Recommended music: Joe Diffie – Third Rock From The Sun
Cause and effect are in play on this #WhateverWednesday. Today, we’re taking a look at another great action figure. It’s the Ideas From Mars Defenders of Eden: Armies of Ashmore Cuzzo!
What a mouthful that full name was, but the name of this toy really isn’t all that important here. Because this company designed and promoted an excellent dinosaur action figure, it had the effect of opening my wallet to get the figure in my collection.
Armies of Ashmore was initially revealed at Legions Con 2022 and was labeled as the first wave of the Defenders of Eden toy line. The convention was the perfect location for this debut, as Ideas From Mars hired Four Horsemen Studios to fully design these dinosaur warrior figures based on the direction of the artists behind the Defenders of Eden comic book.
Now, I’m not sure how much the Defenders of Eden comic or toyline will continue to grow, as I believe they are still stuck on the same three issues from a few years ago, but in the meantime, this company put out an excellent wave of dinosaur action figures. While the figures were a part of a Kickstarter campaign in the spring of 2023 and didn’t ship for about two years, they were well worth the wait.
According to Cuzzo’s official bio: “Most of the armor division is full of hard heads, but none more than Cuzzo. Cuzzo loves being the first to run into battle and the last to clean his club off after a day of fighting. His plated armor is perfect to shield himself and help the infantry warriors if needed. The armor division might not be the fastest, but what they lack in speed, they make up in spirit and strength.” While that backstory paints a nice picture, to me, this can just be a generic dinosaur warrior that you wouldn’t want to cross paths with.
Cuzzo is a large, beefy figure, measuring eight and a half inches high by four inches wide. Though he’s at the short end for this line, he still towers over other 1/12 scale action figures. Also, the figure arrived in a large window packaged box with beautiful comic art on the side, which was nice, but it all eventually went to the recycle bin. The interior art could not be salvaged as the substantial packing trays were glued to it.
In addition to the fantastic paint application and 17 points of articulation, Cuzzo came with two extra sets of hands, an adjustable helmet, a mace that can be swapped out with the weapon on his tail, and a shield that can split into two small shields. All these options make a great army builder if only you could find more. Big Bad Toy Store quickly sold through their small allotment of figures, with only some accessories still in stock, so you’ll have to seek out these dinos on the inflated secondary market.
I’ll share some more pictures of Cuzzo at some point. This is another figure I’m sure will return to the blog in one way or another. He’ll likely be back at the end of the year on my Top 10 figures of 2025 list.
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