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Review: Zombie Dog Handler by Reaper Miniatures

Submitted by John Price on Thursday, 9 July 20092 Comments

zdh4When a buddy first brought this mini to my attention on the WorldWorks Games forum (thanks, Grump!) I was interested right away. I’m always on the lookout for unique zeds, and a zombie man still walking his zombified dog certainly qualifies. I resolved to acquire the fig, and waited eagerly for it to arrive.

What struck me as soon as I saw the mini in person was that it was enormously bigger than I expected. I had assumed that he was something close to 28mm, as most of the Chronoscope range I had seen are. To my surprise, the handler stands more like 38mm from the top of his base to his eye level, making him tower over everything else in my collection except my Hasslefree Jotuns. For scale purposes I’ve pictured him with a fig from my Griffin set, which were previously the biggest human zeds I owned.

zdh1I’m not a scale Nazi by any means, but there are limits to what I can put on the tabletop, and I’m afraid this Brobdingnagian fellow and his faithful hound are just a bit outside them. Barring some truly twisted scenario idea, I don’t think he’ll ever see any use as a gaming fig.

The mini is the product of famed sculptor Bob Olley, so I had high expectations for the level of detail which were unfortunately only partially met. The dog is very well sculpted and posed in an aggressive, attacking posture. Fido shows some impressive wounds along both flanks, offering a fertile playground for gore painting enthusiasts. His fur is nicely sculpted as well, and the texture really pops with a just a quick inking job.

zdh2

A cucumber wrapped in tinfoil?

zdh5Fido’s master is more of a mixed bag His flesh is nicely gnarled and shriveled, suggesting that he has been undead for some time. His face has an odd, almost demonic cast to it, not helped by strange ears that look almost pointed to me. The problems continue with his clothes, which hang on his figure very oddly. His shirt ends at his belt buckle in a ridge thick enough to throw a sizable shadow, and the front of his pants puckers around the zipper in an most unnatural way, as if he has stuffed his trousers Spinal Tap style.

Overall, I’m a bit disappointed with this mini. I still love the unique subject, but the odd details on the man drag down the overall impact of the fig despite the nice work on the dog. I’m especially unhappy about the oddly huge scale, which renders it all but useless as a gaming mini. It’s still a decent display piece and I’m glad to have it in my collection, but the fact that it will never see a gaming table definitely reduces its overall desirability for me.

Pros: Unique Subject, Nice sculpting on dog

Cons: Scale incompatible with most other genre minis, Odd details on handler

Final Verdict: 2/5

MSRP: $5.99

Source: Reaper Miniatures (review copy)

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2 Comments »

  • Darren says:

    Dang

    I wish I’d seen this review before buying the figure. I was also underwhelmed considering the quality of the chronoscope range.

    • John Price says:

      Sorry I couldn’t be there for you, Darren. Yeah, a Bob Olley sculpt sold by Reaper has all the pedigree in the world. I was very surprised the result was so substandard.

      The best explanation I’ve heard for the odd scale choice is that Olley orriginally sculpted it for his own company before he folded it and later sold the rights to Reaper.

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