I
feel like such a fraud. I always claim that the 2002 Masters
of the Universe
cartoon is my favorite iteration of the franchise – and it is –
but then Mattel puts out a character like Lord Dactus or… uh…
Chef
Lion Face…
that I do not remember from the series at all.
Luckily
for me, my baseline for liking MOTUC figures isn’t “do I know
this character?”, it’s “does this figure look awesome?” This
means that I waited for Chief Carnivus to go on sale and only bought
him because I was buying something else and decided “why not?”,
but was happily expecting Lord Dactus.
First
Glance:
Dactus appears to be even larger than Draego-Man. He really
fills up the packaging. And I dig the color palette.
Articulation:
Lord Dactus has the same articulation as any other MOTUC figure, but
his legs are so interesting I could’ve sworn they were different.
Head
– ball joint
Shoulders
– ball joints
Biceps
- swivels
Elbows
–pivots
Wrists
– swivels
Torso
- pivot
Waist
– swivel
Hips
– ball joints
Thighs
– swivels
Knees
–pivots
Boot
Tops - swivels
Ankles
– pivots
Dactus’
head has all kinds of business hanging off of it that would lead you
to believe that it isn’t going to move very much. It’s deceptive,
because there’s actually a pretty good range of movement.
It’s
amazing the difference a weird sculpt can make. The giant, taloned
feet on this figure make it seem like there are extra points of
articulation somewhere, or at the least different ones from the
standard figure. But those are just regular old MOTUC legs. Nothing
special. The only difference is the size of the feet and the angle at
which they are joined to the calves.
All
of the joints on my figure move freely and are solid. Dactus can hold
a pose.
Sculpt:
Lord Dactus has new hands, feet, and a new head. Every other part of
the main body comes from other figures.
The
head is a massive, pointy thing that is unlike anything else we’ve
seen in MOTUC. It has a great, angular look that is clearly from the
2002 cartoon. The ears are huge and the ridges, notches, and folds in
the sculpt are great. Obviously this is a very distinctive face –
almost to the point that it doesn’t fit in with the rest of the
line. If you just go straight from Beast Man to Dactus it doesn’t
work. But if you sort of ease into Dactus via Grizzlor, Leech,
Mantenna, and maybe Draego-Man (assuming you’ve accepted him); then
he works.
I
like Dactus’ headgear. It’s kind of like a combination between a
pilot’s hat and a samurai helmet.
The
rest of Dactus’ sculpt helps him blend in as well. The base from
the knees to the wrists is just a regular MOTUC body. It works
perfectly well and the different parts are enough to distinguish the
figure.
The
hands are massive and clawed – the kind where you wonder how Dactus
actually does anything. Going after an inconvenient booger would
result in an instant lobotomy. But the hands look cool and the extra
portion of wrist bracer sculpted on gives the whole arm a different
look, despite the fact those are just Skeletor’s forearms.
The
new feet are giant and monstrous and use the same trick as the hands.
The calves are just Skeletor’s, but the different angle of the
hinge and the extension of the grieves gives an entirely different
look. Another advantage of the big ol’ feet is that Dactus has
great balance – something important in a winged figure.
Coloring:
Lord Dactus’ color scheme is simple and appealing, and also
different from any of the other MOTUC figures.
The
head has the most detail. The eyes and teeth are applied well and I
particularly like the darker burgundy shape on the front of the
helmet. The facial markings are very bright and thick – a tough
trick with such a light color.
The
rest of the body is pretty simple – light blue and burgundy. All of
the colors are applied well. There’s no blotching or bleeding into
the wrong areas. The most important thing is that all of the colors
match very well across several different materials. Mattel seems to
have gotten this down pat.
Flair:
Lord Dactus has a ton of what I categorize as “flair” – parts
that are separate from the basic body of the figure that may or may
not be removable (and that I don’t want to bother with removing
because I don’t feel that the figure was intended to be displayed
that way). He has a new piece of chest armor and a new skirt/tail. He
shares wings with Draego-Man
and Granamyr.
In
a perfect world these wings would be different – longer and without
the scales, more bat-like. But we all know how MOTUC works and I have
to say that these do look fine. They plug into the back of the chest
armor, which is a new piece. The holes provide a tight fit and you
don’t have to worry about the wings just popping out while you’re
posing them.
The
chest armor is made of rubber. I love the design of this thing and
the attached shoulder pieces look great and add a lot to Dactus’
profile. They flex fairly well and don’t interfere too much with
arm movement. Also, the sides don’t seem to prevent the arms from
hanging naturally as much as some of the other MOTUC figures’ armor
does.
The
skirt and tail look great. They are made from the same material as
the chest armor and hang well without interfering with posing. The
paint job is good and I like the fact that there is a shape on the
top of the skirt to match the one on Dactus’ helmet.
Accessories:
Lord Dactus comes with a totally kickass new sword that was made in
China, but less obviously than some of the other MOTUC weapons. The
despised “China” stamp was placed on the crosspiece in a darker
part of the weapon, so it isn’t as apparent. It’s still there and
I still hate it, but at least Matty tried this time.
The
sword itself is awesome. It’s a firm plastic that managed to not
warp in the package. The crosspiece is bat-like and the blade has a
unique shape that stands out from other MOTUC swords without being
too weird. The paint job is one of the best I’ve seen on a weapon
in this line, with five (FIVE!) different colors, all precisely
applied.
Sometimes
I’ll bitch about a figure only having one accessory, but not when
it’s all that was needed.
Packaging:
The standard MOTUC blister card. I love the blister and this is
probably my favorite modern toy packaging. I think the best thing
about it is that Mattel has kept the design consistent through the
life of the series. That does not often happen. Granted, I open all
of my figures, but for the folks who leave them in the package it
must be nice to have one line that actually all matches.
If
you have scared somebody off, why do you need to attack them? And
I’ve never mentioned this before, but all of the little trademark
bullshit in the bios drives me nuts. Couldn’t Matty just put a
little disclaimer underneath with a list of the registered names?
Value:
One of the rare MOTUC figures that I feel okay about paying
thirty-four bucks for. I’m not saying Dactus is actually worth
that, but compared to most of the other figures in the line he seems
like a better deal.
Overall:
Lord Dactus is one of those figures that I might recommend to any toy
collector. He’s fun, he looks great, and he doesn’t scream,
“He-Man figure”. He could fit nicely into any collection. I can’t
imagine how Mattel could have done him much better.
5
out of 5
Check
out eBay or BigBad if you need one. It might be pricey, but this is a
solid figure.
-Phantom
No comments:
Post a Comment