Table of Contents
Summary: If you know about collecting and about zombies, then you have heard of The Dead line from Sideshow Collectibles. At the center of this line is their first figure code named Patient Zero which has become the holy grail of this collection.
The Origins of Sideshow Toy to an Industry Giant
I have been a long time customer of Sideshow. I started purchasing collectibles from them in the early 2000’s. However, their history goes even further back. Sideshow Toy was founded in 1994 in Southern California, originally operating under the name Sideshow Toy and their original website SideshowToy.com. While today they are known globally for massive, multi-thousand-dollar resin statues, life-size busts, and an outlet for other manufacturers to get their products in front of potential collectors, their roots were firmly planted in the 1/6 scale (12-inch) articulated figure market in their early days.
During Sideshow’s first decade in business, they carved out a niche by securing licenses that traditional toy companies at the time ignored. Instead of competing with large companies such as Hasbro or Mattel for mainstream kids’ toys, Sideshow targeted adult collectors as their niche, a niche that was waiting to be filled by producing highly detailed 1/6 scale figures of classic Universal Monsters, historical military icons, and characters from cult-classic films.
Sideshow Toy Transforms into Sideshow Collectibles
Around the first half of 2000, Sideshow Toy began transitioning from making high-end “toys” to producing highly demanded luxury art pieces. They pioneered the “Premium Format” figure which is a 1/4 scale statue that mixed and combined sculpted elements with hand-tailored fabric clothing. This new era marked their official evolution into Sideshow Collectibles.
Sideshow eventually became a powerhouse distributor and manufacturer for the biggest pop culture licenses on the planet, including Marvel, DC Comics, Star Wars, and The Lord of the Rings.
The Importance of Sideshow’s Original Properties
While Sideshow Collectibles was making millions by recreating licensed characters, their true creative pedigree shines through from their in-house original properties brought to life. Sideshow employs some of the top sculptors, painters, and art directors in the industry, and they occasionally launch their own universe lines where Sideshow artists have zero studio restrictions on their ideas and sculptures.
This is exactly when and where Patient Zero enters the history books.
The Dead line was one of Sideshow’s earliest and most beloved original properties that entered the market at just the right time. Their crack at a brand new line came in 2005 at San Diego Comic-Con. It was a 1/6 scale exploration of a zombie outbreak, conceptualized and designed entirely in-house. The Dead line property allowed Sideshow’s sculptors to flex their horror muscles with extreme gore, intricate tailoring, and unique narrative world-building without needing approval from an outside movie studio. Their first figure that was unveiled during San Diego Comic Con in 2005 was named Patient Zero.
Sideshow Collectibles Brown Outer Shipping Boxes
The ⅙ scale (12 inch) Patient Zero was offered for sale during the SDCC convention in 2005 and was limited to 300 pieces. Today, it is the holy grail of horror figures when it comes to zombie collectibles. The Sideshow Collectibles that we know of today ships out their ⅙ scale figures with brown outer shipping cartons which has become as important as the art box and figure itself when discussing factory sealed products.
2005 was a transitional “Wild West” era for Sideshow Collectibles. They were still figuring out packaging standards and digital sku numbers (more on those digital skus soon for Patient Zero). When Sideshow offered their first original IP for sale in 2005 at SDCC, the figure came inside a box with a window where you could see the figure along with its included accessories.
What Accessories did the ⅙ Patient Zero Come With?
- Real fabric clothing featuring heavy weathering and blood staining, to complete the zombie/infected theme.
- A heavy, realistic utility belt featuring a holder for the flashlight and a clip for keys.
- One large metal die-cast flashlight, highly detailed for realism.
- One handheld radio designed to fit into the belt pouch, featuring an elastic closure.
- Plastic keys attached to a metal chain and clip for the utility belt.
- One branded white display base for added stability when displaying the figure.
While all of this sounds great, Sideshow packaged this figure by including a white outer sleeve with a blood red hand print that covered the window of the box. This sleeve was sealed to the window box using four biohazard stickers and the only way to see what was inside and to be able to remove the white sleeve was to cut those four biohazard stickers. With only 300 total Patient Zero 12” figures ever created, how many of those actually survived and are still sealed with biohazard stickers today 20 years later? I don’t know that answer but I would bet on at least less than half. The majority of ⅙ scale Patient zero figures that come up for sale on eBay have usually been removed from their outer white sleeve which means their biohazard stickers have been cut. Or, they have been completely removed from their box altogether to be displayed. When these types of listings appear on eBay, these listings still go for a couple hundred dollars.
Finding a Mint Sealed Patient Zero
Being a collector for over 20 years myself, The Dead line has always been one of my favorite lines that Sideshow came out with. I have collected every single ⅙ scale figures from this line which includes 7 regular non-exclusive figures and 13 exclusives for a total of 20 ⅙ scale figures for this line, all of them in their brown outer shipping boxes. Throughout the years I have always been on the lookout for a sealed patient zero. I have come across a few but I either got outbid in the listing at the last second or I didn’t have the funds available to be able to purchase it. About a two months ago around February 2026, I came across a sealed ⅙ scale Patient Zero on eBay that the seller had listed for $1,000. This was by far the most i have ever seen a ⅙ scale Patient Zero being listed for in the years I have been searching for one. The box looked like it was in great condition and the biohazard stickers were intact, but I thought a $1,000 was a bit much to pay so I decided to pass on it which I ended up regretting.
After watching the listing, I saw the seller ended it suddenly. I contacted the seller to see if he still had it and it turned out that he sold it for $800. It was nice of him to let me know how much he sold it for so I can get a baseline of what I should be spending when trying to find one. A few weeks later, I was sitting on the couch at night and decided to do a search on eBay for a ⅙ scale Patient Zero. I started scrolling through the listings and didn’t see anything named Patient Zero. However, I did come across a listing named “Sideshow The Dead 1:6 Scale Zombie Figure Sealed Horror Collectible” which peaked my interest enough to click on it because the picture shown for the figure in the listing was the bloody red hand white sleeve.
The listing had three photos and was listed for $119.99 with $14 shipping. There was one of the front, one of the back, and one of the bottom of the box. I immediately went into recon mode. I had a good idea of what a sealed ⅙ scale Patient Zero looked liked and this listing looked promising. I immediately started to do some researching online for photos of a sealed ⅙ scale Patient Zero so I can see what the bottom of the box looked like. Based on what I found, this was identical to every single Patient Zero image I have found.
The ⅙ scale Patient Zero had the item number 1804 on the bottom of the box. Underneath that it had “The Dead #1 – 12” Figure”. It makes perfect sense that the foundational 2005 release that kicked off the zombie line carries the earlier item number 1804 designation which was before the digital era of entering SKU’s online. Sideshow’s website designated the SKU numbers for their ⅙ scale Patient Zero online as 3006 which can be seen by viewing the item web page on the way-back machine. What also makes the bottom of the box distinctive is that it has the numbers 0523 stamped on the bottom as well.
The bottom of the box helped clear my reserves about being the product I was looking for, so next I wanted to ensure the biohazard stickers on the outer white sleeve checked out as well. Looking at the eBay listing and from what I could see in the limited pictures in the listings, the biohazard seals had “Danger – Biohazard: 056Q” printed on the stickers which matched with what I found online by viewing numerous sealed ⅙ scale Patient Zero figures.
The back of the white sleeve has four small drops of blood printed in the lower right corner. Being that I could not see the back since there was no picture in the listing I decided to take the risk and immediately purchase the item from the seller.
All in, I paid $129.31 with tax and shipping. The final invoice showed a discount of $12 which I am unsure why that is the case but it shaved the shipping amount down to $2. The tax cost was $7.32. This was a significant acquisition for the price paid for such a rare grail item. Since the sale was paid and secured. Now the anxiety of actually getting it in my hands started. I had a feeling for the next day or two, the seller would realize that he sold a grail item at such an unbelievable price that he would retract the sale. A few days later I received the tracking number and saw the package was dropped off. A sense of relief started coming over me, but it wasn’t over just yet. I still needed to have the physical item in hand. It took a few days for me to receive it and during that time I felt that something had to go wrong such as the carrier losing the package. That didn’t happen though. The ⅙ scale Patient Zero arrived promptly and in such beautiful condition. I have provided some pictures below of how it looked the instant I took it out of the box. For a 20+ year old figure, the box, white sleeve and biohazard stickers look absolutely amazing. The white sleeve is bright white, no yellowing or discoloration. The red bloody hand on the front is bright, the biohazard stickers seals are not falling off and still intact. The corners of the box and sleeve are pointed and sharp.
I am so grateful for the item and the only thing I could think of was that the seller did not know what he actually had since inputting a aku of 1804 which is on the bottom of the box would not really yield any results online, so he just decided to list it as “Sideshow The Dead 1:6 Scale Zombie Figure Sealed Horror Collectible”. The acquisition of this item allowed me to finally complete a twenty year adventure of tracking down every single ⅙ scale figures from Sideshow’s The Dead line.
Have a 1/6 scale Patient Zero of your own or looking to acquire one? If you feel I may have missed something in my initial post, please feel to drop a comment below to get a conversation started.