Very few properties have the ability to completely transport me back in time on a full wave of nostalgia. A lot of properties might remind me of a specific TV show or comic I once loved. But Golden Axe tackles all my senses. As my absolute favorite arcade game of my youth, it takes me right back to that place in time. I can hear the noises.. both from the game itself and the cacophony of arcade dings, chimes, tokens, and wild kids, I can smell the popcorn, I can feel the freezing air conditioning, and I can see those amazing characters swinging swords and mounting dragons while fighting skeletons and kicking little gnomes. I was obsessed with this game and I always played the sole female character, Tyris Flare. The funny thing was that I was also extraordinarily bad at this game. I never made it too far. So luckily I don't feel the need to buy toys of the big boss characters (because I honestly never saw them!) This Tyris Flare is my first purchase from the high-end Storm Collectibles and I love it.
The packaging is not as sturdy as you might expect from a high-end collectible.
The cardboard has the weight of cereal box paperboard. And the figures inside are heavy. It makes the whole package a little unwieldy. Also the display window isn't very impressive. The entire dragon is hidden from view and the Tyris parts are wrapped in plastic baggies within the plastic trays, which obscures the view of the figure. I open my figures so I'm not bothered in the least. But I know plenty of MIB collectors who might be underwhelmed.
Tyris' only true accessory is her sword.
She also comes with two alternate faces (angry and calm), and two sets of hair (still and windswept)
All the initial pics above show the calm face with the still hair and still bangs.
Below are three pics of the angry face with windswept hair and bangs.
I don't love the angry face. I feel like the eyes and the mouth don't look like they belong on the same expression. If the eyes were squinted a bit in rage, I think it would look more balanced.
There are eight potential face and hair combinations.
My favorite combination is the calm face with the still hair and windswept bangs.
You can see that the design of these toys is kind of a hybrid between the pixelated game graphics and painted art.
I think the factor that made Golden Axe stand out among all the other games at the time was the ability to knock a bad guy off their dragon or chickenleg and have your playable character mount that steed and kick butt. It was probably the coolest in-game power-up I have ever played. It was such a simple concept but for some reason no one else was doing it.
Tyris comes with a Blue Dragon. The sculpt and size of this beast is amazing. The only thing I wish is that the back legs had a little more articulation. It's hard to pose them in a position other than this upright stance.
The dragon also comes with a flame accessory.
Time for some Group and Comparison Pics!
Here are the three playable characters together: Gilius Thunderhead, Ax Battler, and Tyris Flare.
The skeletons in this line are awesome. They always come in 2-packs with a variety of decos.
I prefer this traditional bone-colored design.
And here are the three heroes on the steeds they each came with: Tyris Flare with Blue Dragon, Gilius Thunderhead with Chickenleg, and Ax Battler with Red Dragon.
And with the skeletons added. I hope they make a set of the little knapsack gnomes.
Cheers!
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