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Introduction
The pandemic has been hell for many people and for many reasons. But one thing positive to come from it - a whole lot of people binged one of the greatest animated television shows ever produced. Yes, that would be Avatar: The Last Airbender, three seasons designed from start to finish to tell an epic hero's tale, and tell it succinctly and smartly. It's glorious.
Of course, many of us nerds already knew that, as did some smart toy companies. Mattel did a series of action figures back when it originally ran on Nickelodeon, but Diamond Select Toys picked up the license last year again. Their first wave, including the Aang I'm looking at tonight, actually debuted in 2019, but I thought with the renewed interest in the show it was worth pulling these out for a review. I'll be looking at Katara and Zuko, the other two in the first wave, in the next couple weeks. There's also a Walgreens exclusive of Aang in the 'Avatar state'.
The second wave was just solicited as well. You can pick them up for around $25 - $30 for the singles, but you'll save some money buying the set of
three at most places.
Packaging - ***
DST always uses these large, bookshelf style packs. They work pretty well, although for Aang there's a lot of wasted space. It's attractive, and
shows the other characters on the back, but it's definitely not collector friendly. You'll tear it up getting him out, and there's a bunch of the
tiny plastic ties that need to be cut as well.
Sculpting - ***1/2
These are probably about 6 - 7" scale, with Aang coming in at 5 1/2" tall.
The overall detailing matches the animated style. You aren't going to get a ton of surface texture or tiny bits, simply because the cartoon didn't' have them. But they did a terrific job translating the design into a three dimensional figure.
The sculpt and articulation work well together, and because of the engineering, the figure was much more posable than I expected considering the sculpt.
The expression is a little silly, a bit goofy, and reminds me of Aang in all those lighter moments on the show, particularly when Katara or Sokka are giving him a hard time. The wide eyes and raised eyebrows, with just a hint of a smirk, is a good choice for a relaxed Aang.
This is his later season outfit - the first season outfit is coming as part of wave 2.
Paint - **1/2
The paint work isn't quite as nice as I'd like, and since I ordered these online, I couldn't pick out one with perfect operations.
The tattoos on the arms, head, and hands look good, with clean sharp edges. The clothing is broadly colored, with few details, and the eyebrows and eyes themselves are clean. However, the right eye is a bit wonky, with the iris off center slightly. The pupils are looking in the same direction, but it's hard to tell with the dark eyes.
Articulation - ***1/2
I was pretty surprised by how good the articulation is for a smaller figure.
The ball jointed neck allows for nice tilt and lean movement. The rotating hinge shoulders, rotating hinge elbows, and rotating hinge wrists allow for reasonable arm poses, although the sculpted clothing does keep you from lifting the left arm very high. I tried to get a nice bowing pose, but the left and right hands couldn't quite come together.
The waist is a rocker, which allows you to break up the straight lines of the torso. The hips, cut thighs, and double pin knees are well hidden but allow for shallow to deep stances, and the rocker ankles can keep his feet flat on the ground.
Accessories - ***1/2
He's got some cool extras, although working with them can be a bit tricky.
He has an open, flat (khife) right hand, and a posed open left hand to swap for the fists he comes wearing. Swapping was pretty easy, even with such tiny posts.
He also has Momo, who isn't articulated but has a nice sculpt and paint job.
There's a translucent blue-green swirl of water too, or maybe it's supposed to be air. It looks more like water to me though, and let's face it - by the time he was wearing this costume, it could be water. I messed with it with and without the support base (it can attach on one side to the top of the support rod), and found a few good poses, but it's definitely tricky.
And yes, there's a base. It's clear plastic with a large, mutli-jointed support rod. You can attach it to the swirl as I mentioned, or to Aang's back for leaping/flying poses.
Fun Factor - ****
Add in the other two figures from this wave - and any others they release - and you'll have a ton of fun posing them together on the shelf. The
articulation and accessories make it possible for you to change things up regularly too, which always adds to this category.
Value - **1/2
I'm assuming you'll pay around $25 or so for these individually. This is pretty much in line with other online figures in this scale and quality
from companies like McFarlane or NECA.
Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing. I had no worries about breakage or damage, and he was easy to work with.
Overall - ***1/2
DST is doing a nice job with this license, although I'm pissed my favorite character - Sokka - hasn't been released yet, and we better get Toph
pretty soon too or I'm going to be very unhappy. The good news is both of them (along with the Fire Lord) were shown off at Toy Fair a few months
ago and should be coming soon.
Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ***1/2
Paint - **1/2
Articulation - ***1/2
Accessories - ***1/2
Fun Factor - ****
Value - **1/2
Overall - ***1/2
Where to Buy
Online options include these site sponsors:
- Entertainment Earth has this guy for $28, or the set of three for $68.
- or you can search ebay for a deal.
Related Links -
I don't have another review of any Avatar goodies! Fear not, I'll be reviewing the Katara and Zuko very soon.
You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.
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This product was purchased for the review by the reviewer. Photos and text by Michael Crawford.
