Hey there, thanks for checking out our latest Action Figure Review. This one is pretty special for me for two reasons: 1) This is the first review published as we have surpassed 10,000 website visits and 2) This figure is the first ever Mezco figure I've purchased. I'm dying to get my hands on a Gomez at some point and though I probably won't dive into buying many Mezco products after that, I'm really happy to have added this Superman to my collection. There is a lot to get excited about with this figure, so let's get into it.
Sent to Earth as a baby from his dying home planet of Krypton, Kal-El is found and adopted by Jonathan and Martha Kent. As the boy grew, his body began developing amazing powers, due to exposure to Earth's yellow sun. Young Clark Kent soon finds himself becoming faster, stronger, and impervious to injury. His senses become heightened to superhuman levels and he finds that he can see over incredible distances, through objects, and can even emit intense heat beams. To his amazement, in his teen years, he learns that he can step off the earth and fly! Realizing that these powers are an incredible gift, Clark soon begins to use them to anonymously help others. During one such rescue, Clark saves a crashing space plane, which happens to be carrying Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane. As he safely lands the vehicle, he's mobbed by astonished onlookers. Clark leaps to the sky and flies away, shaken by the intensity of the people's attention and demands. He, later, flies back to his parent's home in Smallville and it is there that Martha fashions him a suit, made from the material in the blankets he was wrapped in when he came to Earth. Taking the name given him by Lois Lane, in her article about the space plane, Clark becomes Earth's greatest hero: Superman!
Superman was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and first appeared in Action Comics #1, published April 18, 1938, with a cover date of June 1938. This is one of the highest selling comics ever as it is sought after by collectors all over the world. In 2021, it was reported that a very rare, high-grade copy sold for $3.25M in a private sale! It has been estimated that less than 100 copies remain, out of an initial print run of 200,000!
As regular readers know, Dan's ToyBox looks at four categories for review purposes. Accessories, Appearance, Articulation, and Affordability. After reviewing each and assigning a score, we'll give the figure an overall grade of Zero to 10 ToyBoxes. Let's get started with Accessories.
ACCESSORIES
I've seen other Mezco reviews of different characters and was impressed with the accessories with each of those. When I opened the incredible Tin Box that the figure is packed in, I was immediately blown away. First off, the packaging is fantastic, with different artistic depictions of Superman on each of the sides. This is definitely designed with the collector in mind. In fact, the packaging and literature within even indicate that this is not a toy for children, but rather for the adult collector. As far as the accessories go... let me start with this... WOW!!! I can't believe everything this piece comes with. There are 7 alternate head sculpts; one stern looking, one smiling, one neutral, one with gritted teeth, one with mouth open, one with a port for the heat vision effects, and one with... light up eyes (there are batteries included) and a small tool to activate the switch for the lights!!! He has five pairs of hands: one fisted, one open relaxed, one open grasping, one flight hands, and one gripping pair. There are three heat vision effects, one thick, intense blast, one with thin heat beams, and an effect to plug into the end of the thin beams. There are three magnetic bullet ricochet effects that attach to his chest and two power punching effects. He also comes with the Phantom Zone projector, a miniature Starro that fits over his face, the Black Mercy Flower which is bendable and can attach to his torso and five shards of kryptonite: Green, Red, Gold, Blue, and White with a display base and domes to cover each. The green kryptonite is the largest and sits in the center of the display. Mezco also includes a small plastic bag to safely store all of your accessories unless, like me, you tend to keep the packaging and the plastic shells that everything comes in. Lastly, he comes with a display base, with the S-Shield emblazoned on it and a removable flight stand. If you choose not to use the flight stand, there is a foot peg that plugs into the base, upon which you can stand Superman. Now that I've listed everything, all I can say is... man, oh man... this is amazing. Putting the batteries in the light up eyes head sculpt is actually easier than you'd expect. You simply grip the ball peg on the bottom, while holding the head and gently pull. The interior piece will come out and you just carefully plug the batteries into their respective spots. There is a small black "key" that will catch on the light switch to activate the eyes. Just make sure to do so, before plugging the head into the neck. Speaking of which, the head swaps are incredibly easy to do and when attached, they fit firmly. I did have a bit of trouble alternating hands though, simply because the cloth for the sleeves is very slick and will slide when you are trying to push the hands onto the wrist pegs. I discovered that tucking my pinky behind the elbow helps steady the arm enough to swap hands out with ease. I think, the only complaints that I have about the accessories are these: the dome for my green kryptonite doesn't pop onto the base as firmly as the others. Starro has a tendency to be a bit off center on each of the head sculpts, regardless of how many times I adjust it, and as I mentioned, the hands can be just a trifle difficult to plug onto the wrists. Overall though, I'm simply astounded by how many items came with this figure and really can't think of anything else it could need! I'm happy to give the Mezco Superman, the Man of Steel a solid 10 out of 10 for Accessories!
APPEARANCE
I don't even know where to begin. This is one of the greatest, comic styled Superman figures I've ever seen. The face sculpts look like a combination of John Byrne and Dan Jurgens art styles and are absolutely stunning. I was thrilled to see the smiling head sculpt as far too often, we get Superman figures with either serious or neutral looks to them. The paint deco and sculpting of both facial features and hair is really very well done. We are treated to the classic lantern-jawed Superman that we've grown up reading about. The costume is fantastic. I've heard complaints about the black outlines on the S-Shield and though I can understand where they are coming from, my take on it is that the outline helps set the colors apart even more. I know that initial product shots didn't have the black outline but I'm ok with it being there. It brings out the brightness in the yellow, which also matches well with both his belt and the yellow S-Shield on his cape. The cape itself is a nice, soft cloth with wires running down the side edges, but not across the bottom. While the side wires are a great touch and allow for some creative cape posing, I think having another wire along the bottom would have really elevated the cape further. Perhaps due to the lightness of the material, Mezco chose not to go that route? I'm not sure, but it could be something for them to look into for future caped figures. The snugness of the costume makes it easier to see the sculpted musculature detail, as we'd expect in a skin-tight suit. That being said, this is very evocative of Christopher Reeve's Superman in that there's just enough muscle definition showing, but not so much to be a distraction or unrealistic looking. The figure is exceptional and has moved in front of my Mafex Hush Superman as the definitive Superman in my collection! The real fun though is found in the accessories. The Starro attachment is really cool looking and the paint detail on it is super cleanly applied. The Black Mercy Flower parasite looks amazing as well, though it likely could have benefitted from a black wash. The green and purple rubbery parts are just a bit too clean, and a wash might have really helped bring out the details even further. The Phantom Zone projector is molded silver with a clear red piece at the emitter and looks good when in Superman's grasp. I think, though, my favorite piece is the kryptonite display. We know what Green K does, but here's some interesting information on the other four pieces: Red Kryptonite can cause intense mood swings in Kryptonians and is even deadlier than Green K. Blue Kryptonite reverses the effects of Red and is harmful, even deadly to Bizarro. White Kryptonite kills plant life and Gold Kryptonite actually removes a Kryptonian's powers, by taking away their ability to process the energies and radiation from yellow suns. Each of these are sculpted really well and are in a translucent plastic that stands out beautifully against the silver of the display case. All in all, this is a phenomenal looking figure with equally astounding accessories. Well worth a solid 9.5 out of 10.
ARTICULATION
Even with the cloth goods, Mezco has engineered some incredible articulation into their figures. One of the warnings though, is to not leave your figure in extreme poses for too long as it could lead to damage to the cloth goods. So, with that in mind, we'll start at the top. The head and neck are both movable, allowing Superman to look up very high, down very deeply, turn side to side and have ample head tilt for "attitude." The shoulders can raise out to a T pose, but there is just the smallest bit of limitation due to the sleeves. I also figure that without the costume, they could rotate a full 360 degrees. There is a bicep swivel which works very well underneath the sleeve and the elbows bend in to about 90 degrees. I'm sure you can go further, but I'm not willing to risk damaging the costume to find out. The hands can rotate on the wrist pegs and there is some hinging available, but the pegs are so small, that when I do try to hinge the hands, I end up removing them. That's kind of disappointing to me. The upper torso can tilt and swivel nicely and has better than average forward and backward crunch. This, coupled with the head and neck range, makes for some beautiful flight poses. His legs will split to the sides, but are a bit prohibited by the costume. They can kick forward very high though, which is a nice touch. Both legs have good thigh swivel, and the double-jointed knees can bend in quite deep as well. The ankle rocker and rotation is really good also. There is no toe pivot though, which is to be expected due to the design of the boots. I had anticipated being a little disappointed with the articulation because of the cloth goods, but I was proven wrong! Even with the limitations imposed as a result of the suit, this figure can move very well, likely even better than what I experienced simply due to my reluctance to push boundaries on the suit seams. Overall, I'm quite pleased with how well the figure moves but I hate that the hands come off easily when trying to move them. That coupled with the suit limits earns this figure an 8.5 out of 10 for Articulation.
AFFORDABILITY
The Mezco One:12 Collective Superman, The Man of Steel Action Figure retails online at BBTS for $125.00. While this is on the pricier side, I've seen Mafex figures that come with less, selling for $25-$30 more. Given the incredible work and craftsmanship that goes into Mezco's line and the amount of accessories included, plus the very cool tin everything comes in... this is a fairly reasonable price to pay. As I mentioned earlier, this is my absolute favorite Superman figure and is worth every penny. I'm definitely ok with giving this a 9 out of 10 for Affordability. There's a lot to enjoy and you certainly get your money's worth.
Overall, I know I'm gushing a lot about this figure, and I did try to be objective. At least, as much as possible anyhow. That being said, while I do really like this figure, a LOT, there are some small issues. However, those issues are really so minor to me that I have to give the Mezco One:12 Collective Superman, The Man of Steel Action Figure a final score of:
9.75 out of 10 ToyBoxes!
Whether you are a toy collector or a big fan of Superman, this is definitely a figure worth adding to your collection! Thank you for helping us reach 10,000 visitors and as always, I appreciate you taking time from your day to drop by Dan's ToyBox! Until next time... GEEK OUT!!!