I was truly planning on skipping this figure all-together. Decomposing bodies, even when done in a cartoony way, just turn me off. So as excited as I was to see the second female character in the Jazwares Legendary series, she was a pass for me. But then right before Christmas I found myself in Kohl's and saw her in person. I still had the same feelings about the zombie aesthetic, but I was really intrigued by her backpack accessory. It is a zombified Cuddle Team Leader head. Of course, I thought it was an alternate head not a backpack. Being the weekend before Christmas, the checkout lines reached literally to the back of the store (to the toy section in fact). I left without a purchase and googled to find a pic of this "alternate head." I quickly learned my mistake, but then spent a few days thinking about how simple it would be to kitbash that backpack into a head. I soon drove back to Kohl's to get her and give my backpack experiment a shot (pics at the bottom). Let's check out Ghoul Trooper below!
Ghoul Trooper comes with three alternate faces, a rifle, an automatic gun of some ilk, a pumpkin cannon, a scythe, and a backpack made from a zombified Cuddle Team Leader head.
These 6" Jazwares figures often use this unique system for interchangeable faces.
In lieu of alternate heads, there is a complex tab-and-peg system to attach alternate face plates. It holds the faces on snugly and in person the seam isn't as distracting as you might think.
To be perfectly honest though, the faces are so "busy" that at a quick glance the expressions all look similar.
There is something about Fortnite toys, both from Jazwares and McFarlane, where the paint apps on the faces seem very cartoony with a glossy stamped-on look.
This pumpkin cannon looks like it might have a projectile functionality, but it is a solid piece of plastic.
I love her backpack accessory (see how I customized it into an alternate head below!), but unfortunately it fits super awkwardly on her back. It's like she's carrying a boulder with no straps.
So I was a little disappointed when I realized the zombified Cuddle Team Leader head accessory was just a backback (and an awkward backpack at that). So I made it a goal to turn the backpack into an alternate head for the Ghoul Trooper.
It was actually pretty easy.
While I couldn't get the ball-joint on the neck to pop free, the entire hinge joint did. Then I just drilled a hole into the bottom of the backpack head. It took a 3/8 drill bit (which I highly suggest starting small and working step-by-step up to that larger size so you don't shred the plastic). I'm super happy with the results.
Time for some Group and Comparison Pics!
Here is Ghoul Trooper with the only other Legendary Series figure so far, Valkyrie.
And here she is with two of the McFarlane Figures: Dark Bomber and Skully.
Dark Bomber is the same basic character type as Ghoul Trooper.
Cheers!
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