I had been eyeing the figures from Mega Bloks Mag-Warriors line ever since I read about them on one of the Microman sites. I’m a big fan of Takara’s Magnemo system so the Mag-Warriors line looked intriguing.
The line finally showed up in local stores recently and I grabbed Hawkblade (set 9013) and Battle Scorch (set 9012) to see if they were as good as I thought they would be.
Bloks’ Box
I generally don’t bother talking about packaging. As far as I’m concerned, the purpose of the packaging is to keep the toys in pristine condition. However, Mega Bloks has been doing some creative things with its packaging for its Pyrates and Dragons lines that make them stand out on shelves.
The Mag-Warriors packaging isn’t as cool as those, though, being relatively simple. On the plus side, the figures are clearly visible in the packaging and they’re easily repacked and stored away.
Silver hawk
It takes a minute or two to construct Hawkblade from the 16 separate pieces included in the package and creating custom knights with parts from other Mag-Warriors figures will be very easy. I have no concerns about the figure’s durability as it has already survived one of my accidental drops without any harm.
Once constructed, Hawkblade stands 11.5cm tall. This knight isn’t realistic in proportions due to the truncated trunk but neither is it superdeformed like construction block mini-figures.
Details abound on the figure though it might be difficult to make them out due to Hawkblade’s paint scheme. Speaking of the paint job, it’s clear my Hawkblade was painted by someone in a hurry. I don’t mind the sloppiness that much — I initially mistook it for a deliberate attempt to depict a battle-worn suit of armour — but those who are particular about these things should check the figure in the package before purchase. The other Mag-Warrior I got, Battle Scorch, seems to have a perfect paint job.
There are pegs compatible with Mega Bloks and Lego construction blocks on the figure’s back and forearms but the interchangeability is mainly based on magnets.
Mag-Lock
There are magnets in the upper legs, upper arms, bottom of feet, bottom of head and pauldrons. Magnemo fans will no doubt be taken aback to find the magnets on the limbs rather than the torso but there’s no difference functionally. It is possible to create fan-combos using parts from both Magnemo figures and Mag-Warriors but coming up with something cool might be tricky due to the different scales. Mag-Warriors are larger than the recent Microman Magneforce figures and smaller than the classic Jeeg-style Magnemo figures.
Some have complained the magnets on their figures were rather weak but the magnets on mine are strong enough. I can hold the figure by a limb and shake it vigorously without parts falling off.
Strike a pose
As can be expected, the magnetic joints make the figure very posable. The shoulders and hips have articulation roughly equivalent to a combination of ball joints and swivel joints. Additionally, there are hinged joints at the knees and elbows, a swivel joint at the waist and limited ball joints for the wrists and feet.
The pauldrons’ magnet joints allow them to be moved out of the way to accommodate different poses for the arms.
The head would have been more posable if the metal stud it attaches to was raised higher. It’s slightly hindered by the collar but it is sufficiently posable. The figure is otherwise well-articulated and should delight action figure fans.
Accessories
Hawkblade comes with three accessories: a shield, a 10cm-long sword and a collector card.
The figure grips both the sword and shield well and looks really good with them. Action figure swords sometimes use soft pliable plastic but Hawkblade’s sword is made of tough plastic that won’t bend and droop.
In a thoughtful touch, the card is made of metal so it doubles as a figure stand. The back of the card provides attack and defense ratings for individual parts of the entire figure as well as ratings for the figure as a whole. This probably ties into the interchangeability aspect of the line as it would encourage kids to take parts from other figures to create a more powerful figure.
The figure does have a character profile but oddly, it’s nowhere to be found in the package. The package includes a double-sided poster but there’s little on it to fire up a kid’s imagination. There’s a glam shot of Hawkblade along with tiny photos of other figures in the same assortment, a photo showing how the figure ought to be assembled and one line of flavour text: “Legendary rivals Mag-Lock with magic armor to fuel their battlefield fury.” The reverse side of the poster is filled with product warnings. There’s little to inspire creativity and plenty to frighten.
Gimmicks
This is a kid’s line so Hawkblade naturally has a gimmick to amuse an easily-amused kid. Press a concealed button on the figure’s head and the eyes light up. Batteries are included so this works right out of the package. I’m not a big fan of such gimmickry but I appreciate the fact it doesn’t hurt the figure in any way.
VFM
At RM39.90, Hawkblade is a fun figure that provides very good value for money and it gets my heartiest recommendation. I’m looking forward to picking up a few more figures from the line to build my army of knights but I’d love to see Mega Bloks expand the line to include Mag-Lock-based creatures and machines. Diverse parts means greater interchangeability.
(A note for those looking for information about the line through search engines: Mega Bloks doesn’t seem quite sure about the name of the line. Hawkblade’s product page uses both “Mag-Warriors” and “Mag Warriors.” I suppose we should expect that from a company that has trouble spelling “blocks.” Try using “Mag-Warriors”, “Mag Warriors” and “Magwarriors” as search terms.)
