Fresh Monkey Fiction is probably best known to fans for their excellent Eagle Force action figures. However, they are also producing a line of retro inspired Super Hero figures. The Amazing Heroes line consists of vintage super heroes, many from the Golden Age of comic books. We reported on their successful Kicktarter campaign for the Amazing Heroes in August of 2014. The most well known is Captain Action, but they have many others that have been revived and reinvented. The Amazing Heroes figures are designed to evoke classic 80’s action figure lines, such as DC Super Powers and Marvel Secret Wars. The figures stand at 4.5″ tall and feature 5 points of articulation. Some come with capes, weapons, alternate heads or other accessories. Each figure comes in collector friendly, slide out, card backs. Even better, there are alternate card backs offered for each figure, allowing you to swap them out as you see fit. Series 1 consists of the following figures:
- Captain Action
- Black Terror
- Golden Age Dare-Devil
- Stardust
- Champion of Mars
- Silver Streak
- The Blank Slate
- Green Turtle
- Madman
We have the first series of figures, courtesy of Fresh Monkey Fiction. We have a massive gallery of nearly 200 images and a review for the line. Check out the images and our thoughts by reading on. You can order the figures from Toyark sponsor Big Bad Toy Store, or directly from Fresh Monkey Fiction.
Amazing Heroes Series 1 by Fresh Monkey Fiction
Pros
- Beautiful card backs and overall package
- Swappable card backs is a cool idea
- Very good sculpting
- Vintage look and feel works very well for these figures
- Nice assortment of characters
- Solid construction with no breakage issues
- Blank Slate makes a fantastic figure for customizers
- Great crowdfunded success
Cons
- Vintage style won’t be for everyone
- Slightly larger size won’t work with ReAction or other vintage style lines
Overall
The Amazing Heroes, right out of the shipping box, presented a fantastic appearance. The card back designs are wonderfully retro, complete with faux wear and tear. Each uses vintage (or vintage looking) artwork to showcase the Golden Age era of these characters. The rear of the packaging starts off the first part of the story arc for these characters, much like a vintage Sunday Comics strip. The cardboard backer can be removed without damaging the plastic or the card back. You can remove and reseal these figures with no fear of damage. Even better, Fresh Monkey Fiction offers alternate card backs. There is a series of vintage artwork card backs, and a series of card backs featuring artwork from current day artists. The additional card backs are only $2 each, so you won’t break the bank customizing the carded display. As you can see from the images below, all of the alternate card backs are excellent, and probably preferable (in my eyes) to the standard backer. For me, the vintage backers are the real stand outs.
Each of the figures features the standard, retro style, 5 points of articulation. The sculpts are excellent themselves, and do a great job of calling back to the 80’s hero lines by Kenner and Mattel. At 4.5″ tall, they won’t really work with those type of lines though. While the larger scale shows of the sculpting and paint work well, fans like to have their lines fit together. That said, there are more planned for these, so Series 1 won’t be alone on your shelf. They characters all feature muscular body sculpts, with variations in accessories, head sculpts and paint work. Plastic quality is excellent. The figures feel solid and sturdy, with no issues standing. In the gallery, you can see that most can balance with on foot flat and one foot points down, so stability isn’t an issue. Paint work is solid throughout and most of the lines are very clean. On very close inspection, you may see a bit of paint bleed here and there, but it’s much less noticeable in hand in the few spots it does occur. However, the tampo decals, such as the skull on Black Terror’s chest, are super crisp.
Some of the characters include swappable parts and accessories. A few additional accessories may have help to differentiate the characters a bit, but it never seemed like a deal breaker. If you remember the DC Super Powers figures, you will have an idea of how the capes work. They are cloth, with a metal ring to fit over the back of the necks. Captain Action includes a removable hat and a pistol. Blank Slate comes with a swappable head, and there was no trouble in removing or attaching either of the head sculpts. Dare-Devil and Champion of Mars include their own decorative belts.
The Amazing Heroes work best with two or more figures. The bright and varied colors play off of each other well. If you’re a fan of the Golden Age characters, then these are worth grabbing for sure. The great presentation of the packaging, the strong sculpting and the variety of characters make for a great overall display. Below, you an find some of my key shots. After that, you’ll see nearly 200 images of the series.
*Fresh Monkey Fiction provided these figures for review purposes
CompaniesFresh Monkey Fiction