REVIEW: Acid Rain Agurts

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Ori Toy has brought us a great premium line of figures called the Acid Rain World. The creator Kit Lau has made an amazingly detailed universe that is filled with warring factions whom use soldiers and transforming vehicles. There are going to be more divisions coming in the future so right now here is the Agurts Infantry. 

More on page 2 ^[2]

The Acid Rain line is a newer 1:18th scale line created by Kit Lau.  It has a mixture of transforming vehicles and soldiers.  This excerpt from the blog ^[3] Kit has created gives a great explanation of what the Acid Rain line is about:

“Acid Rain is not only a story about war, it’s more about the ridiculous phenomena we are now experiencing on a daily basis. It’s about how these ridiculous things get “normalized” and used by us. For example, to get rid of your enemy, an excuse of removing mass destruction weapons has become a proper reason for advancing the war. For the sake of creating harmony in the society, the government can restrict the freedom of expression and press endlessly. Well, we all look like one of the many screws in the big machine of society, but are we just as much as a screw? I hope via reading story we can have some thoughts about it.”

The 88th infantry was set up to protect the transportation route of agricultural produce from Agurts to Gafia. Operating at the anarchical desert area, the infantry experienced attacks from the Omanga, who have penetrated into the land of soil ghosts. The 88th infantry are facing high risks and  they have the highest rate of casualties among Agurts’ military units, even they are equipped with the high end weaponry.

The figure sculpt is the same as the Sol Commander.  It is really a good base for the figures with this line.  The head is also similar being it has a gas mask on which is a necessity in the Acid Rain world.  The Agurts have different attire and weapons than the Sol Commander.  The upper torso is covered with a WW2-esque short trench coat and style of helmet.  The figure does use a softer plastic for the hands, feet and head as opposed to other toy lines.

 

Articulation is the lines major strong point I feel.  The figures have hinged wrists (one up/down, one side/side), ankles that move, double jointed knees, a head that can move up/down/side/side and single jointed elbows.  This has been a standard on the two figures that I have seen and would imagine it will continue throughout the line.  It does allow you to put the figures in poses that may be more difficult with other lines, especially any with gear.  You can basically get about any pose you may want except a flat “prone” position.  The head does not go far enough back to set up like that.  Otherwise, the figure lets you have great posing for pictures or display.

Paint applications are another of this lines strong points.  The weathering on these figures is great for the environment they are supposed to be in. Very little, if anything is needed to be done to make these look battle worn.  The clothes and weapons are both worn looking right out of the box.  When you first take the figure out you could wonder if it has already been played with. The metal has small areas of rust and the black wash on the attire is done in a way that does not drown out the original colors.  You can see by earlier pictures and ones to follow of the accessories the detail that was put into the figure to give it a nice gritty feel.

Aside from the helmet, this figure comes with 3 weapons.  A pistol, rifle and Gatling gun.  All nicely detailed and can be held by the figure in ways that seem more natural for the weapon.  Some lines have an issue with “looking down the sights” but these figures can come as close as I have seen with any line I have used.  There is not really any holsters for the pistol or a sling for the rifle but those are small things that most people could easily create.  Only thing that I would have liked to see was an ammo belt of some sort for the Gatling gun but that is just for more of an accuracy thing with me.  Again, an easy fix is you have one from another line.  If you have a squad of Agurts then you can have each one be a specialist with a certain weapon or something of the sort.

The packaging is fairly simple.  It is a box that has an outer sleeve with the art on it and on the inside is the figure/accessories in a foam cut out.  The art on the box gives a good feel of what the figures are for and also lets you see how much detail is put into the actual figure compared to the art.  I actually like the art that has been done for this line so this is a nice display piece that does not get ruined just because you opened it.  Although you can not see the figure like blister packaging you can rest assured you are going to get a really cool figure that has a lot of resemblance to the front cover.

Sculpt	Articulation	Paint	Accessories	Package	Overall
A-	A	A+	A-	A	A

Overall is not an average.

My verdict on this figure is an A overall.  The sculpt is one that we will see again I would imagine so it is not a stand out but it does serve it’s purpose well.  The articulation does allow for more use than many other lines so I can appreciate that for pictures.  The paint is once again done well.  The accessories are pretty cool but there was just a few minor details that I would like to see.  The package is great in my opinion since it not only has cool art for the product on it but it does not get ruined once you open it.

Remember, this is a small run line so getting involved with it is not like going to the store and finding figures.  Items do cost a bit more.  It is hard for me to condone a $20 price point on something but if I am going to pay then it better have a theme like this along with the detail.  Luckily I am not an army builder but I would not be opposed to having a squad of these.  I am looking forward to the next release of figures that Kit and Ori Toy will get to the public.