August 1, 200
Dragon has released a figure of Buzz Aldrin to commemorate the first
landing on the moon. I first saw this figure at the NYC International Toy
fair back in February. The figure comes in a black box that is decorated
with a picture of the earth and photos of Apollo 11. The box is nicely done
and earns high marks.
The figure is top shelf, the head sculpt is nicely done and it does have
a strong resemblance of Buzz Aldrin, although I feel the eyes are a little
off. There were no defects in the paint job, no runs or overspray; our test
figure's head sculpt was perfect. The body is a standard Dragon body which
is very articulate and solidly built; all and all this is a nice figure.
The costume is AWESOME!! It is by far the most detailed
space suite I have seen on a figure, and a far cry from the suits made by
Hasbro and Kenner.
Dragon has tried to make this figure historically
accurate and it looks like they may have hit the mark. Buzz is sporting a
1960's space suite with a, cloth hat, inner helmet, outer helmet, two sets
of boots, a pair of gloves, and life support system. One of the nicer
feature is the way the hoses from the life support system lock into the
space suite like the real thing. I also like the patches and especially the
Apollo 11 mission patch.
I do have a couple of minor issues, the first is that
the inner glass helmet is extremely difficult to get over the head. I
contacted Dragon support and they said that you need to use a blow
dryer to heat the head and soften it up in order to fit the helmet. I was
also told that once on the helmet was installed it may not be easily
removed. They also stated that the size of the helmet was to preserve the
historical accuracy of the suite. My second issue is that there are no
instructions on how to install the life support system or the helmet, I
needed to visit their web page and view the online photos to see how to
connect all of the hoses and accessories.
Buzz also comes with a watch and camera, they are nice
but nothing to write home about. However, when you factor in the helmet,
life support system, gloves and boots the accessories are impressive and you
have to give Dragon at lest a "B plus" in this area.
Summary:
This figure my opinion is a home run, and I hope Dragon adds more
figures to this collection. In the future I would like to see both Astronauts and
Cosmonauts, after all if it was not for the space race we may have never
landed on the moon and both countries have contributed to the world in this
area..
