Goatboy’s Figure Review – Mantic’s Zombies!
Goatboy here again with another miniature review. Today I want to talk about the new Mantic Plastic Zombie Sprue. As usual I will review the model based on Value, Look/Form, and Paintability. It will be brought by the letters Z and the number 13.
Value – 7 out of 10 Rotten Pinkie Toes from the right foot of a Super Model
Whenever you look at a plastic model the first thing you look for is all the extra bits and pieces. This new release is again another great effort by Mantic to bring some of that GW plastic magic with a non GW pricetag. You get some nice options in the sprue which lets you get more bang for your buck than some other companies offerings. Mix that in with a great price and you have some nice models that can add some value to your roleplaying game, fantasy horde, or just your need to have all zombies under your command. You get three zombie options per sprue that can either all be on legs shambling towards you or one can come bursting from the ground like I have shown above. Lucky for us, zombies don’t need any crazy weapons so the options given really work for just about any game too so the kit’s value as a generic plastic cross system filler is pretty cool. I wish there were more zombies on the sprue, but Mantic has a specific size ratio they like to keep on their sprues so they fit in their cool plastic boxes.
Look/Form – 8.5 out of 10 Slightly Chilled Brains
Here is where I think Mantic did a great job. The models look awesome. They burst out of the normal cylinder you see in most modern miniature design. They want to get off their base and come and teach you a lesson. I do wish there was a female form in here as it would add a greater range of model choices but what we have here is one of the better zombies I have seen. They just ooze with that great George Romero feel as they are shambling towards you. If you place the bodies in a more aggressive stance you have a great Dawn of the Dead look that will be rather scary for any role player playing a zombie apocalypse game. The other interesting thing is that I really think these are a continued improvment building upon what Mantic has released earlier. They are not at a crazy heroic scale that has huge eyes and rather large features that can sometimes make your models look like fish people. GW has been pushing in this direction and you can see Mantic is following suite with some great figures. This makes me hope for some future Barbarians or maybe a dip into the Sci-FI pool we all know we want to see.
Paintability – 7 out of 10 Massive Hammer/Axe/Chain thingies wielded by a mutated T Virus Monster
There isn’t much to say beyond that they are zombies. I do wish that some of the forms were a bit different so the paint factor could be easier to break apart the models. More paints options, shirt options, etc would have been great as it would have given a chance to break up the monotony of a zombie horde. I said earlier, some female forms would have been great to see, as obviously girls become zombie babes too :).
The only real complaint is the circle bases they have the figures attached to can be a pain. The ankles of the models are a bit thin so there is a slight issue sometimes when placing them. You might break them off their base. It isn’t a big deal as you can create a kinda mud or muck with the basing to help make them rising from the ground etc. The good thing about the base is that it will make sure you have a solid form to glue the figure too so it isn’t all bad that the circles of attachment are attached.
I went with an ashy look that is more reminiscent of Japanese horror movies. I remember seeing one that was based in some kind of crazy forest where Yakuza would drop off dead bodies. They were all ashy looking and there was this whole cyclical story of two brothers gaining and losing powers and become evil. Fun movie if you want to see some crazy zombie killing action. If not that go with the tried and true Dead Alive by Peter Jackson. If you haven’t seen it and love crazy Zombie flicks go check it out. Make sure to get the unrated one as the amount of soupy zombie bits is just too funny to pass up. It has one of my favorite lines from a movie – “I kick arse for the Lord!”.
