Review: McFarlane Gold Label Exclusive Warhammer 40k Imperial Fists Intercessor Sergeant
- Mephitsu
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
"We are the Imperial Fists. We are the Emperor's last wall and we shall not be moved."
Alongside the Summer 2025 wave of McFarlane’s Warhammer 40k figures, featuring the Ultramaries Lieutenant in Reiver Armour, and Blood Angels Assault Intercessor Sergeant (and the relevant Artists Proof), was a further Gold Label Exclusive release featuring the first Imperial Fists Marine in the line. The Intercessor Sergeant is exclusive to Gamestop in the US, but here in the UK it was available generally through stockists.
The packaging for the Summer 2025 figures remains broadly the same as the newer and larger boxes established in 2024 after the line took an extended break. The box front is white with a right-side strip of grey artwork taken from the Warhammer 40k source material. The Warhammer 40k and McFarlane logos top the box front, with the character name sitting in large text under the window. Just above this is an Imperial Fists blue bar, confirming the Chapter for the release. The right hand spine continues as a wrap around of the grey artwork, while the left hand spine has now moved from being colour coordinated to the Chapter, to a blue design imprinted in the centre with the Chapter logo.
The back of the box carries no detail other than the same WH40k and McFarlane logos and the various legal and copyright text. What we do get is a glorious illustration of an Imperial Fists Marine in the midst of battle. The Marine pictured is quite different to the included figure being shown with a tabard, an Iron Halo, and sporting a left-hand Power Fist with a Bolter in his right hand.
Our Imperial Fists Intercessor Sergeant utilises the basic Intercessor Marine body, parts established back in 2020 when the line launched. The armour is cast in a bold yellow with the connecting joints in black, which creates a more visual contrast than other Marines released to date, making the Imperial Fists Intercessor a much more striking figure. The sculpted chest emblem is the winged skull design and painted in black and then overlaid in red. The Imperial Fist Chapter badge sits on the left shoulder pauldron with the panel itself featuring a black border. The same black border is found on the right shoulder with the black arrow depicting his role in the Battleline, and the II numerals depicting the squad. The only other decor is on the left knee, with a black and white checkerboard pattern.
The backpack, again standard and reused, is cast in the same yellow as the armour and connects securely via the usual plug and socket. The central roundel has been updated and includes a relief sculpted Imperial Fists logo painted in black. The unmasked head is a new piece and depicts the Sergeant with a part mask covering his mouth and nose, and round over his ears. This is red with silver piping as well as an upper scope with a green pealescant lens. The Sergeant is sporting a closs cropped grey hairstyle, and there are also two service studs present on his forehead.
Like the Blood Angels Sergeant released at the same time, the Imperial Fists Sergeant includes an alternative head. This is a red cast Intercessor helmet, again the same as has been used on the other Intercessor releases. It features painted red eye lenses, silver pipework to the side, and a silver sculpted skull on the forehead. According to the source material, the red helmet is still a Sergeant in the Imperial Fists, but it presents an Army Building option to display more than one of the Imperial Fists in a squad with varying looks. The exchanging of the headpieces is simple enough with a longer neck peg that connects snugly to either head socket.
The Sergeant comes with a left hand in a pointing gesture, the exact same hand as the 2025 Blood Angels Sergeant. This can be swapped out for a gripping left hand, although the grip is very tight and not compatible with the included weaponry. The right-hand options include a clenched fist as well as a wider trigger grip that is used to hold the second of the two included weapons.
The first of these weapons is again identical to that used in the Blood Angels Sergeant, a Power Fist which is created as a sleeve that slots over the hand and forearm rather than replacing the standard hand and clipping into place. The Power Fist is again the same yellow plastic, with gunmetal silver conduit to the side, and an Imperial Fists Chapter logo across the back of the hand just above four raised studs. The fit on the Power Fist is rudimentary at best, failing to secure in place over the clenched fist and being more secure when squeezed over the gripping hand.
The second weapon is the plasma pistol, originally seen with the Blood Angels Lieutenant from 2021 and the Dark Angels Intercessory Sergeant from 2022. This is presented with a black barrel and central section, complete with turquoise cooling coils and a silver grip section. To have it wielded, you need to swap the right hand from the fist to the trigger finger. Doing so is hard work for some reason, and on our figure, the wrist peg has come apart every time we’ve tried to change the hands. Once the trigger hand is in place, it is thankfully a wider grip than usual, allowing the Plasma to slot into place.
There are the standard 17 points of articulation for the Intercessor body, including double-jointed pegged knees and elbows. The armour does restrict some movement, but there is enough range for some more dynamic battle poses. While there are ratchets on some joints, the shoulder and hips are not secured in the same way, leaving them weak and loose, considering the weight of the body. This is a particular issue at the shoulders and they do tend to droop when the arms are raised, either in a firing position with the Plasma Pistol or the heavier Power Fist.
The Imperial Fists Intercessor Sergeant includes the usual display stand which fits relatively well into pegs on the soles of both feet. You also get a collector card.
Adding the Imperial Fists into the range has been a long time coming, and while the Ultramarines and Blood Angels are the more popular Chapters, the Imperial Fists do have a striking look about them with the contrasting bright yellow against the black. The sculpted, unmasked head is impressive, with McFarlane improving on these considerably as the line matures. There are the usual gripes, such as weak shoulder joints, troublesome wrist pegs, and the Power Fist (also long awaited) is not particularly impressive or engineered well enough to fit securely to the figure, relying on gravity and friction.
As a Gold Label Exclusive, the figure may be more troublesome to obtain for US collectors, but that exclusivity is not a problem outside of the US, including here in the UK. That therefore, opens up the figure for more squad-building opportunities, particularly thanks to the alternative red masked sergeant's head and the ability, as you will see in a moment, to share heads from other figures from the 2025 releases. It will now be interesting to see if McFarlane will revisit some of the other Marine types like the Hellblaster, Reivers, or indeed the Terminator armour and give them the very visual Imperial Fists makeover.
Figure Hacks
As the WH40k line from McFarlane grows, and in particular the various Space Marine releases, we are now starting to see wider options for creating new variations of the figures by swapping parts. In this Summer 2025 wave alone - including the Gold Label Exclusive - there are a raft of weapon options as well as different head options, all of which work on each of the figure bodies for some variation and army building in your collection.
Keep Track of all the Warhammer 40k figures from McFarlane at our comprehensive
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...