Undead Walking’s Featured The Walking Dead Fan: Anissa
By Tara
The talent coursing through The Walking Dead’s fandom reaches all sorts of different creative ends. What do you do when you have a bunch of favorite characters, but those characters have no collectible figurines available? You take the initiative and make them yourself, of course!
Welcome to Undead Walking’s Featured Fan showcase! I’m Tara, and I’m here to speak to fans who create or collect content related to The Walking Dead. Whether you’re a cosplayer, a collector, an artist, a video maker, or anything else, my goal is to shine a spotlight on the varied talent and endless dedication this fandom has for this franchise in all of its forms.
This week, I spoke with Anissa Camp, a creator from Dallas, Texas with the ability to make her figurine dreams come true by making her own! The amount of time and focus she puts into her creations is visible in every single figure she makes. Learning about the process to make them, as well as seeing how many she’s made thus far was so impressive! Here’s my talk with her:
Hi Anissa! Let’s get started. Can you give me a brief explanation of your unique method to create figurines?
I use the Funko Mystery Minis and alter them to make new characters. Sometimes my custom figures consist of a new paint job but more often there is a lot of cutting, disassembling, and sculpting involved. Sometimes I even use a combination of two different minis to make one new custom figure.
Was there a lack of a specific character or other reason you started to do this?
Yes, I actually started customizing figures when I couldn’t afford the rare “riot gear walker” from Series One. I figured I could make my own version by using the common Tron mini from the sci-fi line. Then I started wanting specific characters that hadn’t been created yet, such as Negan, Winslow the walker, and members of the Kingdom.
That’s amazing! And super creative. Especially when you really want a figure of a certain character. So what’s the full list of The Walking Dead characters you’ve made thus far?
Well, a full list is hard, some are just different versions of a character that already exists. I don’t know if you would immediately know what they look like from the list, but I will list them out anyway.
The disclaimer here is that Funko actually made some of these but I did them first. Bungee guts walker, walker Shane, Lori Grimes, “I brought dinner” Daryl, zombie Merle, guts Glenn, riot gear Glenn, cookie Carol, Jesus, riot gear walker, sludge walker, Dale, no sanctuary Carol, fighting Morgan, masked Morgan, bloody constable Rick, one-eyed meat poncho Carl, Negan, gravedigger Daryl, poncho Daryl, machete walker, dangle jaw walker, Denise, wolf Carol, Jerry, king Ezekiel, Kingdom Dianne and Shiva.
Did you say Jesus?! I always wanted a Mystery Mini of him because he’s my favorite!
HE’S SO CUTE.
Making your own figure dreams come true must feel great when you see the end result of all that hard work. How much time does creating a figure take?
The figures take a lot of time to create, depending on how much sculpting is involved. A figure can take from 3 to 8 hours of work stretched over a week or more. If a lot of sculpting is required I can’t do that all at once because I just end up destroying what I’ve already sculpted. I have to work for an hour, then let the piece dry overnight, then work some more, like that. Also, I can’t rush painting. With most colors, one coat isn’t enough because I need to water down the paint to make it smoother but then do multiple coats for coverage, letting it dry between each coat.
Out of all of the figures you’ve made so far, which would you say was the most difficult to make? Was there a specific piece of a figure that was particularly challenging as well?
I would say the most difficult figure has been Dianne from the Kingdom because the detail on her quiver and the arrows and bow, and reworking the arm that she’s pulling the bowstring with is very challenging.
Also just sculpting king Ezekiel’s staff head and hair and all of Winslow’s spikes. Also, the barbed wire on Negan bat is tough! Each spike is individually placed.
Your attention to detail is so cool! Do you have a favorite you’ve made or one you’re most proud of?
It’s too hard to choose just one. I really like Dianne, Ezekiel/Shiva, and Winslow. The most popular one that people like is the cookie Carol, though.
Have you given or shown any of your personalized figures to any of the actors?
I have shown off some of them on social media. Khary Payton liked my tweet. Kerry Cahill also shared it, but I didn’t screenshot it. I recently made an extra Dianne that I plan to try and give Kerry in Atlanta at Walker Stalker this year and I want to get a photo op with her in my Dianne cosplay.
I’m going to WSC Atlanta too! Now I REALLY can’t wait to see pics of these moments and also see you there! What other cons have you gone to, and do you have any favorite The Walking Dead-related memories for any?
I’ve been to too many cons to count at this point. I’ve been to all the Walker Stalkers in Atlanta, including the first one in 2013, plus a few other Walker Stalkers and some other cons. It’s really tough to choose a single favorite memory from a convention. I think the best thing is all the friendships I have made through walker stalker and the shared fandom of the walking dead. I have met people through walker stalker con that I know I will keep in touch with long after the show itself has ended.
I feel you there. I’ve come to know so many amazing people! Have you ever made any non-TWD figures?
I’ve made a couple of Game of Thrones and Stranger Things minis, but the vast majority of my minis are The Walking Dead.
Nice! Do you have any upcoming The Walking Dead figures you plan to make?
Not The Walking Dead right now, but I’m actually starting to work on a John Dorie from Fear the Walking Dead. He would be my first Fear character.
Ahh, I can’t wait to see that one! I love John, he absolutely deserves a figure. Is this more of a hobby that you do for yourself, or do you occasionally sell any figures you’ve made/done any sort of commissions for people?
I have done commissions before, even of other characters like some Marvel or DC, and I have sold a few of the figures I’ve made, but it’s mostly just a hobby for me. I don’t have an online presence for my customs or anything like that. I only put out the word in some of my Facebook groups when I feel like getting rid of some or maybe doing some trades for commissions.
That’s awesome! Even though it’s more of a personal hobby, I’m sure the people who’ve commissioned, bought, or traded with you are glad to have something so unique! A couple of fun wrap-up questions now, tell me about some of your favorite The Walking Dead things! Characters, episodes, quotes, moments, things like that.
Morgan is by far my favorite character. Most of the episodes that feature him are my favorites. CLEAR, is amazing, the pilot episode is amazing, I also loved the Eastman episodes with Morgan. That fight scene between Morgan and Jesus was also awesome. Other than Morgan, I really love Carol and king Ezekiel and the Kingdom in general. I love that king E was a zookeeper because I’m a zookeeper, and although a tiger would not act like that in real life, it doesn’t matter because it’s a TV show, lol. I have a poster of king E and Shiva that Khary signed for me and it’s awesome.
The series has really made me come to love the Kingdom and its characters as well. And Morgan is so great! What do you think so far about his Fear The Walking Dead journey?
I love him on Fear, has the same Morgan he was on TWD. I’ve done a lot of photo ops with cast members. This is one of my favorite.
And as a figure maker, here’s one last question. Do you have any favorite figures that WERE released?
I can’t pick one, but I really like a lot of the walkers. Teddy bear walker, well walker, RV walker, etc.
Thanks so much for speaking with me, Anissa! These figures are absolutely amazing and I love seeing the massive talent the TWD fandom has! If you want to keep tabs on Anissa and what else she creates in the future, give her Twitter a follow!
Are you a cosplayer? An artist or another content creator of some sort? A collector of merchandise? Do you want to be one of our Featured Fans? Send an e-mail to sonnentreppe@gmail.com with your name, location, and what sort of fun thing you do (cosplay, art, photos, videos, etc), and maybe I’ll contact you sometime soon for an interview!