Vanguard

NOT the Atari game.

Though, in all fairness, Vanguard for the Atari 2600 was six kinds of awesome. Bonus points for being an Atari game that actually had an ending. Unlike River Raid. That river gets MIGH-T thin after awhile. But let’s get to the point of this post: the moon. Specifically, Marvel Comics’ moon. That place is hoppin’…there’s Iron Man and his Soviet buddies up top, the Inhumans own lunar real estate, every now and then the X-Men visit and kill Phoenix PLUS there’s stuff like this goin’ down every Labor Day. Screw the Savage Land, the moon is the place to be. BYOB!

Anyway, on to Heroclix nonsense. First, let’s get a better look at this Vanguard fella…

A hammer & sickle for a chest emblem AND he carries a hammer and sickle…? Odds are he might be Russian. Or a Super Mario villain.

Vanguard’s one of the Soviet Super Soldiers along with his sister Darkstar, the Crimson Dynamo (or the Titanium Man on alternate Thursdays) and mutant bear Ursa Major. They’re kinda like an X-Men/Avengers amalgam team but BETTER: they’ve got a ginger.

While I like the SSS well enough, I hadn’t planned on making custom figures for the team. It was only when I stumbled across a D&D Werebear miniature that made for an easy Ursa Major custom that I felt the urge to flesh out the group’s roster. Darkstar custom here.

Ingredients: It’s been forever since I built this guy and I didn’t keep notes, so I gotta spitball ingredients. That head looks like a Hal Jordan (Unleashed), upper body seems to be a Namor (Fantastic Forces), the legs are…too heavily modded for me to tell, sorry. The cape is Red Tornado (Collateral Damage) and the sickle is courtesy Kabuki (Indy HeroClix). His hammer is a random piece of plastic whittled down, costume trimmings—skirt, shoulder thingies and boots—are all index card paper hardened by Krazy Glue. Acrylic paint, a quick spray of matte and my army of obscure Heroclix customs  gets another member. Custom Vanguard dial here.