Thanks to the proliferation of film, comic book and cartoon characters, companies are bombarding consumers with an incredible selection of action figures. With tongue in cheek, let’s take a peek at some of the specimens worthy of a place in Zad’s Toy Vault.
Dale’s RV
McFarlane Toys celebrates the continued success of AMC’s famed zombie television show with its latest collection of The Walking Dead Construction Sets. Owners assemble vehicles, scene environments and characters from the ghoulish series in a micro scale format with the potential to create their own post-apocalypse diorama.
The burgeoning collection now includes the Governor’s Room, Daryl Dixon on a chopper, a prison tower, a second wave of 2-inch-tall figures such as Rick Grimes and Tyreese and a famed Winnebago manned by a gentle soul caught up in the horror.
Figure profile: (paraphrased from packaging) A mobile safe haven for the original Atlanta survivors, this vehicle served as a refuge, a vantage point, and even a place of happiness and hope in a dangerous world. Often seen atop his RV, Dale Horvath is the lookout, moral compass and one of the original leaders of the group.
Buildability: Assembling 468 tiny blocks and pieces is all that stands between mature owners to appreciate one of the more iconic vehicles from “The Walking Dead” comic book and television series.
As I descend into madness during the 3.5-hour construction process, watching my skin ripped from my fingers from hard-edged bricks and my eyes watering from the strain of rummaging though 16 bags for tiny pieces, I think about the satisfying completion of this complex hybrid kit that takes its cue from both traditional Lego sets as well as Revell’s SnapTite models.
That conclusion of the process is a 1973 D-27C Winnebago Chieftain, 10 inches long, 4.5 inches high and 3.5 inches wide and loaded with incredible, exterior detail.
As per Zadzooks tradition, I offer a few tips and observations of my harrowing build experience.
• Well, I assembled 461 out of 468 pieces and had a few to spare. However, at some point during the process, I lost the tiny steering column bar that attaches the wheel to the dashboard. After an exhaustive search by multiple family members for this proverbial needle in a haystack, I gave up and instead cannibalized a rod from a Lego set and crafted it to fit. I assured myself, it’s this level of ingenuity that allowed man to survive for so many years on the planet.
• The roughly 90-page manual was near spot-on with directions but some color anomalies as well as tiny print made me need to pull block sections from assembled areas and replace them with other blocks. I cursed the McFarlane color-proofing minions.
• No matter how many configurations and adjustments I tried, short of tape, my functioning RV door refused to stay shut. I am a failure.
• This set could have easily had 100 fewer pieces and still delivered the same level of authentic detail while not making builders go through assembling a gantlet of multi-sized and one-sided, multicolored block layout, especially with the rear and side panels of the RV.
I could only imagine Todd McFarlane did this just to make the final prize so much sweeter for the lunatics who dare tackle this masterpiece in the making.
On a very thankful note, I only needed to worry about a dashboard, steering area and a driver and passenger seat for the RV’s interior or I would have been building for at least another hour.
• The last 30 minutes of the build present the most potential for catastrophe as a short list of very tiny pieces need to be carefully embedded on the vehicle to really make it look ripped from the television show.
One too forceful move on a electrical outlet cover, license plate or rear tail light and a builder will collapse part of brick panel and cause a chain of events to have him cry out in anguish.
Also, I suggest gluing some key areas in place to allow the finished piece to get manhandled by an adoring crowd.
Price: $54.99.
Accessories: Sure, McFarlane and his insane toy posse could have simply offered an RV featuring outstanding weathered paint detail and blocks that incorporate logos and decals baked into their design. By the way that means no stickers for those psychologically allergic to those tacky nightmares.
Instead, the company’s artisans go above and beyond the call of duty with the potential for builders to complete a near museum-quality finished product. Here’s what that $55 price point also includes:
• For the Winnebago, a detachable awning (with faded yellow stripes), soft rubber and rollable wheels, a bevy of ventilation stacks on the roof, a screen door, a rear ladder, bumpers, headlights, windows, windshield, antennae and side mirrors.
• For those taking a break while watching the undead meander, a pair of lawn chairs; a blue-ribbed version and a red version that attaches to an umbrella with red stripes.
• The set includes a buildable Dale Horvath figure (slightly looking like actor Jeffrey DeMunn in stature) holding binoculars and showing off his wristwatch, bloodied shirt and bucket hat.
He also has a scoped rifle attached to his back, dangling precariously by a few slots in his torso and has interchangeable legs in a fixed bent position to relax in his lawn chair or sit behind the wheel.
Additionally, we get a pair of walkers, a male and female, bloodied and tattered, with the male triggering a fond memory of his live-action TV counterpart seen hanging around the RV.
By the way, those figures are truly mini-masterpieces in themselves. It’s also worth noting a few new buildable figures that are part of the second wave of blind bag kits ($2.99 each).
Note: Blind bag means a purchaser chooses from packages with either a “W” for walker or “H” for human and its luck of the draw on who or what they will get.
• Merle Dixon Walker — Daryl’s not-so-dead older brother is the star of the second wave with grayish skin tone, tattered and bloodied clothes, one hand replaced by his metallic blade contraption. He even sort of resembles his TV counterpart, actor Michael Rooker or, as one observer noted, a stern Richard Nixon.
• Charred Walker — This crispy fellow sports a nearly burnt-off and all-blackened pair of pants and shirt with translucent red head and appendages.
• Prison Jumpsuit Walker 2 — A burly fellow dressed in blue jumpsuit and so rotten to the core that his intestines are bursting out of his torso. The gory detail is admired but most unwelcomed here.
Watch it: The difficult life and ghastly demise of Dale Horvath play out in the first two seasons of “The Walking Dead” television show. Each are compiled in the Blu-ray format by Starz/Anchor Bay Home Entertainment (averaging $20 each) and ready to binge-watch over a long weekend.
Read all about it: Those looking to learn about Dale and his tragic life, in sequential art, can begin with Image Comics’ “The Walking Dead: Volume 1 Deluxe Hardcover” (averaging $62). This massive omnibus edition (measuring almost 13 inches by 9 inches) offers the first 24, black-and-white issues of the comic book that made creator Robert Kirkman a pop-culture legend.
What’s it worth: McFarlane Toys has created an addiction near as potent as heroin for hardcore fans of “The Walking Dead” who love a challenge. His company’s entrance into the competitive block-building worlds of Lego and Mega Bloks gets more cemented with every demented set he releases.
Dale’s RV and its maddening attention to accuracy, next to the Governor’s Room set, is by far my favorite, despite the work involved and is an outstanding piece to add to a burgeoning undead mini-universe.
Now, get ready for the collection to expand this fall with a Woodbury Assault Vehicle ($39.99) as well as Upper and Lower Prison Cells ($12.99), a Catwalk ($29.99) and prison boiler room ($19.99) for builders to set up their own penitentiary of horrors.
And, just like I would expect from Mr. McFarlane and his love of pop-culture excess, he has secured the license for construction sets based on the “Game of Thrones” TV show. Get ready for those releases later this fall.
• Joseph Szadkowski can be reached at jszadkowski@washingtontimes.com.
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