The Walking Dead: Michonne & Pet Zombies...

Right, we've come to the last set of figures from my recent (and only) The Walking Dead action-figure haul thus far this year. I felt that it's only fitting to end my series of review by talking about one of the most essential character, both in the comic pages and on-screen TV series. I'm talking about that certain katana-wielding Michonne who I will be reviewing together with her two pet zombies who were aptly named Pet Zombie 1 and Pet Zombie 2. For the record, these 3 figures were always high on my priority 'want list' and it actually came down to the fact that I think I'd be able to cope with the failure of finding Rick or Shane...but not Michonne and her pets! So let's find out if they are indeed worth the trouble....

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The packaging......well...uhm. Nothing much to shout about and nothing you've never seen before if you've already ready read my previous three (3) reviews on my TWD figures. Love the fact that we could see all the accessories that come with the figures.....yada...yada....yada.

And so is the cardback....generic looking one for Series 3.

Let us look into the figures shall we?

Michonne could very well be the most 'iconic' character from the TWD lore next to Rick Grimes. It matters not if you're strictly a fan of the comic or a devout fan of the TV series, as you'll immediately recognize her though both mediums. The figure does just that as Michonne appears exactly the same as she did (and still does) in the TV series. Purist fans of the comic book would also recognize her in a heartbeat. Hey, apart from the slightly different hair-style, how are you gonna tell the 'colour differences' anyway since the comic pages are black-and-white ain't it?

Her katana blade is nicely strapped around and over her right shoulder and under the hooded sweat...err...hood.

The hood is removeable and once you take it off you'd be mesmerised on how the head sculpt is a dead ringer for Danai Gurira, the actress who portrayed Michonne on-screen. I love that headband by the way, so much details being put into such a small action figure. Remember, these TWD figures are in the 'lost' scale of 5".....when everybody else seems to be producing either in the 3.75" or 6" scales. The dreadlocks look superbly done too. It's funny that figures from their Series 1 and 2 seems to be nowhere near the quality of the figures in Series 3 when they all utilises the same 'face-scanning technology'.

The 'real' fun starts when you start posing her wielding her katana blade! Come on....bring on the 'walkers!

Articulation wise, Michonne here is a vast improvement than her predecessors in Series 1 and 2. I'm pretty happy on how she's rather well-articulated and be posed in many positions you might think of befitting of a sword-toting zombie killer.

I love her expression. It makes her almost 'emotionless' and 'cold' to say the least. McFarlane has really taken the 3D scanning of the actor/actress' face technology to a whole new level. A very much improved one since the anomalies and 'misses' in Series 1.

Michonne looks great when posed next to the main protagonist of the TWD saga!



She even gives Merle a worthy opponent to practice his blade with.

Michonne's two (2) Pet Zombies, aptly named as Pet Zombie 1 and Pet Zombie 2 were also included in the same series with the idea of giving the collectors a chance to pick them all up at one-go. Honestly if ya ask me, I can't even remember who's who.....not that it matters now that they're out of their plastic coffins.

Their articulations are not as good as Michonne but hey, they look great even with minimal posing capabilities so that's enough for me! Their paint job is superb. Love those rotting flesh/bloodied look on them.

The 'Pets' each come with a removeable jaw (yay!), their neck chain for Michonne to leash them over with, a backpack (one of 'em even comes with a removeable shotgun!) and a figure stand. But the most impressive 'accessories' for these two would be the 'removeable arms'. Great thinking by McFarlane. By giving us the option of displaying these two with their arms still intact, you could use them as generic walkers for your display without worrying too much that 'arm-less' walkers belong to Michonne etc. Thank you McFarlane!

While the arms are easily attached and removed, it takes a little patience to properly snap the jaws in place. This took me a while but once I figured out which end of the jaw is which, it wasn't a problem at all. I think many would find it rather tidious to attach the jaws to to the respective walkers since the jaws are mighty tiny. Do take extra care when handling these jaws as you might lose 'em. I accidently dropped one of mine on the floor (horror!) but thankfully my son stepped on it and saved me the trouble of scanning the brown-colored parquet floor for some tiny accessory of the same color!

Seriously, I'm really thankful that McFarlane gave these Pets their 'arms' as it allows me to mix them with my other (only) walker in my collection thus far to create a mini zombie horde to attack my humans with!

Right, let's look at what these Pets are carrying. Like I've mentioned earlier, one of them has the removeable shotgun in his backpack.

Michonne can use the shotgun as an alternative to her katana blade. But this is not the look I would want her to have on my display shelf.

For those of you who weren't able to track down the single carded figures of Michonne and her Pets anywhere, there is also a 3-pack that would enable you to snag all 3 at one go. I've also seen a 'black-and-white' version of the 3-pack with only the color red (blood splatters) over an otherwise mundane greyish paint tone. I think some on-line stores might still have these if you're interested to get the trio.

One more thing before I forget. The neck-chains are removeable if you choose not to display them like the picture below. But removing and re-attaching them is a pain as you have to pop out their heads (my my....and what a fragile thing the neck pegs are!) which might prove daunting to some. I think my Pets are not gonna get their chains removed again anytime soon!

THE REBEL'S VERDICT: Michonne here is gonna be as hard to find as Daryl from Series 1. Everybody would definitely want her in their TWD figure collection. Let's just not talk about the collectors here in South East Asia (we don't even get to see these figures on our shores, chances are we won't ever!) but since most of you in the States have difficulties to track these TWD figures down, I'm betting that they're pretty much scarce on retail shelves over there as well! If you can still find her at retail, GET HER. As for her Pets, I'd say get them only if you have some extra dough to do so. While they are essential for you to complete Michonne's 'look', it's Michonne herself that you should worry about finding first. So re-cap.....Michonne = absolute MUST....Zombie Pets = only if you have some spare cash lying around. But if you ask me, there's absolutely no two way about it....my Michonne's gonna be displayed with the two on my display shelf, so getting the 'Pets was an absolute priority for me right from the beginning!

Now excuse me while I hold my breath till Season 4 starts in October!