Sir Gideon Heavensbrand

This guy seems like a firm believer in the principle that smite makes right. As the leader of the Order of Eathyron, Sir Gideon Heavensbrand has guided the Order into a new Golden Age. The once-disgraced order has flourished under his command, reclaiming its sanctity and the respect of the people it protects. Sir Gideon's unwavering faith in the crowned eagle god Eathyron has only strengthened his resolve and given him the courage to defeat the dark armies of Mythoss. They say absense makes the heart grow fonder. Well, we've been so busy reviewing Thundercats and other such things that it's been three months since we last ventured to the world of Mythoss, meaning we get the chance to look at one of these figures with fresh eyes. The Mythic Legions figures are designed to be built modularly, with a limited set of pieces being swapped and recombined to create various different looks for the characters. Frugal, yes, but when you're looking at a bunch of them in a row, it's easy to grow numb to all the cool details. For instance, Sir Gideon shares most of his sculpt with Otho (including the "shirt" chest rather than armor), but just look at the way his armor plates overlap, or the way the tiny rivets that hold it all together have been sculpted. Sometimes you need a little time away to appreciate the beauty of what you've got. Unlike his fellow knight, Sir Ignatius, Heavensbrand is not wearing pearly white armor - rather, his is gold with silver accents. His tunic is white, or at least it was at one point: it's been given some nice airbrushing partially meant to suggest shadows, and partially showing accumulated grime. It might have been smart to give all the Order of Eathyron matching outfits, what with them being an organized body, but maybe Gideon gets special armor because he's their leader. The toy's head is kind of amazing. Gideon Heavensbrand loves wings, and he wants you to know it. His ear decorations are the same sort of wings we've seen on other figures, though his are painted white at the bend and fad to brown near the tips of the feathers. It's like a creme brule on both sides of his head! His helmet also has a spot on top for another accoutrement to plug in - in this case, a silver bird that looks like he stole somebody's overly ornate hood ornament. What's really cool, though, is his beaver. It's a separate piece covering the face, not just a sculpted element, and there are two holes in the back that allow it to plug onto the head: one at the top and one at the bottom, so you can decide if you want him to wear it up or down! With a stern look and a big mustache, the face itself looks a bit like Man-At-Arms. But that's still not all! Remember how Jorund Runeshaper came with an unannounced battle helmet? Well, Sir Gideon has the same thing. Not the exact same thing, obviously, because that wouldn't blend with the rest of the figure, but you get the idea. It's gold, like his armor, with a silver cross over the face and two thin black eye slits. And although it's a tight fit, the hole on top does allow you to swap the bird hood ornament from the normal head onto this one, so that he's easily recognizable even in the middle of combat. Since he comes with the shorter style of pauldrons, either the battle hemlet or the winged helmet will be fine to wear with them. The Mythic Legions figures are incredibly well-articulated, and also incredibly modular. Sir Gideon Heavensbrand has a balljointed head, swivel neck, swivel/hinge shoulders and elbows, swivel forearms at the top of the gloves, swivel/hinge wrists, a balljointed torso, swivel/hinge hips, swivel thighs, swivel/hinge knees, and swivel/hinge/swivel ankles. Pretty much every one of those joints can be pulled apart with only a modicum of force, so if you want to create your own custom figure, it'll be easy enough to do. The only trick will be finding another figure whose colors match these. Because of all his cranial accessories, SGH doesn't get very many weapons - just a sword, a dagger, a brown strap, and a gold and silver shield with the symbol of his god on the front. Oddly, it's a different symbol than the one on Ignatius' shield. Of course, Catholics, Potestants, and Eastern Orthodoxists all worship the same guy, and their crosses look completely different, so it's not unheard of. After taking a break from the Mythic Legions for a while, it's great to get back in and appreciate all the awesome work the Four Horsemen do. But even if we'd been reviewing them non-stop, the ostentatious coolness of Gideon Heavensbrand's head would still be apparent. -- 01/07/17

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