General Cerros Review – Defenders of Eden: Armies of Ashmore (Ideas from Mars)

One of the things that newer collectors may not fully appreciate is just how spoiled we have become when it comes to dinosaur warriors. That statement probably sounds ridiculous at first glance, but anyone who was collecting fantasy action figures fifteen or twenty years ago knows exactly what I mean. There was a time when if you wanted a dinosaur warrior standing proudly on your shelf, your options were extremely limited. You could buy a dinosaur from Jurassic Park and pretend he belonged in a fantasy kingdom. You could recruit Killer Croc from DC or The Lizard from Marvel and convince yourself they were close enough. If you were lucky, maybe you found one of the older dinosaur-themed Masters of the Universe figures, or perhaps something from Playmates' classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line. If you had some money to throw around on the secondary market, you might stumble across one of those old Primal Rage figures from ToyBiz, though they were always a little undersized for my tastes. The reality was that if you wanted dinosaur warriors, you usually had to improvise because almost nobody was making them.

Image: An orange-furred monster wrestler is locked in a desperate grapple with a rearing dinosaur.

The creature is bulky and muscular, covered in sculpted fur, with a snarling, fanged face and a spiked mane down his back. He wears only a tattered blue loincloth and simple wristbands and anklets, giving him a wild, barbaric look. Both arms are wrapped around the dinosaur’s neck and shoulders, straining to hold it back while his legs brace wide for leverage.

The dinosaur beneath him rears up on powerful hind legs, black scales transitioning to a pale tan belly. Its long, clawed arms reach forward, and its head is twisted to the side, jaws open in a red‑mouthed roar aimed just past the monster’s shoulder. The pose makes it feel like the beast is trying to throw him off.

Behind them is a dark forest backdrop, so the whole scene reads like a cinematic clash in some jungle arena: a savage monster hero wrestling a raging predatory dinosaur, both figures balanced in a tight, high‑energy struggle.

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Then something strange happened. It felt like the toy industry collectively woke up one morning and realized that giant armored dinosaurs carrying weapons were actually pretty cool. Boss Fight Studio launched Saurozoic Warriors. Axy Toys gave us Dinosaur Battlefields. Ideas from Mars introduced Defenders of Eden and the Armies of Ashmore. Mythic Legions continued producing various reptilian and saurian characters, while Savage Crucible added more scales and claws to the fantasy landscape. Even NECA and Super7 joined the fun with some wonderfully oversized Triceratons for their TMNT lines. What had once been a tiny niche suddenly became a legitimate category within fantasy collecting, and as somebody who has spent years wishing there were more dinosaur warriors available, I have been enjoying every minute of it.

Image: Three Triceraton figures march in front of a city backdrop, weapons in their hands.

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Out of all these newer offerings, General Cerros was one of the figures that immediately caught my attention. Part of that is because he happens to be a Triceratops warrior, and Triceratops has always ranked near the very top of my favorite dinosaurs. The other reason is that he's the leader of the faction, and I have always had a weakness for faction leaders. Give me the commander, the king, the general, or the warlord, and chances are good that figure is going to end up in my collection sooner rather than later. Okay okay, I generally prefer villains, but there's no villain in this first wave so...

Image: box back with character lineup art, story text about General Cerros, and “Collect Them All!” slogan.

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Of course, buying only two figures from the wave creates a small logistical problem. General Cerros is supposedly the leader of the Armies of Ashmore, yet after arriving at my house he discovered that his army consisted of exactly one other guy. Fortunately, action figure collecting has never been a hobby that concerns itself too much with official continuity. If Cerros wants to command my Mythic Legions figures, that's fine by me. If he decides to take charge of my Animal Warriors of the Kingdom collection, nobody is going to stop him. If he somehow ends up leading the Ninja Turtles into battle against Skeletor, that's also acceptable. Once a figure enters my collection, the official lore becomes more of a friendly suggestion than an actual rule. My toy, my house, my way :)

Speaking of lore, Cerros comes with a fairly interesting backstory. According to the material included with the figure, he earned his reputation protecting the Queen's Egg during a Serpian invasion, suffering several devastating injuries in the process. He lost an eye, part of his cranial plate was damaged, and a portion of his tail was severed. What I appreciate is that these details are reflected directly in the figure itself. The missing eye immediately draws attention, while the damaged frill and truncated tail give the impression that this is a character who has actually survived years of warfare. Too many fantasy warriors look as though they walked straight out of the factory and onto the battlefield. Cerros looks like somebody who has paid for every victory with blood and scars. As a totally blind collector, I will also admit to having a soft spot for characters with eye injuries, so that aspect of the design resonates with me more than it might with some other collectors.

Image: box front-blue triceratops warrior in green-gold armor, view window packaging, fantasy artwork background.

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I do have to laugh at his full name, however. Cerros Broticus is certainly one of the names of all time. Every time I read it, my brain immediately starts imagining conversations among the troops. Does a young recruit nervously report to General Bro before battle? Do the soldiers salute and shout "For my Bro!" as they charge into combat? Is there an entire military unit known as the Bros of Ashmore? None of this is actually supported by the lore, but unfortunately once those thoughts entered my head they refused to leave. I suspect that says more about me than it does about the character.

The figure itself is impressive before you even begin examining individual details because of its sheer size. One thing I think Ideas from Mars deserves credit for is the simple fact that they did not play it safe. Most independent toy companies start with standard-sized figures because they are easier to produce, less expensive to manufacture, and generally less risky from a business standpoint. Mythic Legions did it. Savage Crucible did it. Animal Warriors of the Kingdom did it. That approach makes perfect sense because it allows a company to establish a customer base before attempting larger and more expensive projects.

Ideas from Mars looked at that strategy and apparently decided that subtlety was overrated. Instead of easing into the market with smaller releases, they launched with five figures that are essentially ogre-sized bruisers. I genuinely respect that level of confidence because oversized fantasy figures were not always as common as they are today. Back in the early 2000s, seeing a fantasy figure standing eight or nine inches tall was a genuine novelty. Outside of occasional Build-A-Figures or deluxe releases, giant fantasy characters were relatively uncommon. Looking at modern collections, that has obviously changed, but there is still something satisfying about a figure that towers over the rest of the display.

Image: A towering blue brute looms over a smaller warrior, frozen at the instant their weapons collide. The larger character dominates the upper part of the scene, a massive, muscle-bound creature with bright blue, textured skin that reads like scales or thick hide. Gold armor trims his body: a spiked pauldron, bracers, belt, and shin guards, all with a fantasy, gladiatorial flair. In both hands he swings a huge battle axe, the blade shaped with dramatic cutouts and sharp angles, painted in vivid gold and deep teal with a silver spike jutting from one side.

Below him, the smaller fighter braces for impact. This character has purple skin and a lean, powerful build, wrapped in teal-green armor plates along the shoulders, forearms, waist, and boots. The armor is studded and segmented, with pointed edges and a fin-like motif, giving a reptilian or draconic feel. Coppery bronze details accent the chest and belt, tying in with the bronze shield and sword hilt.

The warrior’s body twists in a defensive stance: one arm thrusts a long silver sword upward, the other raises a round, bronze shield to catch or deflect the incoming axe. The pose suggests tension in the legs, with teal armored boots planted as if skidding back under the force of the blow.

Behind them, printed diorama panels suggest a crumbling fantasy landscape: stone walls, arches, and tree silhouettes against eerie green and fiery red skies. It frames the clash like a dramatic boss battle, emphasizing the size difference between the hulking blue juggernaut and the determined purple defender.

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Cerros certainly has that presence. The body is thick, heavy-looking, and covered in pebbled reptilian textures that feel great in hand. The overall build immediately reminded me of the Mythic Legions ogres, which should not surprise anyone considering the involvement of Four Horsemen Studios. In fact, quite a few design choices throughout the figure feel familiar to Mythic Legions collectors. The removable shoulder pauldrons, the armor construction, and even some of the engineering choices all feel like distant cousins to the Four Horsemen's more established fantasy lines.

Image: The scene shows a face-off between two fantasy warriors, both standing and ready to clash.

On the right stands the towering blue warlord. He’s massive and heavily muscled, with bright blue skin and textured, teal scale armor over his torso. Gold armor trims his body: a spiked crown around his head, thick gold bracers on his forearms, a wide gold-and-brown belt with a long crest plate hanging down the front, and gold bands above teal, scaled shin guards. His bare toes are large and thick, emphasizing his bulk. He grips a huge axe in both hands, raised diagonally so the gold-and-teal blade is ready to swing downward, giving him an imposing, dominant posture.

Facing him on the left is a green-skinned gladiator, slightly shorter but still very muscular. His skin is a vivid orc-like green with detailed musculature. He’s covered in rugged, dark armor: black spiked boots and shin guards, layered brown belts, and a dark fur loincloth. Straps crisscross his chest, decorated with bones and a large circular metal emblem at the center. One arm is lifted, holding a weapon that’s partially out of frame, while his stance is wide and aggressive, as if bracing for the incoming strike or preparing a counterattack.

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That familiarity is not necessarily a bad thing. Personally, I think Armies of Ashmore occupies a very comfortable middle ground between some of the other dinosaur warrior lines currently available. Boss Fight's Saurozoic Warriors are fun, but they are too small, and lean a bit too heavily into science fiction aesthetics for my personal tastes. Axy Toys produces some absolutely gorgeous fantasy dinosaur warriors, but they are significantly more expensive and loaded with enough removable spikes, armor pieces, decorations, and accessories to make me nervous every time I pick one up. Cerros feels comparatively straightforward. He is large, sturdy, and visually striking without requiring a degree in engineering to keep all of his armor attached. There is something refreshing about that.

Image: Two monstrous champions are charging toward each other, weapons raised for a brutal clash.

On the left stands the towering blue warlord seen earlier. His huge, muscular body is sheathed in teal scale armor with gold trim, crowned by sharp horns and a spiked golden circlet. He lunges forward with his massive gold-and-teal axe swung up by his side, ready to hack across his opponent. His pose is wide and powerful, toes gripping the ground, shoulders rolled into the attack.

Opposite him on the right is a feral, lizard-like beast warrior. This character has tan-orange, scaly skin, a long thick tail, and a reptilian head bristling with horns and bony ridges. Dark, jagged armor plates cover his chest, shoulders, and forearms, layered with bones, skulls, and straps, giving a savage, warlord look. In one hand he wields a huge, brutal weapon: a long, spiked blade with a serrated, organic shape and rusty, blood-dark paint effects, capped with teal wrappings near the hilt. His other arm is braced behind a large, blackened shield made of overlapping, spiked plates.

He’s posed in a forward-leaning stance, knees bent and claws dug in, as if meeting the blue giant’s charge head-on. The printed backdrop behind them shows crumbling stone walls and arches against eerie green sky and leafless branches, framing the scene like a ruined battlefield where these two titans are about to collide.

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With that said, I do have one major criticism of the design, and it concerns the very thing that attracted me to the figure in the first place. For a Triceratops warrior, I think they played things a little too conservatively with the head sculpt. The defining feature of a Triceratops has always been that massive frill and those intimidating horns. Here, the head feels somewhat undersized relative to the rest of the body. It is not a bad sculpt by any means, but I would have preferred something larger and more aggressive. When I look at the Triceratons produced by NECA and Super7, those characters immediately scream Triceratops. Cerros gets the point across, but I cannot help feeling that he would have benefited from a larger head and more imposing horns. This is one of those situations where I actually wanted the design to be less realistic and more exaggerated.

Image: This scene feels like a showdown between fantasy and sci‑fi brutes.

At the bottom stands the towering blue warlord, muscles bulging under dark teal scale armor. Gold bands, spikes, and a horned crown frame his head and limbs, and he grips his huge gold-and-teal axe across his body, angled upward as if he’s bracing for a blast or about to swing.

Above him, an even bulkier orange creature looms. Its head and body are covered in rough, bumpy reptilian skin with two long, forward-pointing horns jutting from its face and a row of spines along the skull. Instead of medieval gear, it wears torn purple pants and a purple top, both sculpted with deep rips and folds, giving it a more cartoonish, mutant look. Brown belts with pouches and a silver chain cross its waist.

In its hand is a light gray sci‑fi blaster, a chunky, triangular-headed gun with bright blue circular tips and a yellow triangle symbol on the front. The way it’s pointed down toward the blue warrior suggests a standoff: the orange mutant aiming its high-tech weapon while the armored blue giant tightens his grip on the axe, fantasy steel facing futuristic firepower against a ruined-stone fantasy backdrop.

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Accessories are generally quite good. Cerros includes three pairs of hands consisting of open hands, gripping hands, and fists. To be completely honest, I could have lived without the fists. I am not planning to display him boxing, entering a martial arts tournament, or challenging anybody to a bare-knuckle fight, so those hands will probably remain in the accessory tray forever. The gripping hands are far more useful because they allow him to wield the excellent weapons included with the figure.

Image: There are six blue hands arranged in two rows on a plain surface, dramatically lit from one side so they cast long shadows. Each hand has a wrist peg for attaching to the figure and sculpted knuckles, tendons, and thick, slightly rough skin, with short, pale nails at the fingertips.

The top row has:
A relaxed open left hand with fingers slightly curled
A more tightly curled gripping left hand, ready to hold a weapon
A closed right fist with a gold bracer sculpted around the wrist

The bottom row has:
A relaxed open right hand
A tighter right gripping hand posed for weapon holding
A left fist with a matching gold bracer

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Image: The shield is shaped like a Triceratops head and looks appropriately imposing. 

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Image: The axe, however, is easily my favorite accessory in the entire package. Rather than creating some absurd fantasy weapon that looks impossible to use, the designers came up with something that actually appears functional. The large primary blade could obviously deliver devastating chopping attacks, while the secondary blade and central spike suggest a weapon that could also hook, thrust, and puncture armor.

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Image: Every time I pose Cerros holding it, I find myself thinking about Rock from Soul Edge. I have no logical explanation for this association, but it happens every single time.

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Image: One feature I absolutely love is the weapon storage system built into the figure's back armor. The clip allows Cerros to carry either his axe or shield when not actively using them, and that small detail earns a tremendous amount of goodwill from me. It has always been one of my pet peeves when action figures come packaged with weapons that have nowhere to go once they leave the character's hands. Giving a warrior the ability to actually carry his equipment feels like common sense, yet many companies still overlook it.

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Image: The so-called helmet is less successful. I honestly think calling it a helmet is being extremely generous because it resembles a decorative skullcap or diadem far more than an actual helmet. It is tiny, does not attach particularly securely, and never really convinced me that it belonged on the figure. Every time I look at it, I find myself wishing they had committed to a proper helmet design or simply left it out altogether.

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Articulation is serviceable, though nobody should expect superhero-level flexibility. Cerros moves roughly the way I expected him to move based on his size and construction, which is to say that he handles a lot like the Mythic Legions ogres. The removable shoulder armor limits movement somewhat, and there are definitely poses that are beyond his capabilities. Fortunately, this is not a figure that needs to perform acrobatic feats to be effective. Cerros is a battlefield commander and a living tank, not Spider-Man. As long as he can stand confidently, hold his weapons, and look intimidating, he succeeds at what he was designed to do.

Image: The blue armored giant is balanced in a powerful kicking pose, standing on one leg while driving the other straight out toward a panel of bright lights.

He’s planted on his right foot, toes gripping the surface in front of the glowing LED array. His left leg is lifted high and thrust forward in a front kick, showing off the thick musculature and the teal, scale-textured shin guard framed by gold bands at knee and ankle. The pose feels tense and controlled, like a slow-motion power strike.

His torso leans slightly back to counterbalance the kick. The gold-trimmed teal chest armor and wide belt with the hanging crest plate curve with the motion. Both arms are bent and pulled in tight: his right fist is raised near his face, the left closer to his torso, ready to guard or follow up with a punch.

The horned, reptilian head angles toward the lights, mouth open in a roar. The gold crown, shoulder armor, and bracers catch the stark blue-white light spilling from the LED panel, which sits just in front of his kicking foot. Behind him, the printed ruins and fiery red sky backdrop turn the moment into a stylized scene of a fantasy juggernaut striking out at a wall of blinding energy.

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After spending time with Cerros and his fellow wave mate Vasapo, I came away with a somewhat mixed but ultimately positive impression of the line as a whole. These are good figures, and they fill a niche that remains surprisingly underserved even in today's market. At roughly seventy-five dollars apiece, they are not inexpensive, but they also do not feel outrageously overpriced given their size and quality. What they have not done, at least for me, is create a burning desire to own an entire army of them. The shared body reuse becomes more noticeable when you start looking at the entire wave, and while I understand exactly why that approach was necessary from a production standpoint, my wallet was not particularly interested in funding five variations of the same giant body.

Image: You’re looking straight at the face of the blue triceratops-style warrior. The skin is a rough, pebbled blue with darker, almost black mottling across the forehead and around the eyes, giving a weathered, battle-worn look. Three large horns dominate the sculpt: two long, curved ones rising from the brow and sweeping outward, and a shorter central horn above the nose. The horns are textured like real bone, shaded from a darker tan at the base to a lighter tip.

Smaller horn nubs ring the edge of the frill, adding extra aggression. The frill itself is broad and slightly ridged, blending into the thick neck and massive shoulders behind it. Gold bands are wrapped around the base of the big brow horns, tying the head into the rest of the figure’s gold armor scheme. The overall effect is a very powerful, dinosaurian face with lots of surface detail and paint variation to bring out the texture.

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What I do think these figures excel at is serving as elite warriors within a larger collection. Cerros works wonderfully as a faction leader, bodyguard, champion, or heavy hitter standing among other fantasy characters. He brings a unique silhouette, plenty of shelf presence, and enough personality to stand out without requiring an entire shelf dedicated exclusively to the Armies of Ashmore.

In the end, General Cerros succeeds because he reminds me why I became excited about dinosaur warriors in the first place. He is a giant battle-scarred Triceratops commander carrying an axe the size of a small tree, leading armies through a fantasy world filled with monsters and magic. Twenty years ago, finding something like that on a store shelf would have felt almost impossible. Today, thanks to companies willing to take chances on strange and wonderful ideas, figures like Cerros are becoming a reality. As a collector who remembers the years when dinosaur warriors were little more than wishful thinking, I consider that a victory all by itself.

Image: The blue triceratops warlord is squaring off against a raging sabretooth gladiator, both braced for a brutal melee.

The blue warrior towers in the background, planted in a wide stance, bright blue legs solid under teal scale armor and gold bands. His huge gold-and-teal axe is raised diagonally across his body, both hands gripping the haft as he leans slightly forward, ready to strike or block. His horned head juts past the blade, giving him a menacing, charging silhouette.

In the foreground stands the sabretooth, turned three‑quarters toward his foe. He’s tall, lean, and feral, with gray-brown fur over a muscular body and a snarling feline face dominated by long, curved fangs. His armor is dark, heavy, and cruel-looking: greenish, weathered plates on the shoulders and forearms, chains draped across his chest and waist, and skulls hanging from his belt like trophies.

He grips a massive, brutal poleaxe in both hands. The shaft is dark and worn, and the head is a jagged, silvery double blade with chipped, battle-damaged texturing. One clawed foot is set forward, claws dug in, shoulders coiled as if he’s moments from lunging.

The stone-ruin backdrop and fiery red sky turn the confrontation into a gladiatorial arena moment: the disciplined, armored dinosaur knight facing down a savage sabretooth berserker, each ready to test the other’s strength.

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