Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Appleseed Ex Machina: Briareos Hechatonchires

Deunan Knute won't be complete without Briareos Hechatonchires, her partner and companion in ESWAT. That is the other reason why Takara's Deunan didn't appeal to me - firstly, they released their Deunan with hair and so un-anime-like (price didn't help it either) and secondly, no Briareos. Appleseed is about Deunan and Briareos. Briareos is named after Briareus the Vigorous, one of the Hecatonchires (hundred-armed giants) of Greek mythology.

Briareos is a prime example of the technology of cybernetic implants available in Olympus in the Appleseed saga. His outer skin is elastic and capable of feeling sensation. He has eight eyes mounted on his head, four in his face (the large sensor in the middle is actually his nose), two at the bases of his "rabbit ear" sensors, and two at the tips, which allow him to safely look around corners (although the movie version seems to have omitted the last two). His brain is augmented by an auxiliary brain that acts as an information processor. His cybernetics controller, the Hecatonchires system, is named after the same 100-armed giants from Greek mythology.

Similar Slipcase as Hot Toys Deunan's


Actual product shot on cover of box


Briareos in tray

Briareos' weapons and accessories

Basic Briareos Hechatonchires

Close-up showing his four eyes and nose



Olympus Police ESWAT badge


Two eyes at the back below his "rabbit ear" sensors and "Hechatonchires System" printed on the back of his head


Armed with his ENIGMA M-117 ANTI-MATERIAL RIFLE, more like a portable canon


A close up of his huge canon, the ENIGMA M-117 ANTI-MATERIAL RIFLE


Briareos suited up



Briareos armed with PROMETEUS M-08 CYBORG Pistols


Damn nice pistols too!!




As far as Hot Toys are concerned, they give you Bang for your buck!! Sideshow is trying to charge us a bomb for their SnakeEyes which just doesn't justify the price. For the price they're charging, I would expect Hot Toys' standard and quality. That's one less figure for moi :(

13 comments:

BigHatDino said...

Wow. I love Briareos. Have been sorely tempted with this figure, but my fear is the sticky-suit problem that I heard about on some forum. It's an amazing sculpt and figure design.

alex teo said...

Yeah, I love Briareos too! I wanted him so bad I once purchased a 1/6 vinyl kit version (those you have to paint, trim and join together, and they're not exactly poseable) just so that I could have him. That didn't work out too well. I read about the sticky suit problem too so I set him in none extreme poses and I place him away from the sun/window. For me, he's just too good to resist.

Kenny said...

Gotta love that over-sized gun!

alex teo said...

Briareos can even use it as a crutch! Somehow the gun looks okay on him - I liked the fact that Hot Toys didn't just do the same weapons for both Deunan and Briareos.

Unknown said...

do you have any problem so far with the rubber suit melting or breaking apart?

alex teo said...

so far so good Steve. i try to keep him away from direct sunlight. only time will tell. keeping my fingers crossed.

Dennis said...

Is a pity that I come to know of Appleseed late. This is a nice quality collection that I can't find it elsewhere selling now. Hoping HT will re-release.

Anonymous said...

I have actually used Armor All on rubber suited figures in the past. You have to use the gel version designed for interiors. It protects against uv damage also. This is the way I have protected my Sideshow Creature From The Black Lagoon figure for the past 5 years and have had no stickiness or cracking issues. http://www.armorall.com/products/view_product.php?product_id=11&main_group=1&category_index=protectants

alex teo said...

THANKS for the great tip :) Very much appreciated. Will go out and get one ASAP

Logan said...

Awesome figure Alex. Got mine through the secondary market. Not cheap but worth it. How's your figure holding up? Did the Armour All work? :)

alex teo said...

The figure is holding up well Logan :) Thanks for the GREAT tip Enjoy your figure man CHEERS

jaztermareal said...

i was actually disappointed with the briareos (my first hot toys figure). i was expecting the same functionality as takara armoured figures but instead i got a movement hindering rubber suit, non removable armourand not even any extra wrist pegs for the extra hands (takara panzer cops for example all come with additional pegs for the hands). i am in the middle of renovating the figure (with dc direct batman dark knight body suit) to give a better posability and giving it a new look while im at it. the takara deunan is a really nice figure with nice proportions, well done rooted hair, removable armour etc but again suffers from posability hindering rubber suit. but so does ht deunan so i guess appleseed figures are just statuesque in general.

alex teo said...

Hey Joshua, I'm excited to see your version of Briareos when you're done :) Post pictures please XD