WotC Drizzt Do'Urden Action Figure Available for Pre-Order

Hasbro Pulse announced today an exclusive Drizzt Do'Urden action figure as part of their Hasbro Pulse pre-order system.

From the product description:

Fans and collectors can finally add one of the most popular and recognizable Dungeons & Dragons characters to their action figure collections with the Drizzt Do’Urden figure!

Imagine epic battles from the Forgotten Realms with this Drizzt & Guenhwyvar 6-inch-scale action figure 2-pack! Featuring multiple points of articulation, these highly poseable figures feature premium design and deco, inspired by the Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance video game. Drizzt & Guenhwyvar come battle-ready with 10 accessories, including iconic swords Icingdeath and Twinkle, 6 cards featuring exclusive artwork, and an oversized Icewind Dale d20. And with custom artwork by Max Dunbar, the Dungeons & Dragons Drizzt & Guenhwyvar package will make a mark on shelves. Available exclusively through Hasbro Pulse.

Includes: 2 figures, 10 accessories, 6 cards, and Icewind Dale die.

• A drow from the Underdark city of Menzoberranzan, the third son of Matron Mother Malice of House Do’Urden -- born on the eve of battle
• The highly poseable, fully articulated Drizzt and Guenhwyvar 6-inch-scale figures feature premium deco, inspired by the Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance video game
• This Drizzt action figure comes with 10 character-inspired accessories, including 2 swords -- Icingdeath and Twinkle -- and the Figurine of Wondrous Power
• This Hasbro Pulse exclusive action figure 2-pack features custom artwork created by the talented comic book and concept artist Max Dunbar
• This Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms Drizzt & Guenhwyvar action figure set is available exclusively through Hasbro Pulse, and comes with 6 cards and an oversized Icewind Dale d20

Ages 12 and up

WARNING: Small parts and small balls.

The announcement also came with an interview with R. A. Salvatore about Drizzt and Dungeons & Dragons in general as well as an interview with Max Dunbart that features concept art from the box and character design for the figure. The figure is available for pre-order now with an estimated shipping date of December 18, 2020.

Note: Like all Hasbro Pulse pre-orders, this offer is only available for residents of the United States and its territories and Canada.

 

[Azzy]

Drizzt is passable (aside from the constipation face), but Guenhwyvar is awful.

 

[EthanSental]

Once hasbro and Mattel went for the “look 27 points of articulation” design, figures have too many joints for my tastes, Drizzt looks decent since the cloak clothing covers some up but the panther is ugly due to the same excessive joints.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I thought one of his swords sparkled, like a crappy soppy vampire, rahter than both being icey?

Also the best, and first (? certainly mainstream), pic he was light brown skinned!

View attachment 126706

That's from the era where Keith Parkinson managed to make Drow look like they were in a Blaxploitation movie, though, isn't it? Not exactly a time WotC want to remind people of when they're claiming Drow aren't meant to be in any way black people.

Hasbro Pulse is meant to be a pre-order system to judge interest in more niche products. They normally use it for like variant Transformers or expensive high-detail GI Joe figures or stuff like that. Normally, items that reach their threshold for production end up going if not the normal mass production for Hasbro, at least enough that they'll get wide distribution. It's kind of the same with HeroQuest that's going on right now too, you can't get it in Europe, Australia, etc. right now, but when they actually produce the game, it'll probably go through normal distribution chains and thus make it overseas.

I mean you've seen how expensive shipping is for individual products on Kickstarters from here in the states if you're in the UK so you know it'd be the same on Pulse. While it would be nice if Hasbro would give people the option if they want to pay the increased shipping, VAT, etc., I can also understand why they'd want to avoid that hassle. Especially since they're typically niche products for a company used to massive product distribution of hundreds of units per SKU and dozens of SKUs per line going to millions of stores across the country and the world...

I feel like if the shoe were on the other foot here, instead of people being vaguely "Well you have to understand..."-type dismissive, there'd basically be a riot.

HeroQuest is a British game, designed by British people, which sold extremely well in Britain. It's a much bigger part of a much larger number of British people's childhoods than it is, say, Americans or Canadians, I would suggest.

Were, say, GW publishing an American game, by American designers, which was big in America, and not bothering to ship it to the US, or even provide that option, there's no way these sort of excuses would be being rolled out, imho (I mean, you may well be British, but I'm saying the general tone re: the product would have been extremely different).

It's already weird that they stripped out all the Warhammer stuff to republish HeroQuest - it's just insulting that they aren't shipping it to the country it's actually from. You say "Oh well the market will deal with it..." (i.e. "the usual channels"), but I think that's very unlikely. I suspect it will sell out pretty much instantly whenever what tiny number of units they allow for come through the "usual channels", and then British people will likely be looking at even more inflated prices as it gets resold and so on.

 

[Zander]

Cool though it is that they are bringing out a Drizzt action figure, I don’t think they have captured his good looks particularly well.

My favourite depiction of the character is from the Legend of Drizzt graphic novels.

As for 3D representations, I prefer my Kre-o/LEGO mash-up. Since taking the picture below, I have replaced the cat I was using for Guenhwyvar with a LEGO black panther.

 

[Coroc]

I thought one of his swords sparkled, like a crappy soppy vampire, rahter than both being icey?

Also the best, and first (? certainly mainstream), pic he was light brown skinned!

View attachment 126706

50 shades of pink

 

[Coroc]

Art director: "So Drizzt is a 60 year old dark elf."
Artist: "Wrinkly old guy in black, got it."

ROFLMAO, what would he have drawn if he wrote 600 year old ?

 

[Coroc]

They've been slowly evolving the drow for the last three editions. Here's what Drizzt looked like in 4e:

View attachment 126696

So this isn't something new, they've been responding to criticisms about the depiction of the drow for well over a decade at this point.

Well lt least he looks like an elf in this one, which is clearly the best of all the examples in this thread.

And people who complain on his teint in any way:

1. He is an elf
2. He is a product of pure fiction
3. He is an elf - Not a human with makeup
4. What prejustice do you have against (fictional) humanoids with dark skin? Are you a racist eventually ?

 

[Retreater]

Can we get Warduke next?

 

[Stefano Rinaldelli]

Drizzt has almost always been depicted as some form of purple since his first appearance.

Cause a black drow couldn't have been good.

 

[Blue Orange]

Just for fun...

In the old goldbox games (1989-1991), drow showed up twice. Once as black with purple highlights (it was an EGA 16-color game), then again as purple...only some of the little combat icons were blue. (They were all multiclassed spellcasters in Pools of Darkness, mages tended to be blue and the priests purple though there was one purple wizard. I don't think I ever figured out what they were going for there.)