Tag Archives: McFarlane Toys

#0593: Rick Grimes

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

RICK GRIMES

THE WALKING DEAD (MCFARLANE)

RickComic1

When McFarlane Toys first launched their Walking Dead figures, they were…well, they were pretty darn terrible. The sculpts were weirdly proportioned, they looked very little like the characters they were supposed to represent, and their articulation was awkward at best. They had launched the comic and TV-based lines pretty much simultaneously, and both were met with a less than stellar reaction. So, the comic line went on hiatus and the show line…um, removed the articulation? Just for one series, anyway. Then the TV line revamped itself with Series 3, to a fair bit of success. The comic line followed suit, and has been doing a lot better. Let’s look at the line’s most recent take on the lead character Rick Grimes.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

RickComic2Rick was released in Series 3 of McFarlane’s comic-based The Walking Dead line. The figure stands about 5 inches tall and has 22 points of articulation. Losing a hand generally cuts back on articulation, so he’s down a few points there. Rick’s based on his look post issue 50 or so. He was pretty consistently grizzled from that point forward, so this figure can represent just about any point in the series after that. Rick has what appears to be an all-new sculpt. It’s possible his legs might be shared with a previous figure, but I really can’t tell. Like Andrea’s, Rick’s sculpt does a pretty great job of managing to look like artist Charlie Adlard’s illustrations while still managing to have a decent real world feel. I don’t think the head sculpt is quite as good a match for the art as Andrea’s, but it’s not too far off. The body sculpt does a great job of capturing Rick’s more diminished build as the series has gone on, and it features some fantastic detail work, especially in areas such as the bandaged arm. Rick’s paintwork is pretty well handled. His colors are RickComic4appropriately dulled without being too boring. He’s got a substantial bit of blood splattering, which adds a nice battle worn touch to the character. It’s also worth noting that, unlike Andrea, Rick’s arm joints are molded in flesh tone, so the color won’t scrape off. Rick is armed with his revolver, a hatchet, a shotgun, and an assault rifle, which is a rather impressive assortment.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up Rick here at the same time as yesterday’s Andrea, from Cosmic Comix during a pretty great sale. I had actually though about buying him a few times before, but just never got around to it. I was happy that he didn’t have any of the breakage/molding issues that Andrea did. He’s not the most exciting figure of all time, but he’s a pretty solid take on the series’ lead character and definitely worth a purchase, though maybe for not for quite the full price.

RickComic3

#0592: Andrea

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

ANDREA

THE WALKING DEAD (MCFARLANE)

Andrea1

The Walking Dead is a massively successful television show, however, as just about everyone knows, it didn’t start out on the small screen. The brand began its life as a comic book series, which itself became rather successful. McFarlane Toys managed to snag the toy rights to both the comic and TV incarnations of the series. Things didn’t start off so great for either line, but McFarlane seems to have turned the lines around. The TV line has become their main focus, but they haven’t abandoned the comic side of things. Today, I’ll be looking at their version of Andrea, a character who was treated a little better by the comics than she was the show.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Andrea2Andrea was released as part of Series 3 of McFarlane’s The Walking Dead comic book line. The figure stands just shy of 5 inches tall and features 26 points of articulation. On my figure, one of the wrist joints was broken out of the package, so she lost a point there. Andrea is based on her appearance in the series from around the issue 90-100 range. She’s got the scar she received during her stay at the prison, but it seems to have faded, as it did later on in the series. This means that she matches pretty well with the other two human characters in Series 3 as far as the timeline of the books. Andrea has an all-new sculpt, which does a pretty good job of capturing how she looks in Charlie Adlard’s illustrations. The face, in particular, is spot on to her design. What’s nice about the sculpt is that she stays true to Adlard’s style while also still looking like a fairly realistic person. There are plenty of fine details throughout the sculpt that add some pretty great dimension to the figure. Even though she’s a comic-based figure, she probably wouldn’t look too out of place with the TV-based figures. Andrea’s paint isn’t terrible. For the most part, the details are clean, and there isn’t really any slop or anything. I wish they had molded her arm joints in flesh tone plastic instead of painting them; a few poses and the paint’s mostly gone, revealing an unappealing grey. Some of the paint is also a bit on the thick side, which tones down the sculpted detail quite a bit. Andrea includes a knife, pistol, and her trusty sniper rifle. It seems like my figure was towards the end of a stock of plastic, as the knife and pistol both appear to have just a little less plastic than they should.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

A while ago, I stopped reading The Walking Dead, due in no small part to a rather adverse reaction to the comic’s 100th issue. The show was enough for me. At that point, the comic line of figures was on an extended hiatus between Series 1 and 2, so when the line returned, I had moved away from all things comic related, so I didn’t pick up any of the figures. So, why did I pick up Andrea? Well, a few things. For one, as I noted in the intro, I was never totally pleased with the show’s handling of her. Secondly, Cosmic Comix was having a sale where Walking Dead figures were $5. That was a substantial enough mark-down that I figured I’d go for it. The figure’s got a few flaws, several of which I’m sure are isolated to my figure, but are flaws none the less. At full retail, I probably would have been slightly disappointed. At the price I paid, she’s really not bad, and she’s certainly on par with anything from the TV line.

#0462: The Governor

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

THE GOVERNOR

THE WALKING DEAD

So, last day of Walking Dead stuff (at least for a little while). In my review of Carol, I mentioned how the TV Show has really turned around my opinion of some of the comic characters who have made the transition.

The Governor in the comics generally seems to be a rather popular character. However, I’ve never really cared for him. To me, his over the top nature and the fact that he was completely devoid of any likeable traits just made the character rather annoying to read. In the show, he was given a much quieter demeanor and numerous episodes focusing on his rationale for the things he did. He was still a bad guy and he was still crazy, but he was a wildly more intriguing character. So, let’s have a look at the figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Governor was released in Series 6 of The Walking Dead TV-based line from McFarlane Toys. This marks the second Governor figure in the TV line, following his first figure in Series 4. The figure is a little over 5 inches tall (David Morrissey is a tall dude) and he has 23 points of articulation. Sadly, he’s the only (human) figure in this series not to get the new style hip joints, but his long coat would have restricted them anyway, so it’s not too bad. The first Governor figure was based on his look in early Season 3 (though a later look was possible with the extra eye-patched head), where as this one depicts him after he’s begun to sink more into his villainous side. In his default setup, this figure depicts the Governor from smack-dab in the middle of Season 3, but it can also represent the character’s later appearances. Starting with Series 5, each series of the line has one figure that’s built on a previous figure. The Governor takes that spot in this series. He makes use of the pelvis, legs, feet, and hands of the Series 4 Governor, as well as a slightly retooled torso, an all-new head and arms, and an add-on for his coat. Issues with the old hip articulation aside, the re-used pieces were all pretty good the first time around, and they add some nice consistency between the two figures. The new pieces are quite well sculpted, which is really great. The new head sits just a little bit too high on the neck, but the coat collar covers the issue for the most part, and the head itself is pretty fantastic. The head is really well detailed, and it’s a very good likeness of David Morrissey. Paint seems to be a pretty consistent issue with The Walking Dead figures, and the Governor is no exception. There’s a bit of slop, especially around the edges of the bandaging on the head, and the hands and lower face both have a rather inconsistent wash. Other than that, the paint is actually pretty good; the clothing is sufficiently detailed, and there’s lots of work done to bring out the details of the sculpt. The Governor includes an alternate head with an eye-patch (the same as the one included with the last Governor), an assault rifle, a handgun, and a knife. While the alternate head presents a more default look for the Governor, it’s not as well sculpted or as well painted as the bandaged one; it looks a little like his face is sliding off. The assault rifle is a nice piece, but the figure has some serious difficulty holding it, meaning he’s pretty much limited to the knife and the handgun.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Governor was ordered via Amazon, along with Rick and Abraham. I have to admit, he was probably the figure I was least interested in this series, for whatever reason. In hand, that all changed. I can’t say that the Governor’s really any better than any of the other figures in the series, but for whatever reason, I just really like this figure. He just looks really cool!

#0461: Abraham Ford

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

ABRAHAM FORD

THE WALKING DEAD

Hey hey, more Walking Dead stuff. Today’s character, Abraham Ford, is probably one of the few characters that I was actually waiting to see on the show, as I quite liked him in the comics. The character on the show is similar to his comic counterpart, but he’s been given a different relationship with the main cast, which makes for an interesting change up. He also showed up a lot quicker as a toy than a lot of people expected. Usually, a character has a little bit of a wait after showing up on the series before they can get their own figure, but Abraham here was announced almost as soon as he’d shown up. So, here he is.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Abraham is a part of Series 6 of The Walking Dead TV-based line from McFarlane Toys. He’s about 5 inches tall and he has 26 points of articulation, which includes the new style hips, which I am definitely a fan of. Unlike most of the figures in this series, Abraham is based on his earliest appearances in the show, though that still places his look somewhere in mid-season 4, which means he lines up pretty well with the rest of the characters in the series (with two exceptions). Abraham features an all-new sculpt, and it’s a pretty good one at that. He’s definitely a bigger guy than the others in the series, which is nice to see. It also helps to further distance him from the tiny wrists that used to plague the line. The figure has a pretty much spot on likeness of actor Michael Cudlitz, which is great to see. I’m also oddly fascinated by the gloves, which are just really well sculpted. The only real issues with the sculpt are the tops of arms, which are sculpted to look natural hanging down, but look odd when placed in other poses. While the paint on this figure is better than a lot of the others in the series, there are still some oddities about it. For the most part, the basic paint work is pretty clean and seems to avoid any real slop or bleed over. However, there’s a dark wash that’s been applied to the figure’s skin that looks odd in places. Specifically, it’s too heavy on his face, and then it just ends abruptly and starts back up further down. It looks strange. Abraham includes an MP5, a Desert Eagle, and a knife.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like Rick, Abraham was purchased via Amazon. I had actually seen Abraham a few times on his own, but I didn’t want to get him without the rest of the series. In hand, Abraham is one of the more solid releases from the line, though I can’t say he’s the most thrilling. Still, he’s certainly not a bad figure, and I’m sure he’ll be even more desirable once the rest of his group are released.

#0460: Rick Grimes

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

RICK GRIMES

THE WALKING DEAD

We now return to our regularly scheduled reviews of things Ethan actually owns!

When The Walking Dead television series first started up, McFarlane Toys was pretty quick to pick up the license to it. They kicked off the line with a few zombies, as well as lead character Rick Grimes and fan-favorite Daryl Dixon. Unfortunately, the figures weren’t exactly good. The line reformatted in Series 3, and the quality took a serious upturn. However, this left Rick, the show’s central character, without a figure that matched up with the rest of the characters. McFarlane has attempted to fix this issue, releasing a new Rick as part of the latest series.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Rick is part of Series 6 of McFarlane Toys’ The Walking Dead TV line. The figure is roughly 5 inches in height and he has 26 points of articulation. Like Carol and Hershel, Rick sports the new style of hip joint, first introduced on the deluxe Daryl, which greatly improves the figure’s pose-ability. Previous Rick figures were based upon his appearance in the first and second seasons, but this one depicts Rick with his more rough look from seasons 3, 4, and 5. Like many of the characters on the show, his post season 3 look is more identifiable as the character, and shows the character after he’s grown more comfortable in the world of the show. Rick’s sculpt is all-new to him, and it’s generally very well done. The figure is (mostly) well-proportioned and well detailed. The figure also seems to be moving away from the odd wrist joints that have plagued the last few series, which is good to see.  The head definitely has more than a passing resemblance to Andrew Lincoln (sculpturally, anyway) and that’s nice to see in light of the last two Ricks. The torso is the only real issue; for some reason, they’ve made him slightly pear-shaped. Rick is very svelte on the show (something that tends to happen when you’re a survivor of the apocalypse who doesn’t have a consistent source of food), so it’s noticeably wrong for him to be shaped that way. As good as the sculpt is, the paint is probably the worst I’ve seen in the last few series. The clothing is okay; the colors work and they look appropriately grungy. The biggest issues lie on the face. The flesh-tones are really thick, and the hair is at best a close approximation of what staying in the lines is supposed to be. There’s a lot of slop, and a lot of spots that just seem to be missing the appropriate colors. The skin tone of the face is also too dark, which is only made worse by the fact that the skin on the rest of the figure is deathly pale. And that’s not even mentioning whatever that is that’s growing on Rick’s neck. He might want to have that checked out, it looks unhealthy. Rick includes a decent selection of accessories, which includes an alternate bandaged right hand, his signature revolver, a machete, a handgun with a silencer, and a set of clamps.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After finding Carol and Hershel at Cosmic Comix, I decided to finish up the rest of the Series 6 set, so I purchased Rick here from Amazon. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t just a little let down by this figure. The prototype looked really good, and I think the sculpt is genuinely a pretty good one. Sadly, the paint just isn’t up to snuff, which is a shame. Still, this is the best Rick that McFarlane’s released so far, and he’s not terrible when placed with the rest of the survivors.

#0454: Hershel Greene

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

HERSHEL GREENE

THE WALKING DEAD

Being a rather dark, usually bleak show, The Walking Dead is the kind of television show that needs to have some sort of moral compass, generally present in one character in particular. Unfortunately, on a show such as TWD, moral people don’t always hang around the longest, so it’s a role that has been handed down a few times. Perhaps the character to best fill the role is Hershel Greene, the subject of today’s review. He stared out jaded and harsh, but after about a season on the show, he grew into one of the most genuinely loveable characters on the show. McFarlane has seen fit to add him to their line of figures, so I’ll be taking a look at that figure today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Hershel is part of Series Six of the TV-based The Walking Dead line. The figure is about 5 inches in height, with 26 points of articulation (or 25, depending on which leg you use). Hershel’s appearance is based on his look from the show during the third and fourth seasons. The figure depicts Hershel following the loss of his leg. It’s a good look for Hershel, and it’s definitely the look I’d associate with the character while he was at his best. The figure has an all-new sculpt, although it’s worth noting that the majority of this figure will be re-released in Series Seven, along with a new head. Simply put, Hershel’s sculpt is fantastic. The head is the spitting image of actor Scott Wilson, and every inch of the figure is covered in some really great detail work, and all of the proportions are right on. In his default setup, Hershel has a stump where his right leg used to be. The leg is well done, and looks like a partial leg, so… umm… there’s that I guess. Paint can be spotty on the TWD line, but it doesn’t seem to have affected Hershel here. All of his paintwork is nice and clean, with no real slop or bleed over. He also got some incredible texture work, especially on his clothing. And, in what may be a first for this line, no wonky eyes! Yay! Hershel comes packed with a set of crutches, an alternate false leg to swap out for the “stump”, and a small handgun that goes in the holster on the front of his belt. The crutches are great, and he can actually balance on them, which is cool. The alternate leg is great for the season four look, and it swaps out nicely. Hershel has a little trouble holding the gun, but he wasn’t exactly known for his shooting, so that’s okay.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like Carol, Hershel was a purchase from Cosmic Comix. I wasn’t quite as excited for Hershel as I was for Carol, but he’s still one of my favorite characters from the show. This figure surprised me. I thought he’d be okay, but this figure may well be the best one in the line. He’s that good!

#0453: Carol Peletier

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

CAROL PELETIER

THE WALKING DEAD

The Walking Dead television show has grown into something of its own beast. While it’s still following the comic in a few respects here and there, for the most part it’s taken a path all its own. The show has made a lot of its changes through characters who weren’t around in the comics, but occasionally they make changes to comic characters that are for the better. Case in point: Carol. In the comics, her character never really amounted to much of anything. In the show? She’s easily become one of the most important characters. And for good reason; she’s pretty darn awesome! McFarlane Toys has seen fit to add Carol to their line of figures based on the show (and there was much rejoicing!)  I’ll be taking a look at that figure today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Carol was released as part of Series Six of McFarlane’s TV-based The Walking Dead line. The figure is just shy of 5 inches tall and she sports 25 points of articulation. Most noteworthy, she has the new style of hip joint, first used on Daryl, which is a serious improvement over the Series 4 figures. Like many of the characters on the show, Carol’s look has gradually evolved. This figure is based on her look around the end of season 4/ beginning of season 5. It depicts her after she’s grown a bit more comfortable in the post-apocalyptic world. Gone is the really close cropped hair; in come the combat boots! It’s a pretty great look. In order to facilitate this look, McFarlane has given Carol an all-new sculpt. I have to say, I’ve warmed up to this sculpt a fair bit since first getting the figure. That aside, the sculpt isn’t quite as good as some of the others in the line. Overall, the proportions aren’t too bad, though she still has the skeletal looking wrists that plague most of the line. Most of the issues are with the head. It’s not terrible, though it seems to lack some of the more attractive features of Melissa McBride’s face. I can’t really point to anything specific, but something seems off. I don’t know. Another reason that diagnosing troubles with the sculpt is difficult is the paint work. The face really seems to get the worst of it. The eyebrows seem a bit misplaced and the eyes are too small and too close together. Also, her hair has too much black in it, which just further throws off her look. The weirdest bit of the paint is the black dots on her nostrils; I’m not sure what the idea was here, but it just ends up looking strange. All that said there are areas where the paint is magnificent; some of the detail on the clothes is really great. Carol is packed with a revolver (which is also sculpted tucked into the front of her belt), he signature knife, and a gas can, which has actual, readable instructions on how to use it! That’s quite impressive.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Carol was purchased from Cosmic Comix, my comicbook store of choice. I’ve been anxiously awaiting the release of the Carol figure pretty much since she was announced, so I picked her up as soon as I saw her. While I have a fair share of complaints about the final figure, as a whole I think she turned out okay. She looks nice with the rest of the group and the figure’s really started to grow on me since getting it.

Guest Review #0005: Ranger Elite

Posted by Tim Marron in Guest Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

RANGER ELITE (SANGHEILI)

HALO REACH

IMG_0645

Today’s review is written by Tim Marron.  Check out more from Tim over at Tim’s Blarg and Timsical Thoughts.  Take it away Tim!

When it comes to video games, two of the traits I tend to look for are the presence of shootbangs, and a high level of polish. I don’t mean that in the sense of the game being thoroughly tested and fine-tuned, although that is also desirable. No, I mean it’s got lots of shiny things. As many of you probably know, the Halo franchise meets both of these criteria consistently across titles and it is from this series that today’s figure comes. I’ll be taking a look at the Ranger Elite from Halo Reach, the origin story of the Halo universe.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

For those of you not familiar with the Halo games or lore, Elites, or Sangheili if you really want to show off, are a species of alien that are part of a military coalition known as the Covenant. This specific figure is part of McFarlane Toys’ fifth series of Halo Reach action figures and depicts an Elite in the Ranger armor. He features 25 points of articulation and stands about 6″ tall, when you can get him to stand, that is. The sculpt is pretty accurate to the look from the game and is mostly original apart from the feet, hands, and lower torso which are reused from all previous Halo Reach Elites. There are some seam lines and kibble, but anyone handy with an X-acto knife should be able to remedy these easily enough. I do appreciate how the Elite’s face can be partially seen underneath the transparent visor of his helmet instead of, say, having the visor be painted on opaque… and the wrong color. I’m looking at you, DC Direct (see my review of their Tali’Zorah figure). The sculpting does start to be an issue when it runs into certain areas of articulation on the figure. Places like the knees and elbows are sculpted to match as closely as possible to the shape of the character model in the game. However, the simple hinge joint they used on the figure aren’t entirely compatible which results in the knee caps and elbows peeling away from the rest of the arm or leg when you bend the joint. This forms weird little spikes that aren’t meant to be there and can be a little pinchy if you aren’t paying attention. The paint is decent although hardcore collectors will notice some serious areas of slop and bleed over. That being said, the average casual collector such as myself will be totally fine with the paint which has a nice variety of textures like metallic and even pearlescent in some areas. The Ranger Elite comes with a Focus Rifle, Plasma Grenade, and back plate that can be removed to attach a jetpack from one of the other figures in this line. I would have liked a stand of some kind because he is a touch on the wobbly side, but it’s not that big of a deal given that this is probably the most toy-ish action figure I have. This guy isn’t meant to be stood up on a shelf, he’s meant to be played with, and I kinda like that.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This figure was maybe one of my most impulsive impulse buys. I got him from Toys-R-Us, where I had gone initially to browse the Nerf aisle (ask me about my Nerf collection, I dare you) in search of an early release. I only saw it as I was wandering back through the store. The combination of my favorite Halo armor design along with one of my favorite weapon designs both in one box caused an involuntary reflex in which I took the figure to the checkout, purchased it, and walked back to the car. Ok, maybe it wasn’t involuntary but I am glad to have the figure. It does have its issues as a figure, but as a toy, I give it a resounding BLARG of triumph.

#0198: T-1000

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

T-1000

MOVIE MANIACS

Terminator 2 is a very good movie. In fact, it’s probably one of my top 5 favorite movies. A lot of that is because of the film’s primary villain, the T-1000. That guy was just super cool!

Back in the early days of “collectible action figures” McFarlane Toys put out a line called the Movie Maniacs, which was a compilation of figures from lots of famous horror, suspense, and slasher movies. The figures featured detailed sculpts, which was new at the time, but were rather infamous for their lack of useful articulation. Amongst their figures they released were both the T-800 and the T-1000 from T2.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The T-1000 was released as part of the fourth series of Movie Maniacs. He has a few possible looks, but overall, he’s based on the character’s appearance from the last act of the film. The figure is about 7 inches tall and has 8 points of articulation. As with the rest of MM, he has very little articulation, and what he does have only really allows for one real pose. It kind of sucks compared to recent stuff, but it wasn’t too bad for the line. At least the T-1000 had an okay default pose, which is more than can be said for a lot of the MM releases. The sculpt is pretty good, especially for the time. It has more than a passing resemblance to Robert Patrick. The body is better work, with lots of nice textures, folds, and such. The paint work is okay, though there is some serious slop in some areas, and some of the flesh toned areas almost look like they’ve been dunked in mud. The figure does feature a nice selection of accessories, including a whole extra torso, head and arms for his exploded look, a hand gun, swap out hook hands, and a display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I actually hadn’t yet seen T2 at the time of this figure’s release, so I didn’t get it new. I ended up picking this figure up from my local comic book store (Cosmic Comix & Toys, for those of you in the area), got in a large collection of loose action figures. I fished out the T-1000 and all his pieces, which quite excited me! To top it all off, the store owner sold it for $3. It’s not a perfect figure, but it’s a pretty good one, and for that price, it was more than worth it.

#0179: Daryl Dixon & Chopper

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

DARYL DIXON & CHOPPER

THE WALKING DEAD

It had a rocky start, but McFarlane’s The Walking Dead line is really becoming one of the better toylines around.  I recently looked at a few of the figures from series 5, and was quite impressed overall.  Today’s character is fan-favorite Daryl Dixon, who was actually one of the very first characters released in the line, way back in series 1.  However, that figure had more in common with Kevin Federline than it did the esteemed Mr. Dixon, so he was definitely one of the most requested re-dos.  McFarlane seems to be pulling out all the stops for Daryl, and went ahead and released him along with his distinctive chopper.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Daryl and the Chopper were released as a boxed set, which is loosely serving as a supplement to series 5 of the main line.  Daryl stands about 5 inches tall and has 27 points of articulation (the box says 25, but it’s 27.  Perhaps McFarlane needs to work on their counting skills?).  Daryl has a brand new style of hip articulation for the line, and it’s definitely an improvement over the other figures.  Hopefully, McFarlane will be making this a standard feature.  The accuracy of Daryl’s headsculpt seems to be a matter of opinion, with some claiming it’s spot on and others claiming it’s totally off.  I fall somewhere in between;  it’s not a perfect likeness, but it’s obviously Norman Reedus.  The rest of the figure’s sculpt is tremendous.  All of the clothing has the appropriate textures and such, and it really looks like a real person.  The paintwork is pretty good.  There’s no real slop, and there’s some dry-brushing and washes that help bring out the sculpted textures.  Daryl includes a knife that can be sheathed and his trusty crossbow, which has three removable arrows.  There are slots for four arrows, so I may have been shorted one.

THE VEHICLE ITSELF

The Chopper is more an accessory to Daryl than its own item, but the work put into it is still top notch.  The bike is about 4 inches tall and 6 inches long, and it has movement in four places.  The sculpt is nothing short of amazing.  All the parts line up correctly, and it’s perfectly scaled to Daryl.  The tires are even real rubber, which is a cool touch.  The paintwork is exceptional, which plenty of texturing and weathering, as well as the appropriate logos and such.  The license plate even has realistic wear, so it really looks like it’s been through an apocalypse.  The Chopper includes two bags that can be set on the back, as well as a small stand to allow it to be displayed on the shelf without the kickstand down.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked this set up from Amazon, back when it was up for pre-order.  I honestly only picked it up for Daryl, but the Chopper is amazing piece of work, and shouldn’t be overlooked.  Overall, this continues the upturn in quality from McFarlane, which is definitely cool to see.  I can’t wait for the next series!