On today's episode of K-Tiger reviews we hit the comic book and living side of The Walking Dead equation with riot gear Glenn from the second wave of the comic book-based line.
First impressions
After Bicycle Girl, Riot Gear Glenn was a figure that really caught my eye. I looked at him on the peg of my area Toys R Us, but given my original stance on the handling of the line by McFarlane I was generally able to just walk on by. That may have been an foolish of me. It sure as hell wouldn't have been the first time.
Packaging
Industry standard bubble card. Being as this is a comic wave release, it has the comic logo and inspired artwork. It features a sticker that gives the illusion that the character his being set upon from all sides by undead hordes. The back features the other figures in the wave, and any interchangeble features among them. Pretty routine stuff. The card and bubble shape are markedly different than those of the TV line, for whatever reason.
Articulation
Glenn here has quite a bit of articulation, I'd say pretty generous by McFarlane standards. He has what I like to call a barbell neck (more on the neck articulation in a second), ball and pin/joint shoulders, elbows and wrists, what I think is a cut swivel in the torso somewhere (I can't pinpoint where, precisely) those stupid fucking hips, swivel and hinge knees, a swivel in the calves and finally, pin/joint and swivels at the ankles. Unfortunately all is not well in paradise.
It didn't take me very loing to decide what the problem is with Glenn. Those hips. I don't give a good goddamn how they look, but Hasbro style ball hips would have REALLY helped him get the most out of the rest of his joints. Range of motion is not great, and part of that is the fault of the design. If I did this shit on a point scale they would definitly hit him for -1. He's also got a pair of holsters that will need to be lifted (and mind you, these aren't soft plastic holsters) to get the thigh to swivel further than a couple of millimeters. I wouldn't be surprised if repeated manipulation causes the holsters to disbond and fall off.
If you're a customizer you can probably eek out a bit more range.
A bit ago I mentioned Glenn's neck articulation. There truly is a nice range of motion, and it can help give a number of "emotions" to the figures pose. Hasbro could take some lessons from McFarlane for once.
Accessories
Glenn is generously appointed with a number of accessories, most of which are comic-correct. Firstly, he comes with a riot shield. It seems a tad small (only a bit larger than that of the Cobra Shock Trooper), but is covered in slash damage ( I think we're supposed to believe the zombie finger nails could do that), a pair of .45 caliber pistols (some variation of the venerable Colt 1911). They fit well in the holsters, and snuggly in his hands, though neither hand is sculpted to hold a pistol. While flipping through my compendium checking the accuracy of the armor I didn't note any holster or pistol use while Glenn was in it, but I don't deduct for extra accessories. I ain't one of those freaks. Next he comes with his side handle baton (the venerable nightstick, based on the Japanese tonfa) and a very nice riot helmet with a flip down visor and a plug-in chin strap. Finally, the gas can (which, stangely, was billed on the sticker like it was a selling point). The gas can looks good, if a bit too thin. They also didn't do the open grips. What is this, 1:18 scale?
Paint and sculpt
Glenn is pretty damn faithful to the comic art. His eyes are perhaps small, but it's not a bad thing, and may just be a product of the scale. All of the paint on the noggin is pretty damn clean, and he's sporting a bit of 5 o'clock shadow I don't recall him being drawn with. His brow is furrowed and he looks like he's conncentrating.
As best as I can tell, aside from the hip holsters (I freely admit I could have missed the panel they appear in) the uniform is a fairly exact recreation of its comic appearence. The pallet is black, with varying shades of grey-blue highlights and drybrushing.There appears to be a similar blue-grey dry brushing on the night stick, and the gerry can also has a half-hearted attempt at grimey weathering. He has a bit of light brown mud on his boots, and he's got a tastefully understated amount of high velocity blood splatter over his body, shield and visor. I think it's a bit fresh-looking for what I think decomposing blood would look like, but it's not an eye sore or anything. About the only issue I have is that he has a couple of white spots on the back of his armor. Whatsupwitdat?!
Final analysis
Riot Gear Glenn cost me 15.99 plus tax at TrU, and other than those damn dirty hips he is a pretty swell figure. There definitely is room for improvement, IF McFarlane can get over his jointaphobia. Who the fuck am I kidding? If he can't hide them relatively easily he crawls into a ball and weeps like a lil' baby. As an aside, Rick and the Governor also doned the riot armor, so that gives you a couple of more options in case McFarlane deigns not to do them.
First impressions
After Bicycle Girl, Riot Gear Glenn was a figure that really caught my eye. I looked at him on the peg of my area Toys R Us, but given my original stance on the handling of the line by McFarlane I was generally able to just walk on by. That may have been an foolish of me. It sure as hell wouldn't have been the first time.
Packaging
Industry standard bubble card. Being as this is a comic wave release, it has the comic logo and inspired artwork. It features a sticker that gives the illusion that the character his being set upon from all sides by undead hordes. The back features the other figures in the wave, and any interchangeble features among them. Pretty routine stuff. The card and bubble shape are markedly different than those of the TV line, for whatever reason.
Articulation
Glenn here has quite a bit of articulation, I'd say pretty generous by McFarlane standards. He has what I like to call a barbell neck (more on the neck articulation in a second), ball and pin/joint shoulders, elbows and wrists, what I think is a cut swivel in the torso somewhere (I can't pinpoint where, precisely) those stupid fucking hips, swivel and hinge knees, a swivel in the calves and finally, pin/joint and swivels at the ankles. Unfortunately all is not well in paradise.
It didn't take me very loing to decide what the problem is with Glenn. Those hips. I don't give a good goddamn how they look, but Hasbro style ball hips would have REALLY helped him get the most out of the rest of his joints. Range of motion is not great, and part of that is the fault of the design. If I did this shit on a point scale they would definitly hit him for -1. He's also got a pair of holsters that will need to be lifted (and mind you, these aren't soft plastic holsters) to get the thigh to swivel further than a couple of millimeters. I wouldn't be surprised if repeated manipulation causes the holsters to disbond and fall off.
If you're a customizer you can probably eek out a bit more range.
A bit ago I mentioned Glenn's neck articulation. There truly is a nice range of motion, and it can help give a number of "emotions" to the figures pose. Hasbro could take some lessons from McFarlane for once.
Accessories
Glenn is generously appointed with a number of accessories, most of which are comic-correct. Firstly, he comes with a riot shield. It seems a tad small (only a bit larger than that of the Cobra Shock Trooper), but is covered in slash damage ( I think we're supposed to believe the zombie finger nails could do that), a pair of .45 caliber pistols (some variation of the venerable Colt 1911). They fit well in the holsters, and snuggly in his hands, though neither hand is sculpted to hold a pistol. While flipping through my compendium checking the accuracy of the armor I didn't note any holster or pistol use while Glenn was in it, but I don't deduct for extra accessories. I ain't one of those freaks. Next he comes with his side handle baton (the venerable nightstick, based on the Japanese tonfa) and a very nice riot helmet with a flip down visor and a plug-in chin strap. Finally, the gas can (which, stangely, was billed on the sticker like it was a selling point). The gas can looks good, if a bit too thin. They also didn't do the open grips. What is this, 1:18 scale?
Paint and sculpt
Glenn is pretty damn faithful to the comic art. His eyes are perhaps small, but it's not a bad thing, and may just be a product of the scale. All of the paint on the noggin is pretty damn clean, and he's sporting a bit of 5 o'clock shadow I don't recall him being drawn with. His brow is furrowed and he looks like he's conncentrating.
As best as I can tell, aside from the hip holsters (I freely admit I could have missed the panel they appear in) the uniform is a fairly exact recreation of its comic appearence. The pallet is black, with varying shades of grey-blue highlights and drybrushing.There appears to be a similar blue-grey dry brushing on the night stick, and the gerry can also has a half-hearted attempt at grimey weathering. He has a bit of light brown mud on his boots, and he's got a tastefully understated amount of high velocity blood splatter over his body, shield and visor. I think it's a bit fresh-looking for what I think decomposing blood would look like, but it's not an eye sore or anything. About the only issue I have is that he has a couple of white spots on the back of his armor. Whatsupwitdat?!
Final analysis
Riot Gear Glenn cost me 15.99 plus tax at TrU, and other than those damn dirty hips he is a pretty swell figure. There definitely is room for improvement, IF McFarlane can get over his jointaphobia. Who the fuck am I kidding? If he can't hide them relatively easily he crawls into a ball and weeps like a lil' baby. As an aside, Rick and the Governor also doned the riot armor, so that gives you a couple of more options in case McFarlane deigns not to do them.
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