Dragon Age is a franchise from the story-telling gurus over at BioWare and they have always had this uncanny ability to weave the most intricate stories and characters that stay with you long after the game is completed. Always a well-versed web of interesting and diverse characters to fall in love with and to feel close to, far past the standard narrative of the average video game. Morrigan is one of those characters. Players first met her in Dragon Age Origins as a companion to the Warden who eventually goes on to become the Hero of Fereldan. The next time we saw the cunning witch of the wilds is in the third installment, Dragon Age Inquisition. When she made her grand appearance before the Inquisitor, she wore a gown that was fitting for the grandeur known in Orlais and that is the gown showcased in this review, a stunning piece that is a designer’s dream. And a collector’s dream, judging by this fantastically done statue by Gaming Heads.

The collectible statue stands at a whopping 19 1/2 inches tall by artist Kaushik Manna and is absolutely nothing short of stunning. Though the statue is completely stationary, the craft of this collectible creates a wonderfully dynamic flow that gives this piece the illusion that the character is mid-dance with her craft, casting a spell worthy of the Kocari Wilds veteran.

Upon removing her from the box, immediately I was drawn to the fantastically done base. Often with these type of elaborate statues, the base almost becomes an afterthought and is hastily painted or molded. That was definitely not the case with Morrigan as the base served for the perfect platform to help support this created movement, despite there being none. Once fully set up, the figure has this natural movement of going down a highly detailed stone stairwell, a grand entrance – much like her in-game counterpart.

One thing Gaming Heads is known for is that, as a collector, you can always expect quality. Each piece is hand crafted and hand painted, and that attention to detail is not left in the dust with this beloved Dragon Age mage. From the shading used for her skin to create dimension, to the different paints used to create texture within this outfit that is meant to represent differing fabric choices, this collectible item executed this overall effect flawlessly. With everything being created using the same medium, in this case that is polystone resin, creating the illusion that alternate fabrics are present can be tricky. The statue manages to highlight this difference expertly – from the fabric surrounding her bust, to the detailing in her corset, and the cascading fabrics of her skirt – this statue does an outstanding job at capturing the majestic movement and presence of this character’s ensemble found within Inquisition. The only part not polystone was the thin layer of lace surrounding the bust-line that gave this piece that extra piece of detail to fully pull it all together.

The only critique I would give this piece is the facial features. Because of the hand-painted nature of these pieces and the general colour scheme of Morrigan’s makeup from the game itself, the purple used around her eyes immediately competes with the darker flesh tones used to create dimension underneath her lids and above her cheekbones. In certain light, this creates an almost bruising effect in her face that is out of character visually. That’s not to say the paint was shoddily done or messy. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. The shading around her nose, the cleft above her top lip, and around her crown is expertly done – it’s more of a design flaw with the game’s makeup for her face that transitioned a little oddly in collectible form. Though a slight critique, this feature in no way cheapens the Morrigan statue and I could not be more impressed with the level of detailing.

From the position of her movement, to the expression in her eyes, down to the multi-layers built within the piece as a whole – Gaming Heads’ Morrigan collectible piece is a must-have for any die-hard Dragon Age fan. Unlike ThreeZero’s Alistair piece, the craftsman behind this knew the character and were able to translate her beautifully using this polystone medium. There are also two versions of Morrigan, the standard and the Gaming Heads exclusive that has her mid-cast with flames licking at her sleeves. The standard is shown in the two images above on the left, and the exclusive on the right.

At the time this review was written, both pieces were still available for purchase. The standard Morrigan statue is priced at $329.99, while the exclusive mid-cast edition sits at the $359.99 price point. You can view both of these options at their official website right here, or they can also be purchased directly through the BioWare store.

Want more collectible goodness? You can check out a few more of our reviews in the section below. Don’t forget to join our community filled with other wonderful collectors over at our Facebook page as well as follow DFTG on Twitter for gaming and entertainment news live 24/7. Until next time, game on.

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