Over a year ago, I posted an article on the Ghoul, the first
and least entry in the Nightmares of
Lovecraft line by now-defunct State of the Art Toys. Now, in honor of
October and Halloween, I thought I’d do some work on some more monstrous
figures, and thought Dagon would be a good place to start.
Dagon is the star of the Lovecraft story of the same name, a
sea monster deity whose connection to the Great Old Ones is not entirely clear,
but assumed. Worshiped as a god by the Deep Ones and the Esoteric Order of
Dagon, the character is elevated to Great Old One status at a time after its
inception. A writhing fish creature in
that wonderfully vague Lovecraft descriptive fashion, Dagon represents the
first opportunity in the series for some creative licensing, as it is a far
less traditional monster design than the fairly rigid ghoul, and the SOTA
sculptors took full advantage of that. This Dagon is a serpentine mass of
tentacles and snake tails, with four skeletal arms sticking out of its back and
a six-eyed head incorporating a maw that looks like a composite of the most
terrifying parts of the most terrifying deep sea creatures. You know, the
bioluminescent kind that attract their prey and then ambush it. The maw is
surrounded by finger-like appendages that curl inwards towards the gaping and
unhinged portal. It is a truly frightening appearance.
The four arms allow for some slight movement, jointed where
they join the body, able to move slightly forward and backward relative to the
head, and in limited circular motion on what would be the figures’ Z-axis. They
seem to be intended to give the piece more of a three dimensional look, as one
of the arms points behind the figure, and one of them more obviously forward
than the other two. These arms are very thin, and feel incredibly fragile. This
figure has moved with me to four different homes, and it is without a doubt the
single most piece that occupies that part of your mind that worries something
will be damaged or broken during the process, but has survived fully intact
every time thus far. The limited arms movement is the only movement the figure
is capable of, as it is a static piece. Some of the tails and the head look
like they are capable of being moved, but they are very secure, and I’ve never
been a brave enough soul to apply excessive pressure to them to determine if
they actually do move. This is not the kind of figure that is meant to be
posed, rather intended to rely on its sculpt to showcase its dynamic nature,
and in that Dagon is a great success. It lacks the extra pieces that helped the
ghoul work, like the sculpted base and hand held corpse, but Dagon doesn’t
really need anything extra.
The figure is highly detailed, and gorgeously painted in an
array of earthy colors. The figure transitions from a brown surface to a very
slight blue tint to a bright white underbelly, and the change from one color to
the other is excellently rendered in shading and gradients. Dark reds adorn the
bumps on the tentacles, and the head and back spines are composed of a similar
but more vibrant red. The head and spines are a bloodier red, I think is the
best way to describe it. The four arms are the color of the blueish midcolor in
the transition of paint on the body, and if you’re in to visual storytelling,
they give Dagon a sense of perhaps being one of those sea creatures that
burrows under the sand and catches unsuspecting prey as it swims past. Something
that seems underappreciated, but the figure is also ever so slightly glossy,
allowing your mind to determine that it’s a wet look, in character for a sea
monster. 
The head is a particular highlight of a particularly
marvelous sculpt. The mouth hangs open in an eternal shriek or roar or
waiting-to-be-fed state, and it is ghastly to look upon. The lower jaw is an
open, empty space, raising questions as to how Dagon would actually eat anything
it put in its mouth that wasn’t immediately swallowed or shoved down the
throat. Maybe Dagon doesn’t actually eat anything, but rather chews and bites
for the sake of doing that, more of a malicious action than one of sustaining
the beast through nourishment. A terrifying thought, really. The inside of the
mouth is sculpted and shows a throat opening, as well as various inner mouth
surfaces. The outer surface of the head is pocked and cratered and brain-like,
nothing like a smooth fish head that we find in most real world sea life. Dagon
in general hints at various types of marine animal, mostly of the predatory
variety, but isn’t close enough to anything real to actually signal a
particular, actual animal(s). That is a very central tenant of horror, isn’t
it, that sense that the thing you see is like
a real thing, but is somehow so different that it doesn’t actually resemble
the real thing at all. 
Dagon is a monstrous presence, but is simultaneously a truly
gorgeous piece. It’s the best piece of the Nightmares
of Lovecraft set, and is the one of the three figures that really, really
exemplifies what an absolute shame it is that these figures are so hard to come
by. If you’re in to horror fiction, or figures from horror fiction, or monsters
or creatures, or generally have any interest at all in this type of
collectible, then Dagon is a piece that you should absolutely try and hunt
down. I’ve never seen these in readily available quantities or easily obtainable
regularity, but if anything about Dagon strikes your fancy, it would absolutely
be worth the time and effort, and potentially money, to add it to your collection.
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