There’s no particular reason I’m doing a review of a “The Walking Dead” action figure. The series starts back up on February 14 and we’re soon getting to the villain I really loved to hate in the comic book (Negan). But the real reason is that I’m tired of Star Wars for a minute, so until I get the next Finn figure, let’s look at something else for awhile.
Just picked up Morgan (and Bob, which I’ll be reviewing later this week) from the Walking Dead television show. Morgan is one of the actors who can honestly say he’s been there since day one (episode 1, the Pilot), but has only cameo’d the series until this season where he has become a season regular. I guess since they killed off Tyreese, they needed another strong Black male to fill the spot, and so far even in his newly pacifist ways, Morgan has become (and I guess has always been) one of my favorites.
The figure thankfully does him justice, so check out the review…
My last review, I was really tired of reviewing packaging, because let’s be honest…we throw away about 90 – 95% of all packaging (I keep my Hot Toys boxes). But in all reality, when we go to shop for these figures, usually the packaging is what catches our eyes first, so it should be fair to keep packaging grading in my review.
I was in Target just looking around for nothing in particular and was walking away from the toy aisle when in the corner of my eye I caught the glimpse of something that I thought may interest me. There were three figures tossed to the side of a price check station…assuming someone probably checked the price and figured that they didn’t want to pay the price. After further investigation, it turned out to be three of the latest series of The Walking Dead figures including Morgan, Bob, and Dale. I promptly picked up Morgan and Bob and left Dale for the next collector (sorry Dale, you didn’t make the cut).
While the packaging is familiar to me, it was the back of the package that caught my eye that day. On the back are a picture of the characters that are featured in this series. It was actually like an artist rendition of the action figures that portray the characters from the show. Almost like the “inception” of action figure art.
Bravo Mcfarlane Toys, you managed to get me to talk about packaging. Once I get the figure out, I will most likely cut off the plastic bubble and keep the card back because I like the artwork that much. I was going to get these figures eventually one day anyway, but the packaging catching my eye like that really helped sealed the deal.
Packaging Score: 8.5 out of 10 
Accessories for Mcfarlane Toys always feel like a two-fold deal. They include plenty of accessories with their figures, but they don’t always physically fit very well with the figure.
With this figure we get a backpack, an automatic rifle, an extra head with his face mask on, and his now signature bo staff.
Starting with the bo staff, it was incredibly hard to fit into the figure’s right hand. It stayed in his hand once it was in, but getting it in was bitch.
Then I tried the rifle on the figure’s shoulder. It did not want to stay in place, so I tried to put it strategically in the figure’s left hand. That’s when disaster struck. The gun itself broke at the weakest point in the position I was trying to put it in, where the butt of the rifle joins with the rest of the gun. I was sorely disappointed, but was able to fix with some super glue.
The head was pretty straightforward and the hood is removable, although either one I was unsure if it was ever securely in place.
The backpack is kind of troubling as well. To get the backpack on, one strap comes loose so you can put the backpack on with the other strap and then connect the loose strap back onto the backpack. Great on paper, sucks in execution. The backpack does stay on the figure’s back, but I don’t think I ever got the strap secure.
Overall, great accessories, just practical use of the accessories proved to be a minor fail and not a fun experience for any of them.
Accessories Score: 6.25 out of 10 
In terms of likeness, this figure does resemble the character Morgan portrayed by actor Lennie James. Mcfarlane Toys has a way of capturing the likeness even on smaller figures like this 5″ figure. I think any smaller and the actor likeness is usually limited by the size of the figure itself, like most 3.75″ Star Wars action figures (although with time it does seem to be getting better).
The sculpting and detailing of the the jacket, the scarf, the face mask, the backpack, and even the jeans and shin guards are pretty nice and standard fair for a Mcfarlane Toy. I have no major complaints with the likeness, the sculpting, or the paint application of this figure.
Sculpt/Likeness Score: 7.5 out of10
This figure has a respectable 21+ points of articulation which is pretty good and standard for a Mcfarlane Toys action figure. You won’t be doing any super dynamic posing with this figure, but you can put him in the best stance pose to place it in your collection.
Missing is waist articulation, which is common for a McFarlane Toys action figure. No ab articulation either. I believe that something like those two points would interfere with the actual sculpting of the figure. Remember, no dynamic posing means that we’ll get just the basic stances.
Articulation Score: 6 out of10
For now, Morgan is here to stay. After doing away with three Black characters last season (Bob, Tyreese, Noah) sometimes it’s hard to keep up with who is left on the show. They won’t be getting rid of fan favorite Michonne anytime soon (hopefully). And I feel like since Morgan was there in the beginning, he deserves to be there until the end.
I’m glad they made a decent figure for Morgan that would fit nicely into my collection. I like both the character and the actor and his significance in the show definitely deserved a figure. But Mcfarlane Toys would do anything to make a buck. They are even going back to already long dead characters and making a figure for them (I’m looking at you Dale and T-Dog).
With the rotating door of characters (Sorry Noah, no pun intended), I hope this character gets to stay with the main group and not in my “In Memorium” section, which seems to grow after every episode.
