Tag Archives: The Walking Dead

#1217: Michone

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

MICHONE

THE WALKING DEAD (MCFARLANE TOYS)

michone1

So, I guess The Walking Dead TV-show starts up soon.  Or maybe it already started back up.  I don’t actually know, because I haven’t watched the show since about fifteen minutes into this season’s premiere, nor will I be going back.  But, I’ve still got all these figures, so…yeah…  Here’s Michone.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

michone2Michone was released in the first series of McFarlane’s comic-based The Walking Dead line, which hit around the same time as the TV show’s series premiere.  The figure stands about 5 inches tall and has 18 points of articulation.  So, right off the bat, there’s the weird scale thing.  I’ve looked at the TV line and one or two of the comic figures, so the scale’s not new to the site, but it was actually new to this particular line.  It was an odd choice to say the least, since the rest of the industry was doing either 3 3/4 or 6-inch scale at the time.  McFarlane’s gotta be different.  Michone is based on her first appearance from the comics, which is a fairly standard look for her, but at the same time a bit gaudy compared to the character’s look as the series progressed.  The sculpt is alright, I guess.  It certainly wasn’t as bad as some of how of the other figures from the earliest days of this and the TV line.  That being said, while the sculpt isn’t bad, it’s also michone3kind of boring.  The pose is just sort of her standing with her hand holding the katana downwards.  There’s also pretty much no trace of Charlie Adlar’s art style in the sculpt; she instead looks like just some generic sort of super model or something.  Not exactly very indicative of Michone as a character.  I guess it could be worse, though.  She’s not the ultra-hideous figure that the first Rick was.  At the very least, the paint on Michone is actually pretty solid.  The colors are vibrant, which works surprisingly well, and all of the application is very clean.  Miocene was packed with her katana, a power drill, and a spoon.  The sword is pretty much expected, but the drill and spoon are some pretty fun issue specific pieces, even if she didn’t use them in this outfit.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I bought the corresponding Rick figure from this line first, which didn’t really make me want to pursue any of the others.  But, Cosmic Comix had their biggest sale of the year going, and she was 40% off, which was enough for me to go for it.  It’s hard to get super excited about this figure, but she certainly could have been far worse.

#0841: Farmer Zombie

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

FARMER ZOMBIE

THE WALKING DEAD MINIMATES

FarmerZombie1

I have *a lot* of Minimates. The vast majority of them were purchased because I actually wanted them, or was invested in the character presented. However, some of them I have for no other reason than “they’re Minimates.” Today’s focus, the Farmer Zombie, is one of the latter.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

FarmerZombie2The Farmer Zombie was released in the third series of The Walking Dead Minimates. He was double-packed, and could be purchased with either Prison Hershel or battle-damaged Tyreese. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and has the usual 14 points of articulation. The Farmer Zombie is based on a zombie that appeared in issue 49 of the comic. He uses the basic ‘mate body, along with an add-on piece for his hair/the saw-blade stuck in his shoulder. The add-on piece attaches from the bottom of the head, slipping over the neck peg, rather than plugging into the top of the head like most ‘mates. The piece works reasonably well, though it does greatly limit the posability of the head, since the whole thing’s all one piece. As with most Minimates, paint is this figure’s strongest suit. The base colors are suitably drab, and the detail work is exceptionally well-handled, with some great texturing and depth, which makes the guy actually look pretty darn creepy. The Farmer Zombie’s one accessory was a clear display stand, though my figure was lacking his.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Series 3 is actually where I stopped really picking up Walking Dead Minimates, so I didn’t get this guy new, nor did I feel any huge need to track him down later. I ended up getting him when I ordered a random loose “Mystery ‘mate” from Luke’s Toy Store, along with a few other items. I wouldn’t have gotten this guy otherwise, but I’m glad I did, because he’s actually a pretty well-put-together ‘mate.

#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.

#0448: Carol Peletier

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

CAROL PELETIER

FUNKO POP!

For Day Eleven of the Christmas Reviews, let’s have a look at something a little (but not totally) different. The Doctor Who reviews have wrapped up and the Alien reviews will be finishing up tomorrow. So, today, I’ll be taking a look at another Funko Pop! figure, this time based on the widely popular comicbook turned TV show The Walking Dead. It’s a figure of one of the show’s rising stars Carol Peletier (whose last name I did not know until I owned this figure. So there.)

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Carol is figure #156 in the Funko Pop! Television line. This version is the Hot Topic exclusive blood splattered version. The figure is about 3 ½ inches tall and she has the requisite one point of articulation. It may not be much, but at least it’s consistent. Carol is based on her season 4/season 5 appearance. It’s a good choice because that’s when she truly becomes awesome. The design has been adjusted to fit into the Pop! style. It’s not a style that works for every character, but it works rather well for Carol. The sculpt is surprisingly well detailed for this style of figure. Her clothes are loaded with lots of wrinkles, to give them the appropriate worn look. She’s also got very nicely detailed boots, with all the proper straps and such. She’s even got her knife sheathed on her belt! Like many Funko offerings, this figure’s weakest point is its paint. Granted, Carol’s paint is a fair bit better than most other Pop! figures I’ve seen. Overall, the paint is alright, but there are a few areas with bleed over and fuzzy lines. Fortunately, this figure’s blood splattered look helps to hide some of the rougher spots of paint. Speaking of the blood splatter, it really adds to the figure. It’s very nicely done, and it gives her that messy look that one expects from a survivor of a zombie apocalypse.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Carol is yet another gift from my Super Awesome Girlfriend Jessica. This one marks a change of pace from the Doctor Who theme present in all of her other gifts, but variety’s never a bad thing. Carol is one of my favorite characters on The Walking Dead (and Mellissa McBride is a pretty awesome person outside of the show), so I’m pretty thrilled to have her in figure form!