Dragon*Con starts this Thursday (or Wednesday according to some), so let’s kick off the week with a review of a dragon! Er, a dragon dude. Dude dragon. Whatever.
It’s been a while since I’ve said this, but I had no intention of buying Draego-Man.
Don’t get me wrong – he looked like an awesome figure. I just didn’t feel like he quite fit the Masters of the Universe Classics aesthetic, despite having quite a few farmed parts. I also wasn’t too crazy about an all-new character with no established place in the mythology.
But then a couple of weeks before Draego-Man went up on Mattycollector.com, I saw on a message board that TheFwoosh.com had posted their review of the figure and it was all positive. Apparently the pictures of the final product were very good and the review was nothing short of glowing. My curiosity was piqued enough to go and check out the review, something I do not normally do. I just thought that since I wasn’t planning on buying Draego anyway it really wouldn’t matter.
But after reading bits of the piece and seeing the pictures I decided I had to have this new addition to the MOTUC line.
First Glance: They packed an awful lot of figure into this blister card. Once I had him in hand I kind of appreciated that the shield and whip that were originally pictured with this guy just couldn’t happen.
Sculpt: Draego-Man features the standard MOTUC articulation with a ball-jointed neck, swivel/pivot shoulders and hips, and rocker ankles. He also has swivels at the biceps, tops of his thighs, wrists, waist, and boot (leg armor) tops. There are pivots at the abdomen, elbows, and knees.
In addition to all of that there is the new chest armor with the connections on the back for his wings and tail. The wings are on swivel/pivots that plug into the back. The tail plugs into the bottom of the back of the armor, creating a swivel point. He has new forearms, calves, and hands and they all look great. There is also a new neckpiece.
Draego-Man’s head is a work of art. Except, of course, for the horns. The horns are garbage. They are made of the softest plastic I have seen yet on a MOTUC figure and came out of the package warped and deformed. Now, to be perfectly honest, they don’t look terrible and they don’t bother me that much and I even like the glossy black of the material. But I do think it’s unacceptable. Also, there is a fairly significant gap between the head and the neck depending on how you move the head, but I can’t think of a better way that could have been done.
Okay, now that the negatives are out of the way, the rest of the head is amazing. The Horsemen didn’t do anything stupid and dated like give Draego-Man earrings or a nose ring. The face is noble and sinister and the detailing of the scales is fantastic. I’m also impressed with the size of the head versus the rest of the body. It is a large, imposing noggin without looking too outlandish on top of the standard size MOTUC buck.
The chest plate looks fantastic. It really evokes a fantasy element that is slightly different than other MOTUC figures, but still fits in with the general aesthetic. It’s a bit more regal, but devoid of technology. I love the scaled effect at the top and the way the collar interacts with the torso.
The hands are scaled and have claws. The forearms are great new armor sculpts and I love the semi-scaled look at the tops that match the chest piece. The calves are very similar to the ones some other figures have – with the fasteners and overall shape – but unique.
While the new parts are all very nice, what’s amazing is the number of shared parts and how well they work. Draego-Man has King Hssss’ arms and legs, Hordak’s feet, Whiplash’s tail, and King Greyskull’s loin cloth. They look great and combine well with one another, even without considering Draego’s excellent paint job.
Despite all of the extra stuff sticking out of him and the bulk of his chestplate Draego-Man poses fairly well. Obviously he can’t put his arms all the way down, but I doubt very much you’re going to want a figure this dynamic just standing on your shelf like he’s in line at the Eternia DMV. The fact that the tail is attached above the waist means it moves with the abdomen and doesn’t interfere with leg movement.
The wings look very cool. The outsides are scaled and the insides have a sort of veiny thing going on. They look good spread or folded back behind the figure. The connection points fit snugly into the holes on the back of the chest piece. I’m very happy with the material used to make the wings. It is very slightly soft, but firm enough that they won’t lose shape.
Design: Speaking of Draego’s excellent paint job, the red looks fantastic. It has a shiny, metallic hue that reminds me very much of your standard model Dungeons & Dragons dragon.
The claws on the hands and feet are detailed, the purples and blues of the armor contrast the red nicely, and the head has several hues and shades.
Draego-Man just looks really awesome, paint-wise. There isn’t much more to say. Mine has no errors or blotches at all.
Accessories: Draego-Man comes with a fire sword. I was going to call it a flaming sword, but that would imply it was a sword that was on fire. I do believe this is a sword made of fire. It looks awesome. The blade is a translucent plastic that looks really cool with some light behind it. People with more time than me have made some really cool pictures utilizing this feature.
Normally I would be disappointed with a MOTUC figure only having one accessory, but there is so much more to Draego-Man that I am okay with this one. Besides, we’re getting the shield and flame whip that were meant to come with him in a future Weapons Pack.
Packaging: Standard MOTUC packaging. I still really like the design and find it to be one of the only packaging styles that has not gotten stale. Something about the look of these toys in the package is just more exciting than other lines. Draego-Man fills this package up more than any other figure in the line. It makes me excited to one day see Ram-Man.
Overall: I mentioned Dungeons & Dragons above and that reminded me of the most obvious reason I should have wanted Draego-Man from the start – Dragonlance. The Draconians from that D&D-based series of books were at one time some of my favorite monsters ever. But I didn’t even think about them when I first saw Draego-Man. Just goes to show what a bad lapsed nerd I can be.
I absolutely love this figure and am very glad I got him, but those horns should be better.
4 out of 5
Buy a Draego-Man. Even if you don’t collect Masters of the Universe Classics, he is a must-have figure that every collector should own.
-Phantom
