Zombies weren’t always so threatening.
It took a lot of work and juju to turn a person into a
Zombie. They mostly stood around until
the Zombie master gave them commands.
Even then, they were primarily insistent; nothing stopped them from carrying
out their instructions. And they weren’t
infectious.
In Piers Anthony's 'Castle Roogna', they were pretty nice
people, had a lot of friends, fell in love, and did other ordinary things.
The first record of zombies in literature goes to the
English poet Robert Southey in 1819.
Later, Richard Matheson published
'I Am Legend' in 1954. Sparked by
that idea, George Romero directed 'Night of the Living Dead' in 1968, and
zombies became insatiable, highly infectious, deadly creatures driven by a
killing desire for brains.
Most of the TV shows and movies copied this idea. It seems there is limited originality in the entertainment
media.
We saw a shift in 2005.
Inspired by an old folk legend, Tim Burton produced ‘The Corpse Bride,' suitable
for children and adults. Later in 2019,
'iZombie', a comedy crime drama TV show, ran for several seasons.
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| MicroTech's ZombiTech |
I'm not a Zombie fan, but I fell hard for Microtech's ZombieTech out-the-front auto.
Something about the blood splatter. I've always been interested in blood splatter,
and the almost florescent green handle appeals to me.
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| The classic way to stop a zombie was to destroy the brain |
MicroTech released the ZombieTech in 2012. I have one from 2019 celebrating Microtech’s
25th anniversary, but I don’t know how much longer they were in production.
I contacted MicroTech, but they remain closed-lipped about
everything and have yet to respond.
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| Real blood doesn't splatter this way, unless it's a high speed splatter |
The internet claims that every ZombieTech has a random and different splatter pattern. I admit that some patterns are a lot nicer than others.
The 3-inch blade was available as a drop point, tanto, and a
double-edge dagger. I have found images
of bright blades and ones with a black finish.
While some websites claim to have a few high-end ZombieTech sets in
stock, most say 'Out of Stock,' which is
seller speak for can't get it anymore.
 |
MicroTech uses M390 steel from Böhler Edelstahl GmbH & Co KG factory in Kapfenberg, Austria. Originally designed in the late 1980s for molds used in the injection molding industry, it has found a home in the knife community.
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| I like OTFs, or Out the Front, but they have their limitations too. Blade can slip off the internal carriage. |
I really shouldn’t bang on the entertainment industry too
hard. Originality is hard to come
by. In 2021, MicroTech released a
version of their knife called 'Outbreak.'
https://microtechknives.com/the-outbreak-unleashing/ It sports the same blood splatter on bulbous
green and a Biohazard symbol. It, too,
is out of stock.
