1986 Monkeywrench

Monkeywrench is a weird figure. By far, he’s the most forgettable Dreadnok and his accessories don’t fulfill his role as an explosives expert. Despite this, he’s not my least favorite Dreadnok, in fact, I actually rank him higher than a number of other’s including Road Pig and Zandar. He does have flaws, but they don’t ruin him as a figure.

As a sculpt, I find Monkeywrench to be rather impressively detailed. The grenades, patches, pistol, the weird red ties around his legs, it all contributes to a fairly detailed look, at least compared to other early Dreadnoks. I think the only thing I dislike about the sculpt is the size of his head. It’s a bit small, but really I think it just looks worse when compared to other vintage figures that have larger noggins. Still, it’s an inconsistency that hurts him when displayed with many of his contemporaries.

The worst thing about this figure is his accessories. The only thing he comes with is a grey, trident launching harpoon gun. The character mainly deals with explosives, and yet they just included this random piece of junk with him. This weapon is one of the most boring, useless parts in the entire ARAH toy line, it definitely doesn’t add anything to Monkey Wrench here. Personally, I have a tendency to equip him with a grenade launcher, usually the one from ROC Heavy Duty.

I think a big draw to this figure is just his usefulness as a generic Dreadnok who looks pretty good. He’s easy to throw in a diorama with just about anyone. He never really did get much character development, appearing only briefly in the cartoon and not doing much of substance in the comics either. It’s easy in that regard to use him as pretty much anything you’d like.

So for all things considered, Monkeywrench is probably one of the best fillers you can get to pad out your Dreadnok ranks. He goes well with almost anyone and can be acquired at fairly cheap prices. He’s not a strong figure or character that stands well on his own, but he fills his own niche nicely.