Hasslefree Survivor Children 01

Continuing my theme of reviewing Hasslefree's range of 28mm scale Adventurers to use as survivors in a zombie apocalypse I'm going to look at their figures of children. Opening the show are some of the girls.

Starting at the far left of the two photos above is HFA024 Amoy (b). This a conversion of the original Amoy (shown next to her) and comes with a choice of two weapon options. You can arm her with a disposable rocket launcher or with a pistol, as I've done. I can readily accept a kid with a pistol but a kid with a rocket launcher is a much less credible option. I'm not saying it couldn't happen, just that it would be a very rare event. She's a nice figure but I've no idea where her name comes from.
Next to her is HFA012 Amoy. I do like how Sally has described her on the HF website, "A helmeted Eurasian female youth carrying a nice sharp katana and a cool getaway vehicle (skateboard!)." Unlike Amoy (b), this is a one-piece casting. I painted both figures with the same coloured helmets to show that they are related. They're probably twins, although if you just buy one of them, then she's an only child.
In the centre of this group is HFA035 Morgan. I did debate whether to include her with the adults but given how small she is, I decided she must be a teenager, so she's getting reviewed with the kids. She is holding what looks to be a small calibre pistol, like a Walther PPK, something that is easily concealable. I like this figure a lot. I really do admire just how well, Kevin White sculpts curvy females.
The next two figures are both HFA030 Alyx. The figure comes with a body and a sprue containing options for three right arms and three left arms. When I bought her a few years ago, she only came with two sets of arms but in late 2009, when the figure needed remoulding, Kev added an extra set of arms to the sprue. The new arms allow you to pose her as a magic-user, with spellbook in one hand and a wand in the other. Apparently, this is HF's best selling figure, and I'm not surprised. She is full of character and attitude, whatever arm options you choose. The figure at the left in my photos is pointing a pistol "Gangsta-style" in her right hand and holding a teddy bear in her left hand, giving a perfect combination of cute and deadly. The figure of Alyx at the far right is armed with a baseball bat, whilst giving a two-fingered salute... and, no, it's not a V-sign. Her outer two fingers are raised, whilst her middle two fingers are bent back. I've no doubt that I will be ordering this set again. I want to make the magic-user and I may buy another two sets to convert into the twins from the recent St. Trinian's film. If you want to include a young teen with a bad attitude in your games then look no further than Alyx.

At the far left of the two photos is HFA005 Maria, another petite female who almost got reviewed with the adult females. But, again, I decided she's a teenager, so here she is with the other kids. There is a real sense of motion to her as she looks over her right shoulder to check who or what is behind her, which is reminiscent of the way HFA043 Kitty was posed. I know from comments on previous scantily clad females that there will be those of you who are delighted to know that she is wearing a pink thong. Well, on my version her thong is pink; you can paint her thong whatever colour you fancy.
Next up is the smallest of all the children in this range - HFA010 Katie. She wields a small club and a dustbin lid, giving her a form of protection and a means to attack. My friend, Colin, did an excellent conversion of her recently, which you can see here http://downamongthezedmen.blogspot.com/2011/01/loadsa-stuff.html Giving her a pistol changes the dynamic of the figure but surely increases her survival chances considerably. When you see the figure in real life, she is so tiny. I think she's delightful!
So far, all of the kids I've reviewed have been female. Well, here come the boys, starting with HFA009 Peter, who is probably Katie's brother. He is just a tad taller than Katie, although his pose will make him seem smaller because he has his legs splayed. He is hefting a crowbar in his tiny hands, determined to protect his sister. Another delightful sculpt!
Fourth in line is HFA047 Parker. He's appropriately named, seeing as he's wearing a parka. It has been pointed out that he bears an uncanny resenblance to Kenny from the South Park animated TV series. So if you want to paint him in an orange parka and call him Kenny, go right ahead. His weapon of choice is a nice hefty machete, which is great for killing zombies.
Finally, is HFA040 Palin, who rather scarily, is armed with a chainsaw. Kids with chainsaws? Now that's just asking for trouble! His choice of name came about because he is dressed in lumberjack clothing and Michael Palin famously sang The Lumberjack's Song in TV comedy classic Monty Python's Flying Circus. That piece of trivia was gleaned from the HF website. I think he's a very dynamically sculpted figure. I guess in a zombie apocalypse, folks have to survive as best they can, so if that means a young boy is wielding a chainsaw then so be it.
By now, you all should know how I feel about this range of Hasslefree Adventurers, so I'll spare you the guff about how great they and move on to the nitty gritty - how much do they cost? Katie, Peter and Palin are the cheapest at just £2.50 each. Amoy, Maria, Morgan and Parker cost £3.50 each, Alyx and Amoy (b) are £4.00 each. Hasslefree offers a Peter and Katie bonus pack, which costs £4.50 for the pair, saving you 50p.
It seems to me that there is a niche in the market for adventurer kids, especially in a contemporary setting so congrats to HF for supplying us with these. I am aware that HF have more kids in their range than I've reviewed here. The ones not shown were deliberately omitted. HFA017 Billie will be reviewed with civilian types. HFA018 Billie the Hunter is too sci-fi to appear here. HFA039 Rose is another civilian type whom I'll review later.