As anticipated, Warriors released Series 8 Minis right before the holidays (and they came in time if you ordered them immediately!) on November 29th. This series includes duos Rock and Midnight, Violetshine and Needletail, and Brokenstar and Sol.
I am excited they continue to release more iconic villains from the series, though Brokenstar and Sol are a complete surprise for picks–especially since they never met in the series. It is nice to see Violetshine and Needletail. I did predict that we might see A Vision of Shadows protagonists in my Warriors Series 7 article, though that was more because they hadn’t touched that arc yet and less of a real prediction. The biggest shock yet is the reveal of Midnight, and she was paired perfectly with Rock. I never suspected that non-cat creatures would ever be made into mini figures.
As for the molds, I’m happy to see that the team is continuing to experiment and add new ones. We still see some similarities to older figures, but cats are getting personalized characterization. The little details in these figures are great.
This article may contain spoilers for The Prophecies Begin, Power of Three, Omen of the Stars, and A Vision of Shadows.
Rock and Midnight
Pros
As my favorite duo in this release, I simultaneously have a lot to say and nothing at all. I can’t find many faults without nitpicking, but there is also nothing super specific to comment positively on. Midnight is my favorite figure of the entire set because it was a happy surprise. I love how she matches with the other figures but still looks accurately like a European badger (not the American ones, those are terrifying). The big nose, angled dark brown eyes, and rounded, small ears scream perfection. I don’t even mind the gray on her back, since it is representative of the lighter fur color that badgers have on their backs. Since the facial markings are great, I’ll take it. They even included a little tail tucked in the back!
As for Rock, he looks as scrunkly as he should. His light, sightless blue eyes and generally tattered appearance work for his character and description. The cuts in his ears may be one of my favorite designs for ear injuries so far. I’m tempted to attach an earring to the hole in his right (face-on), but I fear that might unbalance him further. Otherwise, all the little indents and spots to show off his wrinkles help the hairless body come off more realistic.
Cons
When it comes to Rock though, I am freaked out by the way they did the tufts of hair on his back. While it is lore accurate, I’ve never been a fan of the character detail, so if they left that out I wouldn’t have been upset. It also created a ridge of material in the figure itself that looks weird. I think I also would’ve preferred if they’d kept him all one color: pink. Though his fur tufts are supposed to be gray, I didn’t like the amount of gray skin as opposed to pink. Otherwise, Rock is the tiniest bit unsteady. His tail doesn’t sit flat, so he wobbles slightly to the left.
The only other con I can think of is Midnight having no mouth, though I suppose it lends to her mysteriousness. It also might be because she doesn’t “speak cat” fluently, so she isn’t the best communicator. That feels like a reach though. I’m curious how her design would look with the mouth marking.
Violetshine and Needletail
Pros
Although I would’ve liked to see more white around Violetshine’s head, I think her black-and-white design is good. I love all the different splotches and the uneven lines of the black fur. The white dot on her tail and black chin are very cute. It is a relief to see that they continue to mix it up with cats that have the same fur color, like Tallstar, Darktail, and Berryheart. I am also glad to see they gave her a thick tail as her character is described.
Now for Needletail, I am ecstatic. To make her design so sharp, literally, was such a good decision. The tail is a mold choice we haven’t seen before, as well as the sharp cheeks turning down and the spiky chest hair (until Sol, but more on him below). Her eye shape, with the black triangles on the end, makes her look simultaneously bored with you and calculated. The green eyes don’t blend into her design, they stand out in the most perfect way. I do think they should’ve lightened the darker gray, to give her more of a silvery appearance, but overall she looks fantastic. She’s clearly identifiable as Needletail.
Cons
Generally, Violetshine looks rather plain against the other figures in this release, especially for such a dynamic character from the series. Her arc during A Vision of Shadows was emotional and interesting. She mellowed out later, so I supposed it could more accurately represent that era; however, paired with her pseudo-sister, I would’ve liked to see more fire in her. Though the yellow eyes are accurate to her character description, I love to see her with purple-ish eyes in fandom art, so it’s almost disappointing to not see it here.
Similar to Rock, considering they’re in the same position, Violetshine is a bit unsteady. I did also notice that the divet of her facial scar is not fully filled in with pink like the others on her body. In comparison to Needletail, her pink scars are also a duller color.
As far as Needletail goes, one of my big complaints is her similarity to Sol. It may not have been as clear if they were in separate releases, and there’s still plenty of difference, but it’s still noticeable. With long ears and spiky fur, I wouldn’t have been surprised if this was the mold they chose for him as well. The smallest negative I have is the size of her nose since she’s supposed to have a small one.
Brokenstar and Sol
Pros
This duo has the most Easter eggs of the release, so let’s get into it. For Sol, I am so excited to see sun rays around his pupils. With the pupils included it could almost be the eclipse that he “predicted” to the Clans. The rays aren’t flat against the design too, they stick out, which lends more intensity to the design. I also love to see that they gave him a flared white mane, calling back to when Hollypaw saw him with the sun behind, thinking he was a lion.
Competing with some high contenders, I would argue that Brokenstar’s figure is the most unique out of the other cats (not counting Midnight’s). The deathberries in his mouth, the white pupil calling to his blinding, his elongated claws, his broken tail, and his TOE BEANS! I legitimately gasped when I flipped the figure over to see they added pads to Brokenstar’s outstretched paw. They used a similar posture with Splashtail’s figure, but I never even noticed the paw pads on his.
Cons
I’d love to talk to the Warriors team or whoever is coming up with the designs for tortoiseshells and tortoiseshell and white cats, because why will they not let them be three normal colors only? I have always pictured Sol with only black, reddish-orange, and white, as was his original design in official art. Now, he’s been changed to have more white, a bright orange, brown, and black. As happy as I am that they kept his unique marking above his eye, I’m confused as to why they can’t follow the typical tortie style. Tawnypelt, Mapleshade, and Spottedleaf all got similar treatments (though Tawnypelt and Mapleshade’s designs are atrocious; Spottedleaf is closer to Sol). I am begging the team to allow a tortie without brown!
As for Brokenstar, his figure is not at all what I expected. While they achieved some great ideas with it, I dislike the unnatural orange-red eyes. If they’d gotten creative with eye colors before, it might’ve been better, but it stands out too much. His mother, Yellowfang, has a similar color too, but it’s tempered with black pupils. I also think his scars blend a little too much into the design, so much so that I wasn’t sure what were brown stripes or scars, especially given the redness of the obvious scars. This is nitpicky too, but he should’ve been only dark brown.
Both of these figures are surprisingly unsteady, though Sol more so. It’s hard to even get Sol to set down without a wobble. Brokenstar’s figure is at least slightly balanced by his large tail, but his head is humongous and heavy. Lastly, my smallest pet peeve here is Sol only having one black ear-tuft. It feels like they carelessly forgot the other one.
I’ll have to find space on my shelves for these new figures, especially who they’ll be next to. Since these characters were so out of the blue, it’ll be a little difficult to decide! As always, the quality of these stay stagnant. Like the last release in the summer, their quality control continues to be iffy. I’m noticing the errors more closely now like lines not being filled in, material not being shaved off, or small specks not for the design.
Look out for another article about Warriors mini figures coming soon. A special set was released very recently!
