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Time for another dip into the Mo2K pool!
Heroic leader of the Bat-like Speleans who live deep underground in Subternia, Dactus waged a long war
against his former ally Ceratus for possession of Hollow Eternia. After a series of attacks by Skeletor and King Hssss, Dactus was convinced by King Randor to put aside his differences with the Calligars and work together as members of his new Eternian Council. A born warrior, he often leaves his diplomatic duties to fight on the battlefield as one of the Masters of the Universe. During one adventure he traveled with Chief Carnivus and Clamp Champ to free Princess Vess from Skeletor's clutches. Dactus' massive wings and sharp fangs give him a frightening appearance which he uses to scare off and then attack the evil warriors!
When he was introduced in the 2002 cartoon, the character's name was Dactys, with a Y; for this toy, Mattel called him Dactus, with a U; we know Matty likes to pretend the '02 cartoon didn't happen, but now they're renaming characters in order to separate them out?! One of you kids fetch papa his flippin' table!!
(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
Much better.
Dactys first appeared in the Season 1 episode "Underworld," which saw Skeletor trying to attack Castle Grayskull from below, via the hollow world inside Eternia. He's definitely scary-looking, with his large ears, heavy brows, stumpy nose, and the long spike on his chin. Plus, tusks. Why does a bat have tusks? Yes, it makes him (and the rest of his species) look more fearful, but why specifically tusks?
Lord Dactus makes for a huge toy. With his legs
fully extended, his ears break the 8" mark, but even if you give them a more natural bend, he's still about 7¾". Huge! That isn't exactly a break from the cartoon depiction, because he towered over the human characters. So unlike a lot of the MotU Classics toys that can integrate with the 2002 line, you don't need to make excuses for why this one is so large.
He's so large, in fact, that some
assembly is required - and we're not just talking about plugging in his reused Draego-Man wings! Although, seriously? Good work finding a way to get some more money out of those molds, Mattel. Nobody would have guessed it when Draego-Man came out. Anyway, the armor that covers his upper body (and has the sockets for his wings to plug into) is sitting separately in the tray, and need to be put on. It's a new mold, of course, because no one else wears anything similar.
His loincloth is a new piece, as well - you can tell, because his tail is part of it. He's also got new hands (for the claws) and new feet (to create the digitigrade look), but otherwise uses Skeletor's shins and forearms, Whiplash thighs, and Mosquitor's biceps and shoulders (though in the cartoon, he had armor on his thighs and bare shins). So other than the extra swivel/hinge joints in the wings, he moves like all the other MotU Classics.
Other than the wings and the armor, Lord Dactus only has one accessory: his ancestral weapon, the Sword of Ke-dik. In the
cartoon, the Speleans are famous as blacksmiths and metalworkers, and this sword was their finest work. He was happy to lend it to King Randor when he went to face Skeletor, though. It's a simple blade, with a bat-wing shaped crossguard, and it's made from a nicely stiff plastic. He can hold it in his right hand.
I'd still be buying NECA mini-statues if they were still making them, because the 2002 MotU designs are simply better and more inventive than "hey, let's take these old toys and just make them bigger!" So it should be no surprise that I'm glad to see Lord Dactys get a toy, especially one that's so true to the design seen on the cartoon. Unfortunately, he came out in that nether-time when Matty had stopped adequately advertising their sales, so I didn't know he existed until he was gone - he sold faster than Chief Carnivus, that's for sure! It's taken a long time to get this toy, and the final product does not disappoint.
-- 02/09/15
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