Explosive Solutions – Wong Box Set
Publisher: Wyrd Games
Cost: $45
Release Date: 10/23/2015
Get it Here: WYrd Games
I put together my first ever Malifaux miniatures earlier this month in a transparent Malifaux Child and the LUcky Effigy. I can’t say I enjoyed putting either one together, but I have for boxed sets here, none of which are officially out yet, so I thought I’d start putting them together so readers can have a sneak peak at what is coming in the next few months. First up is the Explosive Solutions boxed set which is the one I was interested in most. Wong just made me laugh out loud the first time I saw him and the fact the Gremlins have a giant Luchador made this the most interest set to me.We’ll look at the Collette, Mah Tucket and Crossroads Seven boxed sets over the next few weeks, but since this was the set that made me interested in trying Malifaux, it only makes sense that I start with it. Please note this is an unboxing and NOT a review. I haven’t played a game of Malifaux yet, and won’t until my two player starter set arrives. As such this is simply commentary and photos on putting the figures together – not their playability.
First up, the front of the box. I love the art on these, especially the Gremlins. They never fail to make me laugh, which is why I wanted to start an army of them.
The back of the box which shows images of how the figures should look when assembled.
These are all the parts for all six figures. That’s a lot! Wyrd does have more parts for their minis than any other line I’ve encountered save Palladium’s Robotech RPG Tactics. They’re extra tiny parts a lot of the time too. Miss Ann Thrope for example has a body, a NECK (WTF?) and a head in two parts. Most miniatures would have these in one or two parts, not four. So I was expecting to spend a lot of time putting these together, especially since Wyrd does not include instructions (again, unlike a lot of other companies). The good news is four of them were super easy to put together and two…were not.
Here is our first sprue. I’ll be tackling Lovely Assistant first, if only because she had the least amount of parts. I’m happy to see two of the six Gremlins in this set are female. That said, Lovely Assistant is perhaps the least interesting of the six Gremlins in the Explosive Solutions set to me. Still, she seemed like the best choice to tackle first.
Here are all the pieces cut from the sprue. Only four, which is a miniscule amount for a Malifaux figure. She seems pretty straightforward but I was really worried about that hand with the baton. The wrist is so tiny and having that as two separate parts made me feel worry it wouldn’t be secure.
Here is the assembled figure. It took no time at all. Like most Wyrd figures, the pieces go into place with little fuss. The only problem was indeed the wrist. Plastic glue, which I used for the rest of the figure, was right out due to the wrist/joint being so tiny so I used Gorilla glue. Then after it dried, it was still extremely flimsy so THEN I applied a light dab of plastic glue to melt the two pieces together. This would be a running theme for Explosive Solutions as I would have to switch between glues frequently to make a figure work. Still, I enjoy the end result for Lovely Assistant. There’s a lot of detail and she looks good even unpainted. My wife’s reaction to this piece was, “What the(*^*#$@( is that thing?”
Next up is Wong’s Sprue. As you can see he is six parts and we also start to notice what I was talking about earlier. Wong’s special case is in three parts where most miniature companies would have this as one. You have to glue the sides onto the case for some reason. They aren’t ornately detailed or anything so I can’t fathom why they did this. I think Wyrd likes to make you work for your finished figures.
Here are all of Wong’s pieces removed from the sprue. He’s going to be pretty straightforward. I love the Yellow Claw/Mu Fan Chu/old guy from the Gremlins movie look Wong has going on. I’m sure some people will feel the figure is a bit stereotypical or even racist, but I think it’s more meant to be an homage or Gremlins being their usual confused selves as the Ten Thunders figures are far from racially insensitive.
The assembled Wong. He was very easy to put together. You do have to be careful with the wrists though as they are bent at a weird angle and even with glue, gravity makes them want to fall off. This is especially true for the briefcase hand. So just vice or hold it for a few minutes and it will be fine.
Here is a sprue for the Lightning Bugs aka Gremlin Wizards. Yep, that’s not a dangerous combo. These three are another reason I really wanted the Explosive Solutions boxed set. Even if I never play Malifaux, I’m going to enjoy painting these. Unfortunately two of the three sculpts were not fun to put together.
Here are the three finished Lightning Bugs. I love that each one is unique and that one is a serious Gremlin while the other two just haven’t quite gotten the hang of magic yet. Now let’s look at each one of these individually.
This Lightning Bug was a bit annoying to put together. The feet were separate from the body and then the entire figure’s weight has to rest on one of them. This means it has to rest on one extremely flimsy joint. It’s bad design and you can tell Wyrd was going for how the finished product looks rather than the sheer annoyance of putting it together. Because the pieces are so small you can’t even pit the foot into the body so it was a lot of trial and error getting it to first solidify and then to get the entire figures weight to stand on it. This was very poorly though through.
The fireball, although hilarious is another bad design. The weight of the ball is the core reason the figure wanted to tip over and break off the foot from the rest of the body. It took some doing (primarily super gluing the foot to the base, then the foot to the body and then plastic gluing (which melts plastic) to ensure things would stay in place. Yes it’s a very funny figure and will be a lot of fun to paint but this was NOT fun to put together. The sad part is, that she was only the second worst figure to put together.
The second Lightning Bug here was pretty easy to put together. He was straight forward, didn’t have any weak limbs or joints and although he is the dullest looking figure in the set, he was easy as heck. After the female Lightning Bug, I was all for that. The only hard part is the ball of fire in his palm. The connecter is very small and so you’ll have to really hold it in place to ensure it stays upright as the glue sets. My advice is to plastic glue this part so it becomes one piece.
So here’s the figure in the set that made me swear. This was anything but fun in putting it together. The figure is in TEN pieces with the rob of all things being six pieces. The figure comes without any instructions and so it became extremely annoying to figure out how these go together. The robe bottom and legs (three pieces) just did not want to line up. I tried all sort of different combos and finally found instructions online. Look how insane this piece is to put together. Then, even with instructions, the robe parts simply didn’t line up correctly. This was a big part of the problem. You can see on the figure that there is a big gap on the side that I will eventually have to fill with green stuff. So not only was this piece a mess to put together, but the parts weren’t cast properly. This did not make me happy at all. Sure it’s a cute figure, but again, Wyrd needs to think about the actual putting together of the plastic pieces and not just the end result.
The fireball was annoying too, if only to get it to balance on the base. Then you have to connect that teeny arm joint into the sleeve of the robe, which is a separate piece from the main robe body. Again, weight + gravity + balance are not things Wyrd seemed to take into consideration with the Lightning Bugs.
Another view of the finished product. You can see some more gaps I’ll have to green stuff in.
Finally we come to the big figure in the set – Mancha Roja. This Gremlin Luchador, combined with Wong was a must have for me. With the sprue, we can see Wyrd’s trademark wackiness like the head being in two pieces, and the little Gremlin being supported only by a tiny leg joint. Oy. I was worried when I saw this.
Here are all the parts of Mancha Roja removed from the sprue. Only ten parts, the same as that one crappy Lightning Bug. It’s fairly straightforward figure and he was super easy to put together. My worry about the little Gremlin was unfounded as his weight was supported wonderfully. Mancha Roja was a breeze to put together even though he was the largest figure in the set.
Here is the end result. A great looking, unique figure that really showcases the Gremlins’ personality.
Another shot of Mancha Roja, this time from a different angle so you can better see the poor Gremlin he is pummeling for no apparent reason.
Finally, here is a shot of all six figures together. Explosive Solutions complete and ready for priming, painting and play. Overall this was a decent set. Two-third of the figures were really fun to put together and the other two…were not. Let’s just leave it at that. With a price tag of $45, you’re paying seven-fifty per piece of plastic, which isn’t bad, especially when compared to something like Games Workshop. I’m not sure how good I’ll do with this as my first Malifaux warband, but it will be fun to see the results.
Leave a Reply