REVIEW: SLUG Zombies Series 1 - Headless Halpert

Produced by JAKKS Pacific | Released January 2012

SLUG Zombies Series... 1?

OK, I know that Series 1 of the awesome SLUG Zombies line appeared at retail over a year ago, but in an effort to catalog each and every figure released we're taking a moment to step back in time with the subject of today's Review, the only figure from Series 1 that we haven't gotten round to taking a look at (until now), Headless Halpert.

Headless Halpert

Headless Halpert is a 3-figure pack exclusive, appearing alongside the also-in-the-12-pack figures of Grave Lincoln and Jon B. Gone. That's pretty good company, given how cool the other two figures were, so how does Headless Halpert stack up?

Pretty well, actually.

I've mentioned in the past that, as I'm not a fan of sports, I don't tend to really respond too well to sports-themed figures but in this case the zombified sportsman concept works. As you can see (and just in case his name didn't give it away) Headless Halpert's head has been removed and he's now toting it around as if it's a football.

I've always liked the idea that the undead repeat the patterns of things they knew in life, so it's cool to see Headless Halpert continuing his professional career. Although given his head has been severed from his body, does this mean that in the SLUG Zombie universe the head shot is no more effective than a body shot? That's a scary thought!

The sculpt work is, overall, pretty good. Not great but good. There's some nice detail but like some other figures in the line the amount of close-up work is limited more by the character choice than any form of poor workmanship. In other words, what you get here is a zombie football player. And nothing much beyond that. Which is fine for what it is.

Final Thoughts

Headless Halpert is the last figure from Series 1 that I've got round to Reviewing. And you can probably figure out why. 

As I mentioned above, I'm just not a fan of sports and sporting characters, so when it comes to such figures I tend to be left cold. It's not that such figures in the SLUG Zombies line that are based on sportsmen are technically lacking or weaker than the others. As ever, the sculpt work is detailed, the poses are suitably creepy and the macabre sense of humor that pervades the line is present. It's simply that I, personally, don't respond to these kinds of characters in the same manner as I do the celebrity or other profession-themed parodies.

In this instance, Headless Halpert is a pretty solid figure. The headless gag is a nice call-back to the archetypal beheaded ghost image that also works with the ''destroy the brain'' zombie concept and in turn plays into the idea of Headless Halpert as a football player carrying a ball - that just happens to be his head. Sorry, I think I just dissected the frog there...

But if you're a fan of pro-sports - especially football - then you'll probably get a real kick (ha!) out of Headless Halpert. For the rest of us overweight, myopic, last-to-be-picked-for-the-team basement dwellers, though, Headless Halpert is a bit of an also-ran (ha! again!)

Perfectly fine. For what it is.

Final Score: B

Buy SLUG Zombies at Entertainment Earth

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