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Jazwares- Fortnite: Havoc
2019 has been a pretty good year for toy collecting. Hasbro is hitting it out of the park with these consistante Marvel legend releases, I was finally able to get a Black Series Yoda and Anikin without having to mortgage my house, Macfarlane has finally decided to make “action figures” over statues (with licences that are relevant to my interests) and after long last 6” Gi Joe figures are finally being released; what a time to be alive indeed! What’s that? Joe figures have not been produced? Could have fooled me (and the Hasbro lawyers) as Jazwares has given us probably the best 6” Gi Joe figure to date and it’s all I can do to not buy up the rest of the Fortnite series as these figures are just so darn fun. And the funny thing is: I don’t even play Fortnite at all. How genius is that?
Ok, let's take a step back for the people unaware of what is going on and get them up to speed. Fortnite is a 3rd person, battle royale multiplayer game that became INSANELY popular due to its low barrier to entry (free game), release on multiple gaming platforms including PC and overall silly dynamic featuring interesting characters, crazy upgradable weapons and stupid dances. Upgrades and character customization come in the from online sales of loot boxes (BAD MMKAY) with new weapons, character skins and stupid dances that have netted the company over 3 BILLION dollars- that is a lot of credit card charges for parents to wake up to...I should know.
The interesting thing about Fortnite’s “under the radar” success (to me anyway) is how they did it. Consider this: there is nothing new about the game type as multi player, 3rd person shooter have been around for years, they have not really created any storyline of media to support these characters as you would see in a HALO or Call of Duty campaign and they even “borrower” some of the signature Dances from pop culture that have resulted in legal action. I think it is safe to say that Fortnite’s business model begins and ends with “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”.
Not being satisfied with the billions of dollars made from selling 1’s and 0’s, it was only a matter of time before Fortnite branched out to other forms of separating parents and fans from their money and quickly licensed out “their characters” to multiple companies to produce all sorts of merchandise including backpack, lunch kits clothing and MOST important: TOYS. I suppose I can’t get too mad given that when I drop $20 on a toy, I’m actually getting something physical in my hands that I can keep, but that is a rant for another time. As far as I can tell Fortnite granted 2 toy license out to 2 different companies Macfarlane picked up the rights to a line of articulated 7” & 11” figures and Jazewares was granted a line of 3.75” with playsets and articulated 6” figures which started trickling onto toy shelves winter of 2018 and holding strong ever since.
Not being a fan of the game I was not really interested in these figures, but I was intrigued with the Macfarlane offerings as I was something new and different. That intrigue quickly turned to desire once I saw the Jawares Havok release and I knew this was something that I had to pick up for my collection, not only for review purposes (Tax write off baby!*), but just to see what could be possible if Hasbro actually did something cool with the GI Joe franchise. Which brings up the following questions: How is this even allowed? Can we expect other “similar” forgotten characters to show up in plastic form? and, do we even care at this point?
Not sure the answer to the first, but I will say that I will continue buying interesting figures if they keep making them. My suggestion would be either an Avatar Kora or a Marty Mcfly character next.
Pros: Jazwares has really done an excellent job on this figure. An amazing amount of articulation, great sculpt, multiple accessories and even a clever way to given multiple head sculpts without having to change heads. Also the direct comparison to one of my favorite GiJoe figures cannot be underscored… it’s a perfect example as to how well a Gi Joe 6” line coudl really be done.
Cons: Sometimes too much of a good thing can be bad and while I don’t really want to complain about something that I really enjoy, there is a bit too much articulation. The package states 40 different points, but I feel that 36 would have been ok as the articulated hands and toes are just not required; especially considering it makes it difficult for him to hold his weapons. I will also say that I don’t love his rifle and would have rather went with a more realistic version.
Separated at birth?
