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With all of the current hype surrounding the supernatural and the undead, it’s easy to get lost in the morass. Triad Toys is looking to stand above the crowd with its new, original line of Dead Cell figures—specially trained hunters, the first of which is the Ragnarok vampire-hunting Dakota.
The first thing to become apparent when opening the box is that Triad Toys hasn’t skimped on quality. The figure looks outstanding, and the accessories are quite nice, and complement the figure. Included in the package are Dakota herself, a katana with sheath, a 9mm handgun with removable clip and functioning slide, a faux leather jacket with working zipper and three sets of various hands that can be swapped out on the figure to recreate various poses. The boots have magnets embedded in the bottom, to be used with Triad Toys’ “bullet time” magnetic figure bases (sold separately).
Accessories aside, the figure itself is top notch. An original head on the standard Triad Toys Alpha Female body and a very well constructed outfit make for a nice display item. Every piece is tailored to fit the figure, with leather holsters and straps and harnesses all placed to allow Dakota to store and carry her assorted weaponry. The jacket itself is a nice touch, although the functioning zipper, by necessity, is a little large to properly scale with the figure itself. Imagine having a jacket with zipper teeth the size of your thumb and you’ve got the idea. Still, it’s a neat addition and easily removable.
The joints and body construction are all solid. Joints hold poses and it’s quite easy to have the figure in a standing position without extra equipment, although it would be nice to see what the figure could do on one of the aforementioned bullet-time stands. At the standard 12-inch 1/6th scale, Dakota will fit nicely with any other larger figures in a collection, and it will pretty much have to for the moment. While more team members and creatures are promised to be on the way, Dakota stands alone for the time being. Jade Van Helsing and Iris Branham figures are currently available for preorder, along with a couple of small zombie survival accessory packs. Hopefully, the creatures will be announced soon.
Overall, Dakota is a nice-looking figure and, if you can shell out $89.99, a nice addition to an already established collection. But for those hoping to re-enact undead battles on a display shelf, it’s going to be a bit of wait before Dakota will be worth a purchase. A full gallery of the figure is available from Triad Toys here.
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