I’m a little behind on posting this, but at the end of last year (ok, more than just a little behind), the Four Horsemen held a sale on items at their online store, the Store Horsemen. Although I passed on the “swimsuit” variant of Queen Alluxandra, I had put off picking up a Ramathorr for long enough. And while I was there, I couldn’t help but pick up a Chalice of Guudenuph, the Store Horsemen exclusive variant pink elephant.
When the guys on staff at the Fwoosh were planning for their 7K exclusive elephant, we had jocked about asking for a pink elephant. It wasn’t an option when we talked to the Four Horsemen, since as it turned out they were holding it for their own exclusive, so we went with red and blue, a good fit for our site logo at the time. Having the Chalice reminds me that we didn’t think of it first. 🙂
What I found interesting about these two figures is that they really are the bookends for their round of 7th Kingdom exclusives. Ramathorr was among the first figures available, with all of the issues that came with them, and the Chalice of Guudenuph was the last, coming many months later.
Ramathorr
The first run of elephants that included Ramathorr, the leader of the Council Guard, was plagued by production issues. Unfortunately, the ones that remained in stock at the Store Horsemen were from the first run. And to be fair, this was fully disclosed in the verbiage on the site. I was hoping that these problems weren’t as bad as I had read.
No such luck. When I removed Ramathorr from his plastic shell, his right arm and left leg popped off, due to the tiny pegs that were used. In addition, the joints in the legs are very loose, and the figure is so massive that the legs buckle pretty easily. Getting an early Ramathorr to hold a pose is very tough.
The good news is that the Four Horsemen took steps to correct the joints, increasing peg size and sturdiness. Although this delayed the release of the bulk of the elephants and variants, the quality was greatly increased.
The Chalice of Guudenuph
On the opposite end of the spectrum is the Chalice of Guudenuph, where the quality improvement is readily apparent. The Chalice was the last figure in the series to become available. With the Club of Thraugnn (the Fwoosh exclusive elephant), the Helm of Xaanm (Big Bad Toy Store’s), and the Shield of Draumm (Raving Toy Maniac’s) – all figures that were produced after that first run of elephants – the quality of the pegs had been greatly improved, but the hips, knees, and ankles were still a bit loose. With the weight of these figures, they all needed stands for stability.
The pink elephant, ironically, is the one that has no trouble standing up on his own. I’m hopeful that the joints in his legs will hold up over time.
We’ll need to catch up with the Horsemen to see if there’s going to be any more Fantastic Exclusive offerings soon. Last we heard, Scarabus from Gothitropolis was on deck, but we haven’t heard any plans for 2010.
The Chalice of Guudenuph is one of my favorite toys.
of course, I’m partial to the Fwoosh elephant 🙂 but the Chalice is definitely the most solid and sturdy of the elephants / variants I have. it really is a great toy.
Anyone here reads Gantz? Ramathorr looks like one of the sub bosses that show up in the temple episode(if you read the manga).
I’m really late to this party, but after getting interested in elephant figures through my pursuit of a “fishtank”-edition “Poacher” figure, I found Ramathorr and subsequently his subordinates. However, as beautiful as the figures are, it sounds like the Four Horsemen either phoned this guy in, or fired their copywriter (or this guy is intended to be a parody). He’s pink, and his epithet is “The Chalice”? As in, wine goblet? The kind that, once you’ve drunk enough from, you start seeing so-called pink elephants? Also, his name is “Good enough”? C’mon guys.
All that said, if I can figure out how to get these shipped to India, I may just have to pick some up.