Review of King Ezekiel - Walking Dead
Sixth Scale Action Figure

Introduction

Threezero continues their terrific series of sixth scale action figures based on the show The Walking Dead with the release of King Ezekiel. Most of their releases so far have been from early seasons, but Ezekiel is a more recent addition. There's no sign of the line slowing up, with Carol and a season 1 Rick already on pre-order.

Ezekiel just started shipping in the U.S., and will run you around $180 or so depending on the retailer.

Packaging - ***1/2
I'm a big fan of the skinny boxes they use with this series, and with some of the Game of Thrones releases. They take up less space, and mean less waste if you toss them.

They're completely collector friendly of course, and the large portrait photo on the cover allow you to compare the sculpt to the actual character.

Sculpting - ***
Regular readers know I consider three aspects to any sculpt - likeness, expression, and realism.

For Ezekiel, the likeness is the strongest aspect. From the crooked nose, to the large eyes, to the shape of the beard and face, they've created an excellent sixth scale representation of the character. Fans will definitely recognize him immediately.

Realism is the weakest aspect, although some of that is the fault of the paint, which I'll discuss in the next section. The skin texture is good, but the eyebrows lack detail, looking more toy-ish. The lips and beard pick things up again, with lots of realistic detail work, but I'm not loving the sculpted hair. The hair line is great, and the texture is generally good, especially on the top of the head, but the dreads just don't look good in person. This is one of those rare occasions where I think the sculpt looks better in photos than it does in hand, but even then you'll notice the mold lines along some of the dreadlocks, and a tootsie roll impression with many.

The expression is better, however, with serious but sly look, a subtle emotion that adds quite a bit of life to the final product. He'll fit in nicely scale-wise with the rest of the line, and the sculpting on the accessories and armor is well done. More on that in the Outfit section.

Paint - ***
The paint work on most recent threezero figures has improved, but they had a tall order to fill with the hair on this release.

The skin tone looks good, although it is different than what we saw in the marketing photos. It's not a huge difference, and I think it's actually an improvement. The eyes are sharp and glossy enough to create natural catch lights, and the lips are very realistic. The eyebrow paint doesn't do much to improve the soft sculpt, and the beard has some issues. You'll notice there's sculpted hair, especially along the top of the mustache, that is skin color with no beard paint. As annoying as that is, it's really the hair where things go south.

They tried to replicate the salt and pepper look, but it doesn't quite work. Like the sculpt, I think it looks better in photos than it does in hand, where the painted hair comes across pretty unrealistic.

Articulation - **1/2
The underlying body has all the articulation we've seen before, but there's some issues with joints that caused the score to drop.

The biggest issue is the neck. The head does not want to remain on, and between the long stiff hair and the shoulder armor, it pops off at the slightest touch. It effected posing, because it was impossible to give it any real tilt or lean, since it just popped out when you did.

The shoulders, elbows, and wrists work well, although the hands suffered a similar issue. The posts pop out of the arm while posing, but the hands stay on the posts pretty well. The chest armor restricts the torso a bit, but that's expected with this sort of costume.

The hips and knees work fine with little restriction, but the single piece sculpted boots don't allow for a ton of ankle movement. Shallow and medium stances are fine, but while the legs can manage deep stances, the feet won't be flat. The feet also popped off quite a bit, not something I normally see. All in all, it was a frustrating experience.

Accessories - ***
The figure includes a number of useful extras.

There's the usual assortment of hands, with a couple extra wrist pegs. There's a set of fists, gun grips, and tight grips to go with the relaxed hands he comes wearing.

He has two guns as well, an AR-15 style rifle, and a pistol. The handgun fits neatly on the holster already on his belt, and the rifle can be slung over his shoulder thanks to a strap.

Ezekiel also has his special weapon - the sword/cane. The sword slips in and out of the longer cane shaft cleanly, and looks great in a variety of poses.

He also comes with his jacket as a separate piece, but I'll be discussing that in the Outfit section.

Outfit - ***
Most of the threezero costumes, both with the Walking Dead and with Game of Thrones, are extremely well done. Sadly, I had a couple issues with this release that pulled it down a bit.

The outfit includes the pants, boots, belt, holster, undershirt, shirt, torso armor, knee pads, bicep pads, and forearm armor. As an extra piece, there's also the long black jacket.

The clothing is nicely tailored, fitting the body properly. The armored bits are formed to fit the limbs and torso tightly. I don't love the single piece boots due to the ankle restriction, but the sculpt does look great.

My biggest issue is the cheap strap on the holster. I don't think it's going to last too long if you use it too often, so I put the pistol in, closed it, and left it alone.

While you can go without the coat, I like the fully dressed look better. However, I removed the forearm guards when I put the coat on, since they made the fit too tight and difficult. The torso armor does not, and the coat seems to be properly tailored through the shoulders and back to fit.

The weathering and wear is not quite as heavy this time, but there is some to add a bit of realism to the final look.

Fun Factor - **1/2
With heads and hands and feet popping off every time I breathed on him, it was far less fun finding various poses. Once you got him in the pose you wanted he stayed there, but getting there was the issue. I also wanted more lean and tilt to the head, and this issue kept me from getting what I wanted with every pose.

Value - ***1/2
At just $180, threezero is producing excellent figures for a reasonable price. Oh, there are nits you can pick, but you can spend $50 - $100 more for a similar figure from other companies and still have nits. They should be commended for keeping prices in a range that makes it possible to pick up characters you might not otherwise be able to afford.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing While the hands, feet, and head tended to pop off, they also popped back on quite easily. I do think the strap on the holster is likely to break with repeated use, so I'd avoid opening and closing it too many times.

Overall - ***
There are some issues here - I don't love the paint work on the hair, and the dreadlocks posed a tricky sculpting situation - but he's a decent addition to the zombie shelf. It's nice to get such a unique looking character, with a unique weapon in the Shikomizue.

Carol is the next release I'm looking forward to, and I hope we see at least a few more announced, including a Hershel. That's a figure I think they could really do right, with lots of personality in the sculpt and some excellent extras.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpting - ***
Paint - ***
Articulation - **1/2
Accessories - ***
Outfit - ***
Fun Factor - **1/2
Value - ***1/2
Overall - ***

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth has him for $180 with free shipping.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Threezero has done quite a few sixth scale figures for the show, including the recent Morgan and Carl.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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