Zombie of the Month- Year in Review 2014

   Well, zombie lovers, we've come to the end of our first wonderful year of Zombie of the Month! My apologies for missing February, but with most months being entire sets, we still have plenty of lovely zombies out there to add to your collection, if you so choose.
 

Class Photo- Zombie of the Month 2014

    Here are the highlights from the year- the best in all of our judgment categories. Keep in mind, these are my/my clubs judgments. When deciding the best zombies for you, look at all the pictures and information and choose for yourself- that's why that stuff is there!

Sculpt: There are a lot of good sculpts out there these days, and even some of the ones that we rated as 4's are awesome, and may still be personal favorites for some of us. However, the ones that scored a 5 warrant a second mention. They are:

Zombie Vixens by Wargames Factory (January)- While not the most intricate sculpts, they are clean, have good poses, and well-chosen details. They don't do awkward things with anatomy or physics.


ArcWorlde's Pirates of the Black Coast (August) and Bilge Rats (October) by Warploque Miniatures- As you can tell, we love Alex's Artsy sculpts over here at LXG. While not as anatomically easy on the eyes as the Wargames factory models, they have TONS of character.





Mutant Master by Fenryll Miniatures and Rogue Necromancy by Wyrd Games (November)-











 Each of these were chosen as excellent examples of individual characters. They are inventive and complex, while still enabling you to see what the artist intended.










The grand prize for 2014 for sculpt goes to: the Pirates of the Black Coast. It was really tight among the group- everyone had a hard time picking a favorite. In the end, the pirates eked out a win, followed closely by their ratly counterparts. We just couldn't resist Alex's artsy style for the prize- chalk one up for the artists!




Affordability: The prize for affordability goes to "Girls, Guys, and Dogs" by Twilight Creations (December), hands down. You can't beat the ten cents per zombie you are spending if you are using an entire bag of 100. Even if you don't use all of them, it's a good, inexpensive start.



Value: Only one candidate scored a 5 on value, as well (hey, I'm a tough grader)- Zombie Vixens by Wargames Factory (January). At less than a dollar a zombie for a box with ten multi-part (customizable) different figures, I have yet to see a better value for building a sizable horde.


Availability: There are three candidates for this category, because I got all of them by walking into my hobby shop, and then found them all over the internet. It will honestly be a similar story for any zombies that come as part of a board game, because they inherently have a larger audience, since they appeal to both mini wargamers and board game folks.




 LNOE Zombies with Grave Weapons by Flying Frog Productions (April), Humans!!! by Twilight Creations (July), "Guys, Girls, and Dogs" by Twilight Creations (December). I'm going to give the award to the Bag O' Zombies, the "Guys" in "Girls,Guys, and Dogs", just because the last couple of times I walked into my hobby shop there were bags of them sitting on the shelf!


   Well, there you have it, folks. A little recap of the stars of 2014's Zombie of the Month. That doesn't mean these have to be your favorites. There are many things to be considered when choosing your zombies. And it doesn't mean that these scores would be the same if they were graded at different times- a lot of ratings given this year on sculpts and prices were based on what I'd seen so far, and I see big changes on the horizon with Z-Brush and some new materials and casting techniques that are out there. But hopefully next year a bunch of minis from some of our Kickstarters will be coming in, so you know, at least, you'll be seeing more lovely zombies! Happy hunting, and Happy New Year!