Series: The Legend of Zelda - Ocarina of Time

Craftsmanship: 7.5 out of 10

- Evil likeness

- Articulation and action feature

- Costume and detail is a mixed bag

Playability: 9.5 out of 10

- Flying toy!!

- Lots of opportunities as a bad guy

- Neat action feature

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Ganondorf (Ocarina of Time)

by Toy Biz

The final figure in the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time line is the evil Ganondorf, the evil thief and boss of the N64 hit. Like the rest of the line, he's in a slightly smaller scale to the standard action figure 6" scale, with moderate detail and accessories, but like the others he also comes with his own horse, in this case a big evil armored stallion, which sweetens the deal.

Ganondorf stands about 5" tall, with some likeness issues that make him seem a heck of a lot less evil than the murderous monster from the game. For a start, he wears the same goofy smile as the other figures in this line. I'm at a loss as to why

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Toybiz gave them all such goofy smiles, since it really doesn't work here - making his eyes more slanted would have given him an evil grin which would have suited him perfectly, but no. That'll have to be left to the customisers, who can give him a better look. Secondly, he has extremely large feet, which don't suit him at all, and make it tricky to look good on

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his broad stallion. I can't recall if this is correct to the video game, but it doesn't look right either way. Thirdly, the detail on Ganondorf, aside from looking decent, isn't up to scratch. Ganondorf wears his thief outfit rather than the scarier outfit that he wore later in the game, when he had his portion of the TriForce. I'd much prefer the latter, as it'd make him look better and also better with the horse, but it's by the by - though I'm sure customisers can have a ball with changing and improving the look of Ganondorf. Finally, in their infinite stupidity, Toybiz managed to spell the name of the figure wrong on the front of the package. "Ganondorf" becomes "Ganandorf." FOOLS!!! Fortunately, with these faults aside, the rest of the figure is much more appreciative.

Ganondorf's detail is authentic to the game and has good, if not a little splotchy, paint application - specifically on some of the best details, like the medal on his forehead and the short cape, which hangs from his back. Aside from the horse, Ganondorf only comes with one accessory - the enormous staff, which is over 7" long and sculpted nicely, but only painted black. This is irritating, as it has the potential to be very pretty and detailed, but once again no. Pah!! Ganondorf does look evil holding or posed with it - especially when riding the horse. Speaking of which, the evil stallion looks grand, with a great look to it - it looks as evil as you'd expect of Ganondorf's familiar. The colors, aside from differing to Ganondorf's own color scheme, work together with reds, blues and silvers to create a "possessed effect" which is admirable. I really like the evil eyes, too. Back to Ganondorf, articulation is nice, with neck, wrists, legs, upper-legs, knees and one arm articulated - the other arm and his waist are movable for the action feature, which involves twisting Ganondorf's midsection to make him swing his arm, also swinging the staff he carries. It works well and adds to Ganondorf's play value.

Speaking of play value, this is probably the best part about Ganondorf. As those who have finished the game will remember, Ganondorf ends up doing plenty of damage flying around his castle, which makes him an instantly cool flying toy, especially while swinging that staff to fire energy at his enemies. He's also got plenty of articulation to run around and attack on ground, and can be seated on his horse without too much difficulty (if you skip the stupid big feet), which, if we remember from the Forest Temple, can also fly - air born horse attack!! As for posing, Ganondorf looks best sitting on the horse holding the staff, floating in midair - he doesn't look too nice MOC due to the goofy smile on his face, but might have some value for MOC collectors, if not to complete the set.

As I've gone through before, these Zelda figures aren't by any means deluxe, nor are they 'must-have' figures. But as far as playability goes, they've all got plenty of play value, as well as potential for display for those many fans of Ocarina of Time. What makes me recommend this figures is really the value - the price is right, and these figures are very affordable, even at RRP, though you're most likely to find them discounted now.

I would have liked to have seen more done with the license. I have wet dreams of an enormous Ganon boxed set, the final monstrous boss from the game but they'll forever remain dreams unless another company picks up the license. For the price, I recommend these figures - keeping in mind that these are children's figures, you're getting more than what you pay for.

- Shocka
(October 2, 2002)