K-Tiger Reviews: McF TWD The Governor (TV)

K-Tiger

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On today's K-Tiger Reviews we take on everyone's favorite charismatic, one-eyed sociopath, The Governor.





First Impressions

'Ello, Gov'nor. I confess, The Governor (henceforth to be called "El Hefe") was a complete and total impulse buy. As Hasbro had deemed it wise to leave me without access to my figure line of preference (G.I. Joe, for those of you in Rio Linda), my day was turning out utterly toyless. There I was in an area Wal-Mart and what did they have? Two display boxes chock-a-block full of McFarlane's 4th wave of TV-inspired Walking Dead figures. Now, by all accounts I was done with the wave. I had the two riot zombies and Andrea, and by god that's all I wanted. Now, mind you, I could have been sensible and grabbed another riot zombie or three (there were three of those helmeted bastards in that scene), but that seemed a bit of overkill. Well there's Carl....Hefe it is then! Would I regret it?



Packaging

Same as Cincinnati Slim's. Who? What, you didn't read my other review? Slacker. The photo of David Morrissey is nice as it allows you to scrutinize the likeness of the figure. Not a lot more to say about it that isn't completely redundit. What the hell am I gonna do for Andrea and the other zombie?

Oh, the sticker has some tripe about keys and a watch, neither of which are accessories, but sculpted details. Whatsupwitdat?






Articulation

He's running the standard compliment of articulation in McFarlane's post-action feature TWD figures. Ball neck, ball and hinge shopulders, hinge and swivel at the elbows, hinge and ball at the wrists, a barely-funtioning torso swivel, those thrice-damned hips (seriously, either proper ball joints or t-bar those fucking things already) hinge and swivels at the knee and ankles. It's a lot of articulation, but those hips really do hinder the amount of poses that don't look "off".





Accessories

El Hefe comes with a small knife, a bowie knife (ES MUY MACHO!) a stainless steel Beretta 92 (FS, I believe) and a second headsculpt, this one with his eye patch. You know, the one he needed after Michonne beat the shit out of him then played amature opthamologist with a shard of broken glass? The small knife fits in either hand well, as well as its sheath on his right hip. As with pretty much all the human figures his Beretta isn't particularly keen on being in either of his hands, a combination of the grip and there being waaay too much trigger for the finger to get in there and hold it all together. It also fits in his its sheath (cross-draw, bitches!) The gem of the accessory pile is definitely the bowie knife. It fits in his hands, and look swell there.

You'll note something he should have is conspicuous by it's abscense. That's right, no Steyr AUG assault rifle. Of course they should have included it, but what are ya gonna do. If anyone has a line on a 1:13 or 1:14 scale AUG let a cat know.




Paint and sculpt

Hmmm. Let's start at the important part, the likeness. Surprisingly fair, actually. I can definitely see David Morrissey in both the head sculpts ( I might see a little of that other Morrissey in there, too burn down the prison, hang that blessed sheriff). It's definitely stronger than the Andrea likeness, but that's a story for another time. Some might say I'm being a bit to forgiving on this one, but keep in mind I've seen 1:6 scale manufacturer's miss likenesses by a country mile, and there's no reason for that in that particular scale unless you legally can't do it (Sigounrey Weaver, for example). The expression isn't quite what I was hoping for. Morrissey plays the Gov'nor with kind of a scheming, simmering intensity. The neutrality of the expression is there, but none of the thinly-veiled crazy. The heads kind of look a little sad. They just don't quite work all the way. I'm sure something was lost when they went from the scanned actor all the way down to the figure.

Moving on, it's typical McFarlane sculpt work. Lots of great detail, from his quilted shooting vest to the folds and seams in his trousers. THe paint work is clean on the heads, the salt and peppering of his hair isn't terrible, he kind of has a flush affect going on, and the 5 o'clock shadow isn't too over the top. There's only a little bit of slop on his key or the chord it hangs from. The pants, unfortunately, have some kind of ....mud weathering that didn't turn out well. Perhaps it's meant to simulate Georgia clay, but whatever it is I'm not keen on it. The skin tone on the arms isn't the best, as it looks thin in parts, and the hands don't quite match up. I reckon it could be worse, he could look like Retaliation Budo.

Mind that if you go out hunting one you'll want to look at those things. Face and eyes were definitely my priority.






Final analysis
El Hefe really wasn't on my radar. It was nothing to do with the character, I think David Morrissey is doing a top job at it. No, the figure just didn't seem to be anything special. He cost 13.49 or so, and while it was a spur of the moment purchase, and there are DEFINITELY things McFarlane CAN and SHOULD improve upon I haven't got any real regrets with that purchase. McFarlane may just have me hooked. I know the show and comic do.









 
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K-Tiger

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Hey!


I was fiddling with various 1:18 pistols for Andrea, so you might be right! Bet Wraith's P90 would work, too!
 

K-Tiger

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Thus far Andrea is the only living female, and they definitely aren't shared. I do see what you're talking about, and I suppose it's possible McF just made them too slight. They aren't exactly muscular.

As I've gotten more of these I am starting to see what could be odd scale issues. I'll be able to hypothesize more in January when TV wave 5 hits and then in March when Daryl and his bro's motorcycle show up.

I need to do the write up on Andrea and remember to talk about my scale "concerns".
 

G.I.*EDDIE

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I do hate the leg design...it just looks, weird...functionality can't possible be any good either...

Anyway, great review man...I'm done ragging on it :D
 

Greg

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I do hate the leg design...it just looks, weird...functionality can't possible be any good either...

I don't mind the leg articulation, but it definitely could be better. I can get some cool stances out of my figures, but the ability for full running or kneeling poses would be nice. I'll be bothered when/if a Hyundai Tucson toy comes out and the figures can't sit in it.

Anyway, I found this recent wave of TWD figures to be rather crappy in terms of quality. Figures I opened had several stuck and mis-molded joints, and I had a hell of a time finding figures with clean paint applications. Currently I think TV Series 3 is the best wave so far, and I am hopeful that the quality will be improved for Series 5.
 

Mandingo Rex

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Gone Baby, Gone
Besides the zombies (which are amazing) I just have no desire to get these. I really want the Durl/Murl 2-pack, but then I'd have to get the others. Rick is disappointing. You'd need to buy Carl to get the hat unless you got one of the previous Shur'ff Ricks before all the scalpers bought them up and started selling them for $100+.

I think of all the actors' likenesses I've seen in-hand, Morrissey's is the most accurate. (Although in pics, the Rooker one ain't half bad either.) His face is too chubby, but I wonder if a "contouring" of the sides of the nose and maybe sides of his face with a darker wash would help thin him up?

I agree on the "sad", he looks quite mopey.
 

BEAM

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Hot damn KT, you nailed it. McFarland took made the 3D scan of the wrong Morrissey. Well, I guess it's time to start on the 5" The Smiths customs.






And for head likenesses, Carl is probably the best with Merle right behind him. Shane and Daryl are at the bottom of the list. It seems the heads are poorly painted. I wonder if a proper paint job would improve the likenesses.
 

K-Tiger

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I wouldn't buy anything human from the first two waves. Largely pre-posed and gimped by "action" features. The pics of Merle seem to show him having a VERY good likeness, and the time I saw Michonne I was pretty pleased with the likeness there, too. I may pick up Carl, and there I think the likeness will depend on the paint job.

I'd hoped I wasn't the only one to see Steven Patrick Morrissey in there. I think MR is right in that there's a little chub to him, especially a bulbousness to the nose/nostrils that shouldn't be there.

Don't fret, Eddie, I hate that hip articulation, too. I can get some nice shuffling or standing poses, but action really ain't in their wheelhouse. I'm very curious how they're gonna handle the Daryl in the motorcycle set. The shit they're using won't fly, and I will be most displeased if he can't actually ride the damn thing. I'm thinking they'll finally do ball joints covered by a "diaper" od softer plastic, similar to what NECA and some Japanese figures have done.


Lastly, I found my Revoltech Panzer Cop and he actually kind of fits in with these...
 
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Greg

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I wouldn't buy anything human from the first two waves. Large pre-posed and gimped by "action" features. The pics of Merle seem to show him having a VERY good likeness, and the time I saw Michonne I was pretty pleased with the likeness there, too. I may pick up Carl, and there I think the likeness will depend on the paint job.

If you have the opportunity to grab them in the future, I highly recommend getting Michonne and the Series 3 Merle. So far I think they stand as the best human figures McFarlane has produced. The recent Merle figure from the 2-pack is okay, but the paint apps aren't nearly as good as the Series 3 version.
 

K-Tiger

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Yeah, I slept on those, unfortunately. I kind of hope they do season 1 Merle, not sure of the odds on that one.
 

K-Tiger

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Thanks to MMorelock for the Dr. Rex Lewis AUG tip. It's a 14" barrel variant, but I can't really be picky, can I?






The trade that got me that AUG also netted me a Hasbro QBZ-95 which looks quite dandy with riot gear Glenn.
 

K-Tiger

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Nah, I'm after bicycle girl.




I'll get some pics of Glenn when I've got a minute.
 

K-Tiger

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Same. I had her in my hands, but figured A: The way McFarlane is fucking them up this line would be done pretty fast, and B: I wasn't of the mind to be into the line other than bicycle girl.

Wrong on both counts.
 

BEAM

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Apr 12, 2013
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You and I are in the same boat, it sounds.

Based on the horrible sculpts on the TV characters, I thought the line was garbage and ignored the entire thing. Little did I know the comic series line would stagnate and Mcfarlane would pump out TV figures. I was waiting to get my zombies in the comic series line. Now I have to play catch up if I want any kind of zombie hoard.