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brightknightie) wrote2024-01-11 07:12 am
brightknightie) wrote2024-01-11 07:12 am
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7" D&DC action figures ("Ultimates" from Super7)
A company called Super7 has acquired the rights to make action figures for my beloved Dungeons & Dragons cartoon, and has opened pre-orders (now through February 11) for its first batch ("wave") of four characters in its 7" "Ultimates" line. Apparently, this is a respected line? They look very good. Cloth costume elements, multiple heads (expressions) and hands (poses) each. Read about it on SuperHeroHype, CBR, or Wargamer.
This is a massive surprise to me. I'm not an action figure collector. When Hasbro produced 6" figures last year -- marking the show's 40th anniversary but mainly promoting the Honor Among Thieves movie -- I believed that it would be our one and only chance ever to get any such toys for this show. I was happy to shell out for all the figures they made (our six heroes + Dungeon Master and Venger; Uni came as an accessory with Bobby), and barely disappointed that they are extremely stiff-jointed.* Given the age of the show and the fact that TPTB don't have it up for official streaming anywhere, not for sale nor subscribers, and the likelihood of licensing tangles (Marvel/Disney, WotC/Hasbro, Paramount),** it truly never crossed my mind that there would be not only more figures, but a completely different edition at a different size and increased quality... and only one year later! Apparently, enough of us purchased to make TPTB's money-radar turn on? (Very similarly, I never expected a second run of the comic. I figured it was there last year to promote the movie, and we would never see anything for the characters ever again.)
Some of the folks making these new figures definitely watched the show all the way through, even if the people writing the articles linked above didn't. For example, they're apparently counting Sheila's cloak as costuming, not a weapon, so they needed to include another accessory with her, but Sheila canonically has no weapon or accessory except her invisibility cloak... so they're packaging with her the net from "The Dragon's Graveyard" that she used to heal Uni! Deep cut. The first "wave" of characters here is Hank, Sheila, Shadow Demon, and Dekkion. That very strongly suggests to me a plan for a minimum of three such "waves" to get through the protagonists alone, four if they reserve Dungeon Master and Venger to head their own wave. (Could including one-shot guest-star Dekkion signal figures for fan-favorites Varla, Kareena, Terry...? Or would they stick with ones like Warduke, who isn't a real D&DC character at all, just a disguise Venger once wore, but is a mainline DnD character, I gather.)
I don't need more action figures, for sure. I don't need more physical bric-a-brac at all, generally. I need to condense, not expand. But... I am thinking about it. All of them? Just the heroes? None of them, because the ones I got last year are plenty? Hmmmm.
* I learned that people plunge stiff, plastic action figures into very hot water to soften their joints. Also -- unlike the action figures of my childhood -- we're supposed to pop the heads off to add/remove the capes; this won't break modern figures.
** I know that some of these companies have behaved poorly. I'm not defending them. I'm just not boycotting D&DC.
This is a massive surprise to me. I'm not an action figure collector. When Hasbro produced 6" figures last year -- marking the show's 40th anniversary but mainly promoting the Honor Among Thieves movie -- I believed that it would be our one and only chance ever to get any such toys for this show. I was happy to shell out for all the figures they made (our six heroes + Dungeon Master and Venger; Uni came as an accessory with Bobby), and barely disappointed that they are extremely stiff-jointed.* Given the age of the show and the fact that TPTB don't have it up for official streaming anywhere, not for sale nor subscribers, and the likelihood of licensing tangles (Marvel/Disney, WotC/Hasbro, Paramount),** it truly never crossed my mind that there would be not only more figures, but a completely different edition at a different size and increased quality... and only one year later! Apparently, enough of us purchased to make TPTB's money-radar turn on? (Very similarly, I never expected a second run of the comic. I figured it was there last year to promote the movie, and we would never see anything for the characters ever again.)
Some of the folks making these new figures definitely watched the show all the way through, even if the people writing the articles linked above didn't. For example, they're apparently counting Sheila's cloak as costuming, not a weapon, so they needed to include another accessory with her, but Sheila canonically has no weapon or accessory except her invisibility cloak... so they're packaging with her the net from "The Dragon's Graveyard" that she used to heal Uni! Deep cut. The first "wave" of characters here is Hank, Sheila, Shadow Demon, and Dekkion. That very strongly suggests to me a plan for a minimum of three such "waves" to get through the protagonists alone, four if they reserve Dungeon Master and Venger to head their own wave. (Could including one-shot guest-star Dekkion signal figures for fan-favorites Varla, Kareena, Terry...? Or would they stick with ones like Warduke, who isn't a real D&DC character at all, just a disguise Venger once wore, but is a mainline DnD character, I gather.)
I don't need more action figures, for sure. I don't need more physical bric-a-brac at all, generally. I need to condense, not expand. But... I am thinking about it. All of them? Just the heroes? None of them, because the ones I got last year are plenty? Hmmmm.
* I learned that people plunge stiff, plastic action figures into very hot water to soften their joints. Also -- unlike the action figures of my childhood -- we're supposed to pop the heads off to add/remove the capes; this won't break modern figures.
** I know that some of these companies have behaved poorly. I'm not defending them. I'm just not boycotting D&DC.