|
Of course, all this cool comes at a price. Dragon's new figures run the
usual $40 or so, depending on the retailer.
Packaging - ***1/2
The beauty of Dragon packaging is that they've got the collector friendly thing
down pat. You can take it all out, put it all back, and never cause any
damage.
Unfortunately, the boxes aren't quite as sturdy as others, like Sideshow,
but they aren't as flimsy as some. The text is quite good on both boxes,
giving a fairly decent (or at least as decent as a you can on a toy package)
recap of the history of each character and period.
Sculpting - ***
Dragon sculpts are generally well done for generic characters. They
aren't super detailed, but there's enough wrinkles and lines to give the figure
character and personality.
Both of these figures have the sculpted but removable hair, similar to what
we saw with the Timeline figures. Attilla only has a top knot pony tail,
which pops off and on to allow his hat to fit. The post for the hair
doesn't fit particularly well in the hole, and tends to fall off. Most
folks will be displaying him with the hat though.
The long, flowing locks on Olaf are also removable, and also have a tendency
to fall off. This really worked well with the Timeline figures, but I'm
less impressed here. Again, most people will end up just tossing the hair
and keeping the helmet on Olaf anyway.
The hand sculpts work okay with the weapons, but not terrific. The
smaller weapons like the bow flop around in the hands, and even though the hilts
of the swords are tough to fit into the stiff hands, once in they flop around
too much as well.
Paint - ***
The paint ops work nicely with the sculpts, even if they aren't
outstanding. The skin tone is fairly even and consistent, and the eyes and
facial hair is relatively clean. There's a little bleed and a few
definition problems on the edges of the beard or moustache, but it's not
terrible.
As most Dragon collectors have come to expect, both figures look a tad
stoned. Dilate the pupils a little more, and they'd be busted in a New
York minute.
Articulation - ****
The Dragon bodies are up there with my very favorites. They have tight
joints, and hold poses well, but are much more light weight than others.
I remember seeing the first Dragon bodies several years ago at Toy Fair, when
they were just in a little display case from an importer. They were the
first to have the double jointed elbows and knees, along with a ton of other
joints. While every other sixth scale collector has managed to catch up in
one way or another since, there's something to be said for the original.
Accessories - ***1/2
Both figures come with a great assortment of nice looking accessories.
Olaf has his sword and scabbard, which fit on the belt with a couple of
permanently attached loops. However, when I was sliding the belt through
the loops and positioning the sword, one came open and had to be re-glued.
Not a major problem, but a minor annoyance.
He also has his large Viking shield, similar to ones we've seen with other
Viking figures from Dog Soldiers or Ignite, but the belt/loop system on the back
used to hold the shield is pretty difficult to manage. The paint ops and
size are good though, so once you do get him holding it, you'll be very happy.
Finally, like all good red-headed Vikings, he has an axe. It's well
sculpted, and fits better in his hands than some of the other accessories.
Attilla comes well prepared for battle too. He has his own sword and scabbard
that attaches to his identical belt in an identical way. These guys must
have conquered the same belt manufacturer.
He also has a bow, with an elastic string, and a quiver with several arrows
that fits on his back and can be tied off at the bottom. Overall, the
accessories for both figures look good, but can't fit in the hands all that
well. There aren't quite as many as I had expected either, and they would
have gotten four stars with just one or two more items.
Outfit - ****
Both of these outfits are fantastic quality, and very complex. Even though
we've seen these type of characters before, Dragon still finds a way to impress.
Attilla comes with pants and shirt, his heavy coat, belt, nifty hat and a
great pair of boots. The boot sculpt is one of my favorites of my recent
12" purchases, and the slightly soft but not too soft plastic works
great. He stands extremely well on his own, in large part to the excellent
boot sculpt.
The best part of his outfit though is the heavy coat and hat. The coat
is extremely well tailored, fitting perfectly, although it's very thick.
The strings on the front are a little annoying if you have fat fingers, and I
didn't even attempt to tie his hat down. But overall, it's truly an
impressive, and historically accurate, costume.
Olaf has an even more complex outfit. He comes with his helmet, chain
mail cowl and tunic, belt, shirt, fur cape, tights and shoes. The shoe
sculpt isn't as cool as Attilla's boots, but seem pretty accurate
nonetheless. Olaf stands great on his own as well, and the shoes don't
cause any issues.
The chain mail tunic and separate cowl are made from rubber, and fit very
tightly. If you picked up any of the knights from Dragon's Timeline
figures, you'll know what this stuff is like, and I have to admit, I like it
better than any of the cloth material approximations.
As cool as the chain mail is, the best part of Olaf's outfit is his fur
cape. The faux fur lining looks amazing, and is perfectly in scale.
Usually this type of material is way too thick, bulky and out of scale for
12" figures, but Dragon found the perfect stuff.
You'll have to remove the hair on both figures to fit their hats, but that
should come as no surprise and works pretty well. I just tossed their hair
in a box anyway, and stuck with the hats for display.
Fun Factor - ***
If you know a kid who loves sixth scale figures, then consider picking these
up. There's a ton of fun possibilities, and you might even trigger some
interest in early history.
The only reason they aren't better in this category is the slightly fragile
belts, and the small strings used to tie things up. Even a kid 10 or 11
would get frustrated pretty quick by the strings on Attilla's jacket or hat, and
if I had to re-glue Olaf's belt, you can bet a kid will tear it up.
Value - ***
Suggested retail on these is around $40, and that's not cheap considering
there's no license costs. However, the outfits are truly amazing, and with
solid accessories and sculpting, you're getting a decent value. These
compare very well to the Ignite figures, which are more expensive but use all
die cast metal accessories.
Overall - ***1/2
I'm very impressed with Dragon's move into the realm of ancient
warriors. I'll be looking to pick up any additional figures they release
in this series, and I'm very happy that the 'old school warriors' shelf in my
toy room is filling up with such exceptional examples.
The price point holds these back slightly from four stars, since I'm getting
pretty much what I'm paying for. They had a few minor issues, but the
outfits are truly impressive, and in general these look fantastic next to their
Ignite, Sideshow and Dog Soldier counterparts.
|
