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Packaging - **
The box is quite large, and oddly enough
Best Buy thought that the zombie face was just too creepy for their
shelves. They covered up the photos of the case with a cardboard band
that serves no other purpose than to hide what you're buying. I get it
- you're afraid someone might complain (although considering the covers
of most video games, I'd say that shipped sailed a long time ago) but
you're screwing yourself by hiding the product in such a silly way.
The
box also claims this is a 'limited edition', but with no edition size
or numbering and no COA, it's a pretty meaningless claim.
Sculpting - ***
This is a fairly large blu-ray case, and
looks close to 1/2 scale to me. That means all the detail work is very
easy to see with the nekkid eye, and there's no need for a macro lens
to find the good...and bad.
The dead, flaky, wrinkled skin
looks
great, and the damage around the wounds has a realistic rotting
appearance. The lips and teeth are the real highlight, while the eyes
themselves are the weakest feature.
Part of that is the fault of
the next category, but the sculpting on the ooze from his punctured
left eye just isn't working for me. There's something about it that
screams cheap plastic, whereas the rest of the head has a very
life-like (or more accurately dead-like) appearance.
I'm also not
a huge fan of the elongated look of the back of the head, where the
shape is not true to a skull. It looks like this was done to help with
the design of the opening feature, but a more rounded back would have
been less alien-esque.
One of the cooler features in
person is
the screwdriver driven into his left eye. This is not a permanent
piece, which means that you can swap it out with an actual driver to
add some more realism to the overall look. It slides in and out
cleanly, and looks great. It can also act as a handle to open and close
the case, although it's not necessary.
Paint - **
Unfortunately,
I think the paint actually hurts the sculpt score this time around. The
paint work detracts enough from the sculpt that I'm probably being
harder on the case in that category than it deserves.
The best
paint is once again around the teeth and lips, where the rot and damage
is improved with the paint work. The skin and wounds aren't too bad, if
a bit simplistic, but it's the undamaged eye that really hurts the
overall look.
This is not a dead eye, a
damaged eye, or a glassy
eye. It's a weirdly colored, sloppily painted eye, and weird colors and
sloppy paint does not a realistic dead eye make.
I remember
when McFarlane blazed the trail with amazing paint work, but it seems
that this is the biggest issue they have now, and it's hurt the line of
figures as well.
Articulation - ***
It's not traditional 'articulation', but the head does open to reveal
the set of discs. It opens smoothly, and of course you don't have to
use the screwdriver as a handle if you don't want to. It's not
particularly exciting - and it's not particularly well hidden - but it
does work cleanly.
Value - **1/2
The
entire package is $60, but that's not really the price of the case.
Buying the season on blu all by itself will set you back $30, so the
case is costing you another $30. However, buy it right now and you can
take advantage of another offer - Best Buy is giving a $10 gift card
with any $50 purchase of television shows. That means the price on this
drops to $20, and if you take advantage of that you can add another
half star here.
Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing!
Overall - **1/2
The best selling point for this blu-ray case, other than the obvious
inclusion of the excellent season 2 blu-rays, is the price. It's so
rare that we actually get something pretty much worth what you're
paying, especially if you're only paying an extra $20 for the case.
Unfortunately,
the paint quality really isn't what it needs to be with such a large
collectible. I think while there are some underlying issues with the
sculpt, it still could have been a very realistic appearing zombie had
the paint been at the level we've come to expect.
Score Recap:
Packaging - **
Sculpting - ***
Paint - **
Articulation - ***
Value - **1/2
Overall - **1/2
Where to Buy -
Right this very minute, this is
available at Best Buy. Full price is $60, although you can get a deal
right now for a $10 gift card, or you can search
ebay for a deal.
Related
Links -
Other Walking Dead stuff includes Walking Dead figures series 2, the two humans
in series 2, as well as the first
series of comic based figures. And don't forget that NECA is
doing busts, one for this same
'biter', and one for this same
'walker'.
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