Todd McFarlane has revolutionized the action figure world and now he has his sights on building brick sets. In early July, it was announced that The Walking Dead would be featured as the first of McFarlane Toys’ brick building sets and I get a first-hand look at them at Comic-Con, along with new details straight from Todd McFarlane.
Hearing Todd McFarlane talk about these sets, it's clear that this is a passion project for him and something he’s spent a while perfecting. McFarlane compared the attitude he took to building blocks as the same that he took to action figures: he looked at what others were doing in that space and knew there was room to make them look better.
"Twenty years ago I walked into the action figure aisle, saw an artistic void, and asked, can these toys look cooler? The answer was yes, they could, and I’ve survived twenty years next to the big boys creating those artistic toys... Now I’m walking into another aisle with that same question, and the answer is still yes!"
His goal is to let fans of The Walking Dead create scenes that are more display pieces than toys and I was really impressed with the results. Looking at these sets from a distance, it may be difficult to understand how they’re even pieced together like the LEGOs you’re used to, but the building process is very similar. What really separates them is the art style, where the finish on the individual pieces and the detail on the figures are drastically different and more realistic that what we’re used to seeing.
Speaking of figures, you’ll also be able to create custom figures by swapping out pieces between the different human and walker offerings. McFarlane mentioned that they’ll be selling separate human and walker blind boxes, where you’ll receive a random batch of figures, including the possibility of scoring a rare variant. Some of the human figures I spotted include Rick, Glenn, The Governor, Daryl, and Michonne.
The initial offering will feature locations, accessories, and characters that are very familiar to fans of The Walking Dead TV series: the Prison Tower & Gate, The Governor’s Room, and Daryl’s Chopper. I was told that they'd love to release other locations and vehicles from the TV series, and Dale's RV is one of the sets that's already in the works. Here's a breakdown of the pricing and first wave of building set releases:
"The Building Sets: MSRP $9.99-64.99 – Daryl Dixon with Chopper, The Governor’s Room, and Prison Tower with Gate. Expand your brick building apocalypse with additional figure and accessory packs.
Blind Bag Figures: MSRP $2.99 – Daryl Dixon, Michonne, The Governor, Carl Grimes, Riot Gear Walker, Michonne’s Pet Walker, and Herd Walkers."
Todd McFarlane said that the first offering of these sets will be exclusive to Toys “R” Us and he expects that they’ll be available in mid-late October. A wide release is planned for early in 2015 and the sky’s the limit for McFarlane Toys’ building sets. McFarlane mentioned that they have plans for more accessories, sets, and characters from The Walking Dead, along with building sets based on other properties, so what ends up getting released all depends on sales of the first sets. From what I’ve seen at Comic-Con and knowing how rabid The Walking Dead fanbase is for new collectibles, I see no problem with these building sets flying off the shelves when they become available.
You can take a look at our extensive photo gallery below and learn more about the building sets by visiting the official McFarlane Toys websites at:
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