Review – Paolo Parente’s Dust Unmensch Experiments Zombie Action Figure

The 12-inch scale Dust Unmensch Experiments action figure has been sitting in the living display for a few years now. In fact, a second one of these action figures — ordered from Sideshow Collectibles* years ago (see this January, 2010 post) — has been in my closet this entire time. Well, it’s time that we get a look at the toy and see just how it looks off of the shelf (and out of the box).

Paolo Parente’s Dust Series

The entire Dust series (Amazon.com search*) — including the Dust Tactics miniatures game (Amazon.com search*) — was created by artist Paolo Parente and first appeared in the Image Comics Dust books. Comics, games, and a smattering of articulated statues and action figures basically cover the series; see the dustgame.com website and this Bell of Lost Souls Dust history to get up to speed on the setting.

For the Unmensch Experiments Zombie 12-inch scale action figure stick with me.

Looks Fantastic!

The Unmensch Experiments Zombie makes me think of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy series and looks as if it would fit right in the Conqueror Worm* book. The jumpsuit — dusty and filthy right out of the box — is fairly basic, but the mechanical hand, giant spiked ball in place of a hand, and the rotting zombie-like face all make it fairly easy to forgive the simplified jumpsuit. As to why zombies wear jumpsuits — see my review of Ashley Wood’s Adventure Kartel Shadow Zombie — I’ll never know, but I also won’t care when the zombies are equipped with such scary mechanized hands and weapons.

Articulation

The body beneath the jumpsuit is some sort of stock 12-inch scale action figure body and has all of the usual joints. Michael Crawford says in his review of the toy:

If you’ve picked up bbi, Dragon or Hot Toys sixth scale figures in the past, you’ll be familiar with the basic body style. Tons of useful articulation, with a very lightweight design.

The jumpsuit restricts the arm and leg movement a bit, though, so don’t expect too many dynamic poses out of the toy. The individually-jointed fingers are fairly durable and I like how the robot hand includes two thumbs; if you had two of these toys you might just be able to put together a two-fisted version of the figure by swapping parts around. Well, you could if one didn’t come broken out of the box. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Individually Numbered

The above photo showing the back of the action figure shows that I’ve got number 204 out of the 666 pieces in the series. The second one I own is number 148, and in Michael Crawford’s review we can see that he has number 004. The act of individually numbering the toys’ jumpsuits was a great touch and makes me wonder where the other 663 pieces in the series are sitting these days. It’s not that I want more of them, I’m just curious. I know, I’m weird.

Multiple Heads

Michael Crawford’s review states that there are at least two different head sculpts — and the photos on the back of the box support that statement — but the second version must be quite rare since most of the photos I’ve seen are of the head version that I own (two of). It’s a fun sculpt, but not so amazing that I am sweating over finding the second head. The empty eye socket is an especially nice touch.

I Got a Wrench

With those giant mechanical hands and the spiked, chain-adorned ball you would think the Dust Unmensch Experiments need no weapons. Well, maybe they don’t but that didn’t stop the figure from coming with a big wrench. It’s a simple accessory and the photo tells the entire story. The figure that’s been on display in my living room for a few years now has not been holding his wrench. He really doesn’t need it.

A Snapped Wrist

Below you can see the second of my Dust Unmensch Experiment action figures and how he came out of the box. Very sad that the hand snapped off the way it did, but seeing how much weight is hanging from that very thin post I have to say I’m surprised the other toy’s hands haven’t fallen off in the years that they’ve been hanging and holding their pose. There might be a way to reattach the hand to the figure, but it’s going to require a loss of a swivel at the wrist. Fortunately the mechanical hand itself is on a ball joint so the poseability will be only slightly affected.

Closing Thoughts

The Dust Unmensch Experiment action figures don’t use the highest quality bodies, but for the $45 MSRP when they were released the figures were an excellent deal for those mechanical hands/spiked balls alone. Great weathering work on the suits and paint apps and overall quite cool designs. I really wish that the second one hadn’t come out of the box broken, but with a touch of superglue I should be able to get it back into a play-ready state so (hopefully) no longterm problems.

I don’t think I’d recommend spending more than $60 or $70 for one of these today — that body really does feel dirt simple when compared to some of the 12-inch scale action figures I’ve seen in the past four years — but if you find one and like the look then you should consider grabbing it.

If I could get more of those mechanical hands I’d want to use them to devise a custom. Those jointed fingers feel nice and durable and the look is fantastic. Yeah, I think I like the hand more than anything else about the toy. I said I’m weird.