Walking Dead "Little Green Army Men"

Previously mentioned in some of my blog articles, I have always been a big fan of little plastic army men. I had several Marx sets as a kid, and love what Conte, Barzso, and Toy Soldiers of San Diego have done over the years. One of the cool things about Marx was they built playsets around movies and television shows.

Most of the modern companies still focus on historical military settings (Romans, WWII, Civil War, etc). There are few modern sets (Armies in Plastic is delving into this area), and I would love some Vietnam and Korean War era playsets as well. Only Barzso licensed a playset in the last 10 years - The Last of the Mohicans Playset was amazing.

http://gijigsaw.blogspot.com/2013/01/barzso-last-of-mohicans-playset.html

Treehouse had a great set of "Aliens" plastic figures, including a playset of the atmosphere processor.

Anyway, without licensing tie ins, there just aren't any 54mm army men playsets or figures coming out...

...but wait, slowly but surely, Skybound comics and Gentle Giant are building a zombie army around the very popular Walking Dead comic book.

The first figure set was the sword wielding heroine Michonne with her two zombie pets, including real chains to leash them. This was released as a 2012 San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) exclusive.

A few months later, Gentle Giant released a 14 figure zombie horde pack. There are seven poses, molded in two colors, light green and brown. The packs were sold out on the Gentle Giant website almost immediately. 

For SDCC 2013, three figure packs were released as exclusives with each pack having a main character figure and a zombie figure. These sets included Rick Grimes + zombie, his son Carl Grimes + female zombie, and f-bomb dropping bad guy, Negan with his barb wire wrapped baseball bat Lucille + zombie. These were released by Skybound, the comic company that publishes Walking Dead.

Also for SDCC 2013, one of the zombie horde figures was recast in blue plastic and painted with blood spatter to simulate the prisoners in the prison story line prevelant in the comic book and television show.

So what's next? Who knows? I could see more comic con exclusives. Would love another zombie horde pack with more character figures.

GO ARMY! BEAT NAVY!

With the annual Army-Navy football game coming up this weekend, I'll be rooting for my alma mater, West Point, even though we lost 11...or 12 in a row to Navy. Unacceptable.

Anyway, in honor of the game, I will post a photo of one of the first things I ever bought on Ebay back in 1999 - a Kenner Starting Lineup figure of Army's Glenn Davis, 1946 Heismann Trophy winner. Ah, the glory days, when the service academies won Heismann's and National Championships.

For more info on Glenn Davis, check out his info on wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Davis_(American_football)

Apparently the figured is autographed as well. I have no idea if it is real or not, no COA - but I don't care. Pretty cool to have if you ask me.

Gentle Giant Jumbo Kenner Star Wars 4-LOM

He was originally released as Zuckuss back in 1980 until some fanboys figured out androids should have alphanumeric naming standards. This guy has a C3PO protocol droid body with a bug head. Anyway, 4-LOM was a bug like alien bounty hunter released as a Proof of Purchase mail in order figure.

Regardless, this bounty hunter is 4-LOM. The other Zuckuss is next up to bat from Gentle Giant and the bounty hunter series from Empire Strikes back is complete.

This is one figure I never had as a kid. I didn't realize how cool his rifle is. Other than that, the figure is pretty plain, but still cool looking.

McFarlane's 10 Inch Daryl Dixon Figure from Walking Dead

Obviously, I am a huge fan of the Walking Dead. The 5 inch figures rock! McFarlane recently released a 10 inch Daryl Dixon - one of AMC's most popular characters....maybe the most popular.

I like the figure a lot. I wish it was 12 inches, just so it could fit in with other figures for diorama purposes. Still, the sculpting and paint application is pretty cool. The crossbow itself is very detailed. There is very little to no articulation, enough to hold the crossbow. As a display piece, very awesome. Hope they make more.

LOEB - Gee, Thanks!

This week's League of Extraordinary Bloggers assignment.

Next week we gather to celebrate Thanksgiving. What are you thankful for?

What am I thankful for?

First of all – the genius and courage of George Lucas for bringing his vision to reality back in the 70s.

Second, Alan Ladd Jr. from 20^th Century Fox for greenlighting Star Wars.

Third, for Bernard Loomis at Kenner for greenlighting what would be the most impactful product to a young 7 year old’s life, and countless like me.

Fourth, to Don Levine and team at Hasbro who made GI Joe…GI Joe, GI Joe, Fighting Man from head to toe.

Fifth, to Larry Hama who resurrected GI Joe in such a cool and monumental way in the early 80s. I marvel at the breadth of figures and vehicles, the comic, the TV show, loved it all, even though I was maturing out of toys at the time.

For my older brother. We rarely fought as kids. We played. A lot. Especially with these toys. Lots of great memories.

For my parents who bought me these toys. Wasn’t spoiled because we didn’t have a lot, but enough to have a thoroughly enjoyable childhood.

For not having video games while growing up, so I could play.

For all the other toy companies out there that took risks, especially during the late 90s and 2000s. Many didn’t survive, but what a lineup. Kenner, N2Toys, Resaurus, NECA, McFarlane, and countless others. Many of the lines are so obscure and would never even get past development today.

More postings from fellow Leaguers!

• AEIOU and Sometimes Why
• D.I. Treasures
• Primordial Badger’s Media Hoard
• Retro Robot Review
• The Nerd Nook
• Cool & Collected
• Goodwill Hunting 4 Geeks
• Diary of a Dorkette
• Batfan