Toy Review: Fresh Monkey Fiction Naughty or Nice Wave 1: Zombie Santa

Yesterday, I looked at last year's "Classic Santa" figure from Fresh Monkey Fiction, a small toy company producing - among other things - a line of Christmas action figures. When I ordered the Classic Santa, I also picked up a couple other figures, including the one I'm looking at today.

Only in this case, "one" isn't entirely accurate, as this comes with an alternate set of hands and a head sculpt allowing you to effectively choose between two very different figures: the Zombie Santa promised on the package, or a sort of psycho-Santa.

As I said in my last review, the box is pretty straightforward. I threw mine out a few minutes after snapping some pictures, but anyone who wants to keep their figures in the original packaging has something that will look good on the shelf.

The body is a simple repaint of the Classic Santa, though they went to some notable effort to differentiate them. The coat is a darker color, almost halfway to purple compared to the bright red worn by Classic Santa. Likewise, the trim is grey, rather than white, and the boots and belt are brown instead of black. Then, of course, there are the splotches of blood, but I assume those are fairly self-evident. 

As far as the head goes, the sculpt is absolutely fantastic. It's gnarly, a bit gross, and - most of all - fun. For the most part, the paint is great, as well, though I wish they'd gone a bit lighter on the blood around the beard.

Moving on to accessories, you once again get a sizable number of extras, though several feel a little superfluous. This comes with a gift, here purple and green (I expect some toy collectors will repurpose this for use with various Joker action figures). Similarly, you get the cookies, plate, and milk, but they've been altered to make them seem corrupted: the plate and milk (or whatever that liquid is supposed to be) is black, and the cookies are green (soylent green, perhaps?).

Man, those Coke ads took a dark turn.

Honestly, it's all a bit silly. I appreciate getting stuff, but it's hard to imagine choosing to display this with the figure. That said, with the exception of the weird cookies all of the above is versatile enough to be easily repurposed with other figures. Same goes for the coal, which this also comes with (a few of the other figures in this line include it, as well). I don't really think it works with the zombie or ax murderer, but maybe I'll want to use with Santa down the road.

You also get another "Naughty or Nice" stand identical to the one Classic Santa comes with. Once again, it really doesn't look like much, but you don't need it, anyway. Then there's also the hat, painted to match the coat. As fantastic as it fit classic Santa, it's even better here, working in a number of different positions. I really like having it partially draped over the zombie's face.

But obviously I've buried the lead, because it's the extra head, hands, and ax we need to discuss. 

Taken out of context, this might be my favorite design in the line to date. I'm not 100% sure what the reference is, though both the zombie and killer have an EC Comics vibe (look it up, kids). The figure has pointed ears, suggesting this is intended as some sort of elf, or even a warped version of Santa himself, rather than the usual killer in a Santa suit, but it's ambiguous enough you could take it either way. Regardless, the sculpt and paint on the head look absolutely fantastic: I love this.

One slight issue with this is that the paint on the figure's neck doesn't match the killer head. The beard and coat conceal this from most angles, but it is visible in certain poses. This is hardly a deal-breaker, but it's worth being aware of. You could of course always repaint the neck if you're planning on displaying this variant indefinitely. 

As much as I like this configuration, I'm planning on using the zombie when I display the figure. While I really think the killer was executed a little better, "Zombie Santa" just plays better as a concept. I feel like if I displayed the psycho killer, everyone would ask what he's from, as - to his credit - he really does look like he jumped out of the pages of a horror comic from the 1950s.

I expect a lot of collectors sidestepped the issue by ordering two figures, and part of me wishes I'd done the same. But then there are a couple other figures from this wave I'd have bought first, and I need some limits as to what I'm spending here.

I know I was critical about some of the accessories, but the truth is there's nothing wrong with including more than is required. And frankly the figure with the two heads, two sets of hands, and that ax is well worth the $37. Once again, I'm very impressed with what they pulled off here and am extremely happy with my purchase.