Spin Master Relabels their Mini-Dragons Catalogue

Fans of the mini-dragon line of toys made by Spin Master for the How to Train Your Dragon TV series, simply titled Dragons, is getting a packaging update for 2015. This might be to help consolidate current packaging runs which keeps on updating itself with new figures. This sub-line of products is selling very well and more figures are released nearly every few months.

Not all of these mini-dragons from How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Defenders of Berk can be found on toy store shelves. In what can be found through visits to many top shops, perhaps some fans have puzzled over the fact that dragons from the second film, namely Skullcrusher, Bewilderbeast and Cloud Jumper, were packaged to look like they were from the television series. The eagle-eyed collector in the know may mistake them for misprints and snatch up these dragons like Eret hoping to make a bit of money. However, speculating on toys is just as tricky as investing in comic books. Sometimes the demand is not there. Amazon’s third-party market sellers and speciality toy stores are making a huge profit by selling these $5 (MSRP) figures for nearly four to eight times its value!

These variants can command a higher price only when they are well made. That may explain “Racing Hookfang.” This particular model has lime green skin with blue wing-tip and snout highlights. The mottled black looks out-of-place when compared to previous models that were simply made from a red plastic mold, with very little added detailing. In the film, Hookfang’s racing stripes consisted of yellow markings on his wings and face.

Thankfully, time was spent in getting the detailing right for this figure, including painting the teeth white. This particular attention to detail is preferred over the original toy.

“Barf and Belch” seems odd because this dragon looks like he is still forming inside an egg because of the toy’s translucent yellow quality. The Thunderdrum is deep purple. He looks very jovial when compared to his fearsome version. To complete this new set of releases, Toothless returns in his crouching (strike position) pose.

The level of detailing is fairly decent, but they do not quite match up to the first two waves of figures. The mold lines are noticeable. Hopefully the next round of figure releases will be better as Spinmaster works out the kinks in this latest round of Dragons toys.

A checklist of all the figures available from this line is as follows:

Author: Ed Sum

I'm a freelance videographer and entertainment journalist (Absolute Underground Magazine, Two Hungry Blokes, and Otaku no Culture) with a wide range of interests. From archaeology to popular culture to paranormal studies, there's no stone unturned. Digging for the past and embracing "The Future" is my mantra. View all posts by Ed Sum