Most Sunday nights I’m easy to track — plopped in front of my TV hungrily devouring the latest episode of The Walking Dead. Some of my all-time favorite shows don’t lend themselves well to action figure collectibles. Anyone remember grabbing the McFarlane Toys’ Lost line? And I’m still smarting over Funko’s decision to drop the 6-inch Game of Thrones series.
On the collecting front, 2016 has already been a pretty spectacular year, but the fate of McFarlane Toys’ The Walking Dead line has easily been my biggest disappointment.
Earlier this year, McFarlane Toys announced it was abandoning the 5-inch line immediately and returning to its vintage 7-inch scale featuring higher quality sculpting and less articulation. Essentially, we’re going back to the Dark Ages with the line.
As a collector, going in we kind of sign off on knowing we’ll never get a fully completed line of a popular brand. Playmates’ World of Simpsons and Palisades’ The Muppets lines are probably the only ones in my collection I’m satisfied all my major wants were covered.
One of the more frustrating aspects of McFarlane’s decision is how close we were to having a complete collection. Sure, we could argue about older figures getting better versions with the enhanced articulation scheme (looking at you Maggie, Glenn, and The Governor), but all we really needed was one more less filler-filled wave to get the important characters.
Recognizing that lends itself to some major second guessing of character selection. Was Gareth, muddy poncho Carol, flu-variant Daryl, and trench coat Governor really more essential than Lori, Sasha, Rosita, or a better version of Shane? And even after one appearance in the season finale, not having a Jeffrey Dean Morgan Negan figure seems criminal.
While like any collector, I can appreciate the bottom line and its impact on keeping a line going, it seemed pretty lousy to yank the rug out from the The Walking Dead collector fan base with no warning or a final sendoff wave.
I gripe about the downfall of the DC Classics line as much as the next guy, but Mattel made sure to find a way to release the revealed figures for its final aborted subscription and Doomsday . . . and the last desperate money grab Super Powers send-off.
My suggestion? One final wave. We don’t even need a wishlist here. It’s a basic make-good finale to celebrate the line and hit the remaining core cast members. There’s some spoilers here if you’re one of those I’ll watch it when it’s all over types so consider yourself warned.
Lori Grimes (with Judith) – The Grimes females have been ignored for too long. With T-Dog’s release, we’ve got most of the original cast and Lori’s the most necessary member we’re still missing.
Sasha Williams – Tyrese’s sister outlived both him and Bob, yet she’s the one without a figure? Madness!
Rosita – To complete the trio of Abraham and Eugene.
Negan – In just one episode, Negan revealed he’s going to be a major threat for Season 7 and we can never have enough human villains.
Jesus – Seemingly the only member of The Hilltop worth a darn, Jesus in his sweet trench coat with removable mask would be one of the gems of the set.
Tara – Although she’s hardly a character most folks would complain about not getting a figure of, Tara’s been a survivor and that’s gotta count for something. The Walking Dead line is a bit dude-heavy anyway, and someone’s gotta keep Eugene in line.
Gabriel – The coward turned ruthless fighter wraps up the line. I’ve gotta be honest, Gabriel rocking his pastor outfit while having a machine gun accessory seems like an awesome pairing.
Maybe if we beat the doors down on Castle McFarlane enough Todd will deem it worth one last wave? There’s the longer route of getting figures via Skybound’s convention exclusives, but I’ve already got Kenny from The Walking Dead video game as my next most essential figure on that front.