It's a new week on MotU May, and this week it's Bionic week. Well, to continue from Creature Feature last week, coupled with this week's theme, today I'm opening Dragon Walker.
I don't really remember Dragon Walker, so I have no idea when it was released. It's in a red box with a window, which suggests it was near the end of the first season, before it became the green box, so that puts it in the middle of the millennium line. The box is jam-packed and as a result looks crowded. I like the window on the front and the posing of the toy inside, but it means that everything on the front is squeezed to one side including a huge block of text. The back is better displayed, but still looks messy with the huge amount of text. The one interesting thing about the back of the box is the background, which is different from the usual red box background.
The tray is nicely painted, and the walking uphill pose of the Dragon walker is perhaps the only way to fit the entire toy into the box. Out of the box, there are 6 pieces - He-man and his sword and the Dragon and 3 other bits.
The dragon itself is a bad caricature of a dragon - it's cartoonish looking overall, and very angular. It's almost as if it's a toy from Cartoon Network's Dexter or Samurai Jack, instead of being from He-man. There's some bionic parts grafted on, including the hands and the tail, and there's some articulation there. The legs are motorised and he walks rather comically. He's also very top heavy, which is why the feet have that weird lilypad shape.
The He-Man included with this figure is just a repaint, including the repaint sword. Which means he stillhas french fries for hair and is anorexic looking. I guess that's what happens when you stick fried potatoes on top of your head instead of stuffing them into your mouth. What is nice about the repaint (and it did remind me of Lemonjuice) are the tattoos on the right side of hsi body. It's nice and weird at the same time though - I mean, what is the message that this He-man is giving out to kids? That body mutilation for decorative purposes is OK? Maybe.
Have I mentioned how much I like the trays as backdrops? It'd be even better if there weren't any holes in the tray. Oh well.
The dragon has a seat belt such that the figure (He-Man in this case) rides smugly on the dragon. It's rather secure and won't fall off while the Dragon is walking thanks to his mechanised feature.
Well, if the Bashin' Beetle was an update of the Bashasaurus, then this Dragon Walker is an update of the vintage Dragon Walker. Both are mechanised via batteries, and both are based off dragons. however, the vintage Dragon walker actually looked like a dragon and fit in very well with Castle Grayskull and the rest of the line. This Dragon Walker is a comically looking monstrosity, with a weird blue and brown colour scheme. The vintage Dragon Walker had a very interesting "walking" feature. This Dragon Walker has the chicken dance walking feature, which is boring and is easily replicated from cheap toys made in China. What I'm saying is that compared with the vintage Dragon Walker, this Dragon Walker fails ... big time.
What if we compare him to another dragon in the line, this time, the Battle Raptor. Erm... the Battle Raptor actually does look like a real life raptor and does fit in with the rest of the millennium line. This Dragon Walker, well, doesn't look like a dragon, is coloured weirdly and doesn't fit in with this line. 'Nuff said.
I understand that Mattel is in the business of making toys targetted at kids, but the Dragon Walker is one of the few examples of how badly they did their jobs. Generally the vehicles and beasts of the millennium line was great. This is one exception. This Dragon Walker is not as innovative as the vintage version, doesn't look as great as the other beasts in the same line, and has a lame action feature which drives up its price. OK, I'll get off my soapbox now.
I don't really remember Dragon Walker, so I have no idea when it was released. It's in a red box with a window, which suggests it was near the end of the first season, before it became the green box, so that puts it in the middle of the millennium line. The box is jam-packed and as a result looks crowded. I like the window on the front and the posing of the toy inside, but it means that everything on the front is squeezed to one side including a huge block of text. The back is better displayed, but still looks messy with the huge amount of text. The one interesting thing about the back of the box is the background, which is different from the usual red box background.
The tray is nicely painted, and the walking uphill pose of the Dragon walker is perhaps the only way to fit the entire toy into the box. Out of the box, there are 6 pieces - He-man and his sword and the Dragon and 3 other bits.
The dragon itself is a bad caricature of a dragon - it's cartoonish looking overall, and very angular. It's almost as if it's a toy from Cartoon Network's Dexter or Samurai Jack, instead of being from He-man. There's some bionic parts grafted on, including the hands and the tail, and there's some articulation there. The legs are motorised and he walks rather comically. He's also very top heavy, which is why the feet have that weird lilypad shape.
The He-Man included with this figure is just a repaint, including the repaint sword. Which means he stillhas french fries for hair and is anorexic looking. I guess that's what happens when you stick fried potatoes on top of your head instead of stuffing them into your mouth. What is nice about the repaint (and it did remind me of Lemonjuice) are the tattoos on the right side of hsi body. It's nice and weird at the same time though - I mean, what is the message that this He-man is giving out to kids? That body mutilation for decorative purposes is OK? Maybe.
Have I mentioned how much I like the trays as backdrops? It'd be even better if there weren't any holes in the tray. Oh well.
The dragon has a seat belt such that the figure (He-Man in this case) rides smugly on the dragon. It's rather secure and won't fall off while the Dragon is walking thanks to his mechanised feature.
Well, if the Bashin' Beetle was an update of the Bashasaurus, then this Dragon Walker is an update of the vintage Dragon Walker. Both are mechanised via batteries, and both are based off dragons. however, the vintage Dragon walker actually looked like a dragon and fit in very well with Castle Grayskull and the rest of the line. This Dragon Walker is a comically looking monstrosity, with a weird blue and brown colour scheme. The vintage Dragon Walker had a very interesting "walking" feature. This Dragon Walker has the chicken dance walking feature, which is boring and is easily replicated from cheap toys made in China. What I'm saying is that compared with the vintage Dragon Walker, this Dragon Walker fails ... big time.
What if we compare him to another dragon in the line, this time, the Battle Raptor. Erm... the Battle Raptor actually does look like a real life raptor and does fit in with the rest of the millennium line. This Dragon Walker, well, doesn't look like a dragon, is coloured weirdly and doesn't fit in with this line. 'Nuff said.
I understand that Mattel is in the business of making toys targetted at kids, but the Dragon Walker is one of the few examples of how badly they did their jobs. Generally the vehicles and beasts of the millennium line was great. This is one exception. This Dragon Walker is not as innovative as the vintage version, doesn't look as great as the other beasts in the same line, and has a lame action feature which drives up its price. OK, I'll get off my soapbox now.
pH6 has just informed me that there is a variant without any tattoos. That would be a boring variant.
ReplyDeleteWow, that's terrible. I agree that the tattoos are probably the only interesting part of this, and those feet are horrible. It is nice that He-Man can ride smugly into battle, though. Hehe. Typos are fun. =)
ReplyDeleteSeriously, though, did they farm out the sculpting of this one or something??
LOL @ typo. I'll leave it in.
ReplyDeleteWow! That Dragon Walker looks like it's from an old episode of the Flintstones or something.
ReplyDeleteHowever, that He-Man (and his repainted sword) are quite bad-ass. I demand you send them to me post haste!lol
Yes, LJ, I know you like his almost naked bad-ass :) I think I'll hang on to him for a while longer though, I need to do comparison shots with future He-mans, and I would also like to do a "all the He-Man" picture one of these days.
ReplyDeleteI just recently go tmy hands on a loose DW He-Man. I gotta agree with LJ about his badass-ness. Also, I realize that his sowrd matches the color scheme of my DCUC vs MOTU He-man! Hooray for online sellers from China who (seemingly) lurk around factories and sift through their trash for treasure! :P
ReplyDelete