Walking Dead Mystery Minis: Daryl Dixon reviews

I'm noticing a pattern with these Daryl Dixon Mystery Minis. Series 1, vest; Series 2, jacket; Series 3, vest; Series 4, jacket. I guess some days in "Hotlanta" are hotter than others.

For the first time, Daryl was not available in a 1:12 ratio - he was knocked down to 1:24, meaning he was twice as rare, and yet more than twice as hard to find. Was Funko worried that the fans were going to suffer Daryl fatigue? That they were going to get burnt out on Norman Reedus? It almost seems impossible, don't you think? But hey, better to leave the rabid fanbase wanting more than to fully satiate them, right?

This figure has much the same pose as Series 3's Daryl, for reasons which will soon become apparent: a wide stance, left arm straight, right arm bent... the specifics are different, but the broad strokes are all the same. His hair continues to get longer, and his beard is darker than before.

He's still wearing his angel-wing vest, though it's harder to see because for the first time, he has his crossbow slung across his back rather than held in his hands. He's clutching his knife in a reverse grip, ready to stab some heads at close range. A red bandana hangs from his back pocket, and he's tied his pantlegs closed with a few more. The closest costume we've been able to find to this is in Episode 2, when Daryl and Carol were getting water (though that costume didn't have fingerless gloves). Also, his sleeves should be the same color as the jacket he's wearing under the vest, not the vest itself. There's also a Hot Topic-exclusive variant, which sees this same figure splattered with blood.

Just like last year, we also get a Mini of Daryl's bike. Not the same bike - that one, which used to belong to his brother Merle, got lost when the group had to abandon the prison they'd called home. Rather, this is the new motorcycle that he cobbled together from spare parts after moving into Alexandria.

In the real world, the custom chopper was built by Classified Moto to merely look like a Frankensteined monstrosity: yes, the front end is from a sport bike, while the back is from a classic cycle, but a lot of the work was just painting and dressing pieces so they would look like they hadn't always been together.

A few liberties have been taken for this stylized little version. As before, Daryl is designed to fit on the bike (that's why his pose was so similar to last year's), but accommodating that means the seat needs a big scoop in the middle where the figure can fit, and that big scoop means completely repositioning several of the cycle's elements, like the small canvas bag that fits inside the frame. There are two kickstands, to help add some stability, and while the rack on the back that Daryl uses to mount his crossbow is present, it's not like the toy weapon can be removed and dropped back there.

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