Thursday, September 15, 2016

Action Figure Review: Dean Ambrose from WWE Zombies by Mattel

  Dean Ambrose is, as of the day I'm writing this review (prior to Backlash 2016), currently the WWE World Champion. He is also a zombie. Well, in this line anyways. Mattel has done something crazy by merging the over the top personalities of the WWE with the still ongoing zombie craze to create the WWE Zombies action figure line. Whether you really like wrestling and get a kick out of seeing a zombified version of your favorite superstar or you're planning to mix these guys in with other zombie action figures, I really think Mattel has released a pretty solid toyline here. I'm not sure what kind of longevity it will have but currently I've purchased 5 of the 8 figures in the series and a sale or a bit of extra spending money could easily convince me to pick up some more. Yesterday I reviewed my first choice pickup, Bray Wyatt, and today I'm looking at my second choice, the Lunatic Fringe himself: Dean Ambrose. You know, they really should have called him Dead Ambrose. Or Dean Inrepose. I don't know. Maybe it's better that they didn't. Let's jump in and see how zombie Dean Ambrose stacks up, eh?



 The Facts:

Height: 6 7/8ths inches

Articulation: Hinged ankles, boot swivels, hinged knees, swivel hips, swivel waist, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel biceps, hinged elbows, a swivel/ hinge right hand, and a swivel neck.

Accessories: Removable left forearm with a swivel/hinge wrist.

Non-Scalper Price: $13 dollars
The Positives:

* First of all, what's positive about this figure is that it's Dean Ambrose as a zombie. Secondly, this is a pretty fun, sturdy figure. These are built on Mattel's "basic" WWE bodies so while they're not crazy articulated, you still get enough movement for a zombie toy. Plus, they're almost have the price of a standard "collector's line" like Marvel Legends, DC Comics Multiverse, or WWE Elite series.


 * While his "wight" hand his OK, Dean's left hand is removable at the forearm. This is a cool feature as the hand is still fully articulated and it stays on quite well. If this removable arm is a work, it's a darn good one.
 * I love this headsculpt. Dean Ambrose has some fantastic facial expressions and this one really nails that aspect of his performance while still making him look like a great zombie. Seriously, this is definitely one of the best zombie headsculpts I've seen in a zombie action figure line. Tell me you can't see this guy roaming around in Dawn of the Dead. I like the green pallor of the skin as it makes these figures stand out a bit.

 * The front of Dean's shirt features the "Dean 'Unstable' Ambrose" logo along with plenty of sculpted and painted rips, tears, and gashes. There are some nasty patches of exposed muscle and tissue on Dean's left side. Not sure how he bit the dust but I'm guessing Seth Rollins had something to do with it.

* Turn Dean Ambrose around and you can see some more of the damage done to the left side of his body as well as more scrapes, tears, and the "DA" logo on his shirt. This is pretty nice work for a figure that only costs around $13 dollars if you ask me.


* Dean's jean don't feature any unique zombie sculpting (they're the same as most other basic series Dean Ambrose figures) but they do have an awesome muddy paint job. You can tell that Dean's been creeping around through some graveyard all night.
 The Negatives:

* Disappointingly, zombie Dean Ambrose only has a swivel neck and not a ball-jointed head. Even the basic figures usually have ball-jointed heads so I'm not sure why the decision was made here to give this newly sculpted head and torso a simple swivel. Is a true ball joint really any more elaborate? 
 The WWE Zombies subset is just firing on all cylinders for me: These are fun toys, interesting collectibles for wrestling fans that like horror, and really good zombie figures to pad out your display. I have a pretty nice collection of various zombies from Land of the Dead, Neca's Cult Classics, Attack of the Living Dead, and the various Resident Evil lines over the years, and these WWE Zombies are going right in there. Dean Ambrose is a really fun toy and definitely worth a look if anything about the source material appeals to you.

I have reviewed two other Deam Ambrose figures on here: Dean Ambrose (Series 36) 
and Dean Ambrose (Series 41).

I've reviewed plenty of other wrestling figures, too, including:

WWE by Mattel
AJ Lee (Series 53)
Alicia Fox (Series 47)
Bray Wyatt (Series 55)
Charlotte
Lana
Natalya (Series 61)
Paige (Series 57)
Renee Young 
R-Truth (Series 59)
Sami Zayn (Series 61)
Sasha Banks
Stephanie McMahon (Series 40)
Tyler Breeze 
Zack Ryder (Series 61)

WWE Battle Packs by Mattel
Big E & Kofi Kingston
Enzo Amore & Big Cass
Konnor & Viktor 
Nikki Bella & Brie Bella (Series 38)

WWE Elite Collection by Mattel
Bad News Barrett (Series 34)
Bo Dallas 
Bray Wyatt
Bray Wyatt (Series 36)
Brock Lesnar (Series 37)
Cesaro (Series 33)
Damien Mizdow
Daniel Bryan (Series 38)
Dean Ambrose (Series 36) 
Dean Ambrose (Series 41)
Dolph Ziggler (Series 39)
Erick Rowan
Finn Balor
The Godfather
Goldust (Series 36)
Hulk Hogan (Series 34)
John Cena (Series 40)
Kalisto
Kane (Series 31)
Luke Harper (Series 35)
Mark Henry (Series 32)
The Miz (Series 37)
Neville
Paige
Randy Orton (Series 35)
Roman Reigns (Series 38)
Rusev 
Ryback (Series 41)
Seth Rollins (Series 37) 
Stardust (Series 36)
Stephanie McMahon (Series 37)
Sting (Series 39)
Triple H (Series 35)
Xavier Woods (Series 42)

WWE Elite Collection: Hall of Fame by Mattel
Sargent Slaughter
Stone Cold Steve Austin

WWE Elite Collection: Wrestlemania by Mattel (2016)
Undertaker

WWE Elite Collection: Wrestlemania XXX by Mattel
Bray Wyatt

WWE Elite Collection: Wrestlemania 31 by Mattel (2015)
Seth Rollins (Seth Cashes In!) 

WWE: Then, Now, Forever by Mattel (2016)
Chris Jericho

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