Dragon Battlin' Shrek

My childhood was full of swords. Okay, so most of them were just sticks I found on the ground, but some were works of art and possibly deadly. Occasionally, I imagined myself fighting dragons or running through insurance salesmen, which is

why I’m so pleased with Dragon Battlin’ Shrek.

The face has had the most due care and attention paid to it. His face is sculpted into a weird half smile, his left eyebrow inclined, and some teeth showing. The paint is applied expertly, recreating exactly how he looks after fighting the dragon in the movie. (It’s

scorched.) The rest of the sculpt is good, but kind of limits what you can have Shrek doing. His right arm is bent at the elbow and that’s what you’re stuck with. Articulation is located at the thighs, shoulders, wrists (limited by his gauntlets), and neck. Shrek’s ears are also articulated in that they can be repositioned slightly and actually plunged into his head. This feature allows the helmet to fit on his head. The helmet doesn’t "snap" into place but the grooves and inside the helmet help a little in keeping it secured, but it’s still loose on his head. The helmet can have its lower and upper "jaw" moved. Be careful though because it’s very easy to pop them off and lose them. The sword Shrek is packaged with is slightly taller than him and looks really good when fitted into his right hand. (You can’t put it in his left.) The two technical flaws that I found was that the fingernails on his right hand weren’t painted off-white but glossed over with green. And the leg stance makes it a little tricky to stand. He’s not totally stable either and falls over easily.

Playability is on the high side since he comes with a sword. Any figure that comes with a honkin’ sword is going to be, and should be, played with. The sword stays in Shrek’s hand firmly – it actually takes some effort to put it in and take it out of his hand. A problem with the sword is that it can be bent or otherwise misshapen quite easily. Regardless, of this fact and the threat of losing the helmet, Dragon Battlin’ Shrek is a toy to play with. Just imagine the kind of scenarios you can enact with Dark Ages Spawn or Edward Scissorhands (that easily pulls apart in the middle). Or make shish kabobs with his sword. During our rigorous play testing here at the Armchair Empire, one of his shoulder pads was nearly ripped off. They are stuck into his vest and if enough force is applied they can be ripped out. At the very least the vest (which is made of that plastic/rubber stuff McFarlane likes so much) will tear. I’d still recommend playing with Shrek.

- Omni