Near the start of September 2021, an event that Legions fans worldwide had long been waiting for was finally announced – the full unveiling of Cosmic Legions.
Cosmic Legions is a project that had been in development for years, and this milestone was an exciting one for Four Horsemen Studios. When we released Mythic Legions back in 2015, we had high expectations for the line, but did not fully anticipate the incredible community of fans, collectors, and customizers who would embrace the world we had created. In truth, the success and continued growth of Mythic Legions was one of the reasons its Cosmic cousin stayed in development for so long. We wanted to ensure that we had a strong foundation in place for Mythic Legions before we branched out to explore a new universe. That time came in late 2021.
In this “Behind the Scenes” article, we will look back at the earliest day of Cosmic Legions and some initial design samples to where the line stands a year after the first Cosmic Legions figures landed in fans' hands. This is the history of Cosmic Legions!
The Beginning
The idea of a “space-themed” line is one we had talked about for years. After the early success of Mythic Legions, we began exploring this idea more seriously, considering what a science-fiction influenced Legions line from Four Horsemen Studios would look like. Similar to what we did with Mythic Legions by drawing upon elements of high fantasy to create Mythoss, we dug into some of the science-fiction stories we loved to get inspired and begin creating!
Of course, this new line would not be our first foray into science-fiction themed action figures. We had helped relaunch the Power Lords and Outer Space Men lines, and had worked for years on Masters of the Universe, which has always blended elements of fantasy and sci-fi into their storylines and character designs. All of this past work would be helpful as we fleshed out what our vision of Cosmic Legions could be. Interestingly, however, the line was not known as “Cosmic Legions” at this early stage. These were the days of Galactic Legions.
Galactic Legions
A few years after its release, Mythic Legions had experienced some exciting growth and continued to find new fans. The customizing aspect of the line had also really taken off, and so we decided that we wanted any new lines we developed to live under the “Legions” brand. We loved the idea of parts being interchangeable between lines, and we knew this was also appealing since it could help drive crossover interest. Playing around with ideas for what to call the new line, “Galactic Legions” was what we landed on. Below you can see a number of early logo treatments that Eric did for this new idea (these have never before been shared publicly).
Early Galactic Figure Designs and Intern for a Day 2018
The earliest Mythic Legions figures were sculpted traditionally with clay. Those sculptures were later used to make molds and casts here at the studio that would be painted and presented as the early Mythic prototypes that were displayed at events like Toypocalypse 2014 and later for our first Kickstarter campaign to launch the line.
With Cosmic, we still began the process still sculpting with clay, but we were also making the move into digital sculpting. Starting with the new pieces available as part of the “Advent of Decay” series, all new Legions figures began life as digital sculptures, and since our new line was being developed at this time, we eventually decided to also sculpt Galactic Legions digitally.
On Memorial Day weekend in 2018, fans would get their first glimpse at Galactic Legions as we opened up the doors of Four Horsemen Studios as part of our “Intern for a Day” event. This event was one of the rewards available during the “Advent of Decay” campaign, and to really make the day special for the fans who had selected this reward, we had lots of super-secret, in-progress pieces that they got to see in various stages of development. Near the end of the event, we surprised our guests with a very early prototype of Galactic Legions. Looking back at this figure now, it has definately undergone many technical changes, but this early design is actually very visually representative of at least some of the parts that we saw in the first release of this line. The images below are being shared publicly for the very first time (we did block out some parts of these images - after all, some of this data is indeed still "restricted access" only!).
In addition to the in-progress figure shown above, one of the demonstrations fans got to see at this event was a live digital sculpting session with Eric. You can tell that aliens were on his mind, because he spent these sessions freestyle sculpting various alien creatures. Below are the creations from these sessions. One fun note is that the second head shown below actually made it onto a figure from the first wave of the series - the T.U.5.C.C. Science Officer.
Teasing a new Universe
Word of “Galactic Legions” began to circulate in the Legions community around this time. Even though the early design shown above had not been revealed publicly, fans knew we had shown something and that work was being done on this space-themed line. When the line would actually be released and what it would end up looking like became popular topics of conversation in the community. As mentioned previously, we were being extra careful in how we rolled out this new line, wanting to ensure it would not take away from Mythic Legions. The line itself also went through incredible changes during this period as Eric fleshed out the concepts for the storyline and the accompanying characters who would populate this new universe. Slowly but surely, Galactic Legions took shape, but a new name was on the horizon…
Galactic Becomes Cosmic
The name “Galactic Legions” had been part of the line since the very beginning, but during a trip to Disneyworld’s Star Wars Galaxy's Edge park, Eric realized that the name “Galactic” was literally everywhere. Wanting to ensure that this new line was very much its own thing, the team went back to the drawing board to rebrand this new line – and so “Cosmic Legions” became the new name moving forward. This, of course, meant we had to revisit those logo designs and branding, but this name change immediately felt right, and it signaled a fresh new outlook for the line as we got closer to finally opening up this world to our fans. That unveiling would finally happen in late 2020 as part of the 2nd annual LegionsCon event.
Below you can see some of the in-progress design work done for the new Cosmic Legions logo.
Cosmic Legions at LegionsCon
Mythic Weekend 2020 was the first time that the Gcon and LegionsCon events were paired together, taking place on consecutive days. Of course, 2020 was during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, so both of these events had to be held virtually, but the studio and event organizers worked hard to make the shows amazing.
LegionsCon 2020 was filled with panel discussions and presentations over the course of the day. Those presentations culminated in a panel discussion with Four Horsemen Studios where we discussed the Illythia wave that had been unveiled a day earlier before moving onto “new” items – namely Cosmic Legions. It was at this show that we released the images shown below, including the official Cosmic Legions logo by Nate Baertsch and some excellent photography from Trevor Williams.
While we only teased a few images during this event, we did make some substantial announcements on the line, including the fact that it would be available for pre-order in 2021, that the pieces themselves would be compatible with Mythic Legions parts, and that it would very much be its own line with new races, worlds, and story. This would not be Attlus in space, but would instead be something truly new and unique for our fans to enjoy.
Cosmic Legions Breaks Free
On Thursday, September 2, 2021, a single teaser image appeared across Four Horsemen Studios’ social channels and website, accompanied only by the date of 9/10/21. The Legions community immediately exploded, and fans began sharing this image of a 4-armed character who was chained and shackled, his face hidden in shadows.
A day later, this teaser image reappeared, accompanied by some additional “intelligence”:
Transmission Received: Operatives have uncovered intelligence on the enigmatic entities known as “Cosmic Legions.” According to this intelligence, a full breakout is planned for 9/10/21 at 9pm EST at the following coordinates – www.sourcehorsemen.com/home/youtube.
Stay tuned for further transmissions...
With this announcement and image, the reveal date for Cosmic Legions was out there, but we were not done yet. As “launch week” began, more “transmissions” were received and communicated via the studio’s channels. Below are some of these teasers.
Accompanying each of these images was further announcements, which also revealed additional details, including that the pre-order period for Cosmic Legions would begin on StoreHorsemen.com after the reveal special was completed. With each new teaser image, the buzz around Cosmic Legions grew, and speculation rose about exactly what the new line would look like when it was fully unveiled.
Hvalkatar: Book 1
As members of the studio traveled to California for Power-con 2021, we prepared to officially launch Cosmic Legions and open our first preorder. That preorder followed a live wave reveal special for “Hvalkatar: Book 1”.
This wave opened up the Cosmic Legions story, introducing us to the Traders Union of the 5 Circles of Cosmerrium, or T.U.5.C.C., and the prison/manufacturing facility that they ran called Hvalkatar. Within that facility we discover the dreaded Cell Block 5, which is also known as the Grave. Named after a fighting arena populated by the most troublesome and violent inmates in Hvalkatar, the Grave is where many of the characters we meet in this wave fight for the amusement of the tyrannical Highwarden Slogg!
The first Cosmic Legions wave differed from Mythic Legions waves/reveals in a number of ways, including our focus from the very start on storyline elements and imagery. The story detailed in this wave tied directly into the images that we began to plan out. Looking to the fans and artists who were part of the Mythic community, we enlisted the help of the Crashbox Customs team to build some very specific environments that we would use for the imagery of the line. To take those images, we once again partnered with Trevor “One-Six Shooter” Williams, who had been shooting all our products for over a year at that point (and who continues to do so today). We had very specific shots and scenes in mind for these images, and this team delivered expertly on our vision.
The 11 figure Hvalkatar: Book 1 wave became one of our studios’ best-selling waves to date, creating an exciting opening chapter for the Cosmic Legions line! Of course, we were just getting started, and there would be lots more Cosmic surprises to come in the coming years.
Enter the Gravenight
On Saturday, April 2, 2022 Four Horsemen Studios opened our doors for one of our popular “Intern for a Day” events. The culmination of this day was the live reveal special for the second Cosmic Legions wave, titled “Hvalkatar: Book Two, Gravenight.”
More commonly known as just “Gravenight”, this wave would expand on the story started in the first Cosmic wave by introducing 4 new combatants from the contests in Hvalkatar’s Grave, along with the T.U.5.C.C. attendants who keep the fighters in check – the dreaded Gravekeepers!
Reveals for this wave began with a series of teaser “fight posters” pitting one of the characters from the first wave against a silhouetted teaser from this new wave. The posters of these teasers are shown below.
Welcome to Outpost Zaxxius
At the end of March, 2023, Four Horsemen Studios once again embarked on a journey to the Universe of Cosmerrium. This new wave would fall between the first two major chapters of the story – Hvalkatar and what would eventually be revealed as OxKrewe.
As an “in between” wave, Outpost Zaxxius was presented as a series of short stories focused on various travelers making their way through one of the crowded transportation hubs in Cosmerrium. The wave included 6 new figures, 2 of which were Power-con debut figures. This would be the first time figures from this subset of Legions would appear outside of the Mythic Legions line.
Cosmic Legions Has Landed
The Cosmic Legions line made its full reveal debut at Power-con 2021 and test shots from the first wave were a surprise addition to our display at Power-con 2022. As such, it was appropriate that the figures from this line would arrive at our warehouse shortly before Power-con 2023 and that these figures would be on the table for sale at that year’s event!
Finally having Cosmic Legions in hand was a milestone many years in the making. While it took close to 2 years to go from reveal to in-hand, the studio had been living with the line for many years prior to the reveal of Hvalkatar: Book 1, and hearing the positive feedback from Legionairres who were excited to dig into a new Legions line was amazing for us to hear.
Figures from the Gravenight wave would arrive in hand and begin shipping in October, 2023 and the Outpost Zaxxius wave would follow in May, 2024. Amazingly, nearly 1 year after the first figures in this wave began shipping, and after a total of 4 total waves revealed (OxKrewe, Book One was still to come, plus there are some special release in the mix – see below), the Cosmic Legions line would have fewer figures revealed at this point than Mythic Legions had after the first 34-figure Kickstarter wave! Needless to say, we are just getting started with our exploration into the Universe of Cosmerrium, and there is much more to come from Cosmic Legions!
OxKrewe and Special Releases
In the spirit of a full look at the history to-date for Cosmic Legions, it should be mentioned that at Power-con 2023, not only did we offer an early release of a few figures from the Outpost Zaxxius wave and also have Hvalkatar: Book One for sale for the first time, we debuted the start of the second major chapter of the Cosmic story – OxKrewe!
Teasing fans with an empty diorama at the event, we later revealed this new wave, adding the 7 figures from OxKrewe: Book One – Thraxxon to the display on Day 2 of the event! This wave followed the story of the Qorgonox, a ship that crash landed on a mysterious planet. The survivors of this crash must find a way to survive not only the harsh terrain, but also the native lifeforms they encounter and who seem intent on destroying them and their camp!
Beyond the first 4 waves of Cosmic Legions, a handful of “special releases” have also been created for the line, including the “Wal-torr the Mad” figure from LegionsCon 2023 and the forthcoming “Amazing Alien & Creature Creator” set for LegionsCon 2024.
There were also two other special Cosmic figures for 2024, including the Shadow Circle figure available as part of the 2024 Retailer Appreciation wave and the StoreHorsemen exclusive T.U.5.C.C. Heavy Gunner which will have an early debut at Ishcon 2024. That event will also feature a new Cosmic Legions wave reveal as we continue the story of the OxKrewe and begin to reveal more of what is happening in the larger story of Cosmic Legions.
More Cosmic Lore
Want more information on the stories and lore of Cosmic Legions? Check out the “Tales from Cosmerrium” section of our blog to read a number of short stories from the Universe of Cosmerrium.
First published on 09.07.21
Published on 07.20.24