Since the second wave of the Indiana Jones Adventure Series action figure collection only features two figures from “Dial of Destiny (namely, Harrison Ford as the aged Indy himself and franchise newcomer Phoebe Waller-Bridge as his goddaughter Helena Shaw), it only makes sense that the final wave of figures should bring a couple more. In this case, we get Mads Mikkelsen as the film’s primary villain, the scheming Dr. Jürgen Voller, and Antonio Banderas as Indy’s ally Renaldo (looking a bit like Vincent Cassell), who gives Dr. Jones and Helena a ride on his boat to a key location in their pursuit of the Antikythera, or Archimedes’ dial.
While the likeness of both characters from “Dial of Destiny” is fantastic, these action figures struggle to fit the “action” part of the equation. They’re great for completists, especially for those who need the necessary pieces to create the buildable artifact that comes from this wave of figures, but otherwise, there isn’t much exciting about them. While the inclusion of Voller makes sense as the film’s villain, I’m not sure why we didn’t get an action figure of Ethan Isidore as Teddy, the young sidekick traveling with Helena who is actually a big part of the movie’s action sequences.
Ethan Anderton
On the more positive side, I must say that the glasses included on Voller are considerably better than most action figures that give bespectacled characters their key accessory. They actually fit snugly on the face and the lenses don’t look cartoonish at all, which can be difficult to achieve on this scale. At the same time, I’m shocked that none of the “Dial of Destiny” characters actually came with Archimedes’ dial as an accessory. That seems like a ridiculous oversight. But at least Voller has a satchel!
I know it sounds like I’m ragging on these particular figures, but if you’re going to force fans to buy them in order to build the artifact, then the figures should have more redeeming features. But again, I’d still like to compliment the quality of their sculpts and small details. Plus, the rest of the collection is satisfying enough to make up for it.
