McFarlane's Dragons (Series 6) - Action Figure Reviews

Support AE! Buy Collectibles Here:

Series

McFarlane's Dragons, 6

Craftsmanship

8.0 / 10

- Awesome detail, but extremely poor articulation

- Fit right in with the other Dragon figures

- Has a few real new takes on Dragons

Playability

7.0 / 10

- Some very sharp bits

- A non-articulated dragon is a bit of a drag

Newsletter

Be notified of site updates. Sign-up for the Newsletter sent out twice weekly.

Enter E-Mail Address Below:

McFarlane's Dragons

(Series 6) by McFarlane Toys

After mostly lambasting the previous series of McFarlane’s Dragons, I’m glad that Series 6 has come out swinging with some new tricks, or at least new Dragon Clans. Though there are many comparisons that can be made between past figures and this current crop the Clans are new, particularly the Hunter and Scavenger. That said, they can’t help but feel “samey”.

The detail of the figures hasn’t dipped in the slightest so let’s take a look at each of the dragons in turn.

Hunter Dragon Clan (left); Ice Dragon Clan (right)

Hunter Dragon Clan

I like this one for the simple fact that it reminds me of the first Half-Life’s tiger enemies, the one that kind of looked like a bipedal squid.

From a design perspective, Hunter isn’t quite right. The massive spike jutting from its “wings” don’t evoke the feeling of a swift and powerful hunter. And neither

Advertisement

does the column of spikes down his back. It anything, both of those would mean wind resistance, not to mention a problem when it comes to concealment. However, as this is a pure fantasy creature, I’ll let it slide.

The details and sculpting lines are pleasing to the eye, as is the tiger paintjob. It’s too bad then that it suffers the same

Advertisement

limitation of most of the McFarlane’s Dragon line-up, and that’s negligible articulation. Hunter could have made a sweet, playable dragon.

Ice Dragon Clan

Ice Dragon makes me think of an albino Bantha with some bony blue spikes as highlights. Actually, it looks like a cow in many respects, though I’m sure with feet like this McFarlane was aiming for the polar bear look.

I really like the fact this figure is mostly white and blue. It makes the figure stand out so much more than the usual drab McFarlane color palette. Actually, dropping this figure in front of the other dragons makes Ice Dragon quite distinct.

Scavenger Dragon Clan

This figure certainly looks like a vulture – a true scavenger.

Scavenger is probably the most impressive figure of the bunch simply due to his size. It stands quite tall on the base and the wingspan is impressive. He stands easily, too. Sometimes McFarlane gets the base wrong for its “tall” figures – swivel them to a different position and suddenly the figure is top heavy – but this one doesn’t have that problem.

I like the red on navy blue color scheme of the wings, face and neck.

Scavenger Dragon Clan (left); Warrior Dragon Clan (right)

Warrior Dragon Clan

This one is the most un-dragon of the lot and, again, from a design perspective there’s something not quite right about Warrior. The main problem is that he’s a warrior and doesn’t have a sword. I realize he must be a terrific melee fighter, but wouldn’t a sword look cool?

The figure comes “pre-installed” on the base so setup time is really minimized. Something else I like is that metal chains are used as the reins that the diminutive human rider holds. (At first I thought the rider was just a “plug” for the chains to attach to.)

The blue and white highlights should have been the main colors, rather than the dull brown-tinged color we get. (I love to see McFarlane bust out some neon repaints.)

As a whole package, McFarlane does something I always compliment: uses the cardback for something other than advertising upcoming projects from McFarlane Toys. I multi-part story unfolds with each figure. It’s a little over-the-top and hard to read – I’m an English major so maybe I’m just particularly sensitive to anything that tries to be “serious literature” but fails – but I’d like to see more of this kind of thing. Even if it was just background information on characters or possibly a look at the creation of the action figure. Put that space to use on something unique!

With another two series planned for 2008, the Dragon’s line shows no sign of slowing down. People that enjoy collecting fantasy figures – you’re not playing with these plastic statues – will like it, but for the wider audience I really think McFarlane Toys needs to mix things up. The figures are extremely well-crafted and the attention to detail is awesome but McFarlane needs to make them a bit edgier or radically different, which does not necessarily mean dressing them in intestines and splattering them with blood. Make ‘em super poseable or make it look like Vegas just exploded all over them – only with some mixing will the series be kept somewhat fresh.

- Omni

(December 11, 2007)


PC \| Gamecube \| DS \| Wii \| PlayStation 2 \| PlayStation 3 \| PSP \| Xbox \| Xbox 360
News \| Reviews \| Previews \| Features \| Classics \| Goodies \| Anime \| Forums