Heroes of the Storm is Blizzard Entertainment’s massively popular multiplayer online battle arena video game (aka MOBA) for PC and Mac. It brings together heroes and villains from numerous Blizzard franchises such as Warcraft, Diablo and Starcraft. NECA has produced multiple figures based on their appearance in the game. Earlier, I shared a photo shoot and review for the Jim Raynor Figure. Today I take a look at the second figure in NECA’s final assortment of Heroes of the Storm action figures; Thrall from the Warcraft game series. The 7″ scale Warchief of the Horde includes a hammer. Toyark sponsor Entertainment Earth provided us with the figure. After the jump check out the photos and my thoughts on Thrall.
Related Entertainment Earth links: Heroes of the Storm Thrall, All Heroes of the Storm Collectibles
NECA Heroes of the Storm Thrall 7″ Scale Figure
Pros
- Impressive head sculpt
- Good articulation
- Great sculpt and paint work on the armor
- Mostly great paint work
Cons
- Minor paint misalignment on hairline
- Shoulder armor hinders range of motion
Overall
Like Raynor, Thrall comes in a plain looking clamshell package featuring Heroes of the Storm logos and elements. The packaging design is the same across all three figures is the third series. A bio for Thrall and checklist for Series 3 are included. The figure comes with a Hammer weapon. The hammer itself separates into two pieces to place in the peg hole in Thrall’s hand.
Featuring an impressive sculpt and massive armor, Thrall is a great looking figure in hand. NECA did a good job in bringing this figure to life, with a really stellar head sculpt. The classic Orc design looks great here, with nice protruding teeth, classically styled pointed ears and an aggressive expression sculpted in. There’s nice variation i nthe texture styling between the exposed skin, such as the arms, and the armor pieces. The armor itself is big and powerful looking. NECA tried to allow for as much range of motion as possible with the design they were given. Articulation, overall, is pretty decent. The shoulder armor is made from a soft vinyl that is only connected in one place where the shoulders meet the neck. This allows for more movement than I expected, however, the design does still hinder the overall arm articulation. The remaining articulation points are standard for a NECA figure of this type. The figure has single jointed elbows and knees, articulation at the neck, waist, hips and more. Paintwork here is mostly strong. there a slight misalignment at the side of his hairline. Other than that, the paint is handled nicely. The skin ins washed over in multiple shades of green, while the armor is fairly realistic looking. The metallic paint there is covered over with some darker paint washes to bring out the sculpting.
The Thrall figure is another strong addition to the series 3 line up. It’s a great looking version of a fan favorite character. Check out some highlight photos below and the full gallery after that.
NECA Heroes of the Storm Jim Raynor Figure - Toyark Photo Shoot
NECA Heroes of the Storm Thrall Figure - Toyark Photo Shoot
NECA Heroes of the Storm Sylvanas Figure - Toyark Photo Shoot
I honestly can't believe that the figures in this wave are only selling at TRU for $21.99. They quality goes way beyond that price point. The Raynor figure looks and feels like it should be selling for twice that. Sylvanas is fantastic as well, with complex detail and quality you'd never expect from a $22 figure. Shockingly for NECA, none of figures in this wave have any major QC issues, although some Sylvanas figures have very minor paint problems (but if there's more than one on the peg, you'll be able to find a perfect one easily).
It's like, remember those garbage Killer Instinct figures that came out recently for $30 or more? NECA's new Heroes of the Storm wave makes those look even more like the total crap they were.
It's like, remember those garbage Killer Instinct figures that came out recently for $30 or more? NECA's new Heroes of the Storm wave makes those look even more like the total crap they were.
While I personally love and own all of the figures in NECA's Heroes of the storm line, my one complaint is that all of the figures in the line are sadly undersized. I don't know if it was a running error or part of the figure liscese agreement, but all of these figures are more like 6in scaled instead of NECA's typical 7in figures.
Sylvannas and Nova kind of fit in when posed with other NECA figures, but it's sad when a typical human sized figure like Dutch or Ripley are the same size or taller than most of the beefier figure in this line like Thrall, Raynor and Arthas.
This is one of my favorite lines NECA has put out to date and I'm grateful for what they were able to put out but it would have been perfect in my opinion if it weren't for them being so undersized.
Thoughts?
Sylvannas and Nova kind of fit in when posed with other NECA figures, but it's sad when a typical human sized figure like Dutch or Ripley are the same size or taller than most of the beefier figure in this line like Thrall, Raynor and Arthas.
This is one of my favorite lines NECA has put out to date and I'm grateful for what they were able to put out but it would have been perfect in my opinion if it weren't for them being so undersized.
Thoughts?
I pose and play with figures from all scales, lines and universes including this one and I have a blast doing it. I just find it strange that NECA would make these smaller than their typical 7in scale. Unless I'm missing something and these are in 7in Scale.I was just wondering if I was in the minority in thinking they were small or if others thought the same.
(To be honest one of the reasons I got this whole line was to give Kratos some formidable fantasy characters to do battle with and to add two more members to a ragtag squad of sci-fi mercenaries.😅
Jim Raynor isn't really depicted as a very big guy, he's kind of just average in size from what we see of him out of the suit and only stands just a bit taller than Kerrigan in her human form or is the same height about as Matt or the other male humans. Tychus is the one shown to be a big brawler of a man in and out of the armor. In Starcraft 2's cutscenes Raynor in his armor isn't very much taller than he is without it, it isn't like wearing a Hulkbuster Iron Man suit.
I saw these over the weekend and thought they looked rather small, too. But, I have no knowledge of the source material. I thought the green bloke was maybe a troll or something because of his size.
Given how huge Raynor and Thrall were I could see the scale of the line being reduced so they would fit in the standard sized packaging. I certainly don't personally feel they are undersized.
This wave is definitely the best of the HotS line and it is a tragedy it is the last. Raynor, Sylvanas and Thrall are all as close to perfect as I think they could get in this scale.
I'd like to think that if this wave sells really well that maybe NECA would reconsider ending the line? Unless it's Blizzard that's calling the shots in this instance.
Sylvannas and Nova kind of fit in when posed with other NECA figures, but it's sad when a typical human sized figure like Dutch or Ripley are the same size or taller than most of the beefier figure in this line like Thrall, Raynor and Arthas.
This is one of my favorite lines NECA has put out to date and I'm grateful for what they were able to put out but it would have been perfect in my opinion if it weren't for them being so undersized.
Thoughts?
Sylvanas is up. Check the link above.
Sweet photos, Joe.
Again, I gave both Sylvanas and Raynor and I really have to reiterate that these are fantastic figures, a real high water mark from NECA (and those of you who know me know that I don't hesitate to call them out on QC issues), and it still boggles my mind that you can get these little miniature works of art at any Toys R Us for $21.99. Such a bummer that this line is ending.
That said, I do have one issue with Sylvanas. It appears her face is a separate piece that mounts into the hood under her hair, and on some of the figures I've seen at retail her face is either crooked or not up high enough, leading a gap between her forehead and the top of the hood. I had to look around a little to find one that looked good in that regard, but that's all the complaints I have. Otherwise, the figure is fantastic, and I don't even play World of Warcraft so I don't have nostalgia backing that statement up.
i like this line, figs are well made. i like the blind guy, forgot his name. just to be picky, i dont like the big elfs shoes thou
Full Thread: Heroes of the Storm Series 3 - Toyark Galleries
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