{"id":13633,"date":"2013-10-30T00:09:18","date_gmt":"2013-10-30T04:09:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.oafe.net\/blog\/?p=13633"},"modified":"2022-10-05T03:31:01","modified_gmt":"2022-10-05T07:31:01","slug":"walking-dead-mystery-minis-daryl-dixon-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.oafe.net\/blog\/2013\/10\/walking-dead-mystery-minis-daryl-dixon-reviews\/","title":{"rendered":"Walking Dead Mystery Minis: Daryl Dixon reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"

Okay, confession: the RV Walker<\/a> reviewed for last week's Walking Dead Wednesday was actually the fourth<\/b> figure I found - I wanted to save this one for last, as a surprise.<\/p>\n

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\"This one,\" of course, being your favorite racist cracker, Daryl Dixon. Well, he may not be as openly racist as his brother Merle<\/a> (he wasn't a total pantload to T-Dog<\/a>, for instance), but he does still have the Schutzstaffel \"lightning bolt\" logo on his bike, so it's not like he's a good guy. Yes, the writers have begun to redeem him, but he was undeniably angry Southern trash when the show started. The only reason the group tolerated the Dixons was because Daryl's survivalist tendencies made him useful.<\/p>\n

The Walking Dead Mystery Minis<\/i> were designed by Reis O'Brien, and he did a great job capturing the look of Norman Reedus (in his second comicbook role<\/a>) in this line's super-simplified style. There's not much of a likeness to speak of, but this one is more identifiable than Michael Rooker was. It must be something to do with the spacing of the (painted on) eyes or the squared-off shape of the jaw. Maybe the way his hair is plastered down against his head? Who knows. The goatee is a bit of a surprise though - it generally looks more like thick stubble than a purposeful beard.<\/p>\n

Daryl is armed with his trademark crossbow and has a quiver of arrows on his back. He's clutching a large knife in his left hand. His pants and shirt are just as ragged as the zombies' clothes, but his vest is pristine. His skin is actually a shade lighter than his brother's, but since his clothes are darker, he has a nice contrast. The strap around his chest is the same brown as his pants, but it gets a yellow paint app on the buckle. His quiver is green - possibly suggesting camouflage? - and the bolts are grey with orange fletching. The fact that his foot-nubs are two different shades of beige (darker on top, with light soles) makes it look like he's wearing work boots. Very cool!<\/p>\n

Daryl is packed at the same 1:12 ratio as his brother, but his blood-spattered variant is much rarer; in fact, at 1:144, it's one of the rarest figures in the line (along with the Prison Guard Walker). He's the show's breakout star, so between that and the fact that I already had Merle, I was really glad to find this figure.<\/p>\n

A second year of Walking Dead Wednesday, another Daryl Dixon.<\/p>\n

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I've already got more Walking Dead Mystery Minis<\/i> than I'll be able to review this month, so rather than try to make this Daryl a standalone slot, it makes more sense to just append him to the end of last year's review - that way, anybody who clicks the link on our Reviews page<\/a> will be taken to both<\/b> Daryls!<\/p>\n

The designs of the figures have really improved since last year. Series 2 Daryl looks much more like Norman Reedus than the Series 1 figure - the head is drastically larger than the old one, but the shape is better, which means the stylized eyes (the only facial feature to be found here) are better able to sell who this is supposed to be. He's got a painted goatee and mustache, and his hair is starting to look long and stupid.<\/p>\n

This figure represents Daryl circa Season 3, when they were all hanging around the prison. His posture is much more defensive than it was on the first fig, with his body twisted to the side (to make him a smaller target) and his crossbow held in both hands. The sculpt on his outfit is ridiculous - not because it's bad, but because it's so darn good! If you look at pictures of the real costume<\/a>, you'll see that he's wearing a black leather vest over a cloth jacket with leather sleeves over a cloth shirt, and this Mystery Mini duplicates all that. They even sculpted the two different collars folding together! That's nuts! Plus, they remembered the lacing on the side of his vest, and the red handkerchief in his pocket.<\/p>\n

There were two versions of Daryl available, the 2:24 version covered in this review, and a 1:72 blood-splattered variant.<\/p>\n

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When I got a Daryl Dixon<\/a> from a Walking Dead Mystery Minis<\/i> Series 2 blind-box, I was a bit disappointed - after all, I already had the Series 1 version, so why would I need another? If you have two of the same thing, it's stupid; but if you have three of the same thing, suddenly it's a collection.<\/p>\n

This is the most aggressive, confrontational Daryl yet. Last year's was very guarded, but this one has a wide stance, and is holding his crossbow up, making sure everybody can see it - unless he's trying to shoot a zombified cloud, that's a threat. Actually, the crossbow really demonstrates how the sculpting on this line has evolved over the years - the original was just a black shape, last year's had strings and a silver bolt, and this one adds cams, a riser and a quiver. It still looks cartoony, but the detail is much heavier, just like the figures themselves.<\/p>\n

Daryl's Bieber-hair is fully sculpted, and even falls over his eyes (which are also sculpted, unlike the figures in the first two series). His tiny mustache ends up looking like Maggie's<\/a> lip, but she didn't have a goatee to match - still, he looks like he's frowning. There's a tear in the right knee of his pants, and thin gray wrinkles painted on. Speaking of paint, the wings on his vest are tampographed nicely. They were also on last year's figure (though we forgot to mention them), and while they have the same pattern, they're not identical apps. He's sculpted with a red handkerchief in his back pocket, and a knife sheathed on his left hip.<\/p>\n

Daryl is available in a 1:12 ratio, meaning he's theoretically available in every case. There is also a 1:24 bloody variant, and a 1:36 Hot Topic-exclusive version wearing a bandana over his face<\/a>. Why, in god's name, if you're going to make a store exclusive, would you not put it in every<\/b> case that store gets? It's ridiculous.<\/p>\n

Also available in a 1:24 ratio (and yet paradoxically, much easier for me to find than Daryl himself)? Daryl's bike. Well, okay, originally it belonged to Merle<\/a>, but you know what we mean. It's a customized 1971 Triumph Bonneville 650 with a peanut tank, and lasted until they had to abandon the prison. It's kind of a terrible choice for a world full of zombies - Daryl specifically eschews firearms because \"they make too much noise,\" but chooses to ride around on something that's about as quiet as a chainsaw tribbing with a vacuum cleaner inside a garbage disposal?<\/p>\n

The bike is about 3⅛\" long and 2¼\" tall. It's sculpted with saddle bags and nice engine details, and the kickstand is down - though really, the wheels are wide enough that it might have stayed up regardless (like Wolverine's motorcycle<\/a>). The bike is black and silver, with grey wheels. It doesn't have any decals, which is fine: we may not get the skull and crossbones under the seat, but that means we also don't have to worry about the Schutzstaffel<\/i> SS logo cracker-ass Merle put on there. The bike also explains Daryl's unusually wide-legged pose: the toy can straddle the bike!<\/p>\n

This is the first time there's been a Mystery Minis<\/i> vehicle, and it was a perfect choice. Plus, it adds a ton of value to this year's Daryl.<\/p>\n

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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.<\/p>\n

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?<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n

In the real world, the custom chopper was built by Classified Moto<\/a> to merely look<\/b> 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

<i>And now, some more OAFEry:<\/i><\/H5>