Hello everyone! I wasn't able to post anything in the last four days because I was busy, and not to mention that there's a storm near my country that's affecting our internet signal!
But now I'm back, and I'm here to present to you my next toy: Aguilar de Nerha's Hidden Blade from the 2016 film Assassin's Creed, made by UbiCollectibles!!!
There are actually two versions of the Aguilar's Hidden Blade, with the other one made by McFarlane Toys. Hopefully, I'll get that one soon! This is the prop replica worn by Michael Fassbender's character in the first film of the franchise. The film was set in 15th century Spain, during the Spanish Inquisition and close to Ezio Auditore's timeline, but most of the scenes were set in the modern day. The film did not spend that much time in the Animus, with the Animus depicted as a more mechanical apparatus than its predecessors. While the movie itself garnered mixed to negative reviews, which blocked the chances of redeeming the underappreciated video game movie genre, the corresponding merchandise provided by Ubisoft was incredible!
The blade is encased in a foldable clamshell package and is fitted with a plastic stand for display, with the rest of the package sealed in a beautifully designed box.
UbiCollectibles provided the best screen-accurate details they could provide at an affordable price. Each portion of the gauntlet and the blade is beautifully crafted. The gauntlet carries that knitted cloth look and designs that are signature to that era, and is made of leatherette.
The blade housing bears designs somewhat synonymous of those found in Catholic cathedrals. The colors make the sculpting more vibrant, especially the eagle head at the tip. The housing is made of hard plastic.
Designed only for the left hand, the hidden blade is entirely a single construct, unlike the other iterations where the blade and the gauntlet are separate. The blade is locked around the arm by velcro and three tied, stretchable strings looped around their corresponding hooks.
The blade is spring-loaded, with the markings beautifully carved on it. The tip is rounded for safety reasons, and is made of soft PVC plastic.
UbiCollectibles designed a more secure way of deploying the blade. When the blade is retracted, a small lever at the side which acts as an automatic lock needs to be pressed. After that, pressing the gold rectangular button near the tip of the housing will deploy the blade.
Besides the deployment mechanism, the blade housing has two movable parts. The blue green-colored wheel rotates when manipulated by the fingers. In-universe, the wheel rotates when the blade is deployed which is part of the mechanism. The other one, which is very noticeable, is rather odd: the large lever that can be pulled back and forth. In the replica, the lever serves no purpose. Looking at the film, we can hardly see the lever; it could be part of the grappling hook used by Aguilar or some other mechanism.
The entirely leatherette material of the gauntlet hampers hand movement at the wrist portion. I can barely clench my fingers because of the leatherette band between the thumb and the index finger.
Despite the beautiful craftsmanship, the blade is disappointingly shorter than I expected. So if you "stab" your target, you'd probably just give him or her a flesh wound. What a hilarious attempt at assassination! The final product is apparently very different from the packaging and promotional images. Also, the arm size range is limited to persons of semi-mesomorphic to ectomorphic body types. Overall, it is an impressive prop replica.
I bought this at a local game store for $48. I had to rush on buying this one due to limited quantities!
See my review of McFarlane Toys' Edward Kenway's Hidden Blade:
https://steemit.com/photography/@gabriel.knight/toy-review-mcfarlane-toys-assassin-s-creed-edward-kenway-s-hidden-blade
And NECA's Ezio Auditore's Hidden Blade:
https://steemit.com/photography/@gabriel.knight/toy-review-neca-assassin-s-creed-ezio-auditore-s-hidden-blade
Thank you very much for reading! Give an upvote and follow me @gabriel.knight! More reviews to come!