I preordered this Return of the Living Dead Tarman by Amok Time Toys all the way back in March of 2010. After almost two years of waiting, I had all but given up hope ever getting the figure, thinking that it had fallen into some sort of development limbo. Imagine my surprise when out of the clear blue it had shipped! I'm not sure why it took so long for Tarman to make it to production, but is he worth the wait?
As a quick aside, I should say that I'm a huge zombie fan even though I think the genre has become way too mainstream, thanks to Zombieland and The Walking Dead. Both are great in their own right, but both take away from the B-movie fun of zombie movies. Seeing zombies realized with incredible special effects along with great actors and established directors just wrecks the fun for me. But at least I still have the great zombie B-movies of yesteryear, and arguably the king of them all is Return of the Living Dead. And that means that the king of the "hero zombies" is Tarman, the creepiest and coolest zombie of them all. With that pedigree, this had better be a great figure.
The first thing you'll notice when you open the clamshell package is the smell of the figure's paint that just smacks you in the face. You'll feel like Frank and Freddy inhaling the Trioxin as those chemical odors waft up to your nose. Fortunately, the noxious gas dissipates quickly.
The figure has a great sculpt, with lots of skeletal detailing and layered tar-slime. The gesture is appropriately zombified, as the figure lurches forward in Tarman's signature gait, and the proportions are very skeletal, especially in the arms. While that's certainly appropriate for a zombie whose flesh has liquified into tar, it's not really screen-accurate considering Tarman was really a man-in-suit, arms and all. I go back and forth over whether I would prefer the figure to be more character-accurate or more screen-accurate, but the figure's sculpt is great nonetheless.
The paint apps are awesome too... for the most part. Unfortunately, my most hated action figure pet peeve rears its ugly head here, with pupils that are painted just slightly off-center. For a character like Tarman who has prominent eyes to begin with, this really screws up the look. Still, the rest of the paint apps are phenomenal. The tar has a slimy finish, a paint wash brings out the detailing on the bones, and there's a gross fleshy texture on the skull cap.
The articulation is very limited: swivel-hinge shoulders, a hinge jaw, and an alleged ball-socket neck. I say "alleged" because the neck just doesn't want to turn and I don't have the guts to force the issue. Fans of hyperarticulation will balk at the lack of any waist or leg movement, but I'm cool with it because any points of articulation there would just screw up the sculpt.
Tarman comes with a super-cool stand that features his visage while he was still in the Trioxin cannister, prior to his face melting off after being exposed to the open air. There's even the pipe that Tina used to barricade herself in the closet, as well as a chewed brain (Suicide's?) splattered on the floor. The brain is a separate removable piece, but I haven't been able to get Tarman to hold it in a munching pose.
The stand has two pegs that fit in the holes in the figure's feet. Although the pegs are too far apart for both of them to be attached to both feet at the same time, the figure stands perfectly well on one peg anyway.
This sample cost $22 at Big Bad Toy Store, which is in-line with other collectible figures this size like MOTUC.
Overall, Tarman is a nice figure that took way too long to get released. A great sculpt, nice paint apps, and super cool accessories make this figure a great buy for any fan of classic zombie cinema. If only the pupils weren't distractingly ajar, Tarman would be an unstoppable force of undead awesomeness.
Ratings and Summary
APPEARANCE: Great sculpt and paint apps, except the pupils are a little off. Argh!
ARTICULATION: Only swivel-hinge shoulders, hinge jaw, and (possibly) ball-socket neck offer any movement.
ACCESSORIES: An awesome character-specific stand with removable brains! What more could a zombie want?
VALUE: $22 is about right for a collectible figure this size.
COOLNESS: The coolest zombie around gets a pretty cool figure. If only the eyes were painted correctly.
OVERALL:
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3 comments:
I been reading on this figure and wondering if it was ever going to make it out. Glad to see it done and shipped i might have to get one someday if i get around to it.
I too, consider "ROTLD" to be one of the best of the Zombie films. It's so creepy and they way things just go from bad to worse to worse-er, makes this an almost perfect film. Well an almost perfect Zombie film, at least.
Tarman is also one of my favorite Screen Zombies, but this figure really doesn't capture his look for me. I have been on the fence about buying this, so thanks for this review. I can now use the money I was going to spend on this guy to buy some of those Galoob Star Trek:TNG figures you mentioned in a previous post. I never knew they existed, but now I must have them all!
@Bill: The Galoob figures are so inexpensive that for the $22 it takes to buy Tarman, you could probably get the entire set of Starfleet officers MOC. ;)
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