Review : The White Walker (series 1) Funko Legacy

The White Walker is the 4th figure from Funko's 1st series of Game of Thrones 6" scale figures, and is my 2nd purchase of the line following Tyrion Lannister.

Unlike other boxed series figures, Star Wars Black Series for example, the Legacy figures come in different coloured boxes dependent on the figure alignment within the Game of Thrones story. The White Walker arrives in a grey box with silver and grey titles and wording. On the reverse is a Portrait shot of the Walker directly from the TV show and then a list of the 6 figures that make up series 1.

Out of the box, and I was ultra careful after the issues I had with Tyrion and that are widely reported as rife within the early GoT figures from Funko. Thank fully the White Walker popped out of the pack in one piece and was relatively easy to articulate from the get go - but I still steamed him over a kettle for a few seconds to loosen them further rather than avoid any damage.

He stands a touch over 6 1/2" which allows him to stand a good head taller than the normal sized GoT figures and is accurate to his appearance in the show. The sculpt, done again by Gentle Giant, is brilliant and the head in particular is rather striking with the sunken cheeks and eye sockets. Down into the torso and body and the sculpt really delivers to capture an emancipated body. The clothing comprises of a leather skirt and leather bracers on both the forearms and shins, these are quite plain but still have some nice stitching sculpted in and some jewels and decoration on the skirt.

The sculpt is really nicely painted, with a blue base colour washed over with a bone, almost white, colour to bring out all the details. The eyes are a stunning bright blue and the hair is nicely painted in an off white and the chin has a look of coral almost. The leather areas are washed to look weathered and my only painting complaint is that the very small detail decoration on the skirt is painted too thick and the detail is lost. This sadly seems to be a common theme with the GoT range as I have seen this already on Tyrion and the Ned Stark figure I will be reviewing next.

Articulation scares me to death on these Funko Legacy figures due to the reported fragility and my own experience of snapping Tyrion's leg. I am happy to report no such issues with the White Walker. The head can rotate to either side even with the long hair sculpt. The shoulders are on ball joints and can swivel a full 360 degrees as well as moving out to almost 90 degrees to the body. With an elbow joint and a wrist pivot and swivel you can get the arms into some half decent poses. The chest has a torso joint but this barely adds any movement to the body and without any practical benefit wasn't really needed.

Under the skirt the hips are ball jointed and the White Walker can get into a splits position if he really wants, aided by that flexible rubber skirt. There is also a thigh swivel which doesn't add a lot of value but slight twists can be enough to get the figure standing securely. The knees are double-jointed so he can flick his lower leg up up almost enough to touch his own posterior, and this allows for some wider action stance or indeed a kneeling position. When moving the knee joints in particular you can also feel a ratchet within the joint, and that will obviously allow the figure to hold his position rather than flop over with weak leg joints like a couple of figures I have reviewed recently. Finishing at the feet the ankles swivel and are meant to pivot looking at the joint, but the ankle bracers do restrict that movement.

The White Walker comes with a nicely designed ice spear which is also well sculpted and well painted. My only criticism of the spear is it feels too short and if you pose the Walker with his arm outstretched holding the spear it is about an inch too short from touching the floor. I also found that the spear was really difficult to get into either hand. Once in it won't go anywhere, but I would be worried about the longer term effect if you moved this a few times.

My final gripe is the decision by Funko to not provide their Legacy figures with peg holes in the feet. The Walker stands reasonably well, but the ability to drop him onto a peg hole stand would have widened the options for display.

All in all I am really happy with my White Walker, and he has gone a long way to restoring my faith in the line. I am pleased to give the White Walker a 4 out of 5, let down only by the lack of peg holes, a short spear and some over thick paint on a couple of details.

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