World of Warcraft Mega Bloks Sindragosa & The Lich King was the set I absolutely could not wait to purchase from Mega Bloks WoW Series 1. And I didn’t–I got the set and built it quite a while ago. So why’s the review so late? Insane as it may sound, I’ve been holding out to take photos of the set in the snow. Unfortunately, due to global climate change, that meant no review until Mid-December. On the bright side, I’ve had months to enjoy this set before reviewing it, and have come to the conclusion that the Mega Bloks World of Warcraft Sindragosa & The Lich King set is definitely a must-buy for Warcraft fans…

The Right:

Sindragosa gets top billing in this set, so I’ll begin with her. The Frost Wyrm of the blue dragonflight, Sindragosa was raised by the Lich King himself. Sindragosa is the first dragon in the Mega Bloks Warcraft line, although MEGA Brands is no stranger to dragons–they produced an entire Dragons Universe Mega Bloks line for several years before this.

Sindragosa is a pretty quick and simple five minute build, and most of the time building her is adding her spikes and icy tiles onto her body. You can have Sindragosa built and ready to fly the Lich King into battle in no time at all!

As she should be, Sindragosa is a huge and intimidating beast. While there are already several other animal mounts in the World of Warcraft Mega Bloks line, Sindragosa is vastly larger and more articulated than any of the others.

There’s an incredible amount of articulation engineered into Sindragosa’s lithe body, including a grand total of 17 moving joints–of which 16 are ball-joints! To give you an idea of how poseable Sindragosa is, there are four free-motion ball-joints just on her tail!

Whether Sindragosa wants to walk, sneak, bite, fly, attack, lay down, or lash her tail, this Sindragosa Mega Bloks figure can do it all. I genuinely have no idea what MEGA Brands could have done to make this dragon any more super-articulated than it is without adding joints to each individual claw (which seems unnecessary to me).

Most accompanying figures would be a step down after the glory of Sindragosa, but the Lich King is almost as impressive himself. If there has ever been a Mega Bloks figure with better paint applications than this Lich King figure, I don’t know what it is. Seriously–all of the paint applications on this figure look outstanding, and I genuinely think he’s one of the best-looking figures I’ve purchased this year from any company paint-wise (including the Halo figures from McFarlane Toys and Hasbro’s Marvel Legends!).

The final component in this set is a small environment of the Lich King’s Frozen Throne. I was pretty ambivalent toward the frozen throne up until I built it and saw what a nice job MEGA Brands really did with it. One of my favorite parts of this already excellent set is the extremely cool “icy” pieces that are part of both the frozen throne and Sindragosa herself. Mega Bloks took clear blue bricks and added white and dark blue paint washes to them that makes them look outstanding. Seriously, the detail in this pieces and the visual aesthetic they add to this set really shows the difference between LEGO sets and Mega Bloks sets.

For my “Secret Loot” bonus item, I received the red Demise–a Death Knight mace introduced in the Wrath of the Lich King World of Warcraft expansion. Although the mace doesn’t exist in the game in this color, I really get a kick out of giving it to the Lich King to wield–it gives him a real Lord of the Rings Sauron-like vibe!

I’ve seen a lot of people balk at the $34.99 price-tag on this WoW Mega Bloks set, and while I love to complain (no, really–I do), I think the MSRP on this particular set is totally justified. You’re getting a Lich King figure with the absolute best paint apps I’ve ever seen on a Mega Bloks figure, a great-looking diorama of the Frozen Throne, and one of the most articulated licensed dragon toys ever made. If this World of Warcraft Mega Bloks set was priced any higher I’d be a little iffy on it, but as it is I really don’t find fault with its cost.

The Wrong:

As glorious as this set is, there’s really just one thing about it that aggravates me–the piece that’s meant to hold The Lich King’s Sword on his Frozen Throne is unsuitable for its job. The opening on the piece is too broad, and it just can’t hold the sword upright properly. You may get it to do so for a moment or two, but if you bump the diorama (or breathe on it) the Lich King’s Sword will instantly flop over and look ridiculous. No matter what I do or how many times I set it up, the sword just doesn’t plug firmly into place, and it’s really annoying.

“Where Can I Buy It?!”

World of Warcraft Mega Bloks Sindragosa & The Lich King should be available now at all major toy retailers. I got mine from BA Toys the first day the set was available, but it should be available in most stores now. Amazon has had some great prices on this set lately and has had it available for $27 shipped or less recently, so that might be your best choice at the moment.

Overall: The World of Warcraft Mega Bloks Sindragosa & The Lich King 91008 set is easily the finest item in the whole World of Warcraft Mega Bloks 2012 assortment, and just a great toy in general. The $34.99 price-tag sounds a tad high, but it’s not too difficult to find this set for cheaper online, and it’s really not that much to pay when you realize how awesome all of the indiviudal components of this set really are. The amount of poses you can get Sindragosa into with her 17 moving parts is amazing, and makes her the best dragon toy I’ve ever owned. The Lich King himself has superb sculpting and paint deco and is beyond a doubt the best-looking Mega Bloks figure of 2012. And even the Lich King’s Frozen Throne looks stellar with its great-looking icy bricks. If you’re a Warcraft Mega Bloks fan, Sindragosa & The Lich King is an absolute must-buy set and earns my highest recommendation.

GRADE: A