Review of Pennywise - IT
One:12 Collective Action Figure

Introduction

I'm a big fan of the latest adaptation of Stephen King's IT. The two parts were quite different, yet I thoroughly enjoyed them both. Of course, much of this is due to the excellent portrayal of Pennywise by the talented Bill Skarsgard.  I've been picking up just about every plastic version of the character so far, from the giant 1/4 scale figure to the diminutive Defo-Real figure.

Imagine my thrill when a favorite 1/12 action figure series - the One:12 Collective - collides with a favorite license like IT! Their Pennywise has just started shipping, and will run you around $100 depending on the retailer.

Packaging - ***1/2
The creepy exterior graphics are a bit more detailed than we usually see with a One:12 figure, and the heavy duty cardboard box will keep things safe and sound. Inside, the double layer of plastic trays are collector friendly, with no need to damage anything while retrieving the contents.

Sculpting - ****
One:12 figures always come with more than one portrait, but Pennywise is blessed with four! His standard head has a slight smile, with hooded eyes and detailed hair.  It's a nice, malevolent look, without being over the top.

He also has a truly terrifying head, with disheveled long hair and a creepy wide grin filled with deadly fangs. The blood lust is clear, and he's just about to open wide and eat your face.  The detail work on the teeth is quite extraordinary considering the scale - remember, he's about 6 3/4" tall.

The multi-layered teeth look even more amazing on the next portrait.  He's gone full beast, with his open mouth reaching for his dinner. The eyes are squinted and slightly rolled back, anticipating that first tasty bite.

The fourth and final head is what I like to call his WTF expression. He looks like you've just said something really stupid or really insolent or both, and he can't quite believe he has to put up with you. The mouth is slightly open and small, with no wide grin or smile to be seen. The squinted eyes express his exasperation quite nicely. While this is the least favorite of the four heads for me, it's still a great addition for a number of poses.

The detail work on all four heads is nice, particularly in the hair and skin. These rival the work on much larger scale figures, and I feel all four are superior to the NECA work, nice as that is. The crackling and wrinkles in the forehead are there, but they didn't use a gray wash to highlight them, making them harder to see in this scale. They are also toned down a bit, and I think they should have cut them deeper in one of the portraits for contrast.

The hands are all nicely designed as well, properly scaled and useful. The rotting, claw-like hands are particularly nice, but there's enough variety in the sculpts to make them all worthwhile.

Paint - ***1/2
The quality of the overall paint work is exceptional for the 1/12 scale. This is particularly evident on the faces, where the eyes, lips, teeth, and clown paint are remarkable well done.

However, there's one thing that doesn't really work for me - the shading on the forehead. There's an orange color to all four, and while I think it's intended to create an interesting shadow and transition to the hair, it's not doing it for me.

The work on the hands and boots is excellent though, making the shading my only real issue, and the reason for a drop in the score.

Articulation - ***1/2
The underlying body is one of their better, with the costume hiding joints like the double pins elbows, but still allowing them a good range of movement.

The neck is a ball joint, but only at the torso. The one piece head neck arrangement can't quite tilt and lean as much as I'd like, but it does a relatively decent job.  The shoulders, elbows, and wrists all work together for great arm poses, and the hips, knees, and ankles can take and maintain shallow to medium stances. I do wish the ankles had a bit more rocker to get those really deep stances just right, but it's a minor nit.

The torso can crunch, lean, and tilt as well, allowing you to break up straight lines through the center of the body and create more realistic poses.

Accessories - ****
Yes, he's nicely outfitted, although it's really the choice of four heads that drives this score way up.  I've already discussed their quality, but suffice to say that their inclusion is a huge reason this is such a great figure.

He also has six hands to go with the relaxed pair he comes wearing. There's the 'monster' set, with claws and exposed skin, the grasping set, a tight grip right, and a balloon holding left. The balloon string actually comes already threaded in this left hand, but you can slide it up or down or remove it completely if you feel the urge.

This balloon has no writing, and if you have some of the NECA balloons, you should be able to swap them in. The string is a thin, posable wire of course.

Specific to the first film are three other extras. There's Georgie's small paper boat, along with the poor kid's severed arm.  Also included is the painting that freaks Stanley out, and it is a lenticular print that changes slightly depending on your angle.

Finally, there's the usual One:12 display stand with the foot peg or the larger, clear plastic support rod.

Outfit - ****
There's simply no better way to do this figure than with a real cloth outfit. Hands down, it is far more realistic and accurate.

I know some people think the costume isn't dark enough, or that it should be more gray. I reviewed a bunch of stills from the movie, and I think this costume is actually very accurate. Depending on the lighting in the film - daytime, night, outside, inside, shadowy, bright - the costume look fairly different, but in the clearest, brightest shots, it looked very much like this version.

The cloth is also somewhat worn and frayed, although they didn't go overboard with it. I do think a bit of blood would have been a nice touch, but perhaps we'll get a second version.

What's really impressive is the stitching and pleating. The fine stitches look great, and the two tone ropes around the waist and ankles look excellent. And the cloth pom-poms are the icing on the killer cake!

Fun Factor - ***1/2
This guy is quite posable, and has a plethora of extras to change up his look on your shelf. He'll be one you'll go back to, posing and re-posing as the urge strikes.

Value - **
At $100, this guy is on the top side of the current One:12 Collective pricing. Normally at that price point you see a light feature, or some other unique attribute. I suspect the pricing is driven by the cost of the license, as well as the four, rather than two, heads. Still, I wish he could have been closer to the $80 mark, where he would have gotten the average mark of **1/2 here.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing. It's all quite sturdy, and I had no trouble working with the figure or accessories.

Overall - ***1/2
Another terrific release from Mezco in this series, and in their horror themed line up. While I like the NECA figures quite a bit, this is a step above - as it should be, for the price. I love all the One:12 line, but their horror related figures have been some of my favorites.

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

Where to Buy 
You can get him directly from Mezco's online store for $100. Other online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth is also at $100, but with free shipping.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Other Pennywise figures include the quarter scale version from NECA, the Tiny Terrors 1990 and 2017 versions, the Ultimate 1990 version 2, the Well House, the exclusive, as well as the first regular release. There's also the 1990 Tim Curry V1 Ultimate version also from NECA.

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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