me.

There's also Needle of course, the sword given to her by Jon. There's a scabbard for it, and this fits neatly in a loop on her belt.

Another re-use is the Catspaw dagger. This time you get a sheath for it though, which is already on her belt. Bran had the dagger as an accessory as well, but considering how important it also is to Arya's story, it was a necessary addition here.

Unique to Arya is her dragon glass spear. It comes in two versions - the complete spear, and the spear broken into two halves. However, the full spear is also two pieces, with a post and hole to connect it. This makes it way easier for you to pose her with the full spear and connect the two halves after you have them inside her tight grip hands.

There's one other extra, the cape, but I'll cover that as part of the Outfit.

Outfit - ****
The costume is my favorite aspect of this figure, a key look for the character done right. It includes the pants, boots, leather shirt, belt, outer full length vest, and cloak or cape.

The tailoring on the vest and shirt is excellent. It's a tight fit, and does restrict her slightly, but no more than the real outfit would. The material quality is excellent, and the weathering and wear looks great.

The belt already has the sheath for Catspaw, and the loop for the sheath for Needle. I didn't need to futz with it at all right out of the package, always a plus.

The two piece boots look great, and allow for plenty of ankle articulation, but you do need to remember to slip the boot top down when you've got the pose you want to cover the ankle joint. I didn't always remember.

The skinny legs could have used some padding in the pants, but the rest of the clothes cover them up for the most part.

As much as I like the basic outfit, when you add in the fur lined cape, you have a real winner. I love the design, with the head and one arm fitting through, having it hang off the back and around only one arm, freeing her left arm for sword play. It's something I never noticed on the show, but looks terrific on the figure. When I start my campaign to get capes back into fashion, I'll go with this design for myself.

Fun Factor - ***1/2
Arya has a lot of posing potential with characters you already have - Jon, Bran, the Night King. With the upcoming Sansa, she'll have another. She's one of the most versatile figures they've released, matching up with plenty of others on the shelf.

Value - ***1/2
Somehow, threezero is bringing this level of quality for less than $200. Very few companies are doing that, and it should be commended. EXO-6, Asmus, and threezero are doing some pretty amazing stuff in this price range, and I will happily support the licenses I love at this price point.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not much. Of course you'll want to take some care with the tiny bits on the hilt of Needle, particularly when putting it in her tight grip hand, and a little care with the peg/post on the full spear is a good idea as well.

Overall - ***1/2
I'm really happy with this release, and I think it's an improvement on an already great first release. I know some people will think the jawline is too puffy, but just like the recent Arwen from Asmus, this is largelyl due to the decision to go with the separate head and neck. That means no natural flow from the jaw to the neck, a skinnier neck at the jawline, and a wider looking jaw.

But on the shelf she looks great, and the costuming is the highlight. I've got Jaime sitting here, so that review will be coming soon, and I can't wait to add her sister Sansa to the display. C'mon threezero, let's have some more pre-orders!

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ***1/2
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - ***1/2
Accessories - ***
Outfit - ****
Fun Factor - ***1/2
Value - ***1/2
Overall - ***1/2

Where to Buy 
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Related Links -
Threezero has done quite a few characters in the Game of Thrones series, including the earlier Arya, the latest Daenerys, and the terrific Tormund Giantsbane.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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