Xesray Studio Combatants: Fight For Glory

In memory of my late willpower, here is another roughly 1/12 scale line focused on one specific theme: Gladiators.

It's been running for quite some time, and maybe I've seen it somewhere but didn't pay attention. Until my eyes fell on the third wave.

The first two waves are sold out everywhere, including them here under spoiler tags for historical (pun intended) purposes.

Wave I:

Wave II:

Wave III has been released several months ago and can still be found in the wild (but is also selling out quickly)

Berenice - Macedonian Spear



Vlattia - Canine



Tadala - Vespid



Gladiator School Trainee A



Gladiator School Trainee B



One of key points of the line is modularity. Parts are interchangeable across similar bodies, armor pieces are removable (though according to reviews I've seen it requires some heating).
The bodies are open-jointed but armor usually covers the joints.

Scale is slightly larger than 1/12 - but not as large as 7-inch figures from McFarlane or Storm Collectibles. This is from Xesray Facebook feed:

Interesting line, but not one I'm going to cross -- I think I'm all set with gladiators, having gotten most of the Kaustic Plastik and ACI lines. They look nicely done and detailed, as far as the scale would allow, although there are some flights of fancy (fantasy) here and there. Wave III and the Trainees might be even better, with some extra pieces, and the bare feet would be more realistic in most cases.

Ooph! You know you got me with those lady gladiators, right? Love them. Though the size is a little unfortunate, making a body swap impossible. Love Tadala's head!

Too pricy though at this point.

What's coolest is that they have a darkskinned lady.

It's somewhat overwhelming to get all three at once.
And I don't have an appropriate background (backdrop inserts in the package are small) - so imagine a bit of time travel or cosplay.

Berenice:




An interesting solution with helmets - top hairpiece needs to be removed to put a helmet on, but what remains below still has hair texture and color and kind of works too (maybe as wet hair look):


The sword is supposed to fit into a scabbard-like strap behind but I was not able to put it in without heating. Actually heating / boiling water is recommended for all parts swapping and I didn't try it yet, though hands can be swapped as is


Close up - I find the head (and the other two) to be quite beautiful:


Tadala:


Articulation allows for some archer poses but I'd call it quite limited. Elbow range is only 90 degrees, no lower waist joint, neck is fixed - the scheme looks quite close to Mezco female body.


Without top hair piece:

Helmet:

Close up:


Vlattia:


Vlattia leaves conflicting impression. One one hand, I like her the most on some inner instinctive level. Dual-wielders are cool. But she feels incomplete without proper skirt armor.
She comes with a lot of stuff though. Swords, punch daggers, an axe, and (not pictured here) another set of arms


Helmet and helmet hair:


Close up:


Some quick action:



Group shot:


Size comparisons with other lines are not ready yet. Too much stuff to photograph

So overall, these are quite nice, but, as expected, are of "plastic action figure" type, as opposed to "cloth action figure". In that regard they are closer to SHF or Mafex offerings, with fair share of accessories and interchangeable stuff, and at slightly lower price.
The modularity aspect is interesting but I hope I don't break anything, because everything is so tight...

I think they performed quite well.

Interesting figures! I would be curious how they compare size-wise to other 1/12 lines.

Beautiful figures, congrats! The heads especially really are nice, but I love the overall look of all of them, too!

GubernatorFan wrote:I think they performed quite well.

Size comparisons.

Black series:


Wonder Women (S. H. Figuarts and Mezco):


Storm Collectibles Ares, though Roman gladiators would call him Mars (never meet your idols!)


Custom WIP Superman based on VTOYS x BMS body actually turned out taller:


And I considered him Mezco scale - but real Mezco Thor is slightly shorter:

(the parry turned out wrong - it shouldn't be edge to edge)

TBLeague (high heels don't help her):


VeryCool:


Speaking of Berenice, I was slightly baffled by the fact that this name does not originate from Proto-Indo-European *ṷern-. Instead it comes from Βερενίκη, which also gives origin to Veronica, that itself can be shortened to Vera. So the two above could be etymologically related (Though I prefer an interpretation coming from Latin vērus).

Another group shot

My gladiators are calling for a fight.

Phicen clothes wrote:My gladiators are calling for a fight.

They look epic!
And knowing that you've crafted their outfits yourself makes them doubly awesome.