Zandar (2011)
So Zartan’s brother finally gets the modern treatment, and I have mixed feelings about it. The original figure never made a whole lot of sense to me, particularly in comparison to his uber-cool brother.
Most of this new figure from the BigBadToyStore exclusive Dreadnok battle pack is a straight interpretation of the original, though there have been some welcome improvements. The new head sculpt goes a long way towards making him less of a fop, particularly due to the lack of the original’s raised eyebrow. Making his scarf larger helps to disguise some of the floating shoulder pad look that’s been common to all the Zartan family members.
The blue is more baby blue than the original, which is kind of an odd touch that takes away from the more realistic look of the modern style sculpt. The inclusion of the Eels speargun is also odd, but I suppose that they were going for a look similar to the original figure’s weapon. The new crossbow is a very well detailed weapon.
Zandar is available along with six other figures in the Dreadnok battle pack at BigBadToyStore. A GI Joe set, Slaughter’s Marauders, is also available.
Looks like some high-schoolers I saw the other day.
The thing about Zandar is that “nobody ever notices him.” This ended up being the case for collectors given his bad rap. He wasn’t given much to do in the comic or cartoon, while his sister Zarana ended up in the DIC series and DDP reboot without having a figure on the shelves. Zandar’s outlandish colors seemed out of place in the 80’s and terribly dated today. And yet, I always felt he had potential. The head sculpt on this update makes him look tougher, so that’s a plus. The crossbow is a cool addition. Given the right story and writer, I think there’s still a chance for Zandar to make his mark among the ‘Noks.
I’m thinking of painting his headband black and slapping the head on another body and using him as Outback’s brother, who’s “gone native”.
I love the vintage version and it’s goofy colors, but for once, Instead of an update , Hasbro should have re-designed the figure from the ground up. He looks like what an old person in the 80’s thought a punk rocker might look like. BTW, even though I bought the Dreadnok 7-pack from BBTS, I can not help but think that most of the dreanoks are pretty stupid actually.
I agree with Jeremy about a complete overhaul of the characters figure. I’ve always wanted to so badly to like this character, but the figure made it terribly difficult. Zandar was one of the reasons I never cared for the Dreadnoks when I was younger. The outlandish punk rockers didn’t fit with my vision of the Joe universe. This one unfortunately doesn’t look any better.
Great figure!
Zandar reminds me of Justin Timberlake playing Robin Gibb to Jimmy Fallon’s Barry Gibb on Saturday Night Live’s Barry Gibb Talk Show. He’s just a non-entity.
“Zandar to have anything to add?”
“No, no I don’t.”
This gives me an idea….I think I know a way to properly distribute the confusing accessories amongst both 7-pack figures. Bear with me on this one:
-Taurus gets the silver cartoon rifle because it’s mean to homage his original figure’s stocked pistol; he also gets the sword that comes with Road Pig.
-Red Dog should have the grenade launcher that comes with Falcon, since all he’s got is a pistol and football.
-Road Pig should get the crossbow that comes with Zandar because it’s supposed to homage his original figure’s wrist-mounted one.
-Falcon gets the tactical shotgun that came with Mercer.
-Barbecue should get the drum-fed M-16 Falcon comes with.
The original Zandar was a figure that I remember as a childhood favourite, even though I am not sure when I ever got him. Surely some well meaning Grandparent thought the ginger with the lightning marks would be a hit, eh?
I never read the comics, so I didn’t know he was such a background character, and when I played, he was a bit of a tough guy.
Mine: http://www.joedios.com/dioramas/showimage.php?i=41895&c=7 .
Awesome figure!