Review – Amanda Visell’s Dragon Scout

“I am the Dragon Scout. I enjoy earning badges, burning things, & eating kids. My troop is always looking for good scouts. Together we can learn astronomy, how to tie knots, wilderness survival, & citizenshop.”
— from the back of the box

Artist Amanda Vissel has a great style and creates fun, attractive artwork that’s packed with character and a lighthearted sense of style. And it’s really no surprise that Amanda’s artwork has been translated over to the designer toy field; her character designs are whimsical and simplistic enough that capturing them in vinyl has lead to some very fun pieces of toy art. Pieces like this silly The Dragon Scout vinyl toy.

Packaging

I have to resist saying this is great packaging because, in reality, it is not. It’s actually fairly common packaging that just happens to get a serious boost in the “that looks awesome” department because of the artwork. To be honest some of the type is hard to read and the box would have been improved with the addition of a window so that we could see the toy inside.

That said it is sturdy, functional, and shows the artwork beautifully. So it’s a very successful package, just not one that’s particularly exciting in the graphic design department. If I had a ton of room I would maybe save the box to display with the toy, but as it is this isn’t nice enough to save the box from the trash can.

The Dragon Scout

The star of the box, and the only reason that anyone even buys this toy, the Dragon Scout toy is a vinyl toy without any articulation of any sort. Almost seven-inches tall and about six-inches long, the Dragon Scout is a fairly significant-sized chunk of plastic but, as a vinyl piece, it isn’t all that heavy. Made up of nine or ten pieces that were glued together, it’s a little frustrating that the company didn’t put a little more effort into the piece so that at least the head could move, but as a display piece articulation is less important than matching the artist’s design.

The toy does beautifully match the artwork that it’s based on, which makes it a successful designer piece. The dragon’s texture is brought about through not only the paint — which is excellent — but also in the surface detail of the piece which has several tiny scales sculpted into the dragon’s body, neck, tail, and legs. The sculpted texture doesn’t even attempt to mimic the painted design but, instead, is solely there to give the toy a nice feel when held. It also causes some sense of depth through micro-shadows across the surface but that feels more accidental than intentional.

Gina and I picked this piece up for her; it’s cute and all, but she’s the one who loves dragons so if it wasn’t for her I would have left this on the shelf. Priced at $65, and limited to 600 pieces, this toy feels a little over-priced to me but that has more to do with my personal preferences than any real sense of value or collectibility.

Girl Scout and Fire

In addition to the dragon the box set also includes two other small pieces, a girl scout and a small camp fire (both shown below). Again, both pieces are well made and follow the artwork but they’re just not all that exciting to me. The girl scout’s almost two-inches tall and doesn’t have any articulation at all; she’s forever frozen in a pose of surprise (no doubt because she spotted her friend who is shown in the dragon’s belly). The camp fire — and the girl, for that matter — are just basic accessories included with the dragon and aren’t all that exciting.

Closing Thoughts

There are a lot of designer toys in my house that I love but every now and then something like this finds its way into the house. Gina’s a fan of dragons, and no doubt sees more here than I do, but I’m a bit indifferent to dragons. This is a solid, well-designed toy that closely matches the artwork but to me it’s a toy that doesn’t have much value. It’s without any articulation at all, not even a solid piece, and could easily be replaced with a $20 art print.

I’m just happy that there are toys that Gina likes since it gives her an excuse to stay interested in my own hobby of collecting plastic bits. This isn’t a terrible toy, but it’s not so exciting that I’m gonna recommend that anyone rush out and grab one.

It’s not that Philip Reed hates dragons, but it’s just that he doesn’t have the same sense of “ooooo, dragon” that other people do. And a cute dragon? Nah. Not really as exciting as a terrifying dragon.