Figure Subscription Service 2.0 - Dragonsky

Perhaps it was because of his contrasting purple uniform, or maybe it was because Michael Golden was the first man to draw him, but Dragonsky was forever etched in G.I. Joe fans' minds as a stand out member of the Oktober Guard, even if he did make his debut after the rest of the team in issues 6 - 7 of the Marvel Comics series.

With his distinctive helmet and raging flamethrower, he was an immediate focus of the reader.

In the 2000's, Hasbro followed a similar formula, giving us the rest of the Oktober Guard in their vintage comic packs, and waited until the DTC era to finally get us Dragonsky. Well, sure enough the G.I. Joe Collectors Club did the same thing as well. For their spectacular Convention Set in 2012 we got most of the familiar old school members of the Oktober Guard, even including a new member in the form of General Iron Bear, and yet we got no Dragonsky! What was that all about?

To the Collectors' Club's credit they were certain to let us all know that Dragonsky would be a part of the FSS so we didn't have to get too worked up about it, but it still feels like it took a long time to get him here joining his other teammates. So now that he's here, was he worth the wait?

I think he was, but I think there were some small changes that could have been made to make him even better. First of all, the figure is simply a straight repaint of the 30th Anniversary Airtight. Simply because that figure is incredible, by default, this figure is incredible as well, at least from a structural standpoint. Amazing sculpting, great articulation. Yes, this figure has a terrific base to work from. I don't even mind the head sculpt being Airtight's so much, because I could see Dragonsky slipping that head cover over his bald head before going into combat. However, I do think the Club should have at least considered using a bald head instead of what we got. You could say that the Collectors Club was also paying homage to their own previous version of Dragonsky from the 2005 Convention, but still I'd say his more familiar look is the bald head.

Also, the color scheme is a bit curious. I believe every appearance by Dragonsky has featured him in a much more two-tone uniform, with a more reddish purple as the base, with the purple trim complimenting it. For whatever reason (perhaps production costs?) the Collectors Club ommited the reddish color, and just went with purple, and I think the figure suffers slightly from it. Not only is it not especially accurate to the source material, but figures that are monotone are a bit boring anyway, and Dragonsky is unfortunately pretty monotone. The removal of the more red color seems like a strange ommission, considering how faithful the Club generally is to the source material they're pulling from. After all, they went through the trouble to deco the medals for Keel Haul, and the patch for Tollbooth, yet couldn't quite manage the red color on Dragonsky.

It's not a deal breaker. The figure is still really nice, and is quite obviously representative of the classic Oktober Guard flamethrower, but I do think the addition of that little bit of color could have really helped a lot.

ACCESSORIES

As one would expect with a flamethrower figure, one of the key accessories here is.. the flame thrower. This is a great weapon that looks really nice with the character, and I love the hose construction. The actual translucent red flame is a great touch as well.

For the helmet, we got the same helmet that the Night Raven Firefly pilot received for the Rise of Cobra, which ends up being a surprisingly accurate Dragonsky helmet, and really helps the overall look of the figure. For the vest, we have Airtight's base vest, but instead of Airtight's trademark chest console, we have the hose and attachment from the helmet glued into place. This is a great variation on the Airtight vest and a really neat way to give us something more unique without too much new tooling.

Underneath the vest we get... well, it's Flash's metal apron, but it doesn't especially fit Dragonsky all that well, and has a tendancy to fall off when you look at it sideways. It's a fine addition, and the star deco with small tank on the belt make it look like it could belong to a flame thrower character, but ultimately it feels tacked on and somewhat useless. Finishing off the accessory compliment is a black AK-47 machine gun, true to Dragonsky's Russian roots.

I have some minor complaints about the chosen head sculpt and the paint deco, but the end result is a pretty decent looking version of the Oktober Guard flame thrower and a great addition to my G.I. Joe Collectors' Club Russian Special Forces team. Even though he's not completely vintage faithful, he's got some amazing sculpting, pretty vibrant paint applications, really good range of motion, and all in all, decent accessories.

He's a few small touches away from perfect, but still a very good addition to the Figure Subscription Service.

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