-The Back of the Packaging
For McFarlane's Conan the Barbarian toyline, they have made one thing clear: Arnold Schwarzenegger Need Not Apply. This series is base don the original novels, not on the famous movies. Okay? With that in mind, Conan is actually a relatively Nordic hero, as opposed to the typical swords-and-sorcery idea. With characters named belit, Svaduin, and Skifell, it's safe to say that "Gorgash the Smasher" is not a typical Conan name. The fire dragon, though, is not quite Norse. It actually has a middle-eastern influence, particularly Hebrew. Did you know that the "Dragon" used as a symbol of Satan in the book of Revelation is technically a giant serpent? Hence, snake in eden = snake at the end. well, there's your theology lesson for the day. Enjoy it. On to the review:
Sculpt: The Fire Dragon has an excellent sculpt. As I previously stated, it is a serpentine creature as opposed to our typical european image of what a dragon should be. No Godzillas here - this creature has two arms and no legs. With that said, it's mainly coiled on the floor, but is rising up to attack somebody... or maybe just to defend its home. Its base links up with that of another figure, and it looks like Belit (the scantily-clad chick) is the one initiating the attack. Set is a snake god, so the dragon is technically a serpent. It's god a cobra hoos around its face... although the hood is spiny and ribbed as opposed to being just plain smooth. The dragon has two orns circling its face, both of which look like horn, and a heavily-detailed, snarling set of jaws. Oh, and it's got two teeny-tiny arms, too. I like the creature - it's not easy to sculpt something that looks like this, namely a fluid, graceful snakelike monster. And frankly, it's awesome.
Paint Job: The Fire Dragon's paint job is technically simple, but it's also very effective. the different shades of red on its body are well-done, and the grey on its underside is good. I like the creature's face, which is painted juuust right to bring out its details. Cool.
Articulation: The Dragon has a total of three points of articulation, all of which are in the body. I do not know why its arms don't move - and to pose it properly, you won't be moving it much, anyway. This is sad, really. A little more movement wouldn't have harmed anything.
Accessories: For some unknown reason, the cool monsters never get the good accessories. The Fire Dragon comes only with his base - the floor of a cave, complete with a couple of hatching dragon eggs and a few bones here and there. the base is small, being just big enough to fit the monster on. While it's cool, it's a pity that they didn't do more. The base also fits together with Belit's, producing a battle scene.
Pricing: The figure is $12.99-$13.99. Typical McFarlane standard.
GOtGM (1-10): 5. The figure's actually pretty cool, and can be passed off as a fantasy statue.
Overall: 4.4 out of 5. You're buying an inexpensive dragon statue, not a toy. if you like dragons, then go for it. if you don't, then ignore this figure.
On another note, this figure actually looks pretty cool when posed with Vlad the Impaler...
Images:
http://www.spawn.com...px?product=2246
Edited by Ridureyu, 04 September 2004 - 05:00 PM.
