As you can see, both versions of Morpheus were originally housed in their lovely window box home, but of course, they didn't stay there long once I got a hold of them. I often have bad tendencies of leaving my figures in their original packaging, but as soon as I had an Amano-inspired figure in my grasp - this thing was never leaving my collection. You can also see little Baku peeking out from the left side of the box. Hi Baku!

If you haven't read either The Dream Hunters or Ramadan, I would highly suggest you take a peek into picking up the stories themselves alongside this figure set. Both of them are very well done and delve into tales from both the Japanese and Arabic tradition. Of course, the back of the box likes to pimp out what other DC Direct figures you could pick up as well, with which I'll admit I do own both the Sandman and Death figures shown on the top row.

We'll start with my personal favorite, which of course would be the Lord of Dreams from Dream Hunters. As you can tell, they've pulled off Amano's style fantastically, which is a pretty hard feat to accomplish. I mean seriously, though, the pictures take themselves! This bad boy didn't need an ounce of Photoshopping, this is just how badass he looks!

I love the detail work with all of his jewelry, and even the inside of his cape is interesting to look at. The realistic chains attached to his biceps and wrists add a great deal of realism to the piece too, which I especially enjoy. He's the shorter of the two, though, measuring in around 6 1/2 inches tall.

The only issue is when you turn him around. Although that is relatively what it's suppose to look like, unfortunately it just looks like a really bad paint job on the figure itself. Honestly, though, who cares! When you have such an awesome looking front of a figure, why would you turn it around anyway? Then again I might have a slight crush on Amano Morpheus ... maybe ... possibly ... don't judge me ... shush!

I'll be 100% honest — I actually forgot that he had articulation in his arms before taking all of these photos of him. I usually kept his arms outstretched, and since I hadn't moved him since around the time they came out, which was sometime around the year 2000, my mind didn't quite remember that far. Funny though, now that I remembered I'm totally going to pose him around in different ways on my shelf now, especially since his articulation is actually pretty good!

We can't forget that a little Baku figure also comes alongside the set! Although Baku does kind of creep me out to be honest, it is a nice little figure. It's also in scale with the figures, so they look good together instead of being strangely out of place. He only stands around 2 inches tall, but his colors really seem to pop.

Next, we finally have the mystical and magical Arabian Nights Morpheus. I say mystical and magical because if you remember back up on the box photo it says that this figure features a mystical orb and a hover base. Well ...

... That poor seam attaching the base somewhat ruins the illusion of his magical "hover." I love the figure itself, as well as the base, but if only it could have just come as one piece we wouldn't have that weird seam issue. Since I'm in the business of being honest, the pieces actually fit together pretty craptacular as well. If you move it the slightest bit, it falls over; you try to pick it up, the two pieces come apart. It's almost a never ending battle until you find that one perfect spot (or that one small wad of paper, which is what I have it sitting on when it's on my shelves.)

Now this bad mamma jamma got his jacket at a better store than poor Amano Morpheus, as it looks much better with all of its little details. The silver paint looks crisp on the black, and just plain awesome if you ask me. I also love that they carried over the blue highlights in his hair to show depth.

When you can get him to stay on it, his base is actually pretty awesome too. It has a lot of random detail on it, and I especially love the wispy bits around the orb. The stars seem to carry down from his cloak as well which is also a nice touch. Since Arabian Nights Sandman has this base, it adds quite a bit of height to him, measuring him in around 11 inches tall!

Now, here's where the apology comes in on my part. When I originally thought about writing this set up for Throwback Thursdays, I found at least five places that still currently carried the set online. All of a sudden, they must have had a rush on it because now the only two semi-reliable places I've found are Amazon and eBay, which both currently have them.

If you're really looking to pick this set up I would definitely search your local comic shops, or even small comic conventions around your area. I've seen it still within the past few months at both types of places, so hopefully you shouldn't have too hard of a struggle. I originally picked them up at Borders in the early 2000s for $20, so who knows! You might even get lucky and find them in an unsuspecting place like that. Happy hunting!