Todd McFarlane and his team of twisted designers dare collectors to create their own zombie apocalypse with “The Walking Dead” building sets and mini-figures collection.
This line-up of ludicrously detailed pieces mixes 2-inch-tall versions of characters and in-scale environments from AMC popular television series “The Walking Dead.”
The line-up includes Daryl Dixon riding a chopper along with a walker in tow, part of a prison fortress, figure packs featuring stars from the show and a mysterious hideout for one of the show’s villain’s housing an unimaginable horror.
Figure profile: (paraphrased from McFarlane Toys website) The charismatic leader of the seemingly utopian town of Woodbury, the Governor appears stern, but just. But beneath his well-meaning façade is a man with dark intentions and even darker secrets. Disillusioned by the apocalypse, the Governor refuses to let go of his turned daughter, Penny. To hide his darkest secret, The Governor escapes to a concealed lair, where he relishes in the death and destruction of this dismal new world.
Buildability: Geared for the mature, 12-year-old and older fan of the show, this hybrid kit offers 292 pieces of small bricks and flooring planks along with pieces of furniture and body appendages to construct an 8-inch-long by 5-inch-wide room with walls on two sides and recreate one of the more shocking scenes of “The Walking Dead” series.
Expect about 90 minutes of effort to assemble by following some occasionally misleading instructions (reference building the aquariums).
PHOTOS: McFarlane Toys' The Walking Dead: The Governor's Room
Here are a couple of tips while working with some of the miniscule pieces.
• Assembling the figures of a slumping Governor and Penny Blake (with bag over head) will truly tax the might of one’s fingers and patience due to the tiny size. Take a deep breath, adults with big hands. The fine detail, down to the textured sack over Penny’s head, makes the effort worth it.
It reminded me of painting miniature metal figures as a kid, except instead of painting, I am carefully attaching a torso to a pelvis peg that is way too tight (tearing a bit of finger skin in the process) or spindly, pegged arms into shoulder holes that feel like they could snap in half if too much force gets applied. Suffice to report, the process does not work well for those with large hands or any vision problems.
• Don’t panic when you see the 292 pieces. Once you assemble a couple rows of the hard wood floors (I felt like an Empire Carpet guy) and a few lines of the walls, it becomes a very quick assembly.
Also, Mr. McFarlane could have easily cut out 100 or so pieces by making the wall bricks longer like Lego often does. However, he obviously wanted to torture owners as they methodically assembled this masterpiece of the macabre.
Accessories: Once the Governor’s Room is assembled, look to appreciate some of the following cool items and features.
• The signature piece is a set of nine aquariums positioned against the back wall housing the heads of the Governor’s favorite victims. Now, here’s the cool part. Pop in the included batteries to the bases and flick a switch to see the aquariums glow. Yes, the lights cast an eerie yellow illumination upward to highlight some of the grotesque trophies.
• The Governor’s recliner, textured to look like a comfy red leather chair, actually reclines.
• Additionally, owners get a bloodied metallic door that Penny can hide behind, a lamp (requiring as much assembly work that one might find from an Ikea purchase), a bucket of dripping body parts (Penny needs feeding), gorgeously painted faux-hard wood planking and a pair of woven baskets to help with the Feng Shui vibe of the layout.
Some of the floor planks have small pegs that are used to position set pieces as well as other figures, but repositioning the floor pieces can be a challenge.
While on the topic of figures, of course, other humans and ghouls are available and sold in the intriguing and wallet-busting Blind Bag ($2.99 each).
Each bag is labeled with an “H” for human or “W” for walker, and each contains one, unassembled figure and translucent base to attach to the c-clamp on a foot. Of course, buyers have no idea what they are getting from each bag, and fondling the bag does not really help, so it could be a costly adventure.
Highlights include Michonne with blade drawn to strike (a must have for the Governor’s Room), Carl (Rick Grime’s son) in 10-gallon hat, Daryl Dixon pointing his bow to fire, one of Michonne’s pet walkers (with chain around head) and a disturbing representation of Carol’s daughter Sophia (complete with a half-eaten torso accessory).
By the way, once assembled, the tiny figures offer just a hint of articulation for those daring enough to twist an arm, torso or head on the slightly delicate pieces.
Price: $29.99.
Read all about it: Those looking to explore the heinous crimes of the Governor should purchase the massive, comic-book compiling, omnibus edition (measuring almost 13-inches by 9-inches) called “The Walking Dead: Volume 2 Deluxe Hardcover” (averaging $62).
It collects the 24 black-and-white issues (No. 25 to 48) of the monthly sequential-art series concocted by Robert Kirkman and offers the introduction and subsequent story arc involving the infamous leader of Woodbury.
Watch it: Appreciate the third season of “The Walking Dead” (available on Blu-ray from Starz Home Entertainment, $79.99 reduced to $29 through some online vendors). Watch specific episodes “Say the Word,” “Walk With Me” and “Made to Suffer” to view the infamous room as well as learn the fate of Penny.
What’s it worth: McFarlane Toys successfully dabbles with building blocks but does not step upon the sacred grounds of Lego and Mega Bloks with the Governor’s Room, as well as other pieces from “The Walking Dead” collection.
This frighteningly defined and gruesome diorama would do well to sit on a desk, shelf or in a display case. It’s the perfect piece to generate much discussion from fans or innocent onlookers pulled into the aura of the shocking zombie show.
I also can’t gush enough about the meticulous detail and head sculpts found in figures roughly the height of a business card.
Hardcore collectors wanting to truly build a massive attack of the undead need to look to building the Prison Tower ($64.99, 620 pieces) complete with a breakable fence area to unleash miniaturized horror upon Rick Grime’s faithful crew.
• Joseph Szadkowski can be reached at jszadkowski@washingtontimes.com.
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