Dragons! Huge, powerful reptiles, with mighty claws and a flaming breath! They are known throughout the world….. as fictional creatures. Nonetheless, the repute of these mythical monsters have been passed to a few giant reptiles of the real world, those whose power, size and ferocity earn it the reputation. The most famous, of course, is the Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis), a relictual species of monitor from a time when the world had many bigger monitors prowling around.
This figure is a pretty decent size, measuring 6.7″ long and 1.5″ high, so should fit in with most mass produced lines. The pose is very dynamic, prowling along, whilst scenting the air with it’s long, forked tongue. Maybe it’s finding dinner.
The colours chosen are very interesting. Whilst it features the red patterns seen quite frequently on Komodo dragons, it forgoes the usual grey for a greyish-green, a pattern that is seen on Komodos but far from as frequently. They do have a variety of colours, so it is nice to see a company adding variety, rather than using the grey and red used in most models. The tongue is a little pale in my opinion, but works well enough.
The high quality and mighty look of this figure makes it easy to recommend. The different colour scheme and active pose only add to this, making it stand out in any collection. This was made in 2009, so tracking it down online would be easier than in stores. If you see it, I recommend getting it, it is a real beauty!
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When I was picking a Komodo dragon for my Syntoptic Collection, I was having a hard choice for ‘standard-sized’ figures. It came down to this figure and the one by Mojo. I like the dynamic pose of this one, but I liked the color of the Mojo figure better. Well, I got the Mojo one but maybe some day this one will replace it.
CollectA is supposed to release one this year but there is something peculiar about it I was curious what others thought. The CollectA 2020 figure has an gaping mouth and the forked tongue is sticking out. Is this biologically possible? Or at least realistic? Curious what others have thought about this.
I’ll agree that it’s slightly odd, but given the flexibility of the tongue, it’s not impossible. Could be taking in the scents that covered over it’s tongue.
Yeah, the tongue sticking out is possibly, at least in other monitor lizards, so I assume this also goes for V. komodoensis. However, it is a threatening pose, shown mainly by juveniles of actively defending species as V. griseus or by feigning death poses by more elusive forms as V. dumerilii. Never seen that myself on any specimen nor on photo for V. komodoensis I think.
Nice review, really like the figure, despite its inaccuracies. But it has such a nice pose and is so unconventional amongst all the other V. komodoensis figures and nevertheless looks natural.