Even more Hot Toys "300" King Leonidas (Review 3)

I can't seem to get enough of Hot Toys excellent Movie Masterpiece Series MMS114 1/6 scale 12" King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) collectible figure from the 2006 movie "300". The craftsmanship is without doubt one of the FINEST. So here are more pictures taken of Hot Toys "300" King Leonidas.

King Leonidas: Spartans! What is your profession?
Spartans: HA-OOH! HA-OOH! HA-OOH!
King Leonidas: [turning to Daxos] You see, old friend? I brought more soldiers than you did.

Here's King Leonidas with his Spartan (Corinthian) helmet with its real-like horsehair crest, crimson cloak (himation), wolf’s tooth necklace, battle damaged Spartan shield (aspis, in Greek: ἀσπίς) with faux-leather hand hold and spear (doru, Greek: δόρυ), vambraces, leg greaves and sandals. His Sword (Xiphos, Greek: ξίφος) and faux-leather scabbard is hidden from view.

The Spartan's main weapon was the Doru (Spear). For long range, they carried a javelin. The Spartiatēs was always armed with a xiphos (a double-edged, single-hand sword used by the ancient Greeks) as a secondary weapon.


Two of the arrows (without arrow heads) provided by Hot Toys to drum up the effect and feel of the film. They are inserted into holes already created on the shield.

Persian: A thousand nations of the Persian empire descend upon you. Our arrows will blot out the sun!
Stelios: Then we will fight in the shade.

[as arrows rain down on the Spartans, Astinos begins laughing hysterically]
Stelios: What the hell are you laughing at?
Astinos: Well, you had to say it!
Stelios: What?
Astinos: "Fight in the shade"!
[both laugh]

Persian General: Spartans, lay down your weapons.
[a spear flies out and impales him through the chest, and he falls out of the saddle, dead]
King Leonidas: Persians! Come and get them!



Here you can see King Leonidas' sword (Xiphos, Greek: ξίφος) sheathed in faux-leather scabbard by his side

Notice how King Leonidas Spartan (Corinthian) helmet with its real-like horsehair crest follows the shape of his jaw and beard

A closer look at the sword (Xiphos, Greek: ξίφος) sheathed in faux-leather scabbard


After the initial hail of arrows, the Spartans prepare for close quarter combat by drawing their swords and readying themselves for battle. In one of the scenes from the film, the Spartans break the arrows that had become impaled in their shield. Hot Toys has provided seven (7) sticks of varying heights (representing broken arrows) for inserting into the Spartan shield (aspis) to re-create this look

Spartan King Leonidas: Give them nothing! But take from them everything!

Here's a picture of the Spartan shield with the seven broken arrows plugged into the holeson the shield

And now a look at the helmet and awesome headsculpt of Gerard Butler as King Leonidas

Check out the lines around the eyes and the details around the mouth and teeth. You wouldn't want to mess with him, as the immortals found out.

When you first open the box and look at the shield, you get the impression that the shield was made wrongly because of the orientation of the letter lambda (Λ) on it. But the letter lambda (Λ) on shield is in the correct facing when it is held up for battle formation as it should be.





The xiphos (a double-edged, single-hand sword used by the ancient Greeks) which the Spartans were armed with in the film is of a most interesting design. It seems to be a merge of two Greek weapons, the Kopis (chopper) which is a scythe weapon used in a hacking motion and the Xiphos which looked more like a sword as the iron blade of the xiphos was narrow-waisted toward the handle and heavily weighted at the lower part. The Xiphos' leaf shaped design lent itself to both cutting and thrusting. The Xiphos in pictures was a smooth double-edged sword whereas the one seen here in Hot Toys 1/6 scale King Leonidas' hands is anything but smooth.

King Leonidas: The world will know that free men stood against a tyrant, that few stood against many, and before this battle was over, even a god-king can bleed.

Dilios (David Wenham): "Remember us." As simple an order as a king can give. "Remember why we died." For he did not wish tribute, nor song, nor monuments nor poems of war and valor. His wish was simple. "Remember us," he said to me. That was his hope, should any free soul come across that place, in all the countless centuries yet to be. May all our voices whisper to you from the ageless stones, "Go tell the Spartans, passerby, that here by Spartan law, we lie."

Did you know that David Wenham (as Dilios) was also Faramir in "The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy? Sideshow 1/6 scale 12-inch Faramir (second son of Denethor and brother of Boromir) action figure is reviewed HERE

What has come before?
REVIEW 1: Hot Toys King Leonidas collectible figure - Box packaging and contents
REVIEW 2: More Hot Toys King Leonidas - in action poses