Review of Magneto
One:12 Collective Action Figure

Introduction

Mezco's One:12 Collective has been at the top of my favorites list for several years now. They continue to produce high quality figures in 1/12 scale across a broad spectrum of licenses, which is my perfect sweet spot of plastic addiction.

The latest release is from their Marvel comic series, where they take a classic character and give it their own particular spin. Magneto has long been a critical member of the X-men universe, sometimes the villain, sometimes the hero, but always intriguing. Mezco is producing two versions - a standard comic book look (reviewed tonight), and a white costume PX exclusive version (think Marvel NOW!) that will be shipping soon.

Expect to pay around $80 for either version, depending on the retailer.

Packaging - ***1/2
As usual, the packaging is made from very sturdy cardboard, and it's all quite collector friendly. The interior double plastic trays hold the figure and accessories safe and sound, while the simple exterior graphics align with the rest of the series.

Sculpting - ****
As with all One:12 figures, this guy comes with more than one head sculpt. In this case there's two - masked, and unmasked.

The masked head has the tight, rounded helmet. The expression underneath is pissed, with a sharply defined frown, arched eyebrows, and squinting eyes. The helmet has sharply defined edges around the face, and the spacing between the face and helmet edge is appropriate and realistic.

The second head has a nicely sculpted hair style, with fine detail in the stranding. The skin has a soft texture, and the eyebrows and lips are neatly defined. He's not quite so pissed here, with a more thoughtful look. There's still a bit of a frown, and the eyes have a squint, but it doesn't look like he's about to tear the iron right out of your bloodstream.

One thing that's slightly odd to me, but it may just be me...the noses on the two sculpts look different. There's more of a hook to the masked portrait, with deeper nostrils. This may be intentional, part of the more extreme expression, but it seems a bit more exaggerated than I'd expect.  Still, it's a really minor nit that most folks will never notice.

He's about the same height as other standard male figures in the series, coming in at 6 1/2" tall.

Paint - ***1/2
It's not because of quality that I deducted a half star in this category, but rather quantity.

The quality is excellent, as you've come to expect. The hair line looks terrific, and the gray locks are a realistic shade. The skin tone is slightly translucent, giving it depth, and the eyebrows and lips look great. The eyes on the masked figure are perfect, but on the bare head, the right eye does look to be slightly higher than the left. Again, it requires extreme inspection to notice something that won't be seen by most.

But the suit isn't particularly detailed, at least not when it comes to this category. They did try to get some red in the crevasses, but because they are so deep and thin, it's really only noticeable on the boots and gloves. The lack of paint detail is particularly annoying on the helmet, where the work around the face opening is great, but the rest of the helmet sculpt detail is lost in all the red.

I suspect I'll like the variant better in this category, although time will tell.

Articulation - ***1/2
Another terrific use of their hero body, with plenty of movement and posability.

The heads swap easily, and the ball jointed neck works pretty well, particularly with the unmasked head. The hands swap neatly too, but the wrist joints aren't quite as mobile thanks to the sculpt.

The elbows and shoulders provide plenty of arm articulation though, and you should be able to get natural, flowing arm poses. They are also strong enough to hold up heavier objects - more on that in the Accessories section.

This time around, the waist and ab-crunch are pretty much free to do their thing, and you can add some nice tilt, lean, and crunch to any pose. This helps break up those unrealistic straight torso lines in your stance.

The hips were a little more restricted than I like, and I'm not sure why. It's not the suit that's at fault, but I couldn't get as much rotation as I wanted for some poses.  The ankles don't quite have as much rocker as I'd like either, but the two piece boot sculpt does offer some, and looks great doing it. The knees work well, and the ankles do have good forward/back movement.

The cape includes several wires, making it highly posable. There's one along both edges, all the way to the bottom, but there are also short wires along the top of the shoulders, matching the pleats. These work great in posing the cape around the upper back and over the shoulders.

Accessories - ****
I already mentioned the two heads, but as always, these go a long way to boosting this score.

There are also seven extra hands to go with the set of fists he comes wearing. There's one set of wide splayed hands, and one set of dynamic grasping hands. These pop on and off neatly.

There's also a unique left, with a swirling blue energy circle that has entrapped - and disassembled - somebody's gun.

But the really cool, really unique, really creative extra set is the pair of hands with empty magnetic swirls. There are three actual magnets in each of these, allowing him to hold anything metal. Remember I mentioned the tight elbows, shoulders, and wrists? Here's where these become important. He can hold up metal objects, thanks to the tight joints. Check out the final photo, where he expressed his dismay when I got too close to his costume with a pair of tweezers.

Of course, he also comes with the standard One:12 display stand, and you can use the simple foot peg or the large, clear plastic support system. This is particularly useful with this character to create cool floating poses.

Outfit - ****
The outfit is very much a comic book look, with the Mezco feel all over it.

I mentioned the wiring in the cape, but it's worth noting that this is one of the nicest capes I've seen in awhile on any figure. The wiring helps with posing, and the soft material hands cleanly and looks terrific.

The plastic armor bits are well sculpted, although I do wish the paint ops were a bit greater in number. The belt tends to ride high on his hips, particularly when you spread the legs out at all in any stance, but that's a pretty common thing with One:12 figures.

There's no saggy crotch, and the heat sealed plastic piping on the material is just about perfect. Overall it's a great look, and most fans will be quite pleased with the design.

Fun Factor - ****
Great articulation, cool accessories, and those unique magnetic hands - how could you not have fun! You'll come up with a ton of cool poses for this guy, and there are plenty of metal weapons and doo-dads in your display for him to 'grab'.

Value - **1/2
At $80, he's at the normal price point for most One:12 releases right now. With the exclusive at the same price point, it's a solid value too.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing. Hands and heads swapped easily, and none of the accessories or the costume are particularly vulnerable to damage.

Overall - ****
This four star review snuck up on me. It's not a figure that wowed me like some do, but the overall quality in each and every category is undeniable. Yea, I wish there were a few more paint operations, particularly on the helm, but the rest of the figure is outstanding. He's another example of the sort of attention and care Mezco brings to every release in the series.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpting - ****
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - ***1/2
Accessories - ****
Outfit - ****
Fun Factor - ****
Value - **1/2
Overall - ****

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth is also at $80.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Other Marvel comic related One:12 figures include Cyclops, Moon Knight, Blade, Iron Man, Ronin Wolverine, Punisher, Doctor Strange, Old Man Logan, Wolverine, Deadpool, Spider-Man, Red Skull, Daredevil, and more!

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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