Vampifan's Superheroes and Supervillains 06

Up to now, in this series of posts I have concentrated on various supervillains I made and converted for my GURPS Supers and Villains & Vigilantes campaigns. Now it is time to redress the balance and show you some of my superhero figures. I start with the trio of superheroes who formed the player character team in my GURPS Supers campaign which I ran in 2003 and 2004. My good friend, Dave, was almost as big a fan of Marvel Comics' Wolverine as I was of Vampirella. He wanted to play the X-Men mutant and together we worked out his stats for my campaign. Rob, whom I've known since the early 1980's, came up with a character called Gothique, who originally appeared in the Warmachine steampunk war-game produced by Privateer Press. I also took part as a player in my campaign as well as being games master. I simply had to play Vampirella. I left most of the decision making to Dave and Rob and mainly just helped out in combat situations. It is interesting that all three superheroes probably work best as loners but in my campaign they bonded well and made a very effective team. Let's take a closer look at them.

Aeryn Gothique was born in the kingdom of Cygnar, one of four major warring states that made up the Iron Kingdoms. As a Dark Elf, she was trained in the art of war from an early age. She excelled at combat and quickly rose to a rank of major prominence within her clan. Her world was a mixture of science and magic containing high tech battle-gear that became rarer as the long wars dragged on for centuries. It was whilst on a solo mission on the remote island fortress of Dragon Lord Toruk, leader of the Kingdom of Cryx that she met her match. A powerful necromancer whom she was supposed to assassinate, defeated her by opening a portal to another dimension and banishing her there. That dimension was Earth in the year 2003. She knew enough to elude capture from the authorities and was able to study this new world and its inhabitants from deep cover. She was intrigued to learn that super-powered individuals like her existed, although very few were friendly. She made a vow to continue her crusade against the Forces of Darkness and hopefully find a way back to her home dimension. She possesses very few super powers (Extra Fatigue +7, Extra Hit Points +7, Higher Technology +2 (i.e. TL:10), Increased Speed +4 and Magical Aptitude level:1) but she does have a wide range of combat advantages and skills. She also knows 30 magic spells. She cost 1,400 points. Her figure is a conversion of the DC Heroclix figure of Huntress. I replaced her twin mini crossbows with a compound crossbow and a long sword. Both weapons came from a boxed set of Games Workshop plastic Dark Elf Warriors. The figure is a good match to her illustration.
Vampirella is no ordinary vampire. She is the daughter of Lilith, the first vampire to roam the earth. She thought she was born on the planet of Drakulon, but later learned that Drakulon was a realm of Hell. In her quest to discover her true origins, Vampirella discovered that she was the first of a new breed of vampire, evolved for the new millennium. After many adventures Vampirella was killed by Mistress Nyx but Lilith resurrected her. Vampirella knew that she had to rid the world of all other vampires and demons to win some redemption for her mother and possibly for herself. She is without any of the traditional weaknesses of vampires - immune to garlic, sunlight, religious items or even holy water. She does possess supernatural strength, speed and ferocity but her greatest power lies in her iconic beauty and irresistible sensuality. For GURPS Supers I gave her Bite and Claws, Enhanced Strength 50, Extra Hit Points +10, Flight and Super Flight, Increased Speed +8, Regeneration, Regrowth and Vampiric Immortality and Invulnerability. She cost 2,000 points. For my figure of Vampirella I chose this sculpt of her by Blood Moon Miniatures. Sadly, this figure is now out of production. It is my favourite miniature of my favourite superheroine. She just oozes sex appeal.

Wolverine is one of Marvel Comics most iconic and popular superheroes and his background is well documented. Little is known of his past save that he was born James Howlett in Alberta, Canada in the 19th century. He left home after killing his father's murdered and took the name, Logan. He fought in both World Wars and spent much time in China and Japan where he learnt many martial arts. After WW2, he was recruited by the CIA as part of their Project X operation. It was here that his skeleton was bonded with an indestructible material called Adamantium. He rebelled and slaughtered almost everyone in the secret complex before escaping. Soon after he was recruited by Professor Xavier into the X-Men. Between his mutant powers, Weapon X modifications and his years of experience, Wolverine is one of the deadliest warriors the world has ever seen. On each hand, Wolverine has a set of three retractable Adamantium claws, able to slice through almost anything. His accelerated healing factor lets him survive damage that would kill most others, although it doesn't prevent him from feeling pain. He is not indestructible. If the injuries are extensive enough, especially if they result in the loss of vital organs, large amounts of blood, oxygen deprivation and/or loss of physical form, he can die. Dave and I came up with the following super powers for him - Alertness +11, Bionic Reconstruction, Breath Holding level:4, Claws (Retractable), Discriminatory Sense of Smell, Extra Hit Points +5, Increased Speed +3, Metabolism Control level:3, Passive Defence 4, Psionic Resistance level:6, Regeneration, Regrowth and Silence level:5. He cost 2,000 points, the same as Vampirella. His figure is based on a Marvel Heroclix figure of Wolverine. I repainted him as Dave wanted him in this ochre and dark brown costume.
The picture below shows the portraits I used on my GURPS Supers character record sheets. The portrait of Gothique was given to me by Rob. He had photocopied it from either the Warmachine rulebook or one of its supplements. I digitally coloured it. It would have been helpful if he also supplied me with her background and biography but Rob was always an apathetic bugger and so he left me to create her background. Lazy sod! My portrait of Vampirella is based on a photo of a 6" action figure by Moore Collectibles of her that I own. Dave had a 10" tall statue of Wolverine and his portrait is taken from the box art of that statue. 

Gothique, Vampirella and Wolverine

Assorted 28mm Scale Vampirellas

This is a bit of a self-indulgent post, seeing as I seem to be the only fan of Vampirella. Mind you, I do know of one follower, who resides in Slovenia, who has been badgering me to post this and you'll see why later. Anyway, I thought I'd start 2014 off with a look at my collection of 28mm scale Vampirella figures.

At the far left of this photo above is my oldest Vampirella figure (or should that be non-Vampirella figure, seeing as none of them use her name for copyright reasons). She is also the smallest, given that she's actually a 25mm scale figure. I bought her in the 1980's from a German firm (now long defunct) called Metal Magic. She isn't as well sculpted as more recent figures but she still has a certain charm about her and I do like the bat she's holding. Her boots are too long but I can forgive that. For many years she was my only Vampirella figure and so I'll always view her with fondness.
Next in line is another non-Vampirella figure with thigh length boots. She comes from Black Orc Games and is called Paloma (no, I don't know why). She was sculpted by someone with the initials PF (Paloma Faith, perhaps, LoL!). She is nicely sculpted and rather slim but her costume isn't quite right. Apart from her boots being too long, her costume doesn't show enough stomach. Unforgivably, you can't see her tummy button. However, what I do like about her is her hair. She is ridiculously cheap, costing a mere $1.00.

Far and away, the sexiest of this figure collection is the third in line, produced by Blood Moon Miniatures (who appear to be no longer trading). She is the tallest of my Vampirella figures and unquestionably, the bustiest. Whoever sculpted her has overcompensated her in the boobs department. Contrary to many people's opinion, Vampirella is not a busty female. Her vital statistics are a nicely packaged 36C-24-36. She stands 5' 11" tall and weighs 115lbs. Hey, only someone called Vampifan would know that! Her hair isn't quite right but my God, she has curves in all the right places! She is one incredibly sexy figure. I'm not sure why there is a piece of red cloth between her feet. It seems to serve no purpose.
The fourth figure in line is by Ground Zero Games and can be found in their adult-rated Gentleman's Club range of figures as GC25 - Vampyrelle. Hmm, who are they trying to kid? Of course, she's Vampirella. She is in an almost identical pose to the figure by Blood Moon Miniatures but seems to be more in proportion to what Vampirella should look like. You can still buy her and she costs £2.40 from the GZG webstore. It is interesting to see that she is baring her fangs.

Moving on to the second batch of figures, I start with another Out Of Production figure. The female vampire in the red mini-dress was made for the Horrorclix game by Wizkids. She was one of the six unique figures who came with the original starter figure boxed set. You may well ask yourself, did Vampirella ever wear a dress like this? Well, yes, she did. I can remember her wearing this very dress in one of her adventures in New York in her short lived Vampirella magazine series produced by Harris Comics. Sometimes, Vampirella did go incognito by wearing normal clothing, although I think she'd attract just as much attention if walking down a street in that red mini-dress as in her skimpy costume.
Second in line is a figure produced by Armorcast - LL21610 Sexy Female Vampire. Well that certainly gets round any copyright problems! The main problem I have with this figure is that I think her head is too big for her body. From the neck down, she is perfect. It is such a shame. She is available for sale from the Armorcast webstore for $3.00.

The penultimate non-Vampirella figure is produced by Black Cat Bases. You can find her in their webstore under the heading of "Vampires" and she is listed as Vampire Girl, priced at £2.00. Her hair is good, her costume is good, her pose is different but her boots are wrong. They're too long and not tight-fitting. I should make mention of Vampirella's skin tone. Vampirella is not a traditional vampire. Garlic, religious icons and sunlight do not affect her. Apart from when she grows her fangs, long talons or wings, she can easily pass for a human. She does not have the anaemic pallor found in most vampires. So I tend to paint her as a healthy looking human female. This is consistent with how she appears in the colour comics.
The final figure in line is unique and holds a special place in my heart. She is a conversion based on HFL503 Hasslefree Female Armature (price £2.50) and was a present for me from Mathyoo (aka Matevz). He wanted to get me something special as a thank you for letting him stay with me last year. Those of you who have seen Mathyoo's blog will know that he's not a bad sculptor. So he added the hair, costume and boots to the Hasslefree armature figure to create something unique. He covered the base in static grass but I added a few pieces of rubble so that she fits in with my other figures. Mathyoo painted her for me, which explains why she is so pale looking. I don't mind that at all.
So, out of these eight figures which one do you think is my favourite? It's that oh so sexy Blood Moon Miniature. Pure sex on legs! Mathyoo's version comes a very close second.