WENG THE BLADE MASTER

 I AM NOT A FURRY BUUUUT... the Thundercats is a very important part of my childhood as well as other half man half beast characters, like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Back in the 80s wasnt rare to see such ocurrences as well as toy series totally original and not based on anything else that build a lore and story figure by figure, like like Masters of the Universe did it or even McFarlane Toys many years later. But its been soo long since something like that was on the market.

But not anymore, since Mestro Union, a newborn brand make its debut with The Furay Planet, a project about a world inhabited by anthropomorphic animals dealing with violence, drugs, duels and gangsters. This world will be developed one character at a time, with one figure including a comic book with part of theyr lore and adventures.

Crocker the crocodile is already out as well as Veteran William the wolfman. While i still yet to get a Crocker, Veteran William turned out to be one of the best figures i ever seen in my whole life, an impresive feat for such a small and unknown name as Maestro Union, soo of course i was overhyped by the third figure of the line: Weng the Blade Master.

A chinese tiger man, a wandering warrior with dual blades in the shape of a very heavy figure, just like William. This guy is 1/12 scale soo he fits perfectly with most modern action figures tough given his inhuman nature, he is twice as tall as a normal human soo this is quiet a big figure!!

Just like William, Weng feet are longer than it seems in the back side and while he also have very cute beans, his paws are mostly plain soo he can stand perfectly and stronglly like a tower despite his digitigrade legs. He needs a little balance but once his knes are a little bend theres no problem for him to stand, something that speaks very good from Maestro Union enginering.

His first articulation is on the puff of hair on top of his head, is ball jointed and the hair can be also removed quiet easy. The he have a ball joint on his head and just like William, his neck is an elongated structure with another ball joint on the base and this lets him tilt his head a lot up and down and to the sides. Theres ball joints on his shoulders with a butterfly structure, cut articulation on the biceps and a double articulation on the elbows (very different to William since Weng is not modular and cannot be dismanteled), theres articulations on the wrists, the chest, the waist, legs, knees, ankles (or half animal leg...i dont know how to call it) and a really good articulation on his paws that can move to the sides and in circles to adjust his balance.

While in theory, all this articulations are the same as William and have a big range of movement, not all work too well....first of all, the clothing piece on his waist pretty much obstruct his entire legs movement. The peice is made in part with soft plastic but the legs cant be opened to the sides at all and are very limited. Gladlly, the knees move just perfect.

The waist dosnt move too much or the chest articulation, mostly for the big muscle stricture that obstruct it and the wrists are totally obstructed by the long gloves made with soft plastic. The rings on the arms dosnt helo either soo Weng is, in the end, not as easy to pose as Veteran William.

The sculpt is amazing. The feline face is perfectly sculpted and the hair is pretty sharp looking, he looks magestic and cute at the same time. His pecturals are glorious. His whole musculature is glorious but those bulgy pecs are just impossible to ignore. Unlike William that have a pretty lean musculature, Weng have the body of a body builder with his biceps and back being really huge.

Theres no venis in here tough, his muscles have a rugged texture that imitates short and soft hair, like a peach tough his hands have no hair  and looks really rough and rugged, like the hands of an old man with veins all over them and a lot of wrinkles and theres a pretty nice pif puff of hair on his forearms that looks like fire.

The gloves are made of soft plastic and the rings covering them are made with haird plastic and make a pretty strong bling sound each time he moves.The waist piece is really beautifull. I dont know how to call this kind of clothing, but consist in 3 layers of a red fabric tucked in top to a belt with two armor side structures at the sides. Theres a lot of pockets and cords hanging around and in one side he have metalic plates along with big coins that looks like yen and at the other side theres just leather and a brown animal fur.

Theres also green jade rings hanging from a cord, with tiny symbols carved on them and the jade rings are made of transluscent plastic. There is also a plate protection n his stomachwith big fish escales painted in silver and this two sections shines a lot and stand out.

Sadlly, as pretty as this looks, i seen many people removing it since it really obstruct his legs movement despite the material. I dont think is that easy to remove it soo i wont do it but i wish this tiger have an easy way to leave him nude, just like William.

Also i almost forgot. in between the red fabric in the back, his little tail is coming out. The tail have the same rugged texture as the rest of the body and is not articulated but instead...is bendy!!! Soo you can pose it around him with totall freedom. I love how different is the enginering compared to William.

His puffy pants have a velvet like texture as well as an enbroidment pattern. While the sculpt and wrinkles is fantastic and very realistic, they are mostly hidden by all the stuff thats hanging from his waist. 

The paint is excelent, with his small shiny yellow eyes, cute pink nose and black little dots on his snout taking all the atention. The white hair have a grey wash soo it dosnt looks plain and his orange body have also a lot od darker orange tones to give volume to those already amazing muscles. The change from orange to white in the center of the torso is pretty soft and looks soo good but not as good as the black strips on his back and arms and also his face, strips that dosnt mix at all with any other color tone of shadow at all!!!

The puffs of hair on his arms is brigth yellow givign them an even more fiery look and i already mentioned the green jade and silver fish details on his waist piece, but the red fabric that draps around his body also have a lot od dark tones to give it shadow and deep. Even the coins and metal plates as well as the big rings on his wrists have both a golden color but also some green to make it looks as rusty and old gold.

His pants are a solid dark blue color and thats all but thats OK since they are mustly hidden and his knes pads have a very natural brown wash and grey fur on the bottom. By the way, the knes pads leave his knes totally....exposed and i find that strange, i wish they covered with something else but that would block the knee articulation i guess.

He have a second head with a expression full of fury but also control over his emotions, unlike William, Weng is a martial artist thats why he neve goes runing in a feral and nude state. The sculpted wrinkles on his nose and his superior lips is really good but makes him look soo soo....cute. Its imposible to not see a kitty in here despite the big bare fangs. The paint is great, you cans ee the pink inside on his mouth but also, and even more stuning, the black strips pattern over his face and hair is the same in both heads....this are not random strips, this is an extremelly carefully aplied paint.

He comes with 4 pair of hands: closed fist, hands to hold accesorys, claw hands and an open palm and a two fingers gesture. The two fingers gesture can be used for some cool martial arts pose but also for him to hold on his pipe or even say "hi". The sculpt is as good as always in this hands tough some of the white paint in the ball joints chip away pretty easy.

Adn here is the proble,....i took me many days and a whole lot of hot water to be able to remove the hands. I almost broke my fingers doing it. Its totally IMPOSIBLE to remove his hands since the hole on his wrist is too small for the peg and bot sections are made of hard plastic. Plus those damn gloves and wings on his forearms dosnt help either soo i had to give him a bath in really hot water for like....5 whole minutes and a lot of brute force use to be able to remove those hands!!!

And put the hands back is still imposible.....each time i want to change the hands i need to use the hot water bath and a lot of force and that is unforgibable. Making the forearms of soft plastic soo it can be adjusted to the peg would have been perfect or make the gloves to open up and be removed more easy but i dont remember ever having this difficult of a time with any other figure...

His other accesory is a stray hat made of soft plastic with a big hole in the center. Out the hat on Weng head and his cute little ears will hold it in place perfectly, plus theres a cut on the side soo he can look with one eye. The patthern sculpt is amazing since bot sides of the hat are totally different but the paint is also soo perfect it fits perfectly the patthern. This is one of the coolest items for him to use.

Then he have a cloack made with soft plastic with a cord in front. Weng head must be removed to put or remove the cloack cape but put the head back with the cape on is really tricky. This cloak have a very nice flow and drapes pretty natural around Weng´s body, sculpted in grey plastic it also have some brownish tones in the bottom to make it looks dirty and old and sculpted for on top made with hairder plastic. The brown fur looks way too much like Veteran Williams hair and have the same grey tones as well...suspicious.....

While Weng looks incrediblly cool with the cape and the hay on, this cape really block some of his arm movement despite the soft material. Also theres an extra collar fur piece that goes in beetwen Weng´s head and his shoulders to cover the articulated neck, but this piece is only necesary when theres no cape.

He also comes with a pape made with bambo. This little piece is marvellous and extremelly delicate, with an exquisit nrown paint with some cooper on each end and a tiny little hook with a tiny little sack full of tobaco. I find the hook pretty delicate but is pretty cool to see the tobaco hanging and moving with the pipe and it fits perfecly on the hand with two fingers but also it can be placed in a small rope on Weng´s belt. This piece demands extra caution soo it dosnt get lost or it broke while moving around Weng (or changing those damn hands).

There is also 3 small silver knifes with an sculpted pattern and 3 little holes. The holes are for Weng claws soo he can hold them but they also fit in 3 small holes at the side of his pipe. Again, lose this little items is pretty easy and most be handled with care.

Then there is a jug with sake or maybe only water? The jug is green with a red cap and a pretty old and aged paint, and also a rop net on the bottom. Really it amaze me how perfect is the painting aplication on the rope!!! Weng can hold it on his claw but the jug also can hang from a black hook on Weng´s belt, close to the little knifes. While the jug is pretty resistant and hard to miss, i think the black hook on the tiger could be broke easy if not handled with care.

Then theres a cute pair os shoes. The shoes have an sculpted pattern that is hard to see thanks to the black paint and a weird pointy shape but.....in ordet to sue them, Weng´s cat feet must be removed from the articulation, but the plastic is soo hard i could not do it!!! Plus the shoes are amde with hard plastic as well soo take them back looks like hell as well and i wasnt up to the challengue. Also i cant see anyone chosing the shoes over the animal feet with claws. I am sure is easyer to Weng to stand with the big shoes but i prefer the animal paws anytime.

And lastly theres a big big and thin chest made of wood only a head smaller than Weng himself. While the wood texture is good theres no paint on it except on the golden motifs and ornaments at each corner and the center of the chest, with wath appeares as a plant in the very center. In the back of the chest theres this weird bullet like item that can be taken out. Theres no instructions on how to use this little thingy soo is really tricky make it works.

There is an almost invisible cap on the center of the cap that needs a lot of hot water (again) to be removed and leave a hole. The bullet like thingy can be used in this hole soo it conect with the chest and Weng can hold it on his back like a back pack. It looks kinda cool but silly and it not always work wince the bullet section is too short, it needs a lot of balance and also gives troubles to Weng to stand still.

Open the chest to reveal a velvet covering with two chinese swords on it. The velvet is a nice detail and the swords have two rings on the blade and a lion head and 3 flowers carved on the handle. The paint is very basic but perfectly aplied, specially on the two tigers in the bottom of the blades and looks fantastic on Weng´s hands.

Almost over but theres one single item left: the comic book with Weng story and a section with fanart. Sadlly, the print is still not that good and this comic book is only 1/3 of wath Veteran William had, also the art looks amazing in some panels but not that good on others. Aside of qualty or art taste, the story shows Weng facing a group of legendary warrios (Kung Fu Panda???) and finally beating the Namelss One - a samurai rabbit to later be turn into a vagabond that only lives to protects the Nameless One grandaugther, Luna. 

Given how short is the comic theres not a whole lot of lore to explore here tough the idea to give some context to the figure is really cool and ties with the very next figure of the line: the Namless One and Luna.

Overall, this figure is soo incrediblle looking, imposing, very manly and very sexy as well and every bit of the sculpt and paint jov is far superior to popular and much more expensive brands. I hyoed this tiger for more than a year since he looked soo amazing on photos but in the end, he dosnt reach Veteran William perfection.

All the stuff on top of his body and his outfit limit a lot his movement, and also the complete inability to change hands is really not acceptable. I STRUGGLED soo much taking the images seen in this post, is was a real figth  and given all the small and delicate pieces over this figure, i feel lucky i didnt broke anything.

Still i am very happy with him and how fantastic he looks. My interest on the rabit is null and the crocodile looks good but kinda silly compared to both Veteran William and Weng the Blade Master but it seems they are also making an african hyena and it excites me to see wath other kind of figure Maestro Union have in store. With enginering issues or not, this figures are real pieces of art.

VETERAN WILLIAM

 I AM NOT A FURRY BUUUUT... i dont remember the last time we had an original figures series, not based on anyhting existant, just brand new characters from a brand new fiction. McFarlane did it with his Dragons, Military men or the Tortured Souls but at the end of the last century, it wasnt rare see such event. I remember the Spew Crew, the Madballs, Mosnter in my Pocket, Supenaturals....but in this century is very rare to see it, even McFarlane has given up to design his own stuff and is now reproducing DC like a madman.

And then, enters the furry fandom....i mean, Maestro Union, a misteryous (another one) brand new company with an original concept: The Furay Planet, a collection of characters half human and half beast that comes from differents parts of an alternate version of the earth popullated by anthropomorphic beings. A concept that sound straigth from the 80s or the 90s but now day it have a very tiresome name attached to it: furry.

The very first time i saw this figures i was blown away. They looked way too amazing to be real and the first images floated on the internet for more than a year and when they finally came out....i wasnt able to get the first figure; Croker the crocodile. The lack of information about it realy made him fly away from my sigth and i still plan on get him later but it was imposible for me to let the second figure escape my grasp.

Veteran William, a british ex-military werewolf turned into a hunter. He wasnt cheap but once i got the huge and REALLY heavy box with all the cool graphics of Furay Planet, i was sure it was worth it. Once i open him i notice he was too cheap for the quality he have. In 1/12 scale this guy is in perfect scale as the NECA, McFarlane figures or other standar action figures in the market but since this is a werewolf, a man beast, he is as twice as tall as a average human being.

Also like i already said aside of being taller than the average action figure, this guy is really heavy and despite of that....he can stand on his own. This was a huge surprise for me since digitigrade figures are a pain in the ass to stand. The Xenomorph frpm Alien and the Gargoyles have a tail that works like a tripod, but Veteran Willaism tail is short soo he need to stand only on his feet and he does it!!!!

Sure some poses needs a little balance, but the enginering of his legs is really fantastic as well as the power of those articulations. Plus, his paws have an extra fur on the back side soo they are not as small as they seem and they ccan hol him perfectly.

This guy have a ball joint on his head but also the neck have an extra ball joint on the base soo the ehad cna tilt to the sides, up and down a lot. Theres ball joint son the shoulders, cut articulation on the biceps, ball joint on the elbows and the wrists, he have an amazing ball joint on his chest but also on his waist that let him tilt his entire body a lot. The articulations on his legs are also ball joints as wella s the knes, the "ankles" (i dont know how to call the half section of a dog feet) and the base of the feet themselves can can be adjusted to any direction, not only to the frint but to the sides as well.

His tails have a ball joint but also other 3 articulations. Truth is the tail sections rotate but cant bend too much soo the movement is minor, but is amazing they add articulations on the tail itself, tough the ball joint that conect it with the body have a loot of movement. 

Every single articulation have total freedom of movement since the jacket is made of pretty soft plastic and the pants are cut on the back soo he can bent his legs and arms as much as desired but is also capable of very fine and small movements. Not only that but the articulations are strong enough to hold the pose even with such long arms of heavy body.

The sculpt is beautifull. The big menacing tusk protunding from his mouth, the long snout and abundant hair on the sides as well as the short and pinty ears make him look like a real monster and not just a canine. The sculpt on the hair is pretty sharp and follow the flow perfectly around his head and also around his neck thanks to an extra hairy collar piece designed to cover the long neck articulation (made of sift plastic of course).

This beast is really muscly but very fit an aerodynamic, with no fat or over muscle, just pure raw muscle with veins covering each segment and hair coming our from certain parts, like his pubes or his arms or the back of his legs. The hair in this sections is abundant, sharp and pretty stylish looking but never gets in the way of the articulations.

I love his feet, the huge claws on his feet as well as the heart shaped beans on the base of them are really really cute and i also love is hands with long fingers and the amazing transition between long hair and bare skin.

The jeans he is using are about to explode since they wrap around his legs musculature soo perfectly and natural and still keep the texture of jeans. Same for the jacket since it have such a delicate rugged texture of fabric while keeping the flow of the wrinkles perfectly matching the arms muscle structure. 

I wish the collar of the jacket was a separate piece soo it dosnt looks too plain but thats a very minor issue comapred to the quality of the sculpt of the buttons, pockets and other datils on its design and is fully open on the back side where the tail is coming out and let his legs move freely thanks to the soft material.

Other elemnts of his outfit consist on an extra belt made with soft plastic, full of pockets and some shotgun shells on the side. The belt can be anoying at times but once put under the tail, both the tail and belt keep the two sections in place and also the shotgun shells can be removed!!! Amazing attention to detail but they dont fall easy since the rubber material of the belt keeps them in place.

There is also two sets of dog tags. One with 8 dog tags from William first team and another with 4 dog tags from his second team as a freelance mercenary. All the teams are dead soo this dog tag are a memento of his old friends. Both sets are conected at the top part and made with soft rubber plasticto be more confortable when moving the neck.

The paint job is brillant. The red gums and yellow fangs as well as black lips are perfectly painted. The yellow eyes shine over dark eye lids and the color of the fur is just soo abundant. This is not a young wolf, this is a mature man, soo asaide of the bwon fur with shadows and high ligths theres gray sections as well on his beard and the sides while theres some blond on the top of his shirt hair on the head. 

The neck piece follow this same color pathern while his back have this dark brown color and the front of his torso have a gradient of orange that turn into white just at the center of his chest and abs. The change of color is extremelly natural and soft and accentuates his perfect musculature.

His arms and legs have the same rich amount of color, with darker browns full of shadows and softer browns close to the hands as wella s in the feet, with the hair of his legs turning into blonde. Also theres a lot of grey on the hair on his arms and his legs but also his entire tail is also turning grey and the looks is just beautifull and contrast perfectly with the brown. You see, this is not just plain grey, but looks almost dusty...almost like a shine of light that is also present on the top of his hands and make his finger and feet black claws stand even more.

The color of the jeans is also really really good with some dark washes in the inside of the wrinkles to give them a lot of deep and volume and the belts also looks really natural with the golden buckle and the vibrant red shortgun shells. The jacket have a dark color with a lot of aging using yellow paint, specially on the neck section and the end of the two tails. It looks like the jacket is full of moss or mud and the sleeves have the same yellow effect that makes them looks really idrty and old.

Finally is his weapons: a leather panel on his back with two belts around his arms to hold it. The pane is made with hard plastic but the belts are soft and can be adjusted like a real belt, tough the pin that hold them in place is pretty small and i am afraid of broke or. The paint is really really realistic with even the small metal pins perfectly painted and both the brown color and texture matching that of leater.

Theres 3 weapons attached to this back panel: two knifes and a shotgun, each on a separate sheat that can be removed or moved around from the panel. The scult have a very soft leather texture with golden accent as well of a lot of aging effect and paint and also scratches. This is just a cheat for the weapons and is an item attached to Willaim´s back but still....the realism in the sculpt and paint is astonshing!!

The knifes are strangelly clean looking with metalic grey blades and brown handle but also have a golden spiky structure that covers William fingers soo they can be also deadly brass knuckles.

The shotgun is a short model with a pretty old looking shape consiting on a wood brown handle and the rest being metal black with golden locks on top. There is an articulation in the middle soo the shotgun can be open and the shells can be removed. They can be removed!!! I only saw this level of detailing in 1/6 scale figures form Hot Toys or Sideshow.

I usually when i review a figure i talk first about its balance, the articulations, the scult, paint and accesorys but this time tough i am having a hard time since theres just way too many things to talk about this wolf and many elements of his outfit can be removed and count as accesorys.

Aside fo his jacket, belt, dog tags and shotgun and knifes he also comes with 4 pairs of hands: one fully open, one claw shapped, one to hold the shotgun and another to hold the knifes. The sculpt and paint is excelent and match each other perfectly and are also pretty easy to remove and use, tough fitting the knifes on the grip hands is kind of tricky thanks to his long fingernails.

There is also a snarling extra head with one of his eyes being almost close and a side of his lips up. Looks like he is growling, looks like he is triying to smile, looks like he is about to wink and being seductive but in fact....he is smoking a cigar...the cigar is just a small bron plastic with orange and brown paint on the tip. The other side of the tip can be inserted between William fangs and it stays there...most of the time since its extremelly easy to lose and i already did it twice already. It ads a lot of personality but demands extreme care.

Theres another head with a fully open roaring mouth. It looks really menacing, specially for the scale and the red paint of the inside of the mouth looks wet and natural while the fangs can be admired fully in this specific head. The head exchange works easy and adds a lot to the display options.

But thers more...even more. There is also extra biceps with no jacket....just base and veiny muscles. Remove the jacket aaaannnnddd.... the arms. As shocking as it sounds, is pretty easy to remove the arms and replace the jacket covered shoulders and arms with the nude biceps and shoulders and add back the forearms section.

Then you have William shirtless for more wild fun. The peg of the elbow articulation is pretty easy to insert back on any of the arms as well as the shoulder ball joint tough they also included a couple of brown rings that goes inside the shoulders hole, soo theres no gap between arms and torso. The jacket arms also included a couple of green rings for the same reason and i am susprised this whole process is soo easy to do over and over again.

And finally, thanks to an experimental drug William can turn into a full wolf beast with the addition of two extra parts: a furry mane as well as an extra nude hips and thigs....

Just hold his torso, hold his pants and pull them apart. This needs a HUGE brute force and a lot of bravery since is was really really afraid to broke this since the only thing inside his hips is a rof with a ball joint that conect to his stomach. After a big "BLOOP" sound and a lot of sweating, Veteran William ends cut in half.

Remove the tail from the pants legs as well as the feet from the knes down and add them back to the nude hips and there you have it, totally nude and graphic Veteran William. The legs muscularute is even more amazing than the pants and he have a grey and hairy bulgue that matches perfectly the rest of his body and the movement of the waist and legs is just the same as the clothed version.

And lastly the mane: a big lion like manye with a beautifull sharp sculpt as well as brown paint with golden and blonde tones in the front and shiny gilver and grey in the back. This piece goes over his shoulders and is made with soft plastic while the fur section that goes always on the neck, this time covers the hole that the mane leaves between the head and the articulation.

This is probally the most badass, amazing, cool and menacing werewolf figure i ever seen. The attention to detail is astonishing, the paint is soo rich and vibrant, the articulation gives a lot of freedom and is strong enough to let you play with it and the balance of the figure is really perfect. I cant seem to find a thing to complaing in here aside of the articulations being painted, soo theres a chiping of it each time i move him. Also for some reason he have a scratch on one of his knes but i swear it was like this when i took him out of the box, but aside of that and just with blue colors this would be the perfect Jon Talbain....

As shocking as this is, thats not all!! The last accesory is a graphic novel featuring 3 chapters on Veteran William life in comic form. From his start as a soldier who lose his entire team thanks to his comander, to been thrown in jail and then being affiliated to a group of crazy mercenarys, and finall being subject to an experimental drug where him and his mates are changed to full beast and kil each other with William being the only survivor.

The printing quality is not the best at times and i am not sure wath to think about the quality of the art. At times is really beautifull and detailed, but at times looks extremelly sketchy and cartoony and also the whole book is really dark, but then again, the story it self have a lot of graphic sex, gore and violence soo this questioanble sketchy look kind of fits the story.

There is also a section with some fan art from fans from asia and i wish the quality of the rinting was much better since some of this images really deserv it. This is not the best comic and the text is on chinese soo i cant read it, but the fact Maestro Union is including lore and a story with the figure is really apreciated and something i didnt seen in like...15 years or more.

Mestro Union is really giving a lot of love to this unknown and almost underground project but thats just the tip of the iceberg, since the quality of the figure is above to almost anything on the market rigth now and lives much more expensive brands (like Figma or Plays Arts Kai) in total shame.

I am ectastic with this figure. It was tough to write this review but it also take me days to find out everything about this figure, find all his secrets and details and theres soo much to talk about him....theres soo many pictures to take since i ony post here a handfull of all the ones i took of him, theres just soo much in here, much more than any other 1/12 scale figure and this is not only the best werewolf figure i ever seen, but is also one of the very finest and best action figure i ever seen in my almost 40 years of collecting.