Review – Shikaruna Dorol

Gargantuan! That’s the first word that came to mind when I cracked open the box holding this 10+ inch tall Dorol kaiju toy. This monstrous vinyl toy towers over the other kaiju in my collection, and actually holding the toy in my hands immediately told me just how much fun I had been missing out on by being scared of the Dorol’s usual price. Fortunately, a deal on Skullbrain got me to take the leap, and now that I have this kaiju monstrosity I can say that I’m looking forward to seeing more of Siccaluna Koubou’s work with toys.

A Hunchbacked Beast

The Dorol leans over menacingly, it’s weight kept in check only by the ridiculously long right arm and skull-clad fingers that give the toy effectively a tripod stand. The “hump” of the monster is a collection of skulls, and as you look closely at each of the photos I’ve snapped you’ll count more and more skulls scattered across the body. It’s this hunched look that first caught my eye when I saw the toy in An Encyclopedia of Kaiju, and the effect is quite impressive when you can see the toy on the shelf right in front of you.

Unfortunately, the Weight and Size Cause Problems

The toy has limited articulation, but the heft of the beast means that even though the right arm can swivel at the shoulder if you position it anywhere except as shown the entire toy topples forward. You can swing the left arm out a bit, but go too far and the toy falls on its face. I’m betting that some creative collector out there could fill the toy’s legs with resin to make it balance better, but I wish that the creator had put some effort into adding a tail or something else to stabilize the toy so that I could pose him with both arms stretched out.

Impressive!

But even with the balance issues the toy’s size just keeps me loving it. The last photo in this review shows the Dorol next to one of my Steregon toys (review here) and the Dorol just towers over that mid-sized vinyl toy. There’s no way that words or photos can demonstrate just how massive the Dorol is; clearly we need a toy convention here in Austin so that I can give every single one of you a chance to hold the toy and play with it. I swear that’s the only way to truly appreciate any kaiju toy, and the Dorol’s size just has to be seen in person to really understand how awesome it is.

Sculpt

You need to enlarge every single photo in this review and look closely at the Dorol’s features; from the teeth on the primary head to the clawed toes every detail of the toy is excellently crafted. The sludge-like “skin” that covers the toy, with skulls peeking through in places, is smooth where appropriate and holding the toy I can’t help but wonder just how long it took to sculpt the piece. It’s truly a work of art, and the only thing I can see that may bother some of you is the choice of colors/paint style that was used on this particular Dorol.

A Rainbow of Paint

The Dorol features an okay paint job; I would have rather seen something more focused and darker than the stripes of color. It’s not that the paint is sloppy or misapplied — though there are some spots where the paint has rubbed away and the naked vinyl is showing through — but it’s that this style of paint doesn’t make the toy as neat for me than if it was painted with fewer colors and a more natural appearance. But who am I to say what is a natural appearance for an insane skull-covered beast?

Closing Thoughts

The Dorol really isn’t for everyone. With a retail price typically around $100, a strange look, and a paintjob that’s nothing like we see on most mass-market action figures this kaiju monster speaks to a small selection of toy collectors out there. And while I am very happy to have been able to add this toy to my collection at a reasonable price, I have to say that one Dorol is enough.

You see, unlike the Screaming Pumpkin (review here), the Dorol design just doesn’t feel like one where I would love to own a variety of different colors of the same sculpt. It’s a great toy, but between the size and the paint style I see on the various Dorols out there — not to mention the price — my collection is perfectly happy with a single Dorol on the shelf.

It’s a great toy, but it’s one that looks fantastic on its own and doesn’t need any brothers.

Philip Reed now needs to really get on it and snag the yellow and orange Screaming Pumpkins from Toy Tokyo. Maybe the pumpkins can team up and fight this Dorol.