Mega Bloks has recently started to join the trend of collectible toys such as Pokemon and it’s step in to this realm consists of the collectible dragon series. The Plasma dragons are recommended for children of 6 yrs or older. The dragons collection and playsets include the Plasma collectibles (such as the one I purchased), Warrior figures, Battlefield playsets, Armor Dragons, Various towers and scenic pieces, Boats, Castles and various other pieces which compose a large playset which emulates a medieval world.

The Plasma Dragons come in cardboard packaging with a plastic shell. Within the plastic packaging the actual dragon is encased in a hard plastic shell. This hard plastic shell is covered in a jelly type casing which peels away enabling the plastic shell to break in to two pieces (it will click back together at anytime). Inside the shell you will find eight small plastic pieces, these pieces fit together to form your dragon. The dragon is put together using a ball and socket method and a referral diagram is provided on the back of a mini poster of the dragon. Inside the packaging you will also find a “collectors card” of the dragon, this collectors card tears away on perforated lines. There are 33 collectible pieces in the “plasma” collectibles sets which are divided by “series,” of which there are currently five. The sets are not all dragons, there are also dinosaur pieces and plasma “tech” pieces (which are robots).

The plasma dragons Prongrowl figure was affordable, it cost $4.99 which makes it an ideal toy for a child as we all know the expensive toys get treated the exact same way as the more affordable ones it’s just that the more affordable ones pack less of a punch when they go missing or get destroyed. Some toys; however, are not worth the $4.99 and your money would be better spent elsewhere. I admit that when I purchase the dragon itself I was intrigued by the packaging, I was under the impression that inside my jelly covered egg I would find a small collectors figure…instead I was faced with a handful of pieces that I had to contruct. Before I even get to this point let me just draw your attention to the packaging on this particular dragon. On the top right of the cardboard backing you will see a roaring dragon, a replica of “Prongrowl,” it was not until I got home with my figure and actually looked at the packaging that I noticed the phallic image that they would have you believe is the dragon’s leg. After seeing a penis on the cover of the toy I called in my better half to have him look at the packaging to make sure I was not seeing things…no, indeed he also saw a penis on the packaging of my newest toy. It seems that someone over at Megabloks neglected to fully draw Prongrowl’s leg on his packaging; else, they were trying to see how long it would take for the reference to get noticed. Anyway, enough about the packaging, let’s move on to the toy itself.

The dragon pieces are small, so although they are listed as waterproof (which they would be) I don’t recommend that they be used in the bathtub because pieces can get lost; however, dropping it in a sink full of water is not going to destroy the toy. The egg container that the toy pieces come in is handy for carrying around the dragon pieces in but it is unlikely that your child is going to carry pieces of a toy as opposed to the constructed toy. Piecing the toy together was frustrating, the joints consist of ball and socket joints to enable the limbs of the dragon to move. These sockets make the pieces pretty hard to put together and pretty easy to fall apart after the toy has been constructed.

Once the dragon has been fully constructed it is small enough that it fits in the palm of an adult hand, the entertainment value is limited to your child’s imagination as the toy is limited only to limb movement. Mega Bloks did add a bonus factor in to playing with these collectibles though, they made pieces interchangeable so should your child have two or three of these dragons she would be able to mix and match pieces in order to make a new dragon of her own. All in all the toy seems to fit in to recent toy trends making it a hot toy; however, I see more entertainment value, less frustration in assembly and more longevity in other toys in this price range.