At the far left of my two photos is Sheriff Rick Grimes, the hero of The Walking Dead comics and TV series. The figure of Rick, (sorry but I'm not going to call him Rich - we all know who he really is) comes in two parts. His right hand and shotgun are a separate piece from the rest of the body. I had to drill a hole in his wrist and hand and pin the parts together with a very small piece of wire cut from a paperclip to ensure a good fit. The sculptor has shown Rick with his beard and moustache. I'd have preferred a clean shaven version of him, but that's just me being picky. For most of the time in the comics, Rick is clean shaven. He is firing a large calibre Magnum pistol in his left hand whilst holding his police issue pump action shotgun in his right hand.
In the centre of the group is Rick's wife, Lori. I can't find fault with this sculpt at all. It perfectly captures Lori both in stance and way she's dressed, not to mention, likeness. She is holding a pistol at the ready, alert to any danger to herself and family.
Third in line is Rick's son Carl. Carl has been sculpted with his dad's police stetson on, so let's not hear any complaints that it looks too big on him. It's meant to. Also, for those of you who say he never wore it in the TV series, he does in the comics and in the comics he looks almost identical to the figure. I say almost because the sculptor has got two details wrong. Carl has never used a revolver. Early on in the series, Rick gave Carl a pistol for self-defence. At first Lori wasn't happy about this decision but she soon came round to seeing the sense of it. So the figure of little Carl should be armed with a pistol. It would be an easy enough conversion to swap weapons. I won't because it's not that big a deal. The second inaccuracy is that the stetson should have a police badge on the front of it. Minor points, I know, but I thought I'd mention them.
Of course, there's no reason why you should use them as Rick Grimes and family. They work perfectly well as an ordinary family of survivors. The thing is though, now that Studio have made Rick, Lori and Carl, I've no doubt that fans of The Walking Dead will be clamouring for more. My personal choices are for Michonne, Andrea, Dale and Glenn. I guess we all have our favourites and it certainly would be nice to see an expansion to this set. If you buy the white metal version of this set, it will cost £11.99, however, the resin version will knock you back £14.99.
Incredible as it seems I've barely mentioned The Walking Dead on my blog. I couldn't review the TV series when it first aired as I don't have access to satellite TV. I finally got to see it when the DVD boxed set was released earlier this year, by which time I'm sure most of you will have already seen it. For what it's worth I think the comics are without doubt the finest zombie series in print. The TV series more than lived up to my expectations, even though it did deviate from the comics. That's perfectly understandable. It does and more importantly, will, follow the main story arc of the comics but it will add a great deal more. That certainly excites me and I look forward with eager anticipation to series two, although the loss of director Frank Darabont does fill me with concern. Series one set such a high standard. I hope series two can maintain that standard. Sadly, for me, I'll have to wait for the release of the DVD boxed set in 2012 to find out.
they look great
ReplyDeleteThanks, Shintokamikaze.
ReplyDeleteVery Nice mr V. Are we going to be seeing them with Team Vampifan?
ReplyDeleteNot sure about a team up with Vampifan just yet. The vagaries of the dice will decide that. If they do team up I won't be calling these figures the Grimes family, that's for sure. They'll just be generic survivors.
ReplyDeleteNice set of minis. Please review these comics, then I'll have someone to point out when my banker calls me.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ulu. A review of "The Walking Dead" comics and/or graphic novels is certainly a possibility. I'll see what I can do.
ReplyDeleteGreat figures and nicely painted, I would have liked to see Rick in his sheriff uniform, I like the Lori pose best, that's how you'd be walking around I guess, does the little dude make whining noises if you press his stetson??
ReplyDeleteHa, ha, ha, Ray, little kids always make whining noises... whatever part you press! I agree, Rick in his sheriff's uniform would have been cool. I also like the figure of Lori best of all. She is faultless.
ReplyDeleteGreat little figures, that admittedly, I did not realize where from Walking Dead until just recently. This mostly has to do with their comic appearence rather than tv appearence. I hear the comics are great, but I'm staying away from them because the show is so darn good, I'd rather not spoil it by knowing where each episode is going. Once the series is done I'll probably pick up the comics.
ReplyDeleteGreat paintjob as always Vampifan. I too like Lori best, that pose is a fantastic one.
Adam, I've been thinking about whether it's a good thing or not to read the comics if you haven't already. By reading them you will know what direction the show is heading but not necessarily the specific route, seeing as it deviates so much. They'll both end up in the same place but how they get there will differ. Having read the comics since issue 1 I'll view the series differently to someone, like yourself, who has never read any. The comics or graphic novels are well worth reading but when to read is a matter only you can decide.
ReplyDeleteGreat work on those rather nice sculpts, I too have concerns about the new season, with the firing of Darabont and cutting the budget per episode for the next season, these are not good signs.
ReplyDeleteNicely done Vampifan, good paint jobs and nice additions to the evergrowing collection.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm in a minority here, as I don't particularly like any of the survivor sculpts from Studio, save for Lori(above)who is a rather classy figure. Shouldn't complain though, I certainly couldn't do better. As always a very good paint job on these (jealous). I've started to watch "The Walking Dead" (two episodes so far) and must admit wouldn't have made the connection between these sculps and the lead characters. At £4 a figure I think I'll live without these .
ReplyDelete@Fran. As ever it all comes down to ratings and money. Well, the Walking Dead was AMC's highest watched series, which makes their penny-pinching attitude hard to understand and even harder to stomach. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well with series 2 but I am concerned.
ReplyDelete@The Extraodinarii. Thanks, and the collection of survivors is growing to a considerable size.
@Joe. Hey, no-one here is going to criticise you for not liking stuff I review, especially not me. Yes, Studio figures are expensive, like Hasslefree Miniatures. I counter that by saying you're paying for quality and quality always costs more. However, I appreciate that for those on a limited budget tough choices must be made. Plus, it hardly makes sense for you to buy this set if you only like the one figure out of them. Better to save your cash for something you do like.
Good post again. When I first saw the minis at studio site, I had no idea who they were meant to be. A bit embarrissing. I would have liked him clean shaven as well.
ReplyDelete@Johnny. I think that for a lot of folk, if they haven't seen The Walking Dead comics/graphic novels they do struggle to identify them. I'd have preferred a clean shaven Rick in his sheriff's uniform.
ReplyDeleteVery nice VtG. I can't remember which hand is the correct one, but is that why the Rick figure has a seperate hand do you think?
ReplyDeleteI've got the comics in hardback compilations - excellent - and the TV show is different enough that having them doesn't spoil it
@Colin. You are absolutely right about the hand, and it certainly crossed my mind too.
ReplyDeleteI think I need to see theese in the flesh to make my mind up. I'm sold on the zombies, but not yet on the survivors. Great job Bryan.
ReplyDelete@Zombie Adam. I get the feeling you're not the only one thinking this way. Studio's survivor figures have not been as well received as their zombies, although I have no issues with them.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful painting on all the Studio stuff Bryan. The new figs are really nice sculpts as well.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks, Roger, and I appreciate you taking time out to leave a comment.
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