Review of Shane, Bicycle Girl - Walking Dead action figures

Introduction

The Walking Dead has been back on the air for a few weeks now, and it's official - it's the best show on television right now. They've started out very strong, and I think most fans are loving the new Rick.

McFarlane Toys continues their line of 5" scale action figures based on both the show and the comic books. The second series based on the show is now out, and includes 5 more figures - a different Rick, Shane, the Well Zombie, the Bicycle Girl zombie, and the RV Zombie.

So far I've only found Bicycle Girl and Shane (actually, I saw Rick too, but I don't really need another Rick), so that's who I'm reviewing tonight.

These will run you around $16 at Toys R Us, or at most online retailers. Past waves had special black and white figures that were online exclusives, but I haven't seen any yet for this series.

Packaging - ***
I like these packages, particularly in terms of the graphics and colors. They emote the feel of the show, and they are sturdy as well. My only complaint is that they don't say enough about the figure inside - for example, there's no mention of the cell phone on the Bicycle Girl card back.

Sculpting - Shane *1/2; Bicycle Girl ***1/2
One thing about this series of figures has been consistent - the zombies are much better than the humans.

Bicycle Girl looks very good, especially considering the scale. There's lots of good decaying texture, and the lips and teeth look great. There's a longing and desperation that was so sad on screen that's translated well here.

She's disgusting of course, but isn't trailing quite the amount of intestine that she was on the show. There's one small piece, and one thigh bone still hanging on.

Shane is pretty poor, perhaps the worst we've seen so far. I supposed that if you really want to see Shane in this portrait, you will, but it's a massive stretch. It's not a matter of scale - I can't see this getting any better blown up two or three times the size.

The work on his body and outfit is fine, although you better love the pose, since it's not going to be changing much. He stands just under 5" tall, which makes sense since he's in a crouch.

Paint - Shane **1/2; Bicycle Girl ***
The paint work here isn't awful, but it doesn't do a whole lot to improve on the sculpts.

Bicycle Girl is decent looking zombie, and while the wash is a little overdone, it's not bad. Some of the detail gets lost because of the predominate brown - her hair blends right into her body - but the work on the face and mouth is excellent.

Shane's a bit weaker, with some huge eyebrows. The work on his hair and stubble is good, but even the skin tone seems a bit off to me.

Articulation - Shane **, Bicycle Girl ***
While Shane is pretty much a pre-posed Nerd Hummel, he does have a terrific ball jointed neck with lots of tilt and lean action.

After that, it's pretty much downhill. There's cut shoulders, a cut waist, and one cut thigh. Yep, that's it. The package touts boldly that he can lift his shotgun - that's because the cut shoulders allow the arms that one movement, and that one movement only.

Keeping him upright is a bit of a trick as well, never a good thing with such a pre-posed figure. The right foot doesn't want to keep him standing, and there's nothing you can do to adjust it. I ended up using something small underneath it to help him stand.

Bicycle Girl doesn't need to stand, but she has far more articulation than Shane. She has a ball jointed neck too, but her hair restricts it a bit more. There's pin/disc ball jointed shoulders which work great, and there's pin elbows and cut wrists. The remaining hip bone is a simple pin joint, as is the dragging piece of intestine.

All her articulation is designed to allow the action feature to work, but if she was removable from the base it would be very useful on its own.

Accessories -  Shane *1/2; Bicycle Girl **1/2
Neither figure comes with a whole lot, and considering the price point, it's a huge disappointment.

Shane comes with one - just ONE - accessory. That would be the gun, an accessory he pretty much has to have for the pre-posed sculpt.

Bicycle Girl does a bit better with two extras. First, she has her tattered bluejeans, which can be laid over her hips and legs, covering her pelvis as much or as little as you'd like. She also has damaged cell phone, but you'll never guess that's what this little black square is supposed to be.

Action Feature - Bicycle Girl *; Shane N/A
Clearly, Shane is the weaker figure of this pair. And yet, had they NOT included the goofy action figure on the Bicycle Girl, the division of quality would have been even greater.

This action feature is the worst aspect of this otherwise decent zombie. She lays outstretched on a grassy box, with a lever on the bottom back. Push the lever forward, and she rises up on her right arm, left arm stretched out in a grasping pose.

While this is mildly amusing, it's a huge waste of money. With the articulation that's included, you could have easily posed her this way, and being attached at the side to the mechanism actually restricts how much you can alter her pose.

On top of that, mine broke on the third use, with the post snapping off right at the body. Anyone actually 'playing' with this figure would be pretty disappointed.

This is a figure that without the mechanism shouldn't cost more than ten bucks. Sometimes is appears as though rather than producing cheaper figures, companies attempt to find ways to inflate the price of mediocre figures to the current $15 tag. This silly action feature sure smells like that.

A better option here would have been to not glue the right hand to the base and the post to the right side. Make them removable, so she can be taken off the big black boxy base if you prefer. Had they gone that route, this would have been a much, much better figure.

Fun Factor - Shane **; Bicycle Girl ***
These aren't particularly great toys - as I mentioned, the action feature broke on Bicycle Girl almost immediately, and Shane is largely a statue. I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt in this category and assume others won't have quite as bad of luck with the zombie's action feature.

Value - *
$16 each? These are 5" action figures with very little action, and almost no accessories. These are $10 figures at best, and there's no way you can open up a pre-posed mess like Shane and not feel ripped.

Things to Watch Out For -
As I mentioned, my action feature broke almost immediately. Take care!

Overall - Shane *1/2; Bicycle Girl **1/2
This series has been a massive disappointment for me. There was a time when McFarlane getting a license meant an automatic hit. They set the standard in sculpting and paint, and pretty much created the collectible pop culture action figure market.

You couldn't tell it from the human figures in this series. Other companies have passed them by in quality and creativity, and if McFarlane wants to remain relevant, they need a revolution. They did it once by creating figures like nothing that was seen before, but if they don't find a way to find that creativity again, they'll become nothing more than a historical footnote.

The zombies are still worth picking up though, and you can even use some of the humans if you're not too worried about them being license accurate. If someone sees the display and asks you who they are, you can just tell them their zombie survivors...for now.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - Shane *1/2; Bicycle Girl ***1/2
Paint - Shane **; Bicycle Girl ***
Articulation - Shane **, Bicycle Girl ***
Accessories - Shane *1/2; Bicycle Girl **1/2
Action Feature - Bicycle Girl *; Shane N/A
Fun Factor - Shane **; Bicycle Girl ***
Value - *
Overall - Shane *1/2; Bicycle Girl **1/2

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Other Walking Dead reviews include:

- the second season blu-ray release included a cool Zombie head case.

- before that we had Walking Dead figures series 1, 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'.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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