The Walking Dead: Mystery Minis

Blind packaged toys and vinyl figures I'd argue are at the height of their popularity.  Funko has decided to cash in on both this popularity and their Walking Dead license by releasing a series of vinyl figures.  I've seen these at the local comic shop for $9 a piece, but thankfully they can be found in the trading card aisle at your local Target for only $5.99.

  

These figures are done in a very stylistic way and judging from the art I was very intrigued to see what the actual figure looked like.  Series 1 contains16 possible figures.  Of course there are variations to be found such as blood splattered figures.  There are numbers beside each figure shown on the back of the box, but I'm unsure what these numbers represent.  Are they odds for each particular character?

  

More great artwork can be found on each side of the box.  Being based on the AMC television show as opposed to the comic, you can see a few characters from the first 2 seasons of the show.

  

Score!  Merle Dixon...and the blood splattered version at that!  Now while I'm a huge fan of the AMC show, I never cared for the character of Merle.  However like many viewers, I was touched by his change of attitude towards the end of season 3.

These vinyl figures are nicely done by Funko.  They don't feature any articulation unlike the Disney Vinylmation toys I recently looked at, but that doesn't hinder the figure at all.  While only standing roughly 2 inches tall, these little figures pack a lot more detail than I thought they would.  The paint apps are very nicely done, something that you don't always expect with a toy such as this.

I'm not sure if I'll pick up any more of these, but I do have to say I'm very impressed with Funko's effort here.  For the time being, Merle will be accompanying me at work on my desk, watching my back for any zombies strolling around the office.