One:12 Collective Dawn of the Dead
Zombies and action figures. If ever there was a pairing in Heaven (or Hell,) this would be it.
And if someone were to ask me what the “definitive” zombie experience is, even in the age of The Walking Dead, I would easily qualify George Romero’s 1978 cult classic. Considered old even by the time I saw it, I like to think I came to it in it’s preferred format, even over seeing it in the theater- the first time I saw it would have been around 1992, on a worn-but-working VHS from a local chain. We watched it on a formidable 32″ JVC tube TV, surrounded by girls in their early teens. In a basement. With laminate wooden paneling on the walls. At night. Only thing missing was maybe a creaky cabin at Summer Camp.
So, when I think of Dawn of the Dead’s zombies, that’s still how I see them; eternally shuffling behind a warm projection tube glow, tracking interference running in front of their shins. Something about that setting makes them even more unsettling than the HD remasters.
And when thinking about those particular zombies, it’s funny how they have really become the stars of the show. In fact, these zombies specifically- the “flyer” or “pilot”, and the “flannel shirt,” were made by NECA in their Cult Classics line a few years back. As the so-nominated ambassadors of the franchise, it made sense that Mezco too would choose those boys for the One:12 line.
The nuts and bolts of these figures should feel familiar to anybody in the line already. Base bodies, mostly the same for both figures, owes to the Star Trek/ Joker styled bodies we’ve seen before. This means pretty good articulation for a zombie figure; ball-jointed shoulders and hips, double knees and hinge-swivel elbows, neck and mid torso joints, and double ball-jointed wrists. The only change here is they don’t have ball-jointed ankles, just swivels. The unique parts are the hands and heads, and the flannel shirt zombie has a unique upper torso with the appropriate damage.
Thanks to those builds, and the very high quality clothing on top of them, you can easily imagine these figures without the greening skin and blood stains as just regular civvies. Which, if Mezco wanted to make a couple fun variants, I would totally buy again. But that’s the idea, naturally. You should be able to believe these guys were just regular joes, going about their business until the end of days began. The clothing on both figures does a great job of conveying that without being too heavy on the damage and blood stains, which makes for some decent screen accuracy as well.
Another benefit of using a somewhat universal body construction is that swapping heads between the two, or with similar figures is a snap. If this set should ever find itself on a sweet Amazon sale or something, a couple more with some different heads might not be out of the question.
The only accessory between the two is a nice little six-shot revolver, and the usual stands and armatures. This is one of those rare circumstances where here isn’t really much need for accessories, and just about anything additional would be surplus to their screen appearance. Even the revolver just dangles from the pilot’s outstretched hand- he doesn’t even necessitate a trigger finger. But since I was playing in the snow, I tucked it in his trousers as not to lose it. Felon carry for the win!
So, overall value here, you’re basically getting two figures at a “deluxe” Mezco price point. It’s not a steal, it’s not robbery, it’s just two surprisingly well thought out zombie figures at a reasonable 60-dollar-a-head-ish price. If you’re a cult-classic horror fan, or just enjoy a good zombie figure, these are an easy pickup. I kinda slept on the initial offering, but thanks to the Mezco Waitlist option, I was able to grab some from the cancellation pile. I’ve said it before, if you miss the window, definitely put yourself on that list, it’s paid off for me I think 5 times now. Maybe someday I’ll get that Red Skull!
