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Storm Warriros Sixth Scale Swords
Enterbay
"The
following is a guest review. The review
and photos do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Michael Crawford
or Michael's Review of the Week, and are the opinion and work of the
guest author."
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Jeff checks in tonight with a
look at some pretty damn sweet metal swords - take it away, Jeff!
OK I freely admit I’m not that familiar with the Storm Warriors stories
and indeed the universe they frequent. It is a universe that was
created and fully realised by Ma Wing-Shing back in 1984 in the form of
popular long running comic book series. In fact it was so popular a
live action movie was produced in 1998 entitled The Storm Riders.
Fast forward over ten years and it finally gets a sequel. Well, I say
that, but the Pang brothers who produced and directed it say it isn’t a
direct sequel, more a new stand alone story featuring the hero
characters of Wind and Cloud who this time come up against a tyranical
Japanese warlord intent on invading their homeland of China. He comes
in the form of Lord Godless (something tells me his name might be
slight givaway to his true nature… just a wild guess) a despot intent
on ruthlessly becoming master of all that stand before him… but of
course Wind and Cloud can’t stand by and watch this happen can they…
no, of course they can’t!
Enterbay recently released figures of the three main protagonists and
they all looked pretty impressive, sadly I don’t have any of them YET,
but it’s a lacking I aim to remedy soon I hope. The full line up will
eventually be
1- Cloud
2- Wind
3- Lord Godless
4- Lord Nameless
5- Heartless
However, even though I don’t have any of the figures from ‘this’ actual
movie, I do have an abundance of various figures from ancient China and
feudal Japan. So did I need a selection of ornate, beautifully crafted
100% metal swords, hell yeah!
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Packaging
- ***1/2
This is just so beautifully put together, at first glance it looks like
some rather classy packaging for a designer fragrance. Firstly there’s
a full colour outer cardboard box, it has silhouetted images of two of
the signature swords, set against a red and blue ethereal glow. Then
there is lots of Chinese calligraphy and the Storm Warriors logo picked
out in spot laminated golden tones. But it doesn’t stop there, oh no,
this is just the outer layer, the entre if you will, to protect the
actual sculpted box within.
Open up the card and you slide out a fully sculpted case, the top is
plastic and formed to mimic a slab of faux worked stone with red
engraving down its centre. This lid lifts off to show the nine
individual weapons held securely over two layers, nestled in a die cut
black foam surround. Each sword in turn has its name written alongside
it in Chinese characters printed in gold foil blocking.
The names in order are-
The Sword of Ultimate Superiority
The Snow Blade
The Sword of Hero
The General’s sword
The Emperor's sword
Long Ninja Sword
The Hidden Sword
Baton swords
Put simply this is one of the most elegant accessory sets I’ve ever
seen, making you feel like you are unearthing a set of rare jewels
rather than a set of 1/6th weapons, very cool!
Sculpting
- ****
At the end of the day you’d have to say that making 1/6th replicas of
swords shouldn’t be too much of a stretch for most modern hi-end
manufacturers. However, these are not just any old swords, these are
ornate fantasy weapons that won’t look out of place with any sword and
sorcery or sci-fi kit bash you might have planned, in fact, they could
just put the icing on the cake.
The base metal appears to be steel but various aspects are darker
gunmetal, brass, gold, silver or deep lacquers.
However for this section we are just talking about the actual sculpted
elements. The standout sword for me is Wind’s large blade; it has a
curved scimitar like appearance and is pierced on the top edge with two
metal chain links. The details picked out on the section where the
blade joins the
handle, and indeed the handle itself are elegantly carried
out, very detailed but unfussy at the same time.
Cloud’s sword looks more futuristic with its simple straight shape,
sweeping finger guard and shaped whole punched through at the top,
looking at photos like this
it appears that the handle needs a tape wrap which will be an easy fix,
but does look like a slight oversight.
My other favourites tend to be the simpler designs, the ones that
adhere more to classical aesthetics, but all are carried out and
finished to the highest standards.
Paint
-
****
As I said above, all of the weapons come in differing finishes from a
simple base steel, right through to dark gun metal effects with a
subtle patina and ageing on some areas. Again the work on Winds sword
is the most worthy of note, the finish looks like a steel blade which
is held by a golden engraved section that in turn joins the engraved
dark iron effect guard, the grip is bound in a black finish and lastly
the pommel is also iron and is pierced by another metal ring. I
actually have the old Dragon figure of Wind so I’ll show a pic with his
weapon, just to show how much cooler this version really is.
All the others are faultless in their finish, with a couple having dark
wooden grips, and wherever the different finishes butt up together, the
division lines are crisp and clean with no inaccuracies whatsoever. A
truly outstanding set!
Accessories
- N/A
These accessories come with
no other accessories… well other than the accessories they are!
Value
- ****
I’d advise picking up the full set if you can, as there are a few very
tempting deals out there, whilst eBay traders are asking $15 to $20 for
each individually parted out sword, meaning you’d end up paying $120 to
get them all and you still wouldn’t have the beautiful box.
Big
Bad toy store has the set in stock for $59.99 so I’d be
tempted to strike while you still can.
Fun
Factor - ***
This is a tough one, as on their own these don’t inspire a lot of
actual fun per se, but once you start equipping your various 1/6th
figures with them then they can be as much fun as you want. Personally
I love this set, but the packaging is so cool I might end up displaying
them in the trays alongside the actual box.
Overall
- ****
Every aspect of this set is beautifully put together, from that
outstanding packaging through to the beautifully applied paint apps.
And if you can pick the set up for $60 or less, which makes each blade
come in at just over $6 then I have no problem giving these a full
score.
Where
to Buy -
Sideshow
still has it available for the RRP of $64.99.
You can get these direct from
Enterbay, contact them through their website for
availability, or try out some of Michael’s sponsors where
some great deals can be found, including the price listed above at Big Bad Toy Store
for $59.99, I’ve seen the full set on
eBay for $79.99 and being parted out for between $15 to $20
each.
And if you are in the UK try out
Onesixthbruce.co.uk who imports virtually all of Enterbays products, he
may be able to help you out.
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This product was provided free for the review by the manufacturer.
Photos and text by Jeff Parker.
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