Vault Review:
MOTU Classics Draego-Man

We’re a little behind on our MOTU reviews, so I thought I’d end this week with a look at the first figure in the 30th Anniversary sub-line:  Draego-Man! This guy so impressive, he’s easily become one of my favorite figures in the line so far.

I’m really happy that Toy Guru was able to convince Mattel to do a special set of figures for the thirtieth anniversary of Masters of the Universe Classics.  Not only does the history of MOTU deserve to be celebrated with fun figures like Tank Man Vykron, but it has opened the proverbial door for new characters to be introduced into the mythos.  This is something I’ve been wanting since the inception of this new MOTU world.

Although Fearless Photog was the first figure in the 30th line, he’s really still a call back to the 1980’s MOTU lore.  I really consider the Four Horsemen’s design to be the first original figure in the Classics line.  But before I get into his sculpt, I wanted to touch on his bio a bit.  Draego-Man’s got one of the more interesting histories we’ve seen so far.

He was created during Preternia time by the Great Black Wizard. (I’ve never heard of this Wizard before.  You expert MOTU fans will have to let me know if he’s another original character.)  Draego-Man was shunned by Granamyr and eventually took up with King Grayskull.  He eventually became disgusted with humans after they made a truce to create the Three Towers, and left them to spend the rest of his life in solitude.  (I’m curious if he had issue with the Towers themselves, or just the fact that humans were teaming with their enemies.)  Centuries later he joins Skeletor’s army, seeing a chance to enslave both humans and dragons alike.  (I really love how bitter Draego is, and how long he can hold a grudge!  I can’t imagine he’ll be happy with Skeletor either though.  So how long before he turns on him?)

When given mostly free reign to create an original figure, the 4H did what they do best.  Draego’s sculpt is an inspiring mix of borrowed pieces and original sculpts.  I’m not really sure what’s more impressive, the fact that they got pieces from Hordak, He-Ro, King Hiss, and Whiplash to work seamlessly together, or that the newly sculpted pieces take attention entirely away from those reused limbs.  Either way, this is one amazing looking figure.  I’m also impressed by how much bigger he looks too.  His larger head and humongous wings give the illusion of greater stature, even though he’s really about the same size as a normal figure.

Draego’s head is probably the most impressive of newly sculpted pieces.  He’s just got this perfect dragon head.  It sounds silly, but I’m not really sure how else to phrase it.  When I think of a fantasy world dragon, this head is pretty much what I picture in my mind.  His wings are probably my second favorite part.  Not only do they give him a huge and imposing stance, but I’m pretty sure we’ll be seeing them again if they ever get to make a Lord Dactys.  Continue to page 2…

33 thoughts on “Vault Review:
MOTU Classics Draego-Man

  1. I honestly wish his mouth would open. That’s my biggest disappointment for this figure, but it doesn’t ruin the figure for me. His back story is a bit confusing as well.

    His sculpt is almost too sharp and doesn’t fit in well with the more cartoony Clawful— but that’s more in the fault of Clawful’s design.

    Since the sword is a bit ridiculous looking, I gave him a long orange spear that I believe came with Whiplash. Looks better and is still fitting.

  2. This is my favorite MOTUC this year, no lie. Sure, Sorceress and Stinkor are amazing additions, and I love them, but Draego-Man is a figure that’s not just cool in terms of MOTUC’s but just a cool figure in general!

    I’m not sure if you noticed, but in the original display for this figure the fiery whip and sword were actually the same weapon. It was a handle with a switchable fire blade or fire whip attachment. Sadly the sword we did get is firmly attached to the hilt.

    All in all though, this is a great figure. Nice review!

    1. I had forgotten all about the sword and whip sharing the same hilt. Thanks for reminding me Sandman.

      I’m guessing when we do get the whip it’ll have the same handle as the sword though.

  3. I really wanted to like Draego-Man, but when he showed up a few weeks ago…I just wasn’t feeling it. I don’t know if it was him or me, but I didn’t like him. A big part of it was his wings; the angle they’re sculpted at made them look awkward in a lot of poses. His “flame” sword was disappointing too. It looked like he accidentally sneezed on it and melted it.

    I ended up selling him to a comic shop for $5.

  4. I woulda grabbed him for $5 from you bro. Though I agree with you about the wings thing. I like the marmalade sword though.

  5. Dreago is a blockbuster of a figure! I love him quite a bit. I also wasnt crazy about the sword and I felt he needed a shield so I mixed SMC purple and blue bits and made him an axe/shield combo that looks pretty killer. SMC to the rescue once again ha ha.

    According to one of the ask Mattels (I think it was AM could have been something else) we will be seeing Dreagos wings on Granamyr which leads me to ask will they be upscaled versions of th ewwings or will Granny just have really small wings?

  6. must say, i wanted the accessories, and i don’t buy the “it didn’t cost out crap.” that’s parlance for “it would have dented our profit margin” which sounds a lot less forgivable, doesn’t it? on this one figure, this one time, for the only 30th anniversary the line will get, they could have splurged and worked it in and sacrificed the 30 cents it would have cost their profit margin. no excuses.

    that said, i like what i got. the fig is nice, the scale is great, he does feel a lot larger than a standard fig, despite not being so… and i found a sweet accessory in the fodder bin to keep him nicely armed w/ something that doesn’t look like a melted starburst. all in all, a nice fig.

    1. Totally agree with you on the accesories bit. Spread out over the cost of all the figs sold, 30 cents might even be on the high end of estimates. Thank god for the ever-present extra-bits-bin!

    2. ” “it would have dented our profit margin” which sounds a lot less forgivable, doesn’t it?”

      Not really. I never confused Mattel with being a charity.

  7. Not only is Draego-Man one of the best MOTUC figs, he’s probably the best figure I’ve seen come out of Mattel in quite some time. Oh, how I wish they could have pulled off this kind of creative part re-use/new sculpting combo with DCUC…

    One of his best features is that head (even without an opening mouth). It’s capable of suggesting so many different emotions with it’s poseability. I really attribute that in part to being such a bigger, longer sculpt, which helps exagerate the slightest little degree of tilt.

    I’m tempted to go dig up that old dragon from the Spawn toyline, so that Draego can have a buddy to hang out with. I really forsee him plotting against Skeletor, He-Man, and Hordak here pretty soon, and I’m sure he’ll want a footsoldier to distract them with.

    One last thing: as has been mentioned about Toy Guru saying these wings will be reused for Granamyr, I’m now extra psyched for the big guy! with the detail in sculpting and paint the wings got, I hope they can continue that with Gran as well! (and mabye, next year, Shadow Wing???)

  8. He jumped into my top 5 figures in this line. Excellent use of spear parts. I wished his shield & whip came with him. Cool review by the way!

  9. Anyone got any pics of him with the ML (or even 90s Iron Man Dragons) Fin Fang Foom, yet?
    (and is it too early to ask if can we have some with Granymyr?)

    1. I haven’t taken pics yet, but my Dreago is chillin with ML Fin Fang Foom, and they look good together. I plan on picking up the Marvel Universe Masterpiece Fin Fang Foom as well. That should start off a very dominating dragon Clan. My wish is for some company somewhere to make a well sculpted, well articulated, Sowrd&Sorcery/Tolkienesque Dragon that’s about 12-15 inches tall.

      1. isn’t MU FFF 95% the same as the ML-BAF FFF?

        and if we don’t get a SMAUG out of The Hobbit toys, people will be harmed.
        😉

  10. One of the small things I like about this figure’s bio is it essentially confirms how Skeletor stole that baby dragon from Dragon Blaster Skeletor. It’s a small thing, but a smart one.

  11. Like just about everyone else here, I really, really like this figure and wish he came with his full complement of planned accessories.

    However, mine came with bad paint issues. Particularly, the teeth on the left side of his head . . . well, they missed. He’s got red teeth and white bars on his lips. And on his right wing, the orange paint is ridiculously far off. Touch-ups definitely required on this guy.

    I know Granamyr had relatively titchy wings in the cartoon, except for when he had to fly to fight Shadow-Wing, when they somehow became a more workable size. I really hope that the Granamyr we get isn’t going to be the emerald-green depiction seen on the Preternia map.

    And since Chase brought it up, when can we expect Dragon Blaster Skeletor?!

    1. There is a decent theory that the quarter three variant is going to be DB Skely since we know it has an accessory that was assembled wrong, which delayed it being shown. Not many variants have the sort of accessory that could be assembled that wrong.

      Also, we know that Granamyr is going to be red. There was a poll to decide and red won.

      1. We know the color, but do we know the medium his design will be based on? Not that it matters as I’ve never seen a picture of Granamyr where the old dragon actually looked cool.

      2. I don’t get online much anymore, and don’t spend as much time online or range as widely as I used to. I hadn’t seen that poll result, so thanks for the reassurance!

        On the other topic, I have little doubt that the 4H will know how to make Granamyr look as cool as he is meant to be, stunted wings or not.

  12. Man I will be hunting this guy down at the CTS later this year. I know a few minor things like all the weapons and the mouth should’ve been able to move but I still think he’s awesome.

  13. This figure feels like in a class above the other MOTUC figures, with Fisto probably being the only figure that can hang with him. It amazes me when I read comments from people that either didn’t like him or pass on him since he lacks nostalgia with them. I have a feeling that kind of mentality will end up killing this line.

    1. I agree. Everything else aside, this is a pretty damn cool figure. I never owned Tytus, Megator, He-Ro, Preternia Disguise He-Man, Carnivus, Marzo, Queen Marlena, Demo-Man, Faceless One, Gygor, Keldor, Photog, Shadow Beast, Mo-Larr, Wun-Dar, Palace Guard, Vikor, or Shadow Weaver when I was a kid, but I still looked forward to them and got a kick out of them once I had them.

      Spector and Sir Lazer-Lot, however, will really have to impress me once they’re in hand . . . .

    2. I agree. There are figures I’m more excited about than others. Just because I didn’t have it as a kid isn’t a huge factor. Certain figures it is, but I’ll like a figure for its own merits and any rose-tinted nostalgia can come later.

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