REVIEW: SLUG Zombies Series 2 - Captain Payback

Produced by JAKKS Pacific | Released August 2012

Survival Skill: Blending in with nature

Likes: Weapons of Mass Destruction & Explosions caused by those weapons

Dislikes: His peripheral vision

Favorite Quote: ''The harder the hunt, the sweeter the catch!''

SLUG Zombies Series 2... In Peach?

Nope, your eyes do not deceive you. Series 2 of JAKKS Pacific's very cool zombie-themed Keshi figures has introduced a new colorway in the form of a series of peach figures. It's not a chase variant or special color release though: this hue is reserved for the new-to-Series 2 human figures, the first of which we're taking a look at today: Captain Payback.

Sculpt and Design

JAKKS Pacific make it pretty clear where a number of their parodies come from - and Captain Payback is no exception, being a weird hybrid of Rambo with a dash of Snake Plissken just for good measure. It's a fun, cheeky little nod to both characters and fans of action movies will dig the homage.

The detail is very good. There are plenty of nice little pouches, an ankle knife and ammo belts, plus his combat boots and fatigue pants are all as detailed as you'd expect. My pictures probably don't do him justice but there's a lot going on here, particularly with the head sculpt that captures the looks of a certain action hero star perfectly. And for all his angular, lantern-jawed looks JAKKS Pacific's designers have done a good job of differentiating his looks from those of the undead.

The finish is also very nicely done, with sharp, clean edges and no ''fudged'' edges, with his RPG being particularly ''clean'' looking (in a good way), with the detailing being particularly precise. There's a very slight deformation to his chest (which runs into the rocket launcher) but it's only really visible if you look for it.

Paint

As you can see - and as I mentioned earlier - Captain Payback is cast from a peach colored plastic. And to anybody who's a fan of Keshi or minifigures, it will immediately be apparent what JAKKS Pacific was going for here: it's MUSCLE pink!

Although let's face it: is that such a bad thing? I don't think so.

It's cool to see the figures diversifying in their coloring. Part of me has always wished JAKKS Pacific had gone with variant colorways for each figure (as that makes duplicates more palatable in my opinion) but it's cool to see the figures in these new colors, especially as this tone not only evokes memories of MUSCLE Men but also seems to work well to showcase the sculpt detail in a way the green tone just doesn't seem to quite manage.

Final Thoughts

It's great to see how the SLUG Zombies line is taking shape and the addition of a new colorway is a welcome one, especially as it also heralds the arrival of the human survivors to the line-up. Which is a definite plus.

As for Captain Payback himself, he's a superbly well-sculpted figure, with some excellent detail. Whether you find the idea of parodies funny will depend on your sense of humor but although it's hardly a side-splitting gag, it's certainly a nice homage to not one but two action heroes. So kudos to the designers for that.

Fans of MUSCLE toys will love the new colorway, too. But even if you're not a collector of that line (or this talk of MUSCLE is leaving you scratching your head) this is still a great, fun, very detailed toy. Seriously, I'm always amazed at the level of detail JAKKS Pacific his with these figures but Captain Payback has probably set a new standard.

Great fun.

Final Score: A-

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