Trick or Treat Through 31 Days of Toy Terror: Capt. Henry Rhodes from Day of the Dead by Trick or Treat Studios

 

   

   How about another figure from Trick or Treat Studios' Day of the Dead toyline? Since we've already covered a zombie (Bub), let's now take a look at one of the humans from the film: Capt. Henry Rhodes. While the zombies are certainly a problem in the film, Capt. Rhodes is the primary antagonist for our heroes as he's heavily armed, commands a group of soldiers, and is steadily losing his grip on reality. Inspired by the classic Kenner figures of the late 1980s and 1990s like Beetlejuice, The Real Ghostbusters, Police Academy, Aliens, Terminator, and Jurassic Park, these figures really impress me because they remind me of the toys I really grew up playing with. Of course, it doesn't hurt that I really like the Dead movies, as well. During a sleepover as a very young teen, a friend and I watched Tom Savini's remake of The Night of the Living Dead two times on MonsterVision with Joe Bob Briggs in one night; ever since, I've been obsessed with horror and zombies, so these figures "give me life" as the youth of today might say. Which is odd to say of zombie action figures, especially this guy, who gets killed by zombies. Spoiler alert, by the way. Let's check out Capt. Henry Rhodes as we Trick or Treat through 31 Days of Toy Terror....

The Facts:

Height: 5 3/8ths inches.

Articulation: Swivel hips, swivel shoulders, sliding torso, and a swivel neck.

Accessories: Rifle, 2 revolvers, and shoulder harness.

Non-Scalper Price: $30 dollars

The Positives:

* For those unfamiliar with the 1985 George Romero film Day of the Dead, Capt. Henry Rhodes might just look like a generic soldier action figure. He's decked out in those 1980s style fatigues which don't look too different from the Vietnam era fatigues. They're green and fairly basic. Still, Capt. Rhodes isn't living on a base or anything; he's stuck with the rest of the survivors in the Seminole Storage Facility and he's dressed for practicality at this point. His shirt is unbuttoned quite a bit, his dog tags are hanging out, and he's toting around a belt of additional ammunition. The figure makes it look like it's for a machine gun (probably an M60) but in the movie it's .44 caliber ammo for his revolvers. It's a cool look still and, as a figure, I could definitely see this guy hanging out with the Space Marines from Kenner's Aliens or even as one of the poachers from Kenner's Jurassic Park: The Lost World line.  

* The sculpt is a bit exaggerated but it does bear a pretty good likeness to the late Joseph Pilato who played the character in Day of the Dead. The likeness really is in that nice cross between being generic and being spot-on, which makes it feel like a relic of the past. If Kenner had made Day of the Dead toys in the late 1980s, this is what I expect we would have got. Which is crazy to think about, but when again, we did have RoboCop, Terminator 2, Aliens, Predator, and Police Academy, so was Day of the Dead really that big of a stretch?

* Here's a closer look at the details on Rhodes' torso. I also put his shoulder holsters on him, here. the paintwork is quite clean on these smaller sculpted elements and the ammo belt looks great. It's not removable but it is clearly an extra piece that's been nicely fitted over the torso. 

* Since these are designed to feel like the Kenner figures from the late 1980s and 1990s, they have the five points of articulation that were pretty common then still. Yeah, some had waist swivels, but most didn't. They were usually a bit more pre-posed than the classic Star Wars figures, though. That's what we have here. Rhodes isn't in a crazy pose like, say, the later Kenner Total Justice or Legends of Batman figures, but he does look like he's in motion even when just standing around. He has swivel hips, swivel shoulders, a swivel neck, and one other part that moves...

* Yes, you can actually pull him open (like Extendar from MOTU) to reveal his guts and innards. Trick or Treat Studios calls this his "Choke on 'em!" action feature. How wonderfully gruesome is this? It's an incredibly gory scene in the film and now you can reenact it with your toys. Remember how the Jurassic Park Dennis Nedry figure's arms could pop out? This kind of reminds me of that! Brilliant work here!

* Capt. Rhodes includes three firearms for dealing with zombies. First, he comes with an M16A1 with a 30 round magazine. It's a decent weapon and it's instantly recognizable while not looking like a complete replica or something you'd see on, say, a modern Action Force figure. The plastic is nice and hard with a really good quality to it. 

* The other two firearms are his twin Smith & Wesson 629 .44 caliber revolvers. They don't have black handle grips but the sculpt is sharp and the silver color looks excellent. 

* Both revolvers can fit in his shoulder holster, a feature that was pretty welcome back in the day. It was rare on most toys (other than Coleco's Rambo: The Force of Freedom), but when it came around you darn well appreciated it. 

   As a kid I thought it was so cool when action figures could be "damaged" during play. Things Like Nedry's removable arms in Jurassic Park or Bishop being able to be pulled apart in Aliens were just incredibly fun. Capt. Henry Rhodes gives me a lot of that same feel and definitely triggers my nostalgia buttons just right. These are definitely very "niche" figures, sure, but they're right in my Q-zone and this guy is incredibly cool. Capt. Rhodes certainly isn't as much of a horror icon as the zombies in this series, sure, but he's a Great and a 1/2 figure with a "killer" action feature. 




This is the first figure of Capt. Henry Rhodes that I've reviewed. For more figures from Day of the Dead check out the following:

Bub