Dungeons and Dragons figures

[sh9000]

https://news.toyark.com/2020/09/25/dungeons-and-dragons-drizzt-and-guenhwyvar-forgotten-realms-hasbro-pulse-con-exclusive-403325

[Big s]

I’d like to see some modern toys from the old show. Maybe a with a bit updated detail

[mikeszekely]

Neat. I'm guessing he comes with Twinkle, though, not Vidrinath.

Is Hasbro planning more figures like this? Not sure I want Drizzt and Guen as a standalone, but if they do more characters and maybe some monsters (mind flayer, please!) I might bite.

[mikeszekely]

Preorder on Hasbro Pulse.

[mechaninac]

Not bad, but Hasbro made Drizzt's complexion waaaaayyyy too light; he's a Drow, for Lolth's sake.

The Ranger won't be complete without Bruenor, Catty Brie, Wulfgar, Rumblebelly, Jarlaxle, and Artemis Entreri....

[Dynaman]

They could have just repackaged Lord of the Rings toys...

[Wolf-1]

2 hours ago, mechaninac said:

Not bad, but Hasbro made Drizzt's complexion waaaaayyyy too light; he's a Drow, for Lolth's sake.

The Ranger won't be complete without Bruenor, Catty Brie, Wulfgar, Rumblebelly, Jarlaxle, and Artemis Entreri....

He has purple eyes, not skin but that seems to be the "Modern" iteration of what a Drow passes for now; even cosplay photos are a FB no-no in group right now.  Modern Icons has a Gamestop exclusive statue that is far more detailed than these figures for the same price, roughly, but no Guen in tow, other than her paw prints in the base.  

5 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Neat. I'm guessing he comes with Twinkle, though, not Vidrinath.

Is Hasbro planning more figures like this? Not sure I want Drizzt and Guen as a standalone, but if they do more characters and maybe some monsters (mind flayer, please!) I might bite.

The swords for both the statue and figure are the latest iterations of the sword hilts, though neither brings out the glimmer that Vindirath/Twinkle is described to have now.  They did POP figures as well including a Mind Flayer.  There are also costume renditions of the swords available currently, again hilts are the current renditions but they have a very weathered blade paint scheme for both.  

[mechaninac]

On 9/25/2020 at 9:55 PM, Wolf-1 said:

He has purple eyes, not skin but that seems to be the "Modern" iteration of what a Drow passes for now; even cosplay photos are a FB no-no in group right now.  Modern Icons has a Gamestop exclusive statue that is far more detailed than these figures for the same price, roughly, but no Guen in tow, other than her paw prints in the base.

I don't know about that; and to me, cosplays and unofficial/non-published art don't count.  Even as late as the Homecoming Trilogy books, his depictions on the covers have a much darker and grayer skin tone, but the quintessential contemporary image I refer to regarding the proper look for Drizzt (Dark Elves in general) and Guen comes from The Companions, not the Andorian-Vulcan hybrid Hasbro has chosen:

Edit:  Heck, even where a blue skin tone in concerned, this Shadow Elf figure from Mythic Legions does a more credible job of portraying a Drow:

I suppose that a solution would be to just paint the figure's face to correct its complexion and give it proper lavender eyes

Edited September 27, 2020 by mechaninac

[Wolf-1]

4 hours ago, mechaninac said:

I don't know about that; and to me, cosplays and unofficial/non-published art don't count.  Even as late as the Homecoming Trilogy books, his depictions on the covers have a much darker and grayer skin tone, but the quintessential contemporary image I refer to regarding the proper look for Drizzt (Dark Elves in general) and Guen comes from The Companions, not the Andorian-Vulcan hybrid Hasbro has chosen:

Edit:  Heck, even where a blue skin tone in concerned, this Shadow Elf figure from Mythic Legions does a more credible job of portraying a Drow:

I suppose that a solution would be to just paint the figure's face to correct its complexion and give it proper lavender eyes

How an artist portrays something and how the characters are described have never truly met-up. Drow are described as having an ebboned skin tone, not gray or dusty; that's A.E. or was anyway.  Even before T. Lockwood's covers Drizzt was depicted as having more of a Grayish/Blue pallor, talking about "Old man Drizzt", first printings of the books up until Thousand Orcs, when Lockwood took over cover art duties and showed that he either read the material for which he covers or at least asked the right questions; he proves this again with J. Marco's Inhumans Series.  T. Jacobson just copied Lockwood's rendition of Drizzt (above) for Companions and Companions Codex.  The Homecoming trilogy was done by A. Briclot who gives Drizzt "plate armor" in two of the covers on his shoulders and arms.  I won't even bother with the latest trilogy artwork.

Have seen quite a few Mythic Legions customs done to both Ranger class Elf's in order to produce a Drizzt, just haven't seen one I would accept as Drizzt.  

[mechaninac]

That's why I qualified my personal preference as the "contemporary" standard for me.  It is a foregone conclusion that how one prefers to picture a fictional character is entirely a personal choice, as is the artists's interpretation.

Going by the written description, it is my opinion that Jeff Easley came closest to capturing Drizzt's racial look in the cover art to the original printing of Sojourn.

Spoiler

The "unmentionable" reason for the shifting towards lighter and grayer/bluer skin tones over at least the past decade, however, has a lot to do with the pervasive influence of Political Correctness derived from Cultural Marxism and its abominable Critical Race Theory mind-rot.  Consciously or not, artists self-censor to not tread on woke taboos, because doing so would open them to accusations of insensitivity and racism, demonization and doxing, and possible financial ruination by the Cancel Culture Social Media Mob... can you imagine depicting the Drow's physical characteristics, a race described by the author as chaotic, corrupt, manipulative, murderous, evil, and fallen from the light, exactly the way they were written to look in this day and age?  That goes for cosplayers also... who wants to be accused of donning blackface when all they are doing is having fun as a fantasy character?  It's all a very sad commentary on the modern state of affairs, and how freedoms once taken for granted -- freedom of expression to be specific to this case -- are being eviscerated and shamed for politics, pandering, and power; it destroys everything it touches and leaves nothing but a joyless pit of resentment in its wake.

 

[mikeszekely]

Speaking of your hidden remarks, @mechaninac, I was re-watching Community recently.  I got confused when they started referencing the D&D episode, because I hadn't re-watched.  I thought maybe I skipped it, but no, turns out Netflix just removed that episode because of Chang's drow costume.

[Mog]

From the 80’s cartoon:

https://hasbropulse.com/products/dungeons-dragons-cartoon-classics-scale-dungeon-master-venger

Hasbro’s asking US$50 for the set.

Would be cool if they released the rest of the main cast.

Edited September 23, 2022 by Mog

[sh9000]

https://www.target.com/p/dungeons-38-dragons-cartoon-classics-scale-dungeon-master-38-venger-action-figures-2pk-target-exclusive/-/A-86524787

https://www.target.com/p/dungeons-38-dragons-cartoon-classics-hank-action-figure/-/A-86524783

https://www.target.com/p/dungeons-38-dragons-cartoon-classics-bobby-38-uni-action-figures-2pk/-/A-86524789

https://www.target.com/p/dungeons-38-dragons-cartoon-classics-diana-action-figure/-/A-86524785

[Big s]

Where’s the rest of the group and the shadow demon would be cool too. Maybe a clear Smokey black might be neat.

Was just looking at the package and I don’t really like the box style without windows. These are something I would also like in package and without being able to see the actual figure is kind of a downer

Edited September 23, 2022 by Big s

[Mog]

^^Hasbro’s move to become more “green” by cutting out the plastic in their packaging. 

It’s been a contentious issue on some Star Wars boards, especially for folks who are MOC collectors.

[Big s]

2 hours ago, Mog said:

^^Hasbro’s move to become more “green” by cutting out the plastic in their packaging. 

It’s been a contentious issue on some Star Wars boards, especially for folks who are MOC collectors.

I really don’t like it. I could see it for bargain toys, but not for collectibles. These probably aren’t gonna be just for kids, since most kids have never seen the show. It’s a release to satisfy old fans specifically that remember a more niche cartoon that rarely has been shown since the eighties. I’d love to have an in box set as well as open, but with boring boxes it kinda takes away from the idea of a cool display figure 

[Mog]

Preaching to the choir.

I ain’t a MOC collector, but it’s kinda annoying that you can’t see the figure inside to see if there’s any flaws, paint app issues, or any derpy eyes.

Also, kinda encourages scalpers to swap and return when folks can’t see what’s inside the box.

[sh9000]

6 hours ago, Big s said:

Was just looking at the package and I don’t really like the box style without windows. These are something I would also like in package and without being able to see the actual figure is kind of a downer

The packaging for these 3 are the most strange and would have been better with bubbles.  Luckily the Retro and Vintage figure lines for Marvel, Star Wars, and GI Joe will still have toy packaging of cardbacks and bubbles.

 

[sh9000]

[Big s]

Glad they’re doing the rest of the gang, but I kinda wished they also did the shadow demon. It would be cool if they did it in a clear black 

[sh9000]

R.A. Salvatore's The Legend of Drizzt.

[mikeszekely]

Hmm.  If this were around $20 I'd say yeah, but I personally think the previous Drizzt figure looked better, and it came with a lot more accessories (including Guen!).  It's still available, and for only around $12 more.

[sh9000]

Xanathar.

Displacer Beast.

 

[Wolf-1]

Displacer Beast is a decent figure, though it makes the previous Guenhwyvar release look like a typical panther now.  The tentacles do have a  wire inside, so some poseablity is attainable. The legs have plenty of articulation, ,though with six of them to mess with, it takes awhile to achieve a pose.  As far as monster figures go, this one is good, just not as good as the Owl Bear in my estimation. That one has some heft behind it on top of it's size and just about all the acticulation one could want; it can pull off the looking behind itself, just not on all fours.