In spite of the two hundred or so action figures I've managed to accumulate in the past year, I never considered myself an army builder in the conventional sense, like some who amass several of the same figure (such as a group of stormtroopers, to line up with their Darth Vader). But upon seeing
Slangards review of these over at Hippopotomi On The Lam, I ran out to hunt some down.
There are two types: the lighter blue
Invasion Frost Giant, and the darker blue
Deluxe Ice Attack Frost Giant, the latter costing an absurd five dollars more for three more accessories: two spring loaded projectiles, and an ice axe. While the extra value in these repaints with more accessories are equivocal at best, thoughts of the photo possibilities consumed me, and so I ignored Slangards' advice on picking up only one of the deluxe models and bought two of each. Their whole
clan vibe plainly lent themselves to the assembly, & that's just how I roll.
The each came with an "icepick" hand weapon in addition to the included club and helmet, so they are pretty well armed for a bunch of naked savages. Like the helmets, they are made of a softer, translucent plastic that can be slipped over the arm.
The sculpt and paint on these are really fun- Slangards would have preferred a fist as opposed to the gesturing right hand, but I kinda like that. We both are fans of the tribal scarification lines that are sculpted into the legs, chest & back of these gruesome little guys- nice touch!
Their grisly looks become even more apparent without the helmets-
Gaah!! I mean,
ya know your cold, bad, & ugly when you wear an
ice helmet, right??
Like I said, the Deluxe Ice Attack Frost Giants come with an extra ice axe and two spring loaded projectiles, the missile released not by a button, but by thumbing the back end of the shaft. As Slangards pointed out, the ice axe is cool, but they can only hold it or the mace due to their gesturing left hand sculpt.
Ya know what else I liked about these? Their gnarly looking bare feet! I don't have a foot fetish or anything, but how often do you see an action figure with bare feet? This really adds to their savage appearance!
Enough about their frosty phalanges though, we all know the reason I bought four of these-
my love for BIG TOY/little toy! Yes, the prospect of gathering a clan of worshippers for my
12" Savage Frost Giant was too much for my obsessive/compulsive mind to bear :D
The giants of Jotunheim are based on Norse mythology, and enemies of the gods of Asgard, the first of which who battled Odin being the Ice Giant Ymir. Odin's adopted son Loki was the child of the Giant Laufey, who perished at the hand of Odin, his orphaned son adopted by the Asgardian king thereafter.
Go read my post on this awesome Marvel
Gigantic Battles Savage Frost Giant/Loki set by Hasbro- one of the coolest things I found this summer!
If you don't think these are fun, then
I can't help you! I had a ball taking three batches of over 300 pictures of these, so I'm sure you'll see them again :D