Hasslefree Survivor Females 01

Following directly on from my last post here is part one of a review of my Hasslefree Miniatures 28mm scale female survivors from their extensive range of adventurers. This post will concentrate on some of the females armed with melee weapons. My next post will concentrate on females with firearms. There are far more females to choose from than males, which is why I've split this review into two.

At the far left is one of the very few Hasslefree adventurers to be given a first and second name in their catalogue - HFA006 Ashlee Campbell. With her baggy combat pants, heavy boots, tight short T-shirt and headband Ashlee is probably a mercenary or some kind of special forces soldier. She is armed with a pair of pistols kept in shoulder holsters (nice touch!) and a chainsaw, which I have bloodied around the business end. It should be noted that Hasslefree make a zombified version of Ashlee, so I guess her chainsaw ran out of petrol at a crucial moment. I wish there were more figures available in "before and after" modes. It is rare to see a female toting a chainsaw so kudos to Kev for sculpting her with one.

Next to her is HFA002 Jess, a character who is ideally suited to hunting down zombies. Her most obvious weapon is her hockey stick. But look closer and you'll see she has a pistol in a holster on her right hip, a sheathed knife on her left hip and a sawn-off shotgun strapped to her back. If you want a female star for your zombie apocalypse game you'd do well to consider Jess. She is such a beautifully sculpted figure.

In the centre of this group is Hasslefree's not Buffy Summers aka HFA019 Sadie. I'm sure I've mentioned before that I am a huge fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in which case it should come as no surprise that I love this figure. The only thing I don't like about her is her name - Sadie. What an awful name for such a fine figure! She is armed with a wooden stake and has a crossbow slung across her back, perfect for killing vampires but just as good for killing zombies. If there were enough figures to represent the Scooby Gang from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I'd certainly use them in a scenario or two. Kevin White, HF's sculptor is a Buffy fan and I'm grateful for the non-Buffy figures he's made so far (Buffy, Willow and Spike) but I want more (especially Angel, Giles and Xander). Kev clearly likes this figure as there are another four variants of her. Check out my next post to see some of them.

Fourth in line is HFA025 Suzi (b). The (b) denotes that it is a variant of another figure (HFA014 Suzi). Here, Suzi's SMG has been replaced with a katana. This figure is clearly based on a Japanese schoolgirl from an anime film. The unfeasibly short microskirt that shows her bum and panties is, if you'll pardon the pun, a cheeky touch! If you want cute and deadly with a huge dollop of sex appeal, Suzi is your girl. Suffice to say, I'll be reviewing the other Suzi figure next time.

Finally, is HFA004 Kat, a very animated swordswoman. She has something of the look of Selene (Kate Beckinsale) from the Underworld films about her, although I haven't painted her as such, despite the fact that Selene is probably my favourite vampire character in films. (Speaking of which, I just read earlier this week that Kate is going to star in Underworld 4, and that hubby, Len Wiseman, is going to direct again. Fang-freaking-tastic!) This figure is full of dramatic movement and Kev really is an expert at sculpting the female form. I saw this figure painted in this colour scheme on the Forum of Doom a few years ago and really liked it, as it was such a contrast to painting her in black leathers, which must surely be the default choice for painting her.

So, here are five very worthy females to join, or in some cases, lead, a party of survivors in a zombie apocalypse. I can't recommend them too highly to you. Prices are as follows: all except Kat are £3.50 each. Kat is slightly dearer at £4.00 but bear in mind, she is a three piece casting - the arms are separate from the body. Join me next time for a look at Hasslefree's females with firearms.

SFX Vampires Special Edition Magazine

I wouldn't normally review a magazine but this is something rather special - the SFX Vampires special edition. A magazine devoted solely to vampires immediately caught my attention. As if that wasn't good enough reason for me to buy it, it came with three free gifts, best of which was, for me anyway, the set of four Buffy the Vampire Slayer coasters. A paperback containing two classic 19th century vampire tales - Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan LaFanu and The Vampyre by John William Polidori and a double-sided poster featuring Twilight - New Moon and Being Human made up the other two gifts. I've read the two stories before and I could live without the posters but they make up a nice package of freebies.

So what's inside the mag that's of special interest? Top honour must go to the SFX readers' poll of the top 50 vampires of screen and TV. I wasn't at all surprised to see so many vampires from Angel and Buffy making such a good showing. I love those shows and it is obvious that many fans still hold them in great affection. For the record, top spot went to Spike (from Angel and Buffy). Christopher Lee's Dracula was second and Angel was third. Such a list is purely subjective and no two people will agree on who should go where. My own choices would have been Selene (as played by Kate Beckinsale in the Underworld trilogy) followed by Spike, then Angel. Selene was number nine in the list, the highest placed female vampire. Selene has the looks, the moves, the style and the attitude that I most admire. Being such a fan of Vampirella I'd have loved to have seen her make top spot but until a "proper" Vampirella film is made I can only dream. No-one mention the low budget pile of crap called Vampirella that starred Talisa Soto as the eponymous vampire in one of the worst films of all time. I'm still trying to scour it from my memory!

Other features include interviews with Buffy stars James Marsters (Spike) and Juliet Landau (Drusilla), as well as interviews with author Laurell K. Hamilton (Anita Blake is going to be made into a TV series - oh joy!), True Blood star Stephen Moyer and the creator of Being Human, Toby Whithouse. There is a fascinating look at the making of two of Hammer's golden oldies - Dracula and The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires. Twilight features prominently in the mag with a look at the second film, due out in November of this year. Current TV shows like Being Human, Moonlight and True Blood are covered favourably. New vampire films are previewed. I'm looking forward to watching Blood - the Last Vampire, which opens next week. I saw the trailer for it recently and was most impressed. As if that lot wasn't enough there are features on vampire fiction and some fun stuff like the comparison between the TV series Ultraviolet and the film Ultraviolet - two very different beasts! All in all there is much to enjoy in this special edition and at £7.99 this is a must have for any vampire fan. Buy it now whilst it's still on sale.