Hasbro Dungeons & Dragons Figure - Diana

 Well, it took almost 40 years but we are finally getting action figures based on the 80s Dungeons & Dragons cartoon! As soon as it was announced, I knew I was going to go all in on the line...even if I have no idea where I'm going to display them.

We're starting it off with the group's most agile member, Diana the Acrobat. By the way, if you're not familiar with this cartoon, you may at least want to watch the intro to get an idea about the series and characters.

Now, Acrobat itself wasn't really a class in D&D and I always thought it was an odd thing to be when you have Fighters, Thieves, Magic-Users, etc. Earlier the same year the show debuted, the class Thief-Acrobat was introduced in Dragon magazine. I'm guessing having a character be even part Thief was frowned on for a kids cartoon so they went with Acrobat.

This is my first purchase with the plastic-free packaging and I have to say, I like the look of it! The box art is fantastic. I understand some people's gripes with it and I think it's definitely going to lead to an increase of scumbags buying them, tossing some other figure in, and returning it. One thing I'm not a fan of is the figure and accessories are just wrapped in a thin paper and not held down inside the box. It feels really cheap.

Another really cool thing they did was make a connected mural on the sides of the boxes. I think there's one that goes between these two because Diana's hand/staff is chopped off but you get the idea. I'm definitely an opener and usually toss the boxes but I may just save the panels so I can put them together once they're all released.

Each character comes with their Dungeon Master-bestowed magic item and Diana's is a Javelin Staff that can change length. It's green because, you know, magic. They also come with a polyhedral die. It seems like the intent is to give you a full set of dice if you get all the figures but the gaming nerd in me thinks they should have included the hit die for the character's class. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, just ignore me being a huge nerd and keep reading.

The figure looks true to her animated origins but there's just something about the head. Maybe it's because it's animated, the big eyes.  or the neutral expression but it looks kind of doll-like. I'm not saying that's bad, just a little off.

She has a good amount of articulation...in theory. I've seen folks online saying they've have to give their figs a nice warm bath to limber them up and now I see why. Most of the joints are tight and her right elbow will just not bend even with a little more force than should be needed. Another issue I've seen mentioned is the back of the legs.

You can see right above the knees, there is some flash molding. This isn't something that should be happening with modern figures! I guess the good news is that at least on on the back side?

Some figures have two accessories, one "normal" and one with an effect. Here's Diana with her "spinning motion" staff. I'm not loving the effect. Because it's the same color as the staff, it sort of makes it look like a double-bladed weapon, which would be cool if it wasn't supposed to be a staff.

Aside from the joint and back of leg issues, which...the joint thing is a pretty big problem, I do like the figure. Based on other reviews, it seems like the joint problem is not isolated to this figure which could bring a dark cloud on the entire line which is a shame. We've waited 40 years! Maybe Super 7 will make some overpriced vintage style figures. 

What better way to wrap-up the Acrobat than with a mid-air flip? I can't wait until I have the whole gang together and can take them outside for a photo shoot, assuming I can get them to pose.