Tag Archives: dungeons & dragons

Aug 16 2024

Dungeons & Dragons Ultimates: Sheila the Thief (Cloak of Invisibility) by Super7

Yes, folks, I’m buried in Super7 GI JOE, ThunderCats, and Silverhawks Ultimates, so why not start collecting a new Ultimates line? Even better, why not collect a line of figures that I already bought when Hasbro did them? Sounds like a good plan to me! The truth is I was very happy with Hasbro’s D&D cartoon figures, but because I’ve been waiting for someone to do these for so long, I’m willing to double dip. Plus, it looks like Super7 is going deeper than Hasbro did with more of the minor characters, and yes a giant Tiamat, which God help me I did pre-order. The first wave includes two members of the adventuring party, Hank and Sheila plus Dekkion the Skeleton Warrior, and a pair of Shadow Demons. These are supposed to ship sometime in October, but we got a bit of a sneak peek with the release of the SDCC Exclusive invisible Sheila. This figure was available for purchase online after the convention and since she was easy to get, I decided to pick her up.

Oh wow, I really dig this packaging! The box is an homage to the entrance to the Dungeons & Dragons ride. There’s no slip cover, which I kind of figured since they’ve been deleting them from their longer running lines. The window shows off the goods nicely, which is impressive because she’s supposed to be invisible. The back of the packages have an actual character sheet for each character, and as an avid D&D player back in High School, I got a real kick out of this. Seriously, I had a big stupid grin on my face as I perused Sheila’s stats. Of course, this figure variant is based on Sheila’s special ability, using her magic cloak to render her invisible. A pretty useful skill for a thief, even if she didn’t do much thieving in the cartoon. I’m not gonna lie, this was a tough figure to photograph, so I’m not going to go too long today.

Sometimes when a cartoon depicts an invisible character, they just draw them as line art in white, but if I recall correctly when Sheila used her cloak in the cartoon, you couldn’t see her at all. So, S7 had to take some artistic liberties here. And what we get is the same figure we will be getting in October, only cast in translucent plastic and with a white cape. Does it work? Sorta? Kinda? The cape is made of a nice material, but the fact that it isn’t sheer really ruins the invisibility effect. Sure, you can take the cloak off, but that would break the rules, as she’s only supposed to be invisible with the cape on and the hood up. Also, the body does have a bit of a yellow tint to it, which I’m not sure was intentional, but I suppose it will save me the anxiety of waiting for it to turn yellow over time. One thing that I think is really cool here is how they even used thin translucent plastic for her skirt. I don’t recall ever seeing that sort of thing before.

You get all three heads that will be included with the regular release: A smiling expression, a surprised expression, and a mischievous expression. I do like that they painted the facial features in white to help pick them out a little more, but as you can probably see, it’s still kind of tough to discern what’s going on with the sculpts. I do, however, think these are going to look great when they’re all painted up.

The articulation is still in line with what we’ve been seeing in the other Ultimates lines, and that means lots of rotating hinges with limited range. One of the big issues with this sort of transparent figure is that you can see how the sausage is made, meaning all the joints and even the wrist pegs are clearly visible. It gives the figure a very mechanical look. The joints on the figure all feel good, but translucent plastic can sometimes have a habit of becoming brittle, so I probably won’t spend a lot of time playing around with her. With that having been said, I didn’t have any issues swapping out the heads or hands.

You get three sets of hands: Fists, a set intended to grip her hood for when she’s pulling it up or taking it off, a right hand with splayed fingers and a left gripping hand. But aside from the cloak there are no other accessories, which means they omitted the net accessory that will come with the regular release. That’s disappointing, especially since they didn’t replace it with some new accessory, maybe referencing a specific episode of the cartoon.

I don’t want to come down too hard on this figure, as it’s pretty tough to make the whole translucent thing work. You’re always going to see all the joints and inner workings of the figure and that kind of ruins the illusion. This kind of thing would most definitely work better as a statue. I’d love to see someone on Etsy with some sewing skillz make a sheer cloak for her that would make the illusion work better. With that being said, it’s a pretty good concept for an SDCC Exclusive, as I wouldn’t consider it essential to complete the collection and I would have been OK if I got shut out on it. As I write this, it’s still available on Super7’s website at $55, which is the going rate for all their regular-sized Ultimates. Still, I would only really recommend it if you’re going to be a completist. I’m not sorry I bought her, but I probably would have been better off putting that $55 towards the $300 price tag on Tiamat.

Apr 3 2024

Dungeons & Dragons: Ultimate Elkhorn by NECA

The last couple years have seen a flurry of action figures based on the Dungeons & Dragons property, with Hasbro tackling the 80’s cartoon as well as the film Honor Among Thieves, and NECA doing updates to the old LJN figures. The Hasbro stuff has run its course, although Super7 has picked up the license to take their own stab at the cartoon characters. Meanwhile, NECA seems to be chugging along with their line, despite an unsettling drop in new reveals. They are currently doing retro-carded repaints and it’s tough to tell whether they are just trying to drum up revenue for more new releases or if it’s a last cash-grab at the end of the line. Obviously, I’m hoping for the former, because this line has been outstanding! I’ve already checked out two of the baddies: Warduke and Grimsword, as well as the heroic Strongheart. Eventually, I have to double back for a look at Zarak, but for now I’m bumping the newest release to the head of the line, Elkhorn!

The packaging is standard stuff for NECA’s Ultimate line. You get a window box with a front flap that secures with a bit of velcro. There are plenty of pictures of the figure as well as some cool artwork on the front panel. Everything is collector friendly and for now I’ve been keeping these figures displayed in the package because they tend to come with so many extras. Elkhorn is a noble Dwarf Fighter adding some much needed support to the lone hero Strongheart. The original Elkhorn was a tiny figure and I was really curious to see what NECA was going to do to give him some gravitas.

My first impressions after opening the box? Elkhorn is a lot bigger than I expected and he comes with a ton of cool stuff! While he still feels properly scaled as a Dwarf, this guy has a nice heft to him and is absolutely brimming with detail. He still sports the bright green trousers from the original figure, but the orange gauntlets, belt, and trim on the boots has been revised to a deep, chocolate brown, which I think works well for this modern update. The brown tunic features a wide belt with a large circular medallion-like buckle front and center and he’s got some silver chain mail covering his shoulders and arms. There is some fantastic texture work on this figure, both in the chain mail and in the fabric of his trousers. The bits that are supposed to be leather have a paint wash and even the sculpted laces on his boots are immaculately painted. Everything about Elkhorn’s outfit just oozes loving attention to detail.

You get two heads to choose from, although there isn’t a huge difference between the expressions. I think NECA definitely channeled a bit of John Rhys Davies as the inspiration for this portrait and I love it. One has the mouth open and the other closed. The bushy beard is dark blue with a black wash and there’s a gold loop in the center as well as another behind his head to form a ponytail. And the ponytail is pegged into the head so you can swivel it. The horned helmet has been given a major upgrade from the LJN version with a gold painted finish, central spike, upward pointing horns, and some red painted stones in the front.

Elkhorn’s articulation is really good for such a stocky fella. As always, NECA serves up a lot of rotating hinges, but I was surprised to find them doubled up in the elbows to allow for some tighter bends. The ball jointed hips and slits in the sides of his lower tunic allow him to take a wide stance, with lateral rockers in the ankles to keep his feet planted flat on any dungeon floor. The chain mail on his shoulders is soft to allow for some flexibility in those joints, but he’s still not going to go higher than 90-degrees because of it. Still, he has no trouble getting his weapons over his head for a downward swing.

And since Elkhorn is a smaller figure, NECA decided to load him up with all sorts of weapons, equipment and even some treasures. Starting with the weapons, we get updates to the sword and shield included with the LJN figure. The shield is a concave circle with a large central boss and studs around the outer circle. It’s a really close match for the original and you get some lovely forging marks on the outer surface and even some cuts or scratches in the center. The interior of the shield features a grab bar and a sculpted arm strap with painted rivets and buckle. For the sword, NECA just kind of did their own thing, which is understandable as the LJN figure’s sword was yellow, red, and tiny. Here we get a beautiful weapon with a gold pommel and cross guard, brown ribbed two-handed grip, and a straight, silver blade. The sword includes a scabbard, which does not attach to Elkhorn’s belt, but I’ll come back to that in a bit.

There’s a small axe, which I suppose could be as much for making camp as it is for fighting. The blade is painted silver and has some nicks taken out of the edge to show it’s well used. The handle is brown with a sculpted woodgrain texture and it swells at the end.

Want to go bigger? There’s a double-edged great axe, which I’m sure is in no way compensating for size. This gorgeous weapon has a golden blade with silver edges and gold fixtures at the top and bottom of the wood grain shaft. There are Dwarven patterns carved into the face of the blade on both sides and silver spheres at the top and bottom of the handle. Like the smaller axe, you get some random nicks in the edges for added flavor.

The arsenal continues with a spiffy war hammer. The gold head has a spiked back so it can get enemies coming and going, as well as a top spike for poking.

And since two hammers are better than one, you also get this double-headed head pounder. This one has more gold and some black grips with silver bands. Both hammers are taller than Elkhorn, but they still look like they’d be manageable for him to wield, especially since Dwarves are practically built for swinging pickaxes.

And finally, Elkhorn has a beautiful little dagger that fits in the sheath on his belt. It has a gold hilt and a utilitarian-style cutting blade. It’s probably good for dispatching Goblins as well as cutting up joints of meat at the campfire.

One of the most impressive pieces of Elkhorn’s gear is this absolute banger of an adventurer’s backpack. It’s got a sculpted bedroll at the bottom, extra pouches, a spot to peg the sword scabbard in on one side and some loops to hold the small axe on the other. The top even opens and you can store stuff in there! The backpack has a wide hook that latches onto one of the cross-straps on Elkhorn’s back and it holds pretty securely. The sculpting on the pack is pretty convincing for real leather, there’s some great texture on the bedroll and all the little buckles and snaps are painted.

Elkhorn comes with a lit torch, which is a must for all dungeon delvers. Well, maybe not for Dwarves, since I’m pretty sure they can see in the dark, making this accessory an odd pairing for Elkhorn. Still, I’m glad we got a torch and I may wind up handing it off to Strongheart. We’ve seen this sort of accessory from NECA in the past and it’s done very well. The flame is cast in a yellow-orange translucent plastic and the torch itself is painted deep brown and has a sculpted woodgrain finish.

And no Dwarf can go adventuring without a jug of hooch to warm him up on those cold dungeon nights! This makes me think about how cool it would be to get an Accessory Set for this line with some stuff to make camp with. NECA’s done some similar sets for their other lines, and I’d definitely pick one up for these figures.

And finally, Elkhorn comes with a couple pieces of treasure to toss in the backpack. These include a translucent red heart stone, perhaps taken off a dead night hag, and some purple crystals embedded in a rock base. I really dig that we’re finally getting some loot thrown in as accessories, as the LJN line sometimes included treasure with their PVC figures.

NECA went crazy with this figure, not only delivering an outstanding modern update to Elkhorn, but also loading him up with all sorts of weapons and other cool stuff. There’s just so much love and passion poured into this release that it’s quite an amazing evolution to see him alongside his original LJN figure. My only concern now is that we haven’t seen any new reveals, so I’m really hoping that NECA isn’t winding down on this line. There are so many more great LJN characters that I’d love to see get this treatment, especially some more of the heroes like Melf, Mercion, and Bowmarc. Not to mention the good and evil wizards, Ringlerun and Kelek. I think these figures have been selling well, so all that’s left is to hope and pray. In the meantime, I’ll swing back with a look at Zarak in the weeks ahead.

Nov 3 2023

Dungeons & Dragons: Ultimate Strongheart by NECA

There’s been no shortage of Dungeons & Dragons love in the toy aisles lately! While Hasbro has been delivering toys based on the 80’s cartoon and the recent movie, NECA has been showing lots of love to the old LJN toy line by giving us modern updates to those characters. And while Hasbro seems to have wrapped up their run at D&D toys, but it feels like NECA is just getting started. They came out swinging with two amazing figures, Warduke and Grimsword, and now they’re finally adding a hero to the lineup with Strongheart!

If you collect NECA then you already know what to expect from the packaging. It’s a window box with a front flap fastened by velcro. The character art on the front of the box is… OK, but really nothing special. Thankfully, you can open the flap, peep into the window and let the figure sell itself. As a kid, Strongheart was the only hero I had in this line for a while so he was kind of just generic adventurer exploring dungeons and getting constantly set upon by Warduke and the rubber monsters like the Grell. Seriously, the poor dude had to fight that Grell a lot.

Like his rivals, Warduke and Grimsword, this new Strongheart figure takes the original LJN design and juices it with a dose of realism and boy is the end result glorious. NECA grabbed enough of the LJN design beats from the armor to make this unmistakable as the noble Strongheart. The silver and blue armor is absolutely gorgeous! The wide gorget has the two circular points and the shield crest in the middle, his ab muscles are sculpted into the armor, and the winged knee guards are all straight off the vintage figure. NECA extrapolated the blue striping on the original figure’s forearms into belted bracers with each tiny buckle sculpted and painted. They also added some beautiful chainmail sculpt to the upper arms and legs, as well as an armored skirt. The only major change here is going from black boots on the original to blue here, and I do indeed love it!

The bright blue and shimmery cape is tailored from a thick and premium feeling cloth and is anchored to the gorget near the neck. Pull it to the side and you can see all the little details that NECA put into Strongheart’s back, even though you’ll rarely ever see it. This includes sculpted chains connecting the gorget to the back of his belt.

Strongheart is the first figure so far to actually have a face, and I think NECA did a wonderful job depicting the character with this more realistic portrait. The epic mustache is present, along with some rather dominant eyebrows and a prominent, manly chin. The face just exudes nobility, courage and heroism!

With the figure in hand, I was surprised and delighted to see that the visor is articulated and can be closed. The wings on the helmet have been streamlined and swept back, whereas they jutted out to the sides on the original figure. I think this manages to keep the overall design while giving him a much cooler looking profile. The white plume is still present, here spouting from the top and cascading back like a feathery ponytail

The original figure lacked a scabbard, but here we get one that not only holds the sword but also has an integral sheath for a dagger. The scabbard hangs from the belt on a loop and while I was skeptical as to whether this would work, it actually works very well. Indeed, it’s a much better design than pegging the scabbard into the figure and less delicate than the chain that hung one of Warduke’s sheathes from his belt.

The sword is pretty much an original design, since there wasn’t a lot to go on with the old LJN figure’s very generic weapon. It has a serviceable yet still attractive design that suits the figure quite well. It features a simple crossguard and pommel and a black ribbed grip. The sword has a broad blade that tapers quickly to a point near the tip. The blade is painted silver hand has some nice weathering.

The dagger design matches the sword, making them en suite. It’s pretty small and it doesn’t look like it would be much of a threat to Grimsword’s armor, but a well placed thrust would probably ruin Warduke’s day. Again, I really love the way the dagger’s sheath is incorporated into the scabbard.

Strongheart also comes with a shield, and I’m pretty sure this is an entirely newly designed piece as well. My old LJN Strongheart didn’t come with a shield, but I’m not sure if he was re-released later as part of the Battlematic figures with shields that fired missiles. Either way, it’s a very simple and knightly heater-type shield with silver paint around the edges intended to be reinforced steel with sculpted bolts. The reverse side of the shield has two straps, which work well with either the grippy or relaxed left hand. I think this was a great addition to the accessories as the shield really suits him well.

The final accessory here is the magic golden hammer, which is a wonderful nod to Strongheart’s appearance in the D&D cartoon, as that was his weapon of choice. Off hand, I don’t remember what it looked like and it didn’t have a lot of screen time as I recall, but this is a great looking piece and even includes a wrist strap hanging off the pommel.

I continue to love what NECA is doing with this line and to be honest it worries me that we’ve only seen one more reveal in the form of Elkhorn the Dwarf. Obviously, I want to see this line go deep and there are at least a half dozen more characters I’d like to see get this modernized treatment. I know that the reception for these figures has been extremely positive, so it’s just a question of whether that is translating to sales and I guess we’ll have to wait and see. In the meantime, I still have Zarak to check out and I’ll give him the spotlight in the next week or so.

Sep 20 2023

Dungeons & Dragons ReAction Figures by Super7

Monday’s review went super long, so today I’m taking it easy with a quick look at some ReAction figures! While Hasbro and NECA have both been releasing the higher profile toys based on the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Super7 also entered the campaign this year with the release of a handful of their 3 3/4-inch ReAction figures. Hasbro’s toys have been pulling from the 80’s Saturday Morning cartoon and the recent movie, NECA has been doing modern updates of the vintage LJN figures, leaving Super7 to focus on… vintage cover art? Oh yes, and it’s quite glorious! Let’s take a look at Super7’s three general releases and the boxed SDCC Exclusive. But before we embark on this journey, adventurers, take note! We’ll only be looking at packaged toys today, as this is one of those rare occasions where I won’t be opening any of these!

Because as cool as these figures are, it’s really the mating of the figure and the super nostalgic original art on the cardback that makes these releases so special to me. First up is an Efreeti as featured on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Masters Guide with art by the David C. Sutherland III from 1979. Yeah, these figures aren’t to scale, as the Efreeti was an absolute beast on that cover holding an unfortunate blonde maiden in his left hand and about to smite an entire party of adventurers with one swing of the scimitar in his right hand. The head sculpt is absolutely superb on this figure and the bright yellow and red coloring makes this Fire Plane dweller quite eye-catching. He also has a slender modesty sash to cover his genie junk. Really nice sculpted muscles too! He comes with his scimitar with a yellow hilt and silver blade.

The back of the three general release figures’ cards are all the same, featuring a reimagined piece of art that we’ll be seeing again in a bit. You also get artist renderings of the three figures released in this series, which reminds me of some of the comic and newspaper advertisements for Star Wars figures back in the day where they used illustrations instead of actual photos. Very nice!

Next up is the Githyanki based on the Emmanuel cover art from the 1st Edition AD&D Fiend Folio. It’s another banger of a piece with some absolutely amazing detail in the figure itself. From the sculpted wrappings on the arms and legs to the colorful strips of jeweled shingles that hang down his chest. The head sculpt is also extremely well done with everything conspiring to bring all the imagination of the artwork into a fully realized 3D figure. And once again, the colors really make this figure pop beautifully. He comes with a golden sword as depicted in the artwork. Yes, sadly my card is creased, which believe me is tempting me to try for another so I can open this one.

And the final stop on this trifecta, and what is easily for me the most iconic piece of art of the three, is The Sorceress as depicted on the front of the D&D Basic Set 1st Edition Second Box by artist Erol Otus. A more truncated version of this art also appeared on the cover of the D&D Basic Set 2nd Edition Rulebook. This is the piece of art that I will always most associate with my D&D days and it still fires my imagination today. As for the figure itself, while I think it’s good, it’s easily the least successful of these three in the translation from the art. She loses that heavily stylized look, not to mention having a little less in the chest and more in the waist, making her a little less alluring than her 2D counterpart. Still, I do love the colors and the sculpted detail is nice. She comes with a really nice version of the magic torch she holds aloft in the artwork.

And with the three general releases done and dusted, the final figure we’re looking at today is the SDCC exclusive, which was later available through online retailers, which makes its exclusivity claim rather dubious. Based on the D&D Basic Set 3rd Edition, this figure comes in the familiar Red Box with the absolutely epic artwork by Larry Elmore showing the Formidable Fighter taking on a red dragon. Lift off the top and you get the carded figure inside.

Super7 had to take a bit more liberties with this one as the character is only depicted from the back, but I think they did a nice job with the design. You get a brilliant metallic blue sheen on his scale mail armor, a sculpted furry loin cloth with studded belt and blue boots. The head sculpt is bearded and fierce and his horned helmet looks fantastic. He comes with a circular shield and a gold hilted sword with glow in the dark blade.

As I mentioned earlier, I am not generally a mint-on-card collector, but Super7 has issued more than a few ReAction figures that I have purchased to display carded. I just think that the mating of original art with the inspired figure is what makes these releases so special and it would be a shame to separate the two. If these were cheaper, I would definitely buy seconds as openers, but at $20 a pop for the regulars and $25 for the SDCC Exclusive, I’ll be content with hanging them on my wall. My only complaint with any of these is that I wish Super7 had credited the artists and where each piece of art came from on the backs of the cards. And it seems like Super7 isn’t done with these yet, as possible pre-orders for a second wave have been whispered!

Sep 15 2023

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (Golden Archive) Simon & Doric by Hasbro

A few days ago I watched D&D Honor Among Thieves again and I guess I was half a bottle into the Jameson and wound up picking up some of the figures off Amazon on clearance. I wasn’t going to review any of these, but then I came up short on time for today’s review and these were handy, so here we go. If that’s not a ringing endorsement, I don’t know what is! Random selection pulled Simon first and I decided to toss in Doric as well. Did they ever make it as a couple? Well, I doubt there will be a sequel so decide for yourself!

I have to say that I really enjoyed this movie… enough to see it twice in the theater and a couple of times now at home. Was it a great Dungeons & Dragons film? Eh, maybe not, but it sure as shit was a better D&D movie than the last one. Either way, it was really fun and I liked the characters. I also really like the design on these packages. The character art is very nice, but here’s a great example of not knowing what you’re getting inside. Also, these boxes are huge compared to the contents and they feel like they’re empty. If I was buying these in a store, I’d have serious doubts as to whether there was a figure in there at all! Let’s start with Simon.

Simon (the Sorcerer) Amur has a really solid D&D outfit and Hasbro did a great job sculpting it here. Even if I wasn’t familiar with the character, the figure just has a classic fantasy-medieval look about him. The blue tunic is textured, the tan sleeves billow out at the wrists, he’s got sculpted leather wrappings on his hands, and his shoes… well, he kind of looks like he’s wearing modern dress shoes, but it’s fine. The plastic cape has some nice texturing and there’s some muddied paint down at the edge.

Other wonderful details include the colorful satchel he wears over his shoulder and the spell reagent dispenser, which oddly enough reminded me of a birth control wheel. He also has a pouch or coin purse on the belt next to it. There’s just tons little bits and bobs here that make this figure feel like a labor of love.

The head sculpt is a pretty decent likeness, but I’m not really familiar with the actor. The only other thing he’s been in that I heard of was one of the endless Jurassic Park sequels, and I stopped bothering with those a while ago. The features use the modern printing method for the eyes and lips, and the hair sculpt is solid.

Simon comes with two accessories: The Hither-Thither Staff and the Helm of Disjunction. The staff is very well done with some sculpted detail in the shaft and some paint hits. The pale blue crystal at the top looks great. I’m glad we got this as an accessory because it was a really fun gimmick in the film.

The helmet also has some great detailing and some paint, but it’s cast in that shitty thin gold plastic that Hasbro sometimes dips into. But at least he can wear it.

The articulation here is mostly what you might expect with Hasbro’s six-inch lines. In fact, the only disappointing thing is the rotating hinges in the elbows which have a really bad range of motion. Poor Simon can’t even pull off a 90-degree bend and that’s just unacceptable. He comes with just the one pair of hands, with the right one sculpted to hold the staff and the left hand in a spell-slinging gesture. OK, let’s move on to Doric.

Doric the Druid was a fun character! Once again, I didn’t know the actress from anything else, but she was certainly good in the movie. This costume didn’t give Hasbro as much to work with as Simon’s but I think they still turned in a solid effort. The tunic has a layered look to it with some soft texturing. There are stitching lines sculpted into her shoulder pads, and she has a removable feathered shroud that goes over her right shoulder, which I think Hasbro counts as her accessory. Yeah, that’s pretty cheap! Her tail is pretty cool and it plugs into her ass with a ball joint so you get a little basic poseability out of it.

Sadly, Hasbro didn’t do as well with this portrait as they did with Simon’s. It stumbles a little bit in the sculpt and printing both. The hair looks nice and her little horns are cool. You can’t really see her pointed ears under the hair, which is a shame. I don’t think this turned out terribly, but it ain’t great either. I thought the actress was pretty cute and it doesn’t come across here very well.

Doric does have her little pop-up slingshot on her left arm bracer, which is pretty well done considering the scale. I was actually surprised they even attempted it, but it still doesn’t count as an accessory to me. Maybe Hasbro could have included some sculpted animal forms? I think that was a big miss. The lack of extras here just feels really wanting, especially with how big the boxes are.

Doric’s articulation is identical to Simon and that means she can’t pull off 90-degrees in those elbows either. I think that’s an even bigger tragedy here because she seemed like a pretty agile character. All in all Doric is OK, but I think Simon turned out better.

Yeah, today’s review was kind of quick and dirty, but at least I was able to turn something in. I don’t think these figures are at all bad, but they sure aren’t worth $25 a pop. Thankfully I got them for $12 each which is why I’m giving them a pass. They look good with The Beholder and I’m anxious to put them up against the Displacer Beast, which I will get to reviewing eventually. Indeed, I hope to get through all the figures here eventually, but they aren’t going to be high priority, so maybe I’ll save them for when I need some quick content or just do them all in one big speed-review.

Jul 10 2023

Dungeons & Dragons (Cartoon Classics): Eric, Presto, and Sheila by Hasbro

Late last year, Hasbro began making one of this old kid’s dream come true by delivering action figures based on the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon. The show was great (still is!) and It was one of those rare instances where a pretty successful cartoon didn’t have any related toys. The first figures hit and included Hank, Diana, Bobby, and Uni, with Venger and Dungeon Master in a single set. And while the figures looked really good, it was a nightmare of QC issues and more broken limbs than a bad roll in a battle with a Bugbear. With the second wave completing the party, all I could do was wait and hope for the best.

And here they are! This assortment wraps up the party with Sheila the Thief, Eric the Cavalier, and Presto the Wizard. The figures come in the same style packaging as the previous releases, which is a mix of windowless box and card. As far as windowless packaging goes, I think these look really nice. The cartoon-style character art is wonderful and the pictures on the box are fairly accurate to what’s inside. I also really dig the side panels line up to create an interconnected image of the entire party. Each figure also comes with a die used in the actual tabletop game, which is shown on the front of the packaging. So, let’s get one thing out of the way first… I had zero QC issues with any of these figures and I didn’t even have to heat them up. All the joints worked perfectly right out of the package. And while it’s a shame to have to call that out as a win, at least maybe Hasbro got the message from the initial run of figures. Let’s start with Sheila…

I was extremely happy with this figure the moment it came out of the box, and I think Hasbro absolutely nailed everything about her. Indeed, I think she’s on par with her brother as being two of the best looking figures so far. The costume features a pink tunic cinched at the waist with an aqua-colored belt. The tunic and belt are made of soft plastic forming a skirt with slits up the sides so as not to inhibit the hip articulation too badly. Sheila’s high brown boots have sculpted bands around the edges at her thighs, and I like how pronounced these are, rather than just being painted on. She comes with two versions of her Cloak of Invisibility, the one seen above has the hood sculpted down behind her head and the whole thing is cast in lavender plastic. It’s held on simply by hanging around her neck and it looks great.

The head sculpt is very nice, and while Hasbro seems to be putting a little bit of their own spin on the cartoon designs, I still think this is a great likeness for Sheila in the cartoon. She’s got perfectly printed eyes and some freckles dotting her cheeks. The orange hair is a separate piece and it frames her face beautifully.

Articulation for all of these figures remains more or less the same, with just a few variations. With Sheila, you get rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, wrists, and ankles. There are ball joints in the hips, double-hinges in the knees, a ball joint in the waist and neck, and swivels in the thighs. Even with the plastic skirt, she has a nice range of motion.

The alternate Cloak includes a separate piece for the hood and the Cloak itself can be seen gradually turning invisible down near the bottom edge. It’s a nice effect for a power that is difficult to portray in action figure form. The hood fits the figure’s head very well and since it’s a separate piece it doesn’t inhibit her head movement. I was kind of hoping we might see an SDCC Exclusive clear variant of Sheila, but I suspect Hasbro is probably done with this line. Moving on to Eric…

So, where Sheila was a homerun, Eric is more like a walk with a runner on third. I was a bit disappointed when I got him out of the box, but to be honest, he’s grown on me quite a bit since then. The body is pretty good, with a yellow tunic and orange belt, treated much the same way as Sheila’s. You get some shiny silver paint for the arms with a very soft sculpt depicting the mail. The thighs are a little duller, and the boots and knee guards are just left bare gray plastic. The red cape looks really good and hangs well on the figure. My biggest complaint here is that the bare plastic for the lower legs looks a bit cheap.

The articulation here takes a step back from Sheila’s as Eric’s knees have rotating hinges rather than double-hinges. He also doesn’t have any thigh swivels, which makes his legs look a little weird when he’s standing straight. It’s not ideal, but I got used to it.

The head sculpt is… OK. I appreciate that they gave Eric a face that looks like it needs to be punched, because he was a real jerk in the cartoon. I don’t think the likeness is bad at all and I dig the little Alfalfa-like sprout of hair jutting off the top of his head. But this is one instance where I wish we got a second head with a scared expression, because Eric was such a sniveling coward.

Eric comes with his shield, which clips onto his arm. It’s cast in orange plastic with a painted griffon emblem on the front. It looks OK, but there’s a bit of black paint slop around the central emblem.

You also get a pretty cool magic effect piece, made of soft semi translucent plastic, which clips on around the edge of the shield. It goes on pretty easy and it looks fantastic. OK, let’s move on to the final figure, Presto!

Happily, I think Presto ranks up there with Sheila as being one of the best in the line. He’s got his green wizard robes, complete with dangly sleeves and a pouch, which maybe holds magical reagents or maybe his D&D dice. This figure sports the least amount of detail because of his simple toony outfit, but I like that Hasbro put a little rumple in the front and on the sleeves to break up that field of green. He has slits up the sides of his robes, but his legs are still more or less confined to under the robe, so most of the articulation is used to keep him standing up.

And like Sheila, Hasbro knocked it out of the park with this portrait. The glasses are sculpted as part of the face and that was definitely the way to go here. The paint on the thin frames is also pretty damn clean. They did a great job on the shape of his face and the ears and even the hair looks fantastic. The hat is attached to the hairpiece with a large tab, so to have him take off the hat, you swap out the hairpiece for one that doesn’t have the tab. This is pretty easy to do and a clever way to make the switch.

Presto’s left hand is designed to hold the hat and his right hand is a pointy-spell casting hand. You also get two magic effect parts, both cast in translucent purple plastic. The first depicts magic energy emerging from the hat.

The second is a stream of magical energy that runs from the hat to a clip that goes around Presto’s right wrist, and boy does this look awesome! It looks so awesome that I feel bad pointing out that it isn’t the same effect piece that’s shown on the front of the package which creates more of a spell shooting from his hand effect. I would have liked to get that one too, but man this one is so good, I’m not going to complain about it.

And with these three figures on my shelf, Hasbro really has made a dream come true for my toy collection. I’ve wanted figures like these ever since I was a kid and it seems like such a small miracle to get them all this time later. I mean, who the hell could have guessed that we’d get these forty years later? Yes, it’s a shame that the early figures were marred with QC issues, but Hasbro seemed to get their hands around that and pull it together at the end. Would I like to see the line continue? Of course! Do I think it’s going to… nah. It seems like a stretch to get figures from some of the one-off characters appearing in the various episodes. But I’m still holding out just a little hope that we might get Tiamat!

Jun 14 2023

Dungeons & Dragons (Golden Archive) Xanathar by Hasbro

I don’t think the Dungeons & Dragons movie was anywhere near the marketing hit that Hasbro was hoping for. They barely got most of the figures out by the time the movie had come and gone. I liked the Honor Among Thieves a lot, but I wasn’t interested in the figures. I am, however, especially happy that Hasbro seems to be utilizing its D&D license beyond the movie tie in, because the subject of today’s review shows there’s a lot of potential here!

Enter Xanathar! The mysterious crime lord of Waterdeep. Art Connoisseur, Gourmand, and Lover of Goldfish. Oh, and he also happens to be a Beholder, one of the most iconic beasties of D&D lore. When the credits rolled on the movie without a Beholder making an appearance, I didn’t know whether to shout in disappointment or admire the restraint. Nonetheless, here we are with a Xanathar figure and you could knock me over with a preverbal +1 Feather of Shocking! Xanathar comes in a fully enclosed box with an awkard slice taken out of the upper right corner. There’s some wonderful art as well as some pictures of the toy itself. He comes wrapped in tissue and there’s some assembly required, as you have to plug in each of those eye stalks to get him ready for display!

And with the full eye stalk installation complete, I have to say this is an absolutely fantastic looking figure with a lot of potential in cross compatibility. There’s some superb detail in the sculpt, which includes scaly, somewhat reptilian looking skin. He even has a pair of subtympanic shields like an iguana, in this case situated on each side behind his main eyeball. There are horns jutting out, ridges running down his back, and plenty of leathery creases and folds to the skin that all look great. Other great little touches include the intricately sculpted gold bands placed around some of his eye stalks, one of which is a Ring of Proof Against Detection. He even has a sculpted golden ring through a piercing on his bottom lip. Each of the eye stalks are connected with ball joints, so while there isn’t any articulation in the stalks themselves, there’s a decent range of motion where they meet the body. The paint is also excellent with a pale blue on the upper part of the body gradually becoming yellow for the face and undercarriage.

And wow, is there a tremendous amount of detail in his mouth, which can be placed on full display by opening his hinged jaws, and boy is it gross in there! In addition to the rows of jagged pointy teeth, he’s got pink gums, and the papillae on his tongue are fully realized in what is an incredible sculpt! So what’s that translucent thing up at the roof of his mouth? Well let’s talk eyeball!

Xanathar’s one big eye is very well done with a glassy lens and a very detailed retina. My only complaint here is that I wish the eye were opened a bit more. It’s quite narrow and while it does make for a somewhat devilish look, I would have loved to see that eyeball showcased more prominently. The eyeball is fully articulated and can be manipulated via that translucent lever-knob thing up at the roof of his mouth. Fiddling with this control can make his eye turn left and right and even up and down. It’s a lot of fun!

Xanathar comes with two accessories: A stand and his fish bowl. The stand is a pile of gold with a concave top for him to rest in and it works pretty well. It’s also a fantastic sculpt with individually sculpted coins and a skull and other pieces of treasure peeking out from the pile. I’d also bet I can find a lot of crossover uses for this pile of wealth with some of my other fantasy lines. With that having been said, I think it was a huge oversight not to include some kind of translucent stand to make it look like Xanathar is levitating.

The fish bowl may confuse some, but Xanathar did indeed have a pet fish named Sylgar. It’s actually likely that he had several fish named Sylgar, with his attendants swapping out new live fish for the deceased ones, perhaps without the Beholder knowing. This is a fun accessory with Sylgar appearing to float inside the bowl thanks to a translucent plastic stand… JUST LIKE XANATHAR SHOULD HAVE HAD!

Xanathar is intended to be roughly 6-inch scale, which would make him compatible with the Honor Among Thieves figures, but he also scales incredibly well with Hasbro’s own figures from the D&D cartoon. I also think the aesthetic fits really well too and they look great together! While I didn’t have time to include a comparison shot, I think he’s scales a little too small for NECA’s D&D figures or for Mythic Legions, but heck it still kind of works.

On the flipside, I think he looks fine with smaller scaled figures. If you like your Beholders huge, he’s pretty damn intimidating beside a Vitruvian HACKS figure. And I think he fits in perfectly with the old LJN AD&D figures. I don’t know how many more D&D figures we’ll get out of Hasbro so it’s fun to explore the crossover potential.

Make no mistake, Xanathar is a bizarre release. It’s the kind of stand out piece you might expect to get from a robust and successful toyline. Instead, he’s one of a handful of releases that exist outside the cartoon and the movie. With that being said, he is a fantastic figure, and I think he was well worth the $50 price tag. My guess is that lack of demand will mean he’ll turn up at a discount eventually, but I wasn’t willing to take the chance, and I really wanted to encourage Hasbro to do more figures like this. I love him!

May 22 2023

Dungeons & Dragons: Ultimate Grimsword by NECA

Just to show how behind I am on unfinished business, it’s been over TWO MONTHS since I checked out Warduke, from NECA’s first wave of Ultimate Dungeons & Dragons figures. Poor Grimsword has been waiting all this time to get the spotlight and he’s probably starting to take the snub personally. And seeing as how this is a guy I probably don’t want to piss off, let’s give him his due today…

Like Warduke, Grimsword comes in what appears to be a fully enclosed box, but it’s actually got a front flap that opens to reveal a window to show off the goods. It’s the same thing NECA has been using for their Ultimate figures since the beginning. The artwork on the front is nothing terribly gripping, but it gets the job done. You get a diagonal band at the top left corner pointing out that he is yet another EVIL action figure, so thankfully we’re going to get at least one hero in the next wave.

And here is Grimsword freed from his cardboard tomb and ready to prowl the dungeon looking for Do-Gooders to slay! Grimsword is a brute of figure, being overall bigger and bulkier than even the mighty Warduke. He also looks like some kind of evil golem clad in armor cursed with a snake fetish, and ready to do his evil master’s bidding. But, according to his bio, he’s just another evil warrior looking for trouble. What I love the most about this figure is how NECA managed to take what was a pretty silly looking design and make it both imposing and scary without actually changing any of the design elements of the original LJN figure. And there is indeed so much great stuff here, I don’t know where to begin.

Perhaps the coolest thing here is the weathered finish on the black plate armor. It has a rich and almost chalky look to it that practically radiates evil. Worked into all that black is some silver wear at the edges and overall scuffing that reveals the bare steel underneath it all. The gauntlets have sculpted brown straps with silver painted fixtures, along with rivets and detailed segments in each of the fingers. Similar straps are sculpted onto the greaves. The elbow and knee guards are painted red with silver bolts and his left knee has a green snake’s head. Another green snake motif coils itself around Grimsword’s abdomen, with it’s head reaching up and flicking a red tongue, which becomes a stripe for the flared right shoulder guard. The lower left shoulder is battered with markings from previous battles. The sculpted texture on the snake’s body is simply superb and really transforms what was kind of goofy on the LJN figure into something pretty badass. The armor is finished off with textured silver chainmail exposed on his upper thighs, his shoulders, and more peeking out around his elbow guards.

The head has also been amped up for a more realistic and sinister visage. Grimsword’s head is encased entirely in the same deep dark armor to match his body. There are sculpted bolts and some nasty gashes. The top of the helmet is crested with a mohawk-like comb of tan bristles and red barbed spikes protrude from the sides of the helmet. These can be angled in different ways, but I prefer them pointing forward and slightly down. From inside the deep set eyeholes of the helmet’s mask, you can make out two glowing red eyes.

Grimsword packs the same articulation as Warduke, so I won’t run through it all again here. I will say that as a chonky boi, he’s fun to play with, but the range of motion in his elbows is somewhat hindered by all that armor. He comes with a bevy of hand options, including fists, pointing finger hands, relaxed hands, and several designed to work with his accessories.

As for weapons, Grimsword comes with a scimitar, which can be worn on the golden hook on his left hip, which is a direct callback to the vintage figure. There’s no scabbard for the sword, so it just slides in there, but it stays put pretty well. The grip is simple, with a gold pommel and red crossguards. The silver blade has a sweeping curve, swells a bit toward the point and looks like it would be pretty fierce for slashing at foes. NECA really took some liberties with the simple LJN accessory, and I like it a lot, even if it feels a little too elegant and stylish for this brute.

His other weapon option is definitely a lot better suited to him. His spiked flail continues the running snake theme with the shaft being a hooded cobra and the handle a golden rattle. Yes, he’s mixing his snake metaphors, but I’m not going to be the one to tell him. Like the snake coiling itself around Grimsword’s armor, this flail is a beautifully sculpted piece with the nasty spiked ball hanging from an actual chain. I love it!

And finally, Grimsword comes with his shield, and boy is this a real showpiece of an accessory! It’s a giant snake head in the center of more of that awesome blackened steel. I’d like to think that this is an actual giant snake head taken as a trophy in battle, but that could probably get pretty messy every time he deflects a blow with it. Nonetheless, the sculpting and paint on it are both gorgeous, and once again NECA managed to take a pretty goofy looking aspect of the LJN figure and make it stunningly cool! The reverse of the shield has two arm straps, which secures it well enough without the hand needing to grip anything.

I kind of feel sorry for Grimsword. He is an absolutely fantastic figure, but he had to share a wave with Warduke, and as great as he is, there’s no way he could compete with that Warduke figure. I doubt anyone could. Warduke just has a lot more potential for detail in his design, more accessories, and he remains quite possibly the best figure in this scale that I’ve seen this year from any license or manufacturer. On the other hand, with Grimsword NECA was able to take a design that looked like bad Renaissance Festival cosplay and make it into an absolutely fierce and formidable design. They were practically able to reinvent him without really changing any of his trademark details. Warduke made me feel like NECA presented the best this line could offer right out of the gate, but Grimsword makes me very eager to see what amazing things they can do with some of the other LJN character designs. We’ve got Strongheart and Zarak coming next, and boy do I hope this line keeps going well beyond that!

Mar 13 2023

Dungeons & Dragons: Ultimate Warduke by NECA

It’s crazy how you can go ages without any real D&D licensed toys and then all of the sudden, they’re dropping all over the place, like slimy guts out of a slain Beholder. Hasbro has been using the license to make figures based off the old 80’s cartoon and the upcoming film, Honor Among Thieves, but now NECA has stepped into the ring with the license to do modern versions of the old LJN Advanced Dungeons & Dragons figures. The first two releases are Warduke and Grimsword, and I’m starting my look at these today with Warduke!

To me, Warduke was the Boba Fett of the AD&D world: A mysterious masked warrior with waves of badassery wafting off of him. He was easily my favorite figure in the LJN line, and he would always be waging some epic battles with the heroic Strongheart. NECA’s version comes in their standard Ultimate style packaging. You get a window box with a flap covering the front and a mix of artwork and actual photos of the figure all around. And that’s a hell of a piece of character art on the front of the box! I’m really excited to check this guy out, so let’s just dive right in!

Even before I got him out of the box, I have to admit that I was in awe of this figure while still peeping at him through the window. NECA took the original toy design and just ran with it, turning everything up to the hyper-detailed and realistic max. I’m actually a bit speechless and not sure where to begin, because this figure looks absolutely stunning on just about every level. The network of belts and straps crisscrossing his torso are all sculpted separately, giving up a lot of depth to the figure in general. The yellow belt from the original figure is now painted in gold with a demon-head motif and a more pronounced brown furry sash dipping down between his legs. He has one buccaneer boot on the right foot with red oval stones and his left boot is fortified with a sculpted, spiked armored plate and straps. Warduke’s right side is far less heavily defended and showing a lot of skin, while his left arm and leg are clad in sculpted chainmail, with a gorgeous metallic blue finish. His right arm also has an armored bracer and gauntlet with individually sculpted straps, painted right down to the tiny silver buckles. The eclectic costume is rounded out by a spiked left shoulder guard and an amulet hanging around his neck, strung with what looks like golden fangs. Warduke may not be a fan of symmetry, but he sure knows how to look intimidating!

The mysterious helmeted head is painted in the same sumptuous metallic blue as the chain mail, with the exposed area inside the helmet left black and featureless, except for two piercing red eyes. The package suggests there is just a man under there, by as a kid my imagination went with something more dark and demonic. He has some red ornamental stones on the forehead and back of the helmet, as well as stubby horns on top. The wings on the helmet are a bit more refined than the ones on the original figure, and they’re even pretty damn sharp at the tips! Part of me would have liked to see a little more in the way of facial contours inside the helmet, but it almost looks like he’s meant to be wearing a mask under it, and that’s fine.

Warduke wears three blades on his person, carried in varying styles of scabbards and sheathes. The most notable being his broadsword, which resides in a scabbard across his back. The scabbard is smooth and without texture, but does have some sculpted straps and a copper painted throat and tip. The second largest is a blue scabbard with ornamental gold throat and tip, as well as some bands, and hangs off his belt by a real gold chain. He also has a sculpted red pouch hanging between this scabbard and the one for the larger sword. And finally, on his right hip he has a brown sheath with some black wraps, sculpted stitching along the edges, and a red diamond-shaped jewel with some ornamental beads hanging. The detail on all of these pieces is fantastic, and they contribute to his eclectic look. Campaigns in AD&D are always about improving your gear through loot, and all of this stuff certainly looks like it was acquired and added to his arsenal along the way.

The articulation here is pretty solid, with rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, knees, and ankles. The neck is ball jointed, and you get another ball joint down near the waist. The hips are ball jointed, allowing for a bit of swivel up there, and the ankles ensure his feet can stay flat on the ground in wider stances. The wrists are hinged pegs, allowing for the hands to be swapped out. You get two pairs of accessory holding hands, and a right hand with a pointing finger. I had no issues with any of the joints on this figure, and I think the range of motion is really good. The elbows can pull of 90-degrees, which is not bad for this type of joint, albeit double hinges would have been preferred. I think my only nitpick here would be that the arms hang a little far from the body, but I guess that gives him a readiness stance, which works for the character. OK, let’s look at the weapons, and we’ll start small and work our way up!

The brown sheath holds what looks like a miniature fachion. It has an angled blue hilt that matches the color of Warduke’s chainmail and helmet. The blade is painted silver and has some notable wear on the blade. I’m actually not sure if this is intentional or not, but it really looks great for weathering. The grip has some deep sculpted scrollwork patterns and two silver painted rivets.

The dagger is probably big enough to be considered a short sword. It has a long, thin blade, almost like a stiletto. The hilt is gold with some red painted jewels and not much of a guard. It’s not a perfect match for the broadsword, but the two do go together fairly well.

The broadsword is certainly an imposing piece of cutlery, with an extended grip that could work as a two-hander. The grip is painted brown and the guard and pommel are both gold, with a painted red jewel in the center of the guard. The blade thins near the blade and then swells out just a bit for the remainder of its double-edge. Unlike the smaller weapons, the silver finish on this blade is immaculate.

Of course, Warduke also comes with his rather iconic skull shield! It never occurred to me as a kid playing with the figure, that Warduke’s armor was designed with his left arm intended as his sword arm, and the shield carried in his right to protect his less-armored half. I don’t think I made that connection until I was a teenager studying arms and armor in my spare time. The shield looks amazing with a beautiful dark steel finish and a lumpiness to the sculpt that makes it look like it was forged with a bit of crudeness. It’s an absolutely intimidating piece with the horned skull and dark voids for eyes. The reverse side has a grab bar and a sculpted arm strap textured like leather with rivets holding it into place.

And finally, Warduke comes with a flame effect for his sword, which really elevates the display quality of what was an already amazing figure. The piece is cast in soft orange translucent plastic and it fits rather snugly around the sword. Because clearly this guy didn’t look badass enough without igniting his blade. I mean, holy shit!

I’m well aware that I tend to churn out pretty positive reviews on the stuff I look at here. What can I say? I don’t buy stuff that I don’t think I’m going to like, and as a result I’m not usually disappointed. But when I say that Warduke here is one of the best figures I’ve handled in a long while, I hope that comes across as genuine and not just some hyperbole. This figure is absolutely stunning to look at and loads of fun to play with, and while some would demand more in the way of articulation, I think this is a perfect blend of sculpt and poseability. But in the end, it’s the modernized design, the detail in the sculpt, and the quality of the paint that sells it so well. It is indeed the ultimate version of the character that I could have only dreamed of owning as a kid. And with so many excellent Mythic Legions figure reviews under my belt, I’m still willing to say that this is probably the best fantasy-themed figure I’ve ever looked at here. I’m anxious to check out Grimsword, and I can only hope that this line continues to cover as many of the LJN figures as possible.

Feb 1 2023

Dungeons & Dragons (Cartoon Classics): Dungeon Master and Venger by Hasbro

Today, I’m getting all up to date on Hasbro’s Dungeons & Dragons line, or at least the one that’s based on the old 80’s cartoon. This line has had its share of problems, with lots and lots of QC issues, from figures arriving broken in the package to figures breaking soon after being taken out. Indeed, my very first experience with this line was instantly snapping Diana’s right elbow joint! Since then I’ve been boiling the figures before handling them, and I haven’t had any other issues. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but I’ve waited for these toys for enough decades that I want to see it to the end. And that brings me to the first multi-pack in the line, with the evil Venger and that little shit, The Dungeon Master coming together in one big box!

The box is shaped exactly like the one used for the Honor Among Thieves Gelatinous Cube, with that one weird angle in place of a top, right corner. You get some beautiful artwork inspired by the cartoon as well as the “40” which is denoting the 40th Anniversary of the toon. Photos of the toy is the best you’re going to get as far as seeing these before you buy them, which is why I try to be fairly timely on my reviews of these. Once again, each figure comes with dice. I haven’t really been showcasing these, because as much as I used to play the actual role playing game when I was in Middle School and High School, I never felt the connection between the game and the cartoon was all that strong. Most of my friends who watched it weren’t even remotely interested in ever playing the game. Anyway, let’s start with Dungeon Master…

This little bastard was a good choice to bundle with Venger, because he’s small and not really all that much of a figure. And that’s not a slam against what Hasbro did with him, because there’s really only so much you could do with this guy. The body and legs are static, you get rotating hinges in the shoulders as well as hinged pegs in the wrists. The neck has some kind of joint, but I can barely get him to turn his head at all and I’m not going to bother to boil him to see if it unlocks any more movement. I suppose if Hasbro went with softgoods robes, we could have had some more articulation here, but the sculpted costume captures the look spot on.

I think the head sculpt is OK. I feel like there’s something a little bit off about it, but it’s certainly not bad. There’s a hint of smugness to him that’s actually quite brilliant. I’m not even joking when I tell you that I absolutely hated this dude in the cartoon. It made absolutely no sense to me as to why he was such a cryptic bastard, putting these kids in mortal peril every week so they could do his dirty work. It was kind of appropriate that the toon was cancelled before they ever got home, because I like to think he actually had no idea at all how to get them home, even if certain episodes dispel my cynical theory. So, this is a decent figure, nothing great, but I’d say it’s the best Hasbro could do with the character design they had to work with. Let’s move on to Venger…

I’m pretty torn on this figure. On the one hand, I think they nailed the sculpt beautifully. The flowing plastic skirt looks great, as does his red armor and the sculpted black shoulder covers. The wings plug into his back as one piece and can be easily unplugged if you want to keep him in the box. The matte colors really sell the animated look, but you still get a little glossy red to spruce things up. He’s a nice, big and majestic figure that suits the character perfectly.

The head sculpt is also solid, but for some reason, Hasbro took a page from McFarlane’s book and painted him with side-eye. Side-eye works fine for statues, but not for action figures. Action figures should NEVER go side-eye. Maybe it was some kind of meta commentary on how poorly the articulation works on this figure, but I’ll swing back around to that in a minute. The eyes may sound like a minor nitpick, but it really limits the kind of posing you can do with him and not have it look like something is off. With that having been said, I love everything else about this portrait, right down to his tiny fangs and his enormously asymmetrical horn.

So… articulation! Venger has a full range of articulation in his legs, and I won’t bother going into it because it’s pretty pointless. The plastic skirt causes a tenting effect, which renders all that leg articulation moot. Ironically, I still had to boil his legs to get him to stand because his left ankle joint was stuck with his toe pointing downwards. There are slits in the sides of the plastic skirts, but they don’t really help. Even if Hasbro were to release his steed, Nightmare, I doubt there’s anyway this figure could sit on a horse. The arms are a lot better with full articulation in the shoulders, elbows, and wrists, and thankfully slits in the shoulder covers don’t inhibit them. You also get a ball joint under the chest. Like Dungeon Master, I don’t know that the limitations for the lower body could have been helped without the use of a cloth skirt.

Venger does come with an extra pair of hands with built in magical blast effects. These are pretty decent, and I was surprised how easy it was to swap the hands without fear of damaging the fragile joints. His regular hands include one graspy hand and one fist, which work fine for menacing poses.

This set also comes with a cardboard backdrop of the amusement park with the D&D ride, which is a nice touch, but one of the folds on mine was nearly torn right out of the package. I do actually like these figures, despite all the nitpicks, but I will say I was disappointed that Venger just isn’t very much fun to pose or play with. As an adult collector, that doesn’t bother me too much, as these are meant to stand on a shelf and look cool and maybe be fiddled with every now and then. Truth be told, I think these all look great on display, and while I’ve certainly tempered my expectations for these figures, it’s kind of a miracle that we’re getting them at all. I’m still excited to get Presto, Eric, and Sheila, but I doubt the line is going to extend much past that next wave, and I’m OK with that.