If you have one of those hard to buy for pop culture addicts on your list, or maybe someone with a twisted appreciation for the undead, or just somebody that loves horror, then I have the perfect gift idea for you!
A few years ago, Sideshow Collectibles started a line of 12″ in house designed zombies called The Dead. Since then, they’ve released an ever increasing number of the undead into our lives, each one better than the last. They also have other items that proclaim your love of all things flesh eating, like t-shirts and sweat shirts with The Dead logo on the front.
But for Christmas, they decided to go all out and produce a very nifty The Dead zombie ornament. For just $10 plus shipping, you can bring home this delightful yuletide brain eater.
If you have any questions or comments, drop me a line at mwc@mwctoys.com. On to the review!
The Undead Christmas Ornament
I have this guy already on my tree. And he gets a lot more attention and comments than Winnie the Pooh!
Packaging – **
Normally, Sideshow does amazing packaging. The Dead line tends to be very minimalist though, and that’s the route they went here. There’s actually a sticker on the back that has The Dead logo on it, but the front, sides and top are completely white. The window shows off the ornament well enough though, so I’m not bothered by the plain white container.
What does bug the crap out of me is the styrofoam insert. This time they went with the cheaper, lighter stuff that falls apart in your hands, and I hate this stuff. By next Christmas, it’s going to be in several pieces, and useless for storing the ornament.
Sculpting – ****
Wow! This might just be an ornament, but this is my favorite zombie head sculpt they’ve produced!
The nice thing is that it’s done in sixth scale, so it actually fits in with the figures. The detail work on it is amazing, with some truly realistic rot around the exposed skull and nasal cavity. It’s not all the sculpt – the paint goes a long way too – but this head sculpt has some of the best detail we’ve seen in the line.
The zombie is coming up over and out of the ornament itself. The right hand is reaching out menacingly, while the bared teeth show his true intent. And it’s to eat Carols, not sing them. The bulb itself is actually plastic, and not glass, but the seam along the side is fairly tight and difficult to see unless you inspect it closely.
Now here’s the real beauty part – the head and hand can be removed from the bulb with a little effort! That means you can grab yourself a spare body, tear up some extra clothes, and put together ANOTHER zombie in your The Dead line! Sounds like you better buy two of these guys, one for the tree and one for a custom.
Paint – ****
Great sculpts can be ruined by mediocre paint. But great paint can take the sculpt to a whole new level, elevating the realism and life-like nature. And while this guy wouldn’t technically be ‘alive’, the paint does bring out the detail and the coloring in a way that’s truly life-like.
The glassy right eye looks amazing. The subtle difference in color between the graying skin and exposed skull is remarkable. Even the work on the teeth and nose are above average, even for companies like Medicom or Hot Toys. If every sixth scale figure produced by Sideshow had paint that looked like this, they’d have no competition in the category.
Design – ***1/2
I have to admit that the plastic ball ends up pulling a half star off this category, along with the lack of anything particularly ‘Christmasy’ about it. On the one hand, I’m quite happy that he lacks a silly Santa hat (for example), because that makes it much easier to produce a nifty custom with the head and hand. OTOH, I really would like it to be more festive, and besides – if he was wearing a Santa hat, wouldn’t he make a terrific zombie Santa custom? In fact, I just might have to try that out anyway…
Still, he’s going to look terrific on just about anyone’s tree.
Value – ***
If you’ve been in a Hallmark store lately, you know how damn expensive good ornaments are. Most of the regular ones cost $12 – $15, and are rarely this large – or this detailed in sculpt and paint. At $10, he’s a solid value, even after you add in the extra shipping cost.
Things to Watch Out For –
Not a thing. Other than your wife freakin’ out when she see’s it hanging between her 2006 Barbie and the ‘Our First Christmas’ ornaments.
Overall – ****
This was one of the best surprises I’ve had in quite awhile, at least when it comes to pop culture collectibles. It really did turn out amazingly well, and is going to be a perennial addition to my tree. Unless my wife ‘accidently’ breaks it. I ordered two though, just in case.
If you do pick up one or two to make custom zombies, please drop me a photo. I’d love to see your creativity in action! And steal your ideas for myself, of course.
Where to Buy –
You can pick him up at Sideshow right now for $10!
Related Links –
I’ve reviewed only one of the previous The Dead figures, although I’ve bought the whole line. I covered Subject 5, the zombie security guard. If you’re a zombie fan in general, you should also check out:
– the Peril Unlimited 12″ zombie, the GITD Flesh Eating Zombies, and the recent Shaun of the Dead 2 pack.
– my review of Cult Classics 4 that included the plaid shirt zombie from Dawn of the Dead and the zombie fighter Shaun from Shaun of the Dead; and the Cult Classics 3 Flyboy Zombie from Night of the Living Dead.
– then there’s my review of Earl, from Mezco’s line Attack of the Living Dead.
– check out the Marvel Legends monster boxed set that included the zombie from Tales of the Zombie.
– SOTA recently released the Land of the Dead figures.
– and don’t forget the cool (but expensive) zombies from the sixth scale Dust series.
Comments: 2 Comments
2 Responses to “Toy Box: It’s beginning to look a lot like… zombies!”Leave a Reply |
December 20th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
You sold me again Mr Crawford. Thanks again for a terrific review. Merry Christmas to you and yours!!
December 26th, 2007 at 10:33 am
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