Scary Little Ugly Guys

Zombies sure seem to be in this year, which is fine with me 'cause I'm into 'em!  I've been following The Walking Dead in both book and TV form since their respective beginnings, but that doesn't mean I'm against some humor with my zombies as well.  I also love toy lines like M.U.S.C.L.E. and Monster In My Pocket, so it was only natural that Jakks Pacific's S.L.U.G. Zombies would appeal to me right from the get-go.  In fact, ever since I first saw their pictures revealed way back when, I've been chomping at the brain to get my hands on them.

Cleopatra Commin' Atcha

Mr. Jangles

Sadly, series 1 never seemed to show up in stores here (Calgary, in Alberta, Canada, since I haven't mentioned that yet).  Series 2 did show up though, and I pounced on 'em faster than zombies on a fat guy.  Sorry, that's not fair to say.  I pounced on 'em faster than zombies on a fat guy OR girl. See?  Equality.

Mash-Up Mike

Flesh-Eatin' Phil

Any way, these Scary Little Ugly Guys are supposed to come out in blind-bagged single packs, carded 3-packs, and boxed (in a cardboard coffin) 12-packs.  I've only been able to find the 3-packs so far, which means I wasn't able to get the few figures only found in the 12-pack.  But I was able to grab a nice sizeable chunk of them, so I'm happy.

Stu B' You

The figures themselves are only slightly larger than the previously mentioned M.U.S.C.L.E. or Monster In My Pocket figures.  The Zombies are all done in a sickly green color, but this series has something that was missing in series 1:  Humans!  The survivors (so far) of the zombie apocalypse are done in a healthy pink, which I think is pure genius.  They easily stand out from their undead foes.  And even though there's lots of strange and funny-looking Zombies to collect, I'm finding the Humans to be the ones I'm most interested in.  Like any good zombie movie, it's not the zombies themselves that make their world so interesting.  It's seeing how the few survivors manage to stay stay alive against all odds.  And it doesn't hurt when those survivors have a nice amount of badassedness to keep them going.  I think firefighter Blazin' Basel is my favorite character of the whole series so far.  He's handy with an axe, carries a flashlight, knows how to start a fire (and how to put it back out again), and wears a thick fireman's outfit that should resist against the average zombie bite.

Blazin' Basel, Captain Payback, Buck Wilde, and Gator Jones

Grim Trekker

S.L.U.G. Zombies is also chock full of humor.  It's not just the goofy-looking figures.  Many of them are parodies of other famous characters or real-life people.  Grim Trekker is basically a zombified Indiana Jones (how cool is that!), tennis playing zombie Andrew Agony is Andre Agassi, and Macho Mangler looks like Hulk Hogan and is obviously named after "Macho Man" Randy Savage.  Survivors Gator Jones and the heavily armed Captain Payback are clearly Crocodile Dundee and Sylvester Stallone (or more specifically Rambo).  Their bios are small but no less fun.  Mailbox dweller Flesh-Eatin' Phil's likes are "long arms & the element of surprise"; One-eyed Captain Payback's dislikes "his peripheral vision"; and Macho Mangler, who in a previous life was a "boxer, wrestler & ultimate tough guy" enjoys munching on his favorite food, "cauliflower ears".  Gross!

Macho Mangler

Andrew Agony

Like Morbs, I don't know how long the S.L.U.G Zombies will be around.  These will definitely appeal more to the adult collector than kids.  I've seen a poster showing off the future figures, and there's still a ton waiting to come out.  As long as Jakks keeps putting these out there, I'm going to keep trying to find them.  I've also heard that the Zombies are just one of the themes they want to release under the S.L.U.G. banner.  I can see them doing Aliens, Robots, Mutants, and all sorts of monsters.  And of course they'll need a handful of scrappy survivors to keep 'em in line!

Cleo's crew