I've only recently acquired any AEW action figures; I've been trying to pick some up, but given (a) I'm in Canada (b) these figures have been incredibly rare and elusive to acquire and (c) we're in the middle of a pandemic... my collection has been incredibly slow-going.

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But let's start with this box set called AEW Blood & Guts, a/k/a Blood Brothers. Given it captures the match between Cody and Dustin Rhodes from 2019's Double or Nothing PPV (which just happened to be my favorite match of that particular year), it was only a matter of time before I picked it up, even it was on the secondary market and for an inflated price.

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I did, and it was.

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But hey.... just look at that damn box art! Splattered with blood on the front, back and sides... I almost didn't want to open the package at all, but after the money I shelled out, I knew I wanted to display these guys with my other recently-acquired AEW figures. So I removed them from the box... grudgingly.

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Cody is a sight to behold, with blood covering his hair, chest, hands, boots and back. He even has an ominous bloody handprint smeared all over his right pec, which just somehow adds to the drama. Reminds me of the time I went to visit Mayan ruins in Mexico and the tour guide pointed out six-fingered handprints all over the walls of the place (apparently due to inbreeding, etc.). While the bloody handprint on this one is clearly five figures and no one on this website is suggesting Cody and Dustin are in any way inbred.... the handprint is equally badass.

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Dustin is just amazing. Although I own a handful of Goldust figures, this one just looks... way more realistic, between the facepaint coming off in blotches, the exhausted expression on his face, and the new look AEW gear. He's also covered in the proverbial crimson mask, not only on his face but all over his damn body.

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One criticism I've seen of this set is that Dustin is considerably taller than Cody, which may not be 100 percent to scale. Honestly, it doesn't bother me. It works out just fine in the context of this match and especially when you pose the Blood Brothers embracing each other following their match. 

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At first, I thought this was the only two bloody action figures I owned (unless you include when I used to smear red marker on my LJN figures back in the day), but thankfully, I was wrong. I also have a bloody King Kong Bundy and figured it made sense the three of them did battle. Now Bundy is definitely out of scale, so that particular picture is a little stranger to behold.

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Overall, this is a fantastic set and a great introduction to the world of AEW figures. Now if I could only get my hands on more of them...