The Enigma Order

Some of you may know this, and for the rest of you, I doubt you’re shocked.
I like toys.

I have a huge collection of various action figures and other assorted toys. A part of my collection even ended up in a museum in my country. And as natural as me playing the game, I have enjoyed the World of Warcraft action figures.

There have been several incarnations of  Warcraft action figures, from different toy companies. Even though the earliest ones from toy companies like SOTA, Toycom or even Blizzards own have been good toys, none of them can compare to the stuff  toy maker DC Unlimited is making these days. They have consistently over the last years been releasing extremely detailed stactions. Oh, a new word? Well, I cringe when I call them action figures, as they really are statues with extremely limited pose-ability. And there’s a word for such toys in the collector communities: Stactions. But for the sake of simplicity and recognizability, I’ll continue to call them action figures.
Anyway, DC Unlimited have so far released well over 30 figures, with more on the way, and most of them are breathtaking. The level of detail is stunning, the faithfulness towards the classes and armor sets is incredible. But one of the things I really like about them, is that they’re not only releasing figures of well known characters, like Vasjh, Magni, or Thrall, but they’re putting us players out there in toy form. They’re making toys that could just as well be one of us, with the right gear. For instance the female human priest in Avatar set, the undead rogue in tier 5, or the draenei mage in tier 6. And even if some of them had some sort of connection to the Warcraft lore, they still could easily pass for a player character. The dwarven warrior in tier 5 and the troll priest in tier 2 are good examples of this.
So these figures actually gave us a chance to own our characters in toy form (But no male night elf priest in the horizon ).

Surprisingly enough, these figures are fairly easy to come by, even those released a couple of years back. They have not increased in price more than expected, like so many other toys intended for the collectors marked, and places like ebay and the bigger online toy stores usually have them in stock at a decent price. I do believe that a line of articulated WoW figures would sell better, as collectors tend to prefer articulation over details and paint job. But then again, WoW player may not have that much time to play with their toys, they just want something on their shelf above the computer screen.

Now, I could go on and on with action figure and toy talk, so lets just get on with the list.



5. Night Elf Hunter - Alathena Moonbreeze



This thing is just gorgeous, and her armor reminds me of the original intro for WoW. Yes, I know she was a druid, but there’s something about those intricate armors that the female night elves wear. Obviously great detailed, but the real beauty is in the posture and dynamic of this figure. There’s a certain action in this figure that you rarely see in the best articulated action figures. Who’s she shooting? Probably Onyxia in flight form. More dots? No. More scantly clad Night Elf girls in toy form please!



4. Gnome Warlock - Valdremar



Hey, it’s no secret. Everyone loves gnomes. They’re simply awesome, they got swagger, they’re versatile, and even their size is an advantage. And gnome warlocks is possibly the coolest race/class combo in the game. His minions will tower above him, he’ll probably kill your entire arena team alone, and most importantly – he looks hot in the demonic and creepy warlock armors.
Obviously wearing one of the cooler sets in the game (and a definite contender in a future chapter of Obscure Remedies), he’s also got a cool companion in his almost translucent voidwalker.



3. Demonic Illidan Stormrage



Illidan is such a memorable character with such an iconic design. You cannot go wrong with the demon hunter, and you sure as hell can’t go wrong with the demon hunter turned demon. I really hope they bring him back in some form, because Illidan is in my opinion one of the greatest characters in Warcraft lore.
The toy version give justice to the character. He’s huge, close to 30cm, with almost grotesque wings, and his trademark warglaives. Now, the normal version is cool and all, but the one I choose to include in this list is the re-issue, which featured Illidan in full-out demonic form, like he was in phase 4 of the Black Temple fight. Look at him! The black skin, the green symbols, the translucent teal blades of his sword. Crazy is what it is. And believe me, this goes well on a toy collectors shelf, even if he never heard of World of Warcraft.



2. Gnome Warrior - Sprocket Gyrospring



Another gnome, and this one  goes all the way. The cool-factor is completely over the top. Look, he’s a warrior. Gnome warriors shouldn’t even exist, that’s how cool they are. He’s wearing tier 2, which is ridiculous to the point of it actually being awesome. He’s riding a mechanostrider, and is in full mounted attack mode. And holy shit! He’s wielding The Ashbringer! A mounted gnome warrior swinging the Ashbringer!


And the best wow uhm.. action figures are...

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1. Murlocks - Fish-Eye and Gibbergill

I remember thinking ”Oh no they didn’t!” when the news of the Murlock action figure was announced. Why on earth would they make toys out of the ridiculous low lvl mobs with the funny sounds? Then it dawned on me. What mobs are more memorable than murlocks? I mean, we have all encountered them, and for many of us, it’s the earliest and most delightful memory of this game. The murlocks are almost like a mascot for the game, kinda cemented through the various murlock pets, and lately the murlock toys you can get through Blizz’ online store.
The murlocks are detailed to match the other figures in the toy line, they have the correct pose, and are probably among the more playable figures in the entire line. You just have to make that ”Brgglhlrbblblghh” sound when you hold one of these.. Or both.

You see, what really puts this at the top of my list is that you get two of them. Obviously they’re smaller than the average figure, but I have seen smaller figures being released seperately.
And here is the collector in me awakened. Not only could you get this set in three different variations: blue/green, blue/blue and green/green. And you know, the collector has to get them all. I bet one of them is rare than the others. A fact that instantly makes it more attractive to a collector.
It also appeals to the hard core collector part of me that is likely to build an army of murlocks for the heroes to fight against. And make a scene on my shelf, where the hero is being chased away by a dozen angry murlocks.