In the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon, the overarching conflict was between two powerful entities. One was an ancient being who’s plans constantly endangered the lives of six children from Earth. The other was an half arch-fiend named Venger. The mysterious Dungeon Master constantly sent the kids blindly into danger in hopes that they would somehow mess up Venger’s plan. At least he gave three of them actual weapons. Now we finally have Dungeon Master and Venger in figure forms as part of Hasbro’s Dungeons and Dragons cartoon line.
Dungeon Master is a mysterious, short old man who guides the six young heroes. Though it is never stated that he brought the six into the Realm, he was the one that bestow their magic artifacts to them. Venger is a half arch-demon and (forty-year-old spoiler alert) Dungeon Master’s son. He was once human, though he was corrupted by some evil force. It is unclear if Dungeon Master’s plan was for the six children to defeat Venger by destroying him or by restoring his humanity.
Venger is a larger-sized figure, standing at 8 1/2 inches/22 cm. He is a winged demon, with pale, bluish skin and one horn on the left side of his head. He is wearing a red hood with a black shoulder cape. His tunic is red with red bracers on his forearms. At the waist, he has a grey skirt with red leggings and boots underneath. Dungeon Master is only 3 inches/7.8 cm. He is a white balding man, with his hair in the back grown out long. He is wearing a red coat with white edges with a red and gold collar piece. He has a red robe underneath, a gold design, and a white gem on the front.
Venger’s articulation is very constrained. His head seems to be on a ball joint but any movement is hindered by the hood overlay. The arms are on ball hinges, with movement in, out, and around hindered by his caplet. He has single-jointed elbows with rotation instead of a bicep swivel, and a hinged hands-on peg. He has a mid-torso crunch that allows for movement from side to side. His legs appear to be on a t-bar with a thigh swivel, double knees and rocker ankles, but they are covered by the plastic skirt. Dungeon Master has less articulation. His head is on a swivel with little movement to the sides. His arms are on ball joints and his hands are on hinges and can rotate at the waist. That’s it.
For accessories, Venger has two alternate hands with blast effects and a set of wings that plugs into his back. The set also includes two dice, a twenty-sided die and a percentile die. Finally, the set comes with a cardboard DM screen to be used while running a D&D campaign. It is double-sided, with one side being a picture of a theme park from the opening and end credits of the show. The other side is red with multiple D&D-style ampersand (&) on it.
The set is good for what it is. Venger looks good and Dungeon Master is decent for a small figure. Ironically, Venger has a thigh swivel, something the human figures could have, use but is useless with his skirt. Dungeon Master is not known for action poses, so the limited articulation is not a big deal, but an alternate set of folded arms would have worked well. Still, they are a good size and fit in well with the other figures of the series. I think they are a Target/ Toys R Us/Hasbro Pulse exclusive, though, so expect ‘premium” pricing.
The Dungeon and Dragons Cartoon Classics Venger and Dungeon Master set is available now.
This Review is for entertainment purposes only. I have not received anything from Hasbro, Toys R Us, or anyone else for this review. The items were purchased myself with my own money. All opinions are mine; any pictures were taken by me and are for review purposes only.
Xcalibar's Space 
Leave a comment