Review – Ashley Wood’s Adventure Kartel Shadow Zombie
Limited to 150 pieces (see this post at ToysREvil for details), this 3A Membership Exclusive Shadow Zombie 12-inch scale action figure is a variant on the Boiler Zomb figure from the mind of Ashley Wood. I’ve reviewed some other Ashley Wood toys before (Squares 10-Pack and Membership Bramble), but this is the first non-robot Ashley Wood toy that I’ve picked up. And, for that matter, it’s the first Wood toy that’s a lot closer in design and appearance to an existing class of toy — 12-inch action figures — than the others that I own.
So how does the Shadow Zombie measure up against other 12-inch action figures? He’s eye-to-eye with the best Sideshow Collectibles action figure in my collection.
Packaging
And yet again, Ashley Wood’s toy comes in a fantastic box that’s as beautiful as we’ve come to expect from the crew at 3A toys. This large, two-piece telescoping box immediately made me think of classic monster model kits (not unlike the re-issued Aurora model kits I mentioned a few days ago) and it’s another one of those rare boxes that I’m going to display with my toy collection.
The box, as you can see in the photo above, is for the basic Boiler Zomb action figure. Unsurprisingly, the Shadow Zombie was packed in the standard Boiler Zomb box; not really terrible, since realistically 3A couldn’t print a special box just for this variant, but it would have been nice if they’d packed in a special something extra (like a sticker or postcard with Shadow Zombie artwork).
Inside the box, the toy is packed with a single chunk of wire and protected by a clear vacuformed insert. He’s well-packed, arrived safely, and I’ve got no complaints at all with the box. It’s functional, looks great, and is a lot sturdier than it looks in photos. A quality job all around on the toy’s packaging. I’ll be shocked if I’m ever totally unhappy with a 3A toy’s packaging design.
He Looks Goofy, Yeah
With most of the toy’s body and sculpted details hidden behind the clothing, the most striking feature of the Shadow Zombie’s design has to be his head . . . and that’s one hell of a goofy-looking zombie head. A massive overbite, giant ears, and a missing tooth all add up to give us a zombie that’s more comical than he is creepy or scary.
It also gives the Shadow Zombie a ton of character, though, since we’ve never seen a zombie look quite like this before. Sharp, angular lines give the action figure an almost animated appearance, while the anime-inspired hair reminds me of some of the other 12-inch action figures from Ashley Wood. It’s a stylistic choice that doesn’t quite blend perfectly with the robot toys, but it looks great and helps separate this guy from any other 12-inch action figure line on the market.
And the sculpt, as you can see in the photos, is masterfully done.
Nice Threads, Zomb!
The Shadow Zombie’s wearing a black jumpsuit that zippers up the front and is covered with elbow and knee pads, belt loops (but no belt, poor guy), and even has some stitched detail in the shoulders. He’s also wearing boots — which I can’t separate from his feet; I can pop the foot/boot off of the ball joint but if there’s a foot inside the boot (and I think there is) I can’t quite remove it — and under his jumpsuit he’s wearing a 3A Toys t-shirt. Nice touch!
The clothes are suitably dirtied for a zombie, with holes and ragged edges on the jumpsuit and stains and marks on the t-shirt and jumpsuit. It looks that just like 3A toys have elaborate, insane paint applications they also sink a ton of effort into the cloth clothing on their action figures.
There are some loose threads that you’ll want to cut off — don’t pull loose threads! — but it’s nothing major or terrible. Hell, I’ve bought real clothes that end up having more loose threads than this guy has on his outfit.
They Even Decorated His Body
Once you strip all of the clothing off of the Shadow Zombie you’re left with a detailed, painted zombie action figure (wearing tightie wighties) that shows just how much effort 3A puts into their toys. I’ve seen other 12-inch action figures that weren’t even touched beneath their outfits, so seeing that the body was painted — and it’s not just a flat gray, either — was a bit of a surprise.
Articulation
Removing all of the Shadow Zombie’s clothing gives us a chance to look at just how articulated he is. With ball joints on the ankles, wrists, and head, double-hinged elbows and knees, hinge/ball shoulders and hips, and an ab joint he’s fairly well articulated and poseable.
I don’t know enough about 12-inch action figures to say if this is an existing body or not, but regardless of the source there’s enough articulation in the design to make the toy fairly easy to pose. And balance isn’t too bad, though a stand would have been an excellent addition to the toy.
Feels Durable
The Shadow Zombie’s head and hands feel like a different plastic than the rest of the body, but overall the toy feels relatively durable and should withstand some mild play and use without suffering any damage. The hands, feet, and head all pop off of the figure without any problems — his left hand is a little too loose and ready to leap off of the body — so if one of these come off while you’re playing with him don’t be worried. Each piece snaps right back in place.
I’m hoping the problem that I had with the Bramble toy was a fluke, because so far the toys I’ve opened since the Bramble have felt very tough. This is a good thing, since I love the design of Ashley Wood’s toys and it would suck if I had to stop buying them because of breakage issues.
The Shadow Zombie is every bit as durable and playable as any of my 12-inch Sideshow Collectibles action figures. This is a great thing.
One Robot Head Accessory
The Shadow Zombie comes packed with a Bramble head that’s obviously been ripped off of the robot’s body. The head shows perfectly that this action figure isn’t to scale with the WWRP toy I already own, since this head is significantly larger than the head on my Bramble.
It’s a pretty simple accessory — with the head made of a hard plastic and the wires made of a soft, rubbery plastic — but it’s a nice extra and looks good in the zombie’s hand.
Closing Thoughts
After my bad experience with the Bramble toy I was worried that the toys from 3A would be a poor choice for my collection. Now, after the excellent Squares and this awesome Shadow Zombie, I’m feeling a lot more comfortable with the thought of pre-ordering more Ashley Wood toys. The Shadow Zombie looks great, feels tough, and is everything I was hoping it would be.
I fully expect that we’ll see more Boiler Zomb action figures — there’s no reason not to offer zombies in different outfits — but I’m happy enough owning just one that it’s going to take something truly amazing to get me to order another Zomb action figure. But if you don’t have one of these, and a variant color goes online, you should seriously consider buying one.
I’m gonna need larger shelves if I keep finding cool 12-inch scale action figures to add to my collection.
Philip Reed knows that he’s reviewed a couple of 12-inch figures this week and promises to lay off on the reviews of bigger, more expensive toys for a little while.
Great review and I love this figure. The best shot is in his tighty whiteys. For non members there was a chase that just had the bramble head and no zombie head. I think I would have wanted both becasue the goofy head is awesome
I think the Bramble-headed zombie was an auction for charity item or something. I’ll dig into it, but I expect I’ll find the answer over at ToysREvil.
The Boiler Zomb with the Bramble head is called Zombot and was a variant, limited to 10 pieces. 2 were sold for charity at 2700 bucks.