Sunday, November 9, 2014

Turok: Dinosaur Hunter - ADON!

Turok: Dinosaur Hunter - Adon: Keeper of the Forever Light - Playmates 1998

My first exposure to Turok was in the 1980s when my Dad would buy me and my brothers stacks of vintage comics from flea markets. My older brother would grab all the war and combat-themed issues, my younger brother would get the Sad Sack-type "funny" books, and that left the horror and Turok: Son of Stone issues for me. I still have a ton of them and I love them all. I loved feeling like an expert among all the kids at the comic shop when Turok made a comeback in 1993 from Valiant comics and everyone thought he was new. Ever since then he's had a constant, but low-key presence in pop-culture (including a current comic series by Dynamite and a series of well-received games). This action figure series is based on the second game (of six) called Turok 2: Seed of Evil. In these games (and most of the more modern comics) the simple concept of a pre-Colombian Native American man being trapped in a dinosaur valley was drastically changed. Now Turok is a modern man. There are guns, aliens, and vehicles. The best thing to come out of all the changes, however, was this blue-skinned alien named Adon.



Adon serves in a Sorceress-type role to the main playable character, Turok.  She gives guidance, backstory, and details about the alien races populating the Lost Land.  She also speaks with the wisdom of all her predecessors.  I had seen images of this toy on various websites over the years and was never impressed.  But then I saw her for the first time in person a few months ago and was really surprised.  She's a beauty.






















One of my favorite things about Adon is her hair.  It has a really dynamic sculpt and has an unearthly periwinkle color to it.  Whenever I saw images of this figure in the past, I assumed her hair was in a tight nondescript bun.  The reality is much different.








Another really great thing about Adon is her arm articulation.  There are no crazy ball-joints or anything, but there are instead some well-placed cuts that give a surprising range of motion.  She's articulated at the shoulders, the top of the gauntlets, and her wrists.




The angled cuts let her arms do this:





And this:





Adon comes with three weapons (and a figure stand):  The Chronosceptre staff, a Pulse Rifle, and an Alien Weapon.  I'm assuming that these weapons are meant for the Turok figure to hold.













Here are some images of Adon from the games and print material.


















And here are some images showing Turok's evolution over the years.








(The newest version actually hearkens back to the way things were in the 1950's comics).
















Time for a Comparison Shot!




Cheers!





4 comments:

  1. Iv always thought that pictures of this figure online never did her justice. Her colors make her very striking in person. Iv had mine standing beside my Xebec Toys Devilman Lady for over a decade because of the matching colors.

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    1. Yeah she looks very plain and boring in most photos but surprisingly dynamic in person. I've actually been looking into Devilman figures for the first time recently. Still haven't bought any but I have my eye on a few. Who's your favorite Devilman lady?

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  2. Do you have any Devilman figures from Fewture designed byYasushi Nirasawa? They are pretty wild. i did not liked them when i saw them years ago, bu i love them now. I have PsychoGenie and Welvath. They are strange and too sexual, but not as obscene as most manga stuff. Nirasawa is quite an amazing designer. Ive become a bit of a fan, thou i know next to nothing bout manga.

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    1. I do not have any Devilman figures currently, but interestingly enough I was just researching them recently and almost bought a couple. There's an obscure Devilman character I've been hunting down for years with no luck. I think she was only released in Japan. Not sure if she was Fewture or Marmit though.

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