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Colonel Dan Dare of Space Fleet
Day2Day Trading
"The
following is a guest review. The review
and photos do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Michael Crawford
or Michael's Review of the Week, and are the opinion and work of the
guest author."
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If you thought us Yanks were
the only ones with silly 1950's sci-fi characters, Jeff Parker is here
tonight to set you straight with a look at the sixth scale figure based
on one of his favorite British characters of the era - Dan Dare!
Tell us all about him, Jeff...
OK, before we go too far I have to admit to a degree of bias here, I’m
a big fan of this particular character, and I have to admit I never
thought I’d see him get the hi-end treatment he so richly deserves.
However, for those of you not familiar with Colonel Daniel McGregor
Dare of Space-Fleet, he was a very British character created by Frank
Hampson, kind of a cross between Buck Rogers and Biggles and his
adventures are far too numerous to list here. He’s best remembered for
battling the dreaded Mekon and his hordes of Treens (not to mention
armies of Electrobots) and he always did so with frightfully British
reserve, a devilishly turned eyebrow and the stiffest of upper-lips. He
also had a trusty sidekick in the form of Digby.
You have to remember that though set in the 1990’s it was written with
1950’s sensibilities, so Dan’s roguish upper class daring dos were off
set against Digby’s bumbling working class shenanigans for a little
comic relief, it played out like the relationship of a WW1 officer and
his batman. However the deft eye will spot how affectionately the part
of Digby was always written, and he’s often the guy whose astute
observations save the day, in fact Hampson said when writing and
drawing the characters that Dan was the man he strove to be while Digby
was the man he was… I just hope D2D make him as well, as Dan on his own
is like the caped crusader without his boy wonder. It was also worthy
of note that Digby was from Wigan in Lancashire, so the character often
used colloquial sayings written phonetically in his regional northern
accent, which was pretty unusual for the time, but helped reinforce the
difference in background between our two main protagonists.
Although it was a sci-fi fantasy its science was always grounded in
‘some kind’ of plausibility, and the infamous Arthur C Clark was
employed as a science and plot advisor for the early adventures. But
it’s always worth remembering that the known science of the 1950’s
differs vastly from the known science of today. Back then our solar
system still held many more mysteries than it does now, and theories of
ancient civilisations on Mars and the possibilities of lush jungles
hiding beneath the atmosphere of Venus were still considered to
actually be possibilities, all be it very remote possibilities. In fact
even Sir Patrick Moore CBE a leading British astronomer spoke about
such fanciful possibilities back then.
But enough with the back ground, I could ramble on about the intrepid
Colonel for pages, but right now we are here to talk about this figure.
As far as I know this is the first and only 1/6th figure of Dare to
have ever been made commercially. Just last year I remember reading
that Underground Toys planned a 1/6th figure of Dan,
and my hopes were raised, but then I read it was put on hold as
production was going to be too expensive!
But the phoenix has risen from the ashes, and here we now have one of
the most important figures from British science fiction, finally given
the love and respect he deserves!
These days there seem to be a lot more new kids on the block in the
world of 1/6th collectibles, and Day2Day (D2D) trading are one of them,
while browsing their website for my research on Dan, I found this statement:
‘D2D is a collective of international designers, engineers, and toy
enthusiasts. With our own manufacturing facilities in China, we strive
to produce the highest quality collectibles for connoisseurs and kids!’
And it would seem that the cool retro actioneers Go Hero also has some
affiliation, as I found Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers etc available on the
site too, it almost seems like some kind of ultra-hip toy developers
co-operative. So I asked Tony Jeff at Day 2 Day what the set up was. He
told me- “I am the financier and manufacturer for Buck Rogers, Flash
Gordon, Pereus etc, my company D2D undertook the physical manufacturing
and development of these figures from early concepts supplied by Go
Hero. Dan Dare however was something that I chose to work on alone, as
it’s based on a character and story I grew up with myself that was more
personal to me coming from London U.K.”
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Packaging
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***
New companies face so many hurdles getting their product in to our
hands and I always admire the resolve of anyone taking the task on. One
such hurdle is making the packaging; it needs to be attractive, robust
enough to protect the contents and cost effective enough to not drive
the unit price up disproportionately. Obviously the costs of producing
a run of say 5, 10 or even 15 thousand units drives that price down
even further, but D2D are only making Dan in a strict limited edition
run of 1000. So they’ve gone for a design that shows plenty of the
retro the old school graphics, all in full colour, with a pic of Dan on
the front and a comic strip on the back. The funny thing is, and only
the eagle eyed (pun intended) and those knowledgeable of Dan Dare in
general will notice, but the strip used isn’t actually one of the
original ones from the Eagle comic. It’s actually a new story called
‘The Pheonix Mission’ produced by Rod Barzilay, Keith Watson &
Don Harley (Rod being the writer and the later being artists that
worked on the original strips as part of Hampson’s team) for the
magazine Spaceship Away, a magazine keeping the world of Dare alive for
the fans that still exist all over the world. This outer slip case
lifts off to show an inner red box, it has no graphics but does have a
large window through which you can view the fully constructed figure
held safely in a Styrofoam shaped tray. So not the finest box you will
see this year in terms of ground breaking graphic design, but it’s
certainly attractive enough, and it’s constructed of super stiff and
sturdy cardboard, so I have no doubt yours should arrive in A1 perfecto
condition.
Sculpting
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***1/2
Dan has a very, very distinctive face. No one, and I mean NO ONE else
looks quite like Dan Dare. He was designed by Frank Hampson to look
like the ultimate square jawed hero of his day. He was a dashing macho
he-man with a brilliant mind, schooled at Cambridge and Harvard, but he
was also an excellent martial artist (practising the art of Jiu Jitsu)
so he was always ready to muck in and puts things right, which he was
often called upon to do. His first line of action was always to solve a
problem with diplomacy, but when negotiations broke down, his ability
with his fists and his ace test pilot background gave him the ability
to succeed where others failed.
And the portrait here is Dan without a doubt! It shows his features set
in a determined, concentrating expression, the brow, with those oh so
distinctive eyebrows is in a slight frown, as I said above this is
based on the classic depiction of Dan from the old Eagle comics, so
don’t expect a hyper realistic head sculpt, instead it’s a stylised
sculpt that has the jutting chin and jaw that would make Bruce
Campbell blub like a baby, in fact if Bruce were 20 years
younger and was able to do a convincing British accent he’d have been a
good choice to play Dan in a live action movie. That said, since Virgin
media took out a license on DD a few years back it has been mooted that
he is due for a big
budget movie treatment and it is speculated already that Sam
Worthington is lined up to play the titular lead (I hope he can do the
accent too, I have nothing against Aussies, but Dan definitely isn’t
one!). Virgin have already given the franchise a kick start with a new
comic book series penned by Garth Ennis, which failed to set the world
on fire, in fact it had a pretty damp reception even after a reasonable
promotion campaign. I have to admit if Dan does ever make it to the
silver screen I pray it is made by people that respect and love what
Frank Hampson created and give him the future/retro look it deserves.
As far as I’m concerned all your pre-production concept work is done,
just look at the old stories (please don’t tinker too much and mess it
up!), anyway, sorry I’m rambling again!
So the face is a solid representation, and the hair is likewise carried
out beautifully in his swept back style. He also comes with two pairs
of hands, one set un-gloved and the other gloved. Both sets consist of
a pistol grip right hand and a relaxed left. The un-gloved set is a
nice addition, but I can’t imagine many people will be exhibiting him
in anything other than full space-suite mode. Just like with the comic
worn suits the gloves/gauntlets are an off white colour with stitching
details and with a little tweaking he holds his gun well.
I have to admit from a biased personal opinion I was tempted to give
this a full score, but in these days of ever improving sculpts where
companies like Hot Toys put out 1/6th portraits that are better than
the 1/1 wax works Madamme Tussauds create, well I guess that makes it
tough on the competition. However, not every company wants to create
100% life like portraits, some are actually aiming to give us artistic,
or even slightly stylised/abstract human sculpts, just look at 3A for
example! But even taking that into account I guess with my critics head
on this isn’t quite a full score figure, but for me it comes damn close!
Paint
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***
The paint apps here are all clean and competent, and certainly
represent DD well. The stand out area is his hair, which shows some
nice detail work on his dirty blonde locks, with highlights and
lowlights picked out to help give the sculpt even more definition. The
face is mostly crisp, with the eyebrows being worthy of particular note
as they have been picked out in black and follow the iconic shape
perfectly. The brown iris on the eyes is the weakest area, but only
when viewed super close up. As I said they are competently carried out
and thank the maker there is NO CURSED DOLL DOT on the pupil either,
which is worth an extra ½ star on it’s own. Apart from that there are
some subtle flesh tones picked out to give the face a healthy
complexion. The bare hands and gloves also have a few details painted
to help give definition, but that’s about it.
So, as I said, a nice clean job that works well for this old comic book
hero, the irony of course being mine will have his cool retro helmet on
24/7 so it’s all a moot point for me anyway!
Articulation
- ***3/4
This uses the ATOM base body developed by Day2Day for the Buck Rogers
figure; it’s subsequently been used on Perseus and Flash Gordon. This
is however the first time I’ve got my hands on one and I’m hugely
impressed. It has everything we’ve come to expect from hi-end 1/6th
figures in terms of double knees and elbows and is listed at having
over 30 points of articulation. I was especially happy with how good
and tight all the joints were, well apart from the neck where it joined
the shoulders as this was a little loose, but I just applied my patent
cure all of a small blob of Blu-Tack and all is good with the world
again. The mid torso joint was very tough to budge on mine to the point
I feared it was stuck fast, so I contacted Tony Jeff at D2D to see if
this was a recurring problem, but I was assured it was purposefully
designed this way so the figure wouldn’t slump when carrying heavy
equipment (as was the case with the Buck Rogers figure). So feeling
bold I tried again to move mine and sure enough it moved fine. In fact
it moved remarkably smoothly, it just takes a little pushing.
One joint I’m especially impressed with here is the shoulder, it’s an
easy to pop out oversized ball joint. It can be removed with such ease
that at first I feared it would come out when I didn’t want it to, but
I’m pleased to say it doesn’t. It is in fact it’s a very nice tight
joint that moves with a steady velvety motion. The engineering is also
wonderfully thought through, as this feature doesn’t impede on the
pose-ability at all. In fact I’d say this base body is almost up there
with the Hot Toys- True Type. Note I say ‘almost’.
The only joint I can see this figure needs, nay, is crying out for is a
cut joint in the mid thigh. Try sitting an ATOM body in a cross-legged
position and you’ll see what I mean.
However, apart from that I’d say this is one of the nicest 1/6th bodies
I’ve played around with for quite a while. It poses with ease and hangs
in some very natural poses. So it gets as close to perfection as you
can get without actually having the cigar shoved in it’s mouth, but
it’s a very nicely constructed bit of kit.
Outfit
– ***1/2
Depending what artist was working on Dan the space suit did undergo a
few revisions during its EVA career, this represents the most iconic
(to me anyway). It’s basically a bright red, asymmetrical zip up boiler
suit with a padded waist belt, two pockets and Space Fleet insignia on
the upper
arms (these are actually metal badges on the figure). The
fabric used here has a nice quality feel and the finish on the pockets
and seams is just about as good as it gets, even the zip is nicely
scaled compared to the zips I’ve seen on some figures from more
established companies. It also has some weight to it so it hangs pretty
naturally on the ATOM body that Dan is equipped with. The trouser
bottoms are elasticated and disappear into the top of his boots, which
also have black socks inside; the cuffs are treated likewise, fitting
behind his gauntlets. I did find the left hand gauntlet needed some
gentle warming with a hairdryer to get the wrist peg to fit inside the
glove, but the left hand glove popped on fine with no effort. The boots
are pretty clumpy, but they do have a nice thick tread and are meant to
be space worthy so clumpy sits pretty well. The leather upper part is
painted in a glossy brown, which is again applied cleanly and well, but
to bring them alive, a little weathering and differentiation to make
them feel more like leather could have made them really come alive. But
the details in the form and design are all well observed from the
original boots.
Lastly there is the coolest part of his wardrobe, his gold/brass
helmet. This could also be considered part of his accessories as he
isn’t wearing it in the box, but to be honest it’s tough to consider it
an accessory, as without it his outfit would be incomplete.
It’s ingeniously designed to come apart for ease of fitting on the
figure, you’ll see a seam running down the side, you simply pull the
front part off, its gently but firmly held in place with countersunk
clips hidden under the side connectors on his visor. You then just fit
the rear part over the back of the head and push the two clips at it’s
base into the collar, just replace the front section again, futz a
little to get everything laying straight and butting up properly and
then you have Dan space worthy.
To sum up, this is a very nice little facsimile of the most iconic
space suit used by Colonel Dare, the materials used are all good
quality and the standard of finish is top notch. If the paint on the
boots had been just a little more creative and they had been a slightly
snugger fit then this would have been a full score, but it’s not far
off and the quality of the helmet and basic red suit are most
impressive when compared to the comic worn outfit.
Accessories
- **1/2
I already said I didn’t consider the helmet an accessory, as it’s
intrinsically part of the spacesuit. So what we actually get are the
gloved hands and the gun. I already went over the gloves above so
there’s nothing more to really add there.
The gun is a direct copy of the classic Space Fleet issue paralyser
pistol. It’s a compact and simple design with a very retro
style. The handle and body are red with a steel barrel and steel
radiator fins on the body. It’s a nice little representation, but it’s
not much for a $150 figure, even with its limited numbers. I would have
loved to see the classic jet
pack included as well. It was an item often used by Dan and
Digby on there adventures and consisted of a single position-able jet
on a back pack attached over the shoulders on straps, there was also a
single arm that came round the front with the hand held controls
attached. There is no figure stand include, this is no big deal to me
as I never use them anyway, but they do seem popular with a lot of
folks, so it’s simple addition may have included some added value to
some.
Fun
Factor - ***1/2
For me this figure is just so unexpected and so very cool, but even
looking at him from a purely ‘play friendly’ angle, and trying to leave
my Dan Dare fan thoughts out of this you can see that any boy of a
certain age could have a lot of fun with this figure.
However if that ‘boy’ happens to be a ‘man’ with vivid memories of
reading the classic Eagle comics and desperately wanting an action
figure of his hero back in the day, well then this will be off the
scale in terms of fun for you… it is for me!
But I guess in all fairness a large majority of readers might be
indifferent to Dan Dare, some might not even have heard of him (if so,
hang your head in shame, and to think you call yourself a geek!). So in
the spirit of fairness I’m trying to take that into account, and as
such I’m robbing this figure of a half star, but it pains me to do so…
I hope you’re proud of yourself!
Overall
- *** 1/2
Left to my own devices this would be a full score figure. I never, and
I mean NEVER thought I’d see a classic Frank Hampson version of Colonel
Daniel McGreggor Dare made into a hi-end 1/6th figure, but thanks to
D2D here he is!
But with an asking price of $149.99 I think you’ll need to be a
dedicated fan of the character or a relentless pursuer of limited
edition 1/6th collectibles for this to be an essential part of your
collection. I guess I’m lucky enough (or unlucky enough depending on
your perspective) to be a member of both those camps.
However taking into consideration that D2D are a young company and they
are making this in a strictly controlled low edition size run, plus
they must have had a hefty license to pay, then the price, though not
cheap is certainly a lot more understandable.
So I’m giving Dan a score very close to full, I admit it’s partly
because I’m a fan, and it’s partly because D2D have kept the faith on a
character that so richly deserves a wider audience, but it’s mostly
because it’s a bloody good figure. It’s made me realise I’d like the
dress uniform version (sneak peaked on a small panel on the back of the
box), but it’s also made me realise that a companion figure of Digby in
his yellow space suit and steel helmet is now absolutely ESSENTIAL-
please make it so D2D, but he has to be chubby and quite a bit shorter as well
(obviously).
I’d also like to give a big thank you to Rod Barzilay at Spaceship Away
for sending me a couple of back issues of the amazing magazine he and
his team put together, and also for taking the time out to sit and chat
with me about all things Dan Dare related, it was a real eye opener to
see that so many people are keeping the character alive and well. He’s
in very good hands!
Where to Buy -
You can get this direct from Day2Days website here
for £99.99 ($149.99) I have also been assured he will soon be available
from Sideshow and Diamond Select. But I have to admit I have a feeling
there will be a good few more happy Limeys than Yanks on this one as
you can also pick him up at Forbidenplanet.com
and Termight
replicas
Happy hunting space cadets!
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This product was provided free for the review by the manufacturer.
Photos and text by Jeff Parker.
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