Aracula – Skeleton Warriors (Playmates)

Aracula

Skeleton Warriors (Playmates)

Aracula

Skeleton Warriors

Playmates Toys 1994

Watch the full Skeleton Warrior review here

 

Appearance – 4 out of 5

Aracula is more squat and wide than a lot of the other Skeleton Warriors but it works so well here for assassin of the skeleton legion. Notably, he’s got six arms and some awesome spider themed weaponry.

In the cartoons, I get the feeling animating Aracula was a bit ambitious. He often looked lopsided, his arms were usually pretty static and he was frequently devoid of much details. He’s a complex character to animate, but Playmates really set the standard with this awesome action figure sculpt. So many of those details come through really strongly.

Articulation – 4 out of 5

Aracula has swivel joints at each one of his shoulders and at his hips. Like most of the Skeleton Warriors line, Aracula’s articulation is pretty poor to accommodate for the bone details. Aracula’s head also has a swivel joint and.. I’m not sure if they count, but the metal ‘wings’ on his skull can swivel too.

Each of his hands can hold a weapon, so if you have a few other Skeleton Warriors figures, you can give Aracula some serious firepower or if you’ve got a few of the vehicles, due to the simple nature of Aracula’s legs and feet, he fits well onto the Skeleton Warrior vehicles (like the War Horse and especially the Skull Cycle).

Aracula scored points for having 4 more points of articulation compared to the standard Skeleton Legion articulation (6 points if you include the metal attachments on his head).

Accessories – 3 out of 5

Aracula, with all those hands, lives up to his name as a one-skeleton assault force. I love the look of Aracula’s spider-web shield and his goo-gun that looks like a spider; very awesome. Aracula comes with one spring-loaded weapon that fires a mace like projectile. Like a lot of the spring-loaded projectile weapons in the Skeleton Warrior toyline I find them way too sensitive (firing without prompt) so I’ve confiscated it and put it somewhere safe (not for display).

Aracula also comes with a neck brace that holds his shard of the soul crystal, it’s just a small detail but if you’ve seen the cartoon, you’ll know those soul crystals are the Skeleton Warriors ONLY weak spot (otherwise they’re invincible).

Value – 2 out of 5

Aracula seems to be in high demand (as far as the Skeleton Warriors toyline goes), along with Baron Dark. I paid AUS$35 all up including postage from the US, but this is an action figure I really wanted and the plan was to stop with Dr. Cyborn and Aracula. Obviously that didn’t happen and my collection grew but Aracula was the only figurine I bought from the US mint-on-card (Baron Dark was loose for $15), the next time I paid $35 for the Skeleton Warriors was when I purchased the Skull Cycle, sealed box from the US.

Using that as context, I know I didn’t get a good deal but it’s a figure I really wanted so I was prepared to cough up the dough for it. I’m sure if you stay a little frosty and exert some patience, you won’t need to pay top dollar for the figure.

Coolness – 5 out of 5

Aracula’s arms is obviously what sets him apart and highlights the reason I think he’s an awesome figure. Digging a little deeper though, I love the fact his skeleton sculpt starts differing in lots of other ways too. His face almost has a gorilla-like quality to it and when you’re working with skeletons and bones, it’s hard to make a large, strong looking action figure; Aracula nails it.

I’ve chosen to display Aracula without his ‘Tarntul-axe’ because it was too sensitive, but swapping in Shriek’s scythe makes an awesome display option and he’s one of the only Skeleton Warriors with the correct arm posture to hold it using both handles.

Overall – 4 out of 5

Aracula clenches the Skeleton Warrior toyline for me. This figurine, along with Dr. Cyborn show what this line of action figures is totally capable of. If you know what you’re getting into regarding the limited posability of the Skeleton Warriors and you’re a fan of the toy line, Aracula is a must-have figurine.

He stands well, fits easily on the vehicles, looks incredibly cool and his multiple arms give him a plethora of cool display options.

This review format has been ‘violently robbed’ from Dork Dimension. I did that because it’s a great blog with some awesome toy reviews and in my humble opinion, it’s a great ‘standard’ for action figure reviews. All words and photography contained within the format are my own. Scores are out of 5.