“In this life now, you kill or you die. Or you die and you kill.” –The Governor
If The Walking Dead has a “bad guy” — you know, other than all the zombies — then it’s the Governor. You’re not meant to like him in the context of the show since Rick Grimes and co. are set up to be the group who tug on the viewers’ sympathies more, so the Governor and his faction are then established as the ubiquitous “other”: the competition, the adversaries. In this world resources are precious, so every group has to be careful if they’re going to make it from one day to the next, and the Governor watches over his group with all the compassion of a sympathetic fascist — he’ll keep you safe, but just don’t cross him. He’s got some odd habits and hobbies, sure, but he’s survived — and so have the people under his watch — so is he really a “bad guy,” as it were? As is often the case with moral quandaries, the answer to that question depends on one’s subjective perception of the events. But to Rick and co., there’s no question — the Governor is definitely the bad guy.
The packaging, like all the other recent releases in this series, is a slim blister card. The figures and accessories are nicely showcased, which is great because it makes it possible to get a good look at each figure closely so you can choose the ones with the best paint. And trust me, when it comes to this wave of figures, the paint apps vary a great deal from one figure to the next and range from pretty spot-on to pretty terrible. Make sure you take the time to compare if you see multiples on the pegs.
The Governor’s sculpt is as solid as every other figure in the line. It looks great, but, again, the paint definitely makes it or breaks it. I got lucky and the first one I found ended up looking pretty good. I’m happy with it. But, man… others I’ve seen out in the wild don’t look nearly as good. It’s unfortunate because it is a really good sculpt, but it depends heavily on the paint to bring that out.
That said, the likeness here is acceptable. The figure is a close approximation to David Morrissey’s likeness, and the rest of the figure is nicely detailed with a realistic sculpt and good paint apps. The clothing folds look natural and there is some nice, convincing weathering going on.
The Governor comes with a pistol, an knife, a bigger knife, and an alternate head (complete with eye patch), and the packaging says he comes with keys, but the only “key” I can find is one sculpted hanging around his neck. There have been reports of the neck peg snapping while swapping heads, so be careful as you attempt this. It may be a good idea to take a hair dryer to it before tugging away.
Articulation here is nothing special or remarkable. He has a good, but pretty standard, range of motion in his arms, but it’s below the waist where things go downhill. His knees have a good range of motion, but his hips are pretty useless because the piece that serves as his waist/crotch hinders movement a lot, so even though McFarlane’s heart may have been in the right place here, too much of the figure’s articulation is effectively useless, so from the waist down he’s pretty much a statue like Rick. Well, maybe not that bad, but still. The below pic illustrates the extent of his below-the-waist posing capabilties.
As cool as it is to get the Governor, I really wish we could have gotten his daughter as a pack-in, or even as a full figure in the wave. She is one of the fundamental keys in defining his character on the show and in establishing his relationship with Michonne, so it would have been awesome to get his daughter. She was released in conjunction with the Governor in the latest wave of the comic line, so it’s possible they skipped that pairing here to avoid being redundant. Regardless, I hope we get her sooner rather than later. We already know she’s not coming in wave five, so hopefully wave six…
Andrea is the figure from this wave I’ve seen suffer from poor paint apps the most. Mine is totally decent (a big THANK YOU to Fwoosher Sidious for helping me out here) and actually looks like Andrea, but I’ve seen some that have a closer resemblance to a mutant frog princess than to Laurie Holden who plays Andrea on the show.
Andrea is a complicated character everyone seems to love to hate. She has close ties to both crews, but for a large chunk of the show she is somewhat unaware of the Governor’s methods, habits, and “lifestyle.” She let’s herself fall into a relationship with the Governor, which makes it difficult for her to act in any way contrary to whatever allegiance she may feel for him. At least at first. She effectively serves as a bridge in the narrative and gives us a reason to witness the community dynamic in the Governor’s world. She may be among the least-popular characters on the show, but as much as her character may irritate people, she does serve a purpose and adds a truly interesting dynamic to the the rivalry between the two camps.
Andrea’s sculpt is consistent with the others and features great detail work and a beautiful paint job with lots of realistic weathering and dry brushing. She comes with a removable vest, a pitchfork, a rifle, and a pistol. The pitchfork is a fun zombie-killin’ accessory that adds tons of play value to the collection.
Andrea’s articulation is much the same as the Governor’s. It’s not too bad from the waist up, but it’s functionally useless from the waist down despite having a few points of articulation that should be useful. It’s frustrating, but at least she looks decent in her forced, basically preposed vanilla pose.
Another gripe I have with her is her weapons: she can barely hold any of them in her hands, and in order for her to hold them, her hands have to be stretched out to an uncomfortable degree. The pistol’s grip is way too big, so it’s going to stay in the holster. The pitchfork can be fudged a little bit, but it’s still not nearly perfect. It’s a shame her hands aren’t larger, or at least more functional, to accommodate all that she comes with. Her most effective accessory is her vest, and it’s too bad her weapons will be tossed in a plastic baggie since she can’t really use them.
Andrea is definitely a nice-looking figure. For a display piece, she’s beautiful. For a fully functioning action figure, however, she does leave a little bit to be desired.
Both of these characters are vital additions to the Walking Dead collection, so if you can look past their articulation deficiencies, and if you’re a fan of the line and the show, then you need these two, even if Andrea annoys you as a character. They’re popping up at Walgreens stores right now, but their availability will be more widespread in just a few weeks.