What's the first thing to pop into your head when you hear the word "Christmas"? Zombies, right? If so, you're not alone because JAKKS Pacific has released four holiday-themed S.L.U.G. Zombies 3-packs.

These packs feature eight new holiday-themed zombies ranging from the traditional zombie Santa (like the version many of us grew up with) to less conventional zombie snowmen (presumably brought back to life with a magic hat) and nutcrackers (sweet!). Unfortunately, JAKKS was less creative on the human front so rather than giving us new characters they just repacked the human figures from series 2. It's a shame because I'd love to have a hobo mall Santa with an axe to face down undead reindeer. Plus they could have done a boy with the Red Ryder B.B. gun he got for Christmas (he'd shoot their eyes out!).

I absolutely love these things. JAKKS continues to show a good deal of creativity with their S.L.U.G. Zombies line in addition to giving us really solid sculpts at a reasonable price-point. Hungry Humbug, Nutty Nate, and Ralph Raindead are by far my favorites from this set, although I enjoy the look of all the new figurines. The only real downside was the lazy decision to repack the same humans (who don't even work as army builders) but it's not an issue if you didn't pick up many items from series 2.

JAKKS Pacific's holiday (well, Christmas) S.L.U.G. Zombies are currently available at retail. So far I've only seen them at Target where they usually retail for US$3.99. I would highly recommend buying a pack or two.

[ Photos courtesy of an ebay listing ]