Yesterday I mentioned that Prince Barin was the most boring figure that I had reviewed so far. I chose those words very carefully because I knew Dale Arden was next. In the original Flash Gordon comics and serials, Dale was pretty generic female in distress. In the 1980's movie they tried to inject a little life into her making her a tough tomboy type.


BifBangPow made two versions of Dale. A regular version in a black ceremonial gown and this white variant. Ming the Merciless is trying to get jiggy with Dale in the movie and these outfits reflect those times. She's in a Mongo ceremony which is why her garb is such. Both versions are identical other than the paint job.

Packaging:
There is a picture of Dale in her white dress on the front. Same deal as the rest of the figures in this series. It's neither impressive or unimpressive, it just sort of is. The old toy methodology was to not make toys of female characters because they didn't sell. BifBangPow pretty much had to make Dale, but she's just sort of there.




The back of the package is identical to the previous Wave 2 figures.

Articulation:
Yesterday's figure was the most articulated yet, so naturally today we're back to a statue. Actually no, Dale isn't a statue. Of all the figures she has the best ball jointed arms of anyone. However one of her elbows is bent and has a hinge. Why have both? You can't make both elbows straight, which again seems like a missed opportunity.


Her head is also a ball joint and that's all you get. Her legs are immobile due to her dress and she can just more her arms a bit. That said I've been able to get a fair amount of poses out her. More than Ming, that's for sure.


Unlike Ming who could have been a cooler figure with better articulation, I'm not certain that BifBangPow could have done much more for Dale in terms of articulation. A long dress such as this will always impede movement in a female character.

Sculpt:
If Timothy Dalton's sculpt was soft, this one is even softer. Melody Anderson was quite cute as Dale and this figure tries to replicate that but it does fall a bit short. A lot of sculptors have issues with sculpting women because of their softer features. Dale sort of had chipmunk cheeks and they did try to include those.


As I said, with softer female features it's hard to replicate. She has all the smooth lines, the minor indentations, but it still only seems like a passing glance of Melody Anderson. I think had the paint work been a little better on the eyes and lips perhaps more of her could have come out on the sculpt.


Some credit is due for the nice detail work on the crown. That's very much as it appeared in the movie and you can tell that they spent some serious time making sure they got everything right. It's just not enough to make her stand out.


It's still not a bad figure, but definitely the weakest in terms of head sculpt. The rest of her sculpt is good, but what's up with that right hand? She's got her pinky out up in the air. It makes her hand look a bit odd, like the Penguin's from Tim Burton's 1992 Batman film.


The rest of her paint work is solid and she's got those sparkles all over her dress which work quite well. I chose the white version over the black one because I thought she could use a little color. Plus I already have two dark black figures in this line. I need some variety. Heroines should wear white anyway.

Accessories:
If you guessed she comes with nothing like so many other figures in this line, give yourself a cookie.

Value:
In terms of value there is no doubt that Dale is the worst. Her sculpt is soft, her articulation while useful is minimal and she's the most boring character released. However every hero needs his girl, so Dale is a must for completists. I wonder if it wouldn't have made more sense to release Dale in a two pack exclusive with Ming? Oh well, what's done is done. This version was exclusive to the San Diego Comic Con and only shipped through Entertainment Earth. I think it looks cooler than the black version and it'll run you $14.99 or so...


Score Recap:
Packaging - 7
Sculpting - 6
Articulation - 5
Accessories - Nothing
Value - 6
Overall - 6 out of 10


Dale is probably the worst figure in the series. She's not very exciting, she's not a knockout in terms of sculpting, she comes with nothing and she's just kinda bland overall. BifBangPow did some nice work on her dress and crown but it's just not enough to make her very interesting. HOWEVER, if you're getting this whole series she makes a great addition. I must say having all these guys lined up together is great and they are immediately recognizable together. Now I just need a Vultan! Get on it guys.

You can purchase this figure now from Entertainment Earth just click here: