HEROES FORCE

Back in 2012 I posted a review of the first wave of Heroes Force figures. Heroes Force is a line of action figures created by a couple of Canadian guys, Shannon Thibodeau (a Canadian Forces Member) and John Alan Sperry, (a graphic designer). The first wave of 3 figures and were named Thibodeau, Sperry, (named after the creators) and Watson (named after Scott Watson, an acquaintance of Thibodeau who was integral in getting the product to market). The figure designs were based on today’s Canadian Military soldiers in the three aspects of the forces, Army, Navy and Air Force. The figures were essentially all the same, decked out in green camouflage, but differentiated by their facial hair and the color of their berets. My local comic shop, Strange Adventures, was one of a handful of retailers selling the figures. I thought it was really cool to have a line of figures based on the Canadian Forces so I bought up all three. The packaging was pretty plain but prominently featured the Canadian flag and a giant maple leaf. I was dying to open them up but I thought they would look nice tacked to the wall carded so thats what I did.

Not long afterwards a second wave of 3 figures was released. The second wave was much more diverse. Wave 2 consisted of a soldier in desert camo, a bearded soldier in winter camo, and an African Canadian soldier in green camo. Each figure in wave 2 came with a backpack and a machine gun (the figures in the first wave didn’t come with any accessories). I bought wave 2 as well and as much as I wanted to open at least one of them I decided to keep the whole set carded. It crossed my mind to buy a double of one of the figures so that I had one to open but they retail for $19.99 which isn’t cheap for such a simple figure so I resisted that urge. My 6 Heroes Force figures have been displayed proudly on my wall for the past 2 years. I’ve been meaning to get around to reviewing one of the wave 2 figures for a while but they’re kind of a pain in the ass to get off the wall.

This past Wednesday I was at Strange Adventures buying my weekly haul of comics as I do every Wednesday. It’s not unusual for the shop to hook me up with little goodies from time to time like a free comic or a movie pass which is always appreciated. They gave me a pass to see Nightcrawler a couple of weeks ago which was fantastic by the way. Well this week, for whatever reason, after I paid for my books the clerk (I don’t know all the new kids names yet) told me I could grab a free Heroes Force figure if I wanted. Score.

So I picked up Jayden here and now I finally have a Heroes Force figure that I can open up and play with display. On the back of the desert colored blister card is a clip-out file card similar to those found on G.I. Joes. Jayden’s file card says that he is a member of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI). That sounds like kind of a wussy name for a military division but according to the card the PPCLI is one of Canada’s most famous infantry regiments. Apparently they were founded at the outbreak of WWI and quickly established a reputation for ground-breaking leadership, service and sacrifice. The regiment is composed of 2000 soldiers has been awarded 39 Battle Honours. Well know I know, and knowing is half the battle.

The figure looks really nice. The camo pattern is done really well and the crown symbol on the chest and the Canadian flag on the arm are done in very precise detail. His name is even finely written above his breast pocket. Overall the paint job is excellent, with perhaps one exception…my Jayden has crazy eyes.

The sculpt is a pretty simple one. Other than a few pockets the figure is pretty smooth. It lacks details like the wrinkles in the fabric found on many Joe figures. The helmet isn’t removable which is kind of a bummer but it looks great. I actually think it looks much more realistic than most Joe helmets.

The figure has decent articulation. He swivels at the neck, has ball jointed shoulders, and has standard joints at the elbows, hips, and knees. He stands up pretty good on his own but I wish he came with a display base. The figure doesn’t even have holes in his feet so I can’t use generic stands.

This is a good quality figure but his torso feels somewhat fragile, like if I really squeezed it between 2 fingers it might break apart. The other issue I have with this figure is he can’t really hold his gun and his backpack doesn’t stay on very well either.

Despite those few issues I think this figure is great and its making me consider buying doubles of the others so I can open the whole gang. As a Canadian, I would have loved to have these figures when I was a kid. I can imagine the Canadian government sending Jayden down to the US to assist G.I. Joe in some international crisis. That would have been a lot of fun to play out. 8 out of 10.