Drago
Dragonzord by any other name…
Playmates, Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad, 1994

In 1984, Transformers addressed the age-old of question of ‘what’s cooler than alien robots that turn into cars’ with the answer ‘alien robots that turn into dinosaurs’.  The next logical step, of course, was to embrace not the prehistoric but the fantastic.  Dragons, the icon of fantasy, would come to the forefront of robotic animal-like warriors in more shows than not.  Probably the most iconic in the children’s entertainment arena would be the Green Ranger’s Mechagodzilla-like Dragonzord in the first two seasons of Might Morphin Power Rangers.  Other shows would follow in its iconic footsteps and the Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad would be no different.

Background
Xenon was not the only aid that Servo had in the battles against Kilokahn.  Fighter jet Torb and flying bazooka Jamb could combine to become Servo’s dragon friend cleverly named ‘Drago’.  While Xenon was Servo’s stronger, more mighty companion, Drago was meant to be more ferocious and animalistic.

Appearance – 5 out of 5
Much like Synchro, Drago looks pretty much spot-on to his character in the show.  While the Drago in the show is a little stouter and a little, well, filthier, the toy still matches his overall colors and proportions very well.  The feel of little details is especially captured as you run your fingers over the toy, feeling like how you might expect the character in the show to feel.

Construction – 4 out of 5
Very solid and very sturdy, this figure is probably the single best figure in the entire line.  Both pieces (Jamb and Torb) feel very solid and sturdy and can stand up to a beating.  All the connection points are rugged and give when they should give, and stay when they should stay.  There are a few joints here and there that can feel a little loose, but they are far in away nitpicking issues and not major problems.

Movement – 3 out of 5
This is a little hard to score because the toy itself isn’t terribly mobile, but then neither was the character in the show.  The hips, knees, and ankles move linearly and the arms have multiple joints, but they also only move linearly.  The head can rotate up and down a bit, but not much.  While some lateral or rotational movement might have been nice, there’s not much that the Drago in the show does that this figure can’t replicate.

Extras – 1 out of 5
Like Xenon, Drago cannot hold any of Servo’s weapons nor is there any place for him to store any of them either.  He comes with no additional parts for Servo (not exactly; see next week) or anything for Xenon either.

Packaging – 3 out of 5
As with Xenon and Servo, the packaging was vividly colored with bright, vibrant colors against a blue background.  The Drago packaging was especially outstanding because of how the warm-colors jumped out on the toy shelf.  It may help to explain Drago’s generally higher popularity versus Xenon’s.

Overall – 3 out of 5
Drago is kind of the opposite of Xenon.  While Xenon’s individual pieces of Borr, Tractor, Vitor weren’t much to write home about, Jamb and Torb are almost more fun than Drago.  Drago looks cool, but can’t really move all that much.  Torb is an intimidating-looking fighter jet that can play air support to good guys and bad guys alike, depending on the disposition of the kid playing with them.  And Jamb just looks badass.  Without Servo, don’t be surprised if Drago remains in his individual pieces more than combining them.  But with Servo… well… 🙂