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.
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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