Walking Dead Minimates: Wave 3

Walking Dead Minimates: Wave 3

A few weeks ago, I reviewed the Toys R Us exclusive minimate figures from Wave 3 (Glenn, Carol, Vest Zombie, and Pole Zombie). The rest of Wave 3 is now out en masse, so let’s have a look.

Riot Gear Rick & Guard Zombie

It seems that if this series continues we will end up with an army of Rick Grimes capable of rivaling a horde of zombies. Luckily, he actually does sport quite a few looks over the course of the 100+ run of comics. This Rick is wearing the riot gear that Glenn discovered in the prison. Rick wore the gear while he went out investigating the fallen helicopter that led him to Woodbury. The figure comes with a helmet with movable visor, a nightstick, trusty axe, and holster with matching gun. I like Rick’s surprised/angry face. If we’re going to get a steady stream of Ricks, it’s nice that all of his faces are a little different. Rick’s two-pack partner is Guard Zombie. I’m assuming he’s a prison guard, but it’s possible he’s also a decent point guard. As with all the zombies we’ve gotten so far, he’s nicely detailed. He comes with half an arm, but you also get the option of making him fully armed. He has boots with heels, which are nice, but they don’t have a foot-hole so you can’t use the stand that he comes with.

Dexter & Dreadlock Zombie

Dexter was one of the prisoners that Rick and company found locked in the cafeteria. The “good guys” treated him pretty poorly by unjustly locking him in a cell and accusing him of murder. So it’s ok to admit if you were kind of rooting for him when he turned a gun on Rick. Dexter is certainly not a character that I thought we would ever see a minimate of, but I absolutely love his inclusion. Hopefully it means that DST will leave no corner of the comic universe unturned. Dexter comes with a shotgun, holster, gun, and signature head tattoo. He’s accompanied by Dreadlock Zombie, a man forever defined by his haircut. Dreads attacked Rick as he and Glenn journeyed into the parking lot to siphon gas. He’s very cute with his missing eye and bloody arm stump. Once again, you get an extra arm in case you’re not into stumps.

Prison Hershel & Farmer Zombie, Variant: Battle-Damaged Tyreese

This set is exclusive to Comic Book Shops and Specialty Online stores. It includes Hershel all dressed up for prison and an overall-wearing Farmer Zombie. Battle-Damaged Tyreese is the variant set, so if you want both him and Hersh, you’re going to own two Farmboys. If I have any complaint with this line, it’s that they seem to have picked the least generic zombies to include with their variant sets (wave 1: Female Zombie, wave 2: Stabbed Zombie). This guy is pretty distinct with a scythe sticking out of his shoulder. Guard Zombie would have made a better army builder. That’s not to say that Farmboy isn’t nice. I really dig his tattered overalls and grimy hair.

Hershel is a pretty plain fellow. He looks like his comic equivalent, but he also looks a lot like Dale. He’s probably my least favorite of this wave. I’ll be looking forward to getting him in his farmer clothes in this year’s SDCC exclusive. Tyreese is an odd choice. This version is Tyreese in his final moment at the hands of the Governor. Some have mistaken it for the time when he fought it out with Rick, but if you look back at the comic, Tyreese hardly took any damage in that fight, and this figure’s face is pretty messed up. Nope, the only time Tyreese appeared this damaged and this shirtless was right before he lost his head. Tyreese is a very popular character. It seems really weird that this would be his first figure, especially since DST showed a street clothes Tyreese when they first announced the series. Hopefully we’ll see that version soon.

The Walking Dead minimates keep trucking along with a strong eye for detail and pretty good character selection. Wave 4 is scheduled for release in August and will add some more characters from the prison arc, including Lori with baby, Woodbury defector, Alice, and the highly anticipated Governor minimate.

You can check out other WD minimate reviews here:
Wave 1, Wave 1 TRU, Wave 2, Wave 3 TRU, SDCC 2012 exclusive, Amazon exclusive