“With an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, a taste for gold, and a general disdain for most living things, it is surprising to learn that Xanathar’s most prized possession is its goldfish, Sylgar.”
The Hasbro Dungeons & Dragons series of figures started not with Honor Among Thieves, nor with the Animated Series, but with a deluxe set of Drizzt Do’Urden and his panther Guenhyver back in 2020. This Forgotten Realms release pre-dated the Golden Archive figures but set the initial precedent for 6-inch figures taken from the D&D Legacy - key characters from the world of D&D realised into figure form using artwork from the source material.
In 2023 Hasbro initially launched the D&D Cartoon figures, soon followed by the Golden Archive a new 6-inch collectors line to support the new D&D movie Honor Among Thieves. That line then extended back into these Legacy characters with another Drizzt release as well as a couple of monsters including Xanathar the Beholder, underworld boss of Waterdeep. Xanathar is a Hasbro Pulse exclusive and is packed into a larger plastic-free sealed box than the other figures but features the same design principles with its black base colour, golden scrollwork trim, and bright character artwork mixed in with images of the figure to confirm the contents. We also still get the angled-down corner to the top right as the box pays homage to the dice used in D&D gaming.
Out of the box, Xanathar arrives in several pieces, each wrapped or bagged in the white waxy paper and compartmentalized in the box by a three-part inner cardboard tray. The largest piece is Xanathar’s body which arrives without any of the eye stalks attached - these come in two other bags. The Xanathar piece features ten ball sockets around the body into which the eye stalks go. The fit is identical for all of the eyes, but the pieces are numbered 1-10 so you can assemble them as you see on the box.
We also get a base for Xanathar, a hollow piece sculpted in gold plastic a pile of gold coins complete with a trio of goblets buried among them. There is also an exposed skull painted in a basic bone white and crying out for a wash or some darker details. And then there is Syglar who arrives in his own tank. The central clear section has two halves meaning there is a visible joint. Sylgar is suspended by way of a clear post that sits into a gravel base. Sylgar is painted in red and black with white eyes and a black pupil. The tank is encased further with an ornate gold top and gold stand.
With Xanathar assembled he will sit on the pile of coins which is shaped for his circular mass. There is no socket or clips, Xanathar is free standing on the coins and the position can be tweaked to best suit his pose - particularly if you have the mouth open as the coin pile then needs to be reversed so the lower slant of the coins lines up with the open jaw.
Xanathar is a hefty piece and is cast as a central body in blue plastic with a ridged scale design. The lighter flesh-coloured areas that come down from his eye and around his jaw and painted and blended into the blue where they meet. The inner mouth then transitions to a pink with painted white teeth. Other details around the body include two sets of horns in grey, and a sculpted gold ring piercing in his lip. Each of the eye stalks is cast in the same blue and each end with a golden eye - some have a red central slit, and others are green. Six of the eye stalks also feature a gold ring ornament, using the same colouring as the gold base.
The main eye of the figure is an individual piece with a realistic, likely printed, eyeball design and set behind a glassy gloss finish. The eye is slotted within the figure and there is a control lever tucked away in the upper jaw and behind the teeth that allow you to move the eye around in the head.
Xanathar has 12 points of articulation with 10 of these at the base of each eye stalk and allowing some minimal movement with each stalk. We also have the eye movement and the opening jaw - as mentioned previously - allowing a degree of variety when posing Xanathar for display.
For those that have always wanted a Beholder in their action figure display, Xanathar ticks that box with a well-scaled substantially weighted piece with good decor, as well as a couple of neat functions like the articulated jaw and eye. The base is OK but I might have preferred it a bit more detailed with the skull in particular as this looks cheap. The fit is also loose and while Xanathar is supported he can slip around a bit too much - some form of clip-in base as well as a levitating option would have been preferred. I get Stylgar’s inclusion in relation to Xanathar but he too looks a bit cheap and perhaps the route to go here for Hasbro would have been a more generic Beholder to display with the Honor Among Thieves figures or with Drizzt. Here is hoping that we do get to build up the D&D collection in the future as Xanathar is a suitable centrepiece from which we can build and that is where his value will like - at the moment he is the equivalent of a Star Wars Jabba the Hutt without any of his Palace Denizons to display with him for a wider context.
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...