Neo-Otyugh
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (LJN) - Bendable
Rated 4.50 stars by Karl T. Face
For what often amounts to a sentient waste processor, this is a pretty cool monster. Otyughs are a staple of D&D, a nice mid-level monster that slots in pretty easily wherever large monsters or large towns exist: any big enough concentration of filth can attract one. And what a sight they are! These things have a roundish body, dominated by a puckered, lamprey-esque mouth and supported by three stumpy, shaggy-looking legs. Two large, vicious-looking tentacles and a vaguely leaf-shaped eyestalk add to the strangeness of the design. The sculpting here is as good as any in the line: everything is textured, whether it's the leathery skin, thorny-looking arms, matted fringes/fleshy folds, or the rivulets of thick fluid all over. Eewww. Now, I will say they made the right call going the bendy...[See More]

Carrion Crawler
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (LJN) - Bendable
Rated 3.75 stars by Karl T. Face
The Crawler is one of those monsters that just keeps getting redesigned. We've seen everything from giant cutworms with tendrils to a lumpy, grinning caterpillar with a full-on tentacle beard. This one is just the goofy 1e art in three dimensions, which really underlines the lack of an art budget back then. Is it still fun, though? You betcha! The silly-looking cartoon caterpillar segments actually help with the poseability of the body, which would've been uselessly stiff otherwise. The funny little feet help with stability in climbing poses. A two-color airbrush job keeps things colorful and poisonous-looking, and the head is emotionless and just plain strange. I take slight issue with the face tendrils, which just kind of fan out in a rigid pose, but between the material and the molding...[See More]

Deadly Grell
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (LJN) - Bendable
Rated 2.50 stars by Karl T. Face
*sigh* This toy, frankly, was a mistake. Like, it shouldn't have been attempted. Gather 'round, and I'll elucidate on what happens to toys when mistakes are made. I will give credit to the paintwork. It's got a bit of airbrushing, some wavy lines to follow, and it all looks good. A little cartoonish, but that's the house style at LJN. It's the construction I take issue with. They went with "bendy" here, probably for a couple reasons: it's the only way a radially-symmetrical being can have any kind of size on a blister card, but still be able to flex the tentacles downward. The only other solution would be a separate "pillar" of tentacles, but even then, the head would have to be either vertically or laterally flattened- the latter would turn out pretty flea-shaped, which would've...[See More]

Zarak
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (LJN) - Basic Series
Rated 3.00 stars by Karl T. Face
Zarak is not at the top of anyone's list. I get that. He's also stupid cheap compared to most, so here he is. At a glance, he doesn't look like much. The gloss plastic doesn't do the sculpt any favors, but in soft light, it's alright. The clothes seem a little baggy for a rogue, and he lacks the satchel and knife sheaths shown in the art. We do get a few fun extras on the back: a bundled rope and belt pouch. And then there's the color. Oh, it's laid out well enough, no slop. The red is well integrated. And then you get to the head, with its primary blue hood and lime-green face with angry red.... warts? It's like the toy people had never seen comic art before, and thought the blue highlights were actually blue cloth. Or maybe it's because the head was gang-molded with other figures'...[See More]

Ogre King
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (LJN) - Basic Series
Rated 3.50 stars by Karl T. Face
Ah, ogres. Classic fantasy fare, they've graced the mythology of many a culture, and earned thousands of players that last chunk of XP to level up. And now I can have one on the shelf! The first word that comes to mind is "bright". The olive green skin contrasts strongly with the bright blue armor, and the yellow highlights aren't helping. There's enough black and grey to break it up, though. Sculpt mitigates this a bit, with the various armor bits sporting at least basic textures and the face looking very animated indeed. The paint is plenty tight, and overall, it's a decent if slightly cartoonish presentation. While elbows and knees weren't popular in this line, the hips and shoulders are at least balljointed. Swivel neck, not surprising. The joints are actually pretty good still, at...[See More]