It took more than ten years of working on the property, but the Four Horsemen have finally added their own brand-new character to Masters of the Universe.

You can read the not-so-secret history of Draego-Man’s creation in this Fwoosh interview with Horseman Eric Treadaway last year, which describes the process behind his creation. Of course, a dragon-man in MOTU is really a no-brainer – as Treadaway noted, it was odd there were no dragon-men in the original MOTU, nor any bad guys with wings.

That said, Draego-Man has a very retro feel; he evokes memories of figures from those MOTU knockoff lines of the 1980s, like Dragoon from Sungold’s Galaxy Warriors, Gecko from Remco’s Warrior Beasts (pictured alongside Draego-Man below), Iguana from Sewco’s Galaxy Fighters or, most fittingly, Dragonman from SOMA’s Fantasy World.

Of course, being a fantasy monster who fits in well with the ever-popular sword and sorcery interpretation of Masters of the Universe, Draego-Man has proven immensely popular amongst fans of all inclinations. So how is the figure?

Design & Sculpt: Draego-Man is a masterful combination of new sculpting and existing parts. The new parts include the torso armor, wings, head, forearms and hands (though I suspect we’ll see the forearms and hands on a Snake Man at some point in the future, perhaps Rattlor).

Otherwise, his thighs, biceps and shoulders come from King Hssss; his calves are from He-Ro; his feet and furry undies from Hordak; and his tail from Whiplash.

The newly-sculpted parts are an example of what the Four Horsemen can do on this line when they’re given full reign. There’s more intricate detailing than on some MOTUC figures, but not so much that Draego-Man doesn’t fit in with the rest of the line. And yet, he looks almost as much like a member of the Four Horsemen’s own Seventh Kingdom as he does MOTU.

Moreover, despite the mixing and matching of parts, the final figure has an organic, cohesive look that would look fine alongside the “original eight” MOTU characters (He-Man, Man-At-Arms, Teela, Skeletor, Beast Man, Stratos, Zodac, and Mer-Man). If I have any complaint about this figure, and it’s a very minor one, it’s that I would have liked a hinged jaw or an alternate head with an open mouth.

Plastic & Paint: Draego-Man has some great paint work. He’s molded primarily in red, but there’s a well-executed wash over his limbs, tail and the back of his wings. His inner wings, neck, and lower tail are highlighted in bright orange, while his armor is purple and offset by metallic blue.

The paint work is a bit uneven in a few places, such as his teeth and the logo on his chest, but it’s made up for by the great work elsewhere.

Articulation: Draego-Man features a ball-and-socket head, ball-and-hinge shoulders, ball-and-hinge wings, swivel biceps, hinged elbows, swivel wrists, hinged abdomen, swivel waist, ball-and-hinge hips, swivel thighs, swivel tail, hinged knees, swivel boot-tops, and hinged ankles with side-to-side motion as well. The ball-jointed wings are a welcome feature.

Accessories: Draego-Man was originally shown at last year’s SDCC with a purple sword, a shield with translucent flames around it, and a Balrog-style whip of flames. Sadly, none of that cost out due to all the new tooling the figure needed, and so all he gets is a flame-sword.

It’s a great idea, and I suspect the original sculpt looked sharp (as the flame whip does in the previous link), not unlike Kratos’s flaming chains. But NECA (maker of Kratos) is not subject to the same safety laws as Mattel, and so in the production process Draego-Man’s flame-sword was changed into the gooey-looking Sword of Marmalade. It’s still a good accessory, but it could have looked nicer.

Quality Control: My figure’s right ankle is loose; aside from that, no problems.

Overall: Every so often a MOTUC figure gets the works, and Draego-Man is definitely one of them. Already a fan-favorite, I’d love to see him in the DC comic this summer. It’s a well-sculpted, great-looking toy that I’ve docked a half-raven only for the missing accessories and the softened sword.

[raven 4.5]

Where to Buy:

• Chances are Draego-Man will pop up in a future Mattycollector sale, but BigBadToyStore currently has him in stock for $35.99.
• He’s also at Amazon for $34.99.