Review of Batman Sovereign Knight
One:12 Collective Action Figure

Introduction

Mezco is producing their own set of Batman figures, with each design based on a particular period of his career. The latest release is the second figure in the trio of designs - Sovereign Knight. While Ascending Knight, their first design, was based on the early Year One concept, this version is themed around a more modern, 'in his prime' Batman.

But haven't we already gotten the Sovereign Knight figure? Ah, we got ONE of them. Remember, Mezco loves to provide multiple versions of the same figure when possible, and these Batmen are prime examples.  The first Sovereign Knight was the 'Onyx' edition, done all in black and sold through the Mezco Store only. This second release is the standard look, in a black and gray color combo, widely available at any retailer. There's also a Previews Exclusive coming soon, with the blue and gray color scheme.

This guy started shipping a couple weeks ago, and will run you around $80 depending on the retailer.

Packaging - ***1/2
The box is simple but elegant, with clean lines and quality construction. There's the usual double plastic trays inside, and the heavy duty cardboard will withstand normal handling. It's all collector friendly too, with no need to damage anything when you are removing the figure and accessories. There's no instructions, but you probably won't need any.

Sculpting - ****
There are four heads in total, as there was with the Onyx release. Yes, these are re-used, but why mess with what works?

The standard head is my favorite. It has a stoic, determined look, with sharply defined angles to the mask and cowl. The slightly longer ears is also a look I like, and there's a nice realism to the skin texture. Remember, these guys are 1/12 scale (he's about 6 1/2" tall), and yet they can often be confused for much larger figures in macro photos.

The second head is battle damaged, from what appears to be an assault by Catwoman or perhaps Killer Croc. The scratches across the cowl have torn out the area around the right eye, exposing it beneath. He's pissed, as you'd imagine, with gritted teeth and scowl.

The third cowled head has short ears, mixing things up a bit. It also has a weirdly down turned mouth, with exposed, gritted teeth. This is my least favorite, due to the shape of the mouth (seriously, he looks like a chipmunk), but it's a personal preference. The beauty of getting this many heads with the figure is the freedom it provides each collector in setting up their perfect Batman display.

The final head has had the most use with various Mezco Batmen figures. It's the uncovered Bruce Wayne. The detail work in the hair and skin texture is good, and it's a reasonable approximation of the character.

All the heads swap easily, and they stay in place when you're posing him. Ditto for the various hands, whose sculpts work nicely with the other accessories.

Paint - ****
Another impressive job in the production paint department from Mezco.

All four heads are clean and super neat. The white eyes have no bleed or inconsistency, and the edges are sharp all around. The skin tone is a little washed out, but not bad in hand, and the lips and teeth look fantastic.

As an example, check out the photo below. The exposed eye is extremely clean, while the white lens on the other eye has a perfect edge and coverage consistency. The tiny, tiny teeth are super neat, and even the blood coming from the side of the mouth is perfect - just enough to be present, but not enough to draw too much attention.

It's also worth noting that the unmasked head has some gray hair this time, indicating Bruce has aged since the Ascending Knight version.

Articulation - ***1/2
While the suit can be a bit restrictive, it's not more so than an actual suit like this. You can't really expect an action figure to move better in a costume than an actual human could.

The heads swap easily, and there's plenty of lean and tilt even with the thick neck. The shoulders, elbows, and wrists allow for good arm poses, and while you can't get the shoulders too high, it's far enough to be realistic. I will continue to wish for more cross body movement in the elbows (or a cut in the bicep), but that might just be me.

The torso can crunch and twist, allowing you to break up the straight lines of most poses. The hips, knees, and ankles can go from natural shallow stances to great medium stances, but the ankles can't quite get as much rocker movement as I'd like for the really deep stances. The two piece boot sculpt is nice, but not quite as mobile as I'd like.

There's no wire in the cape, but it does hang very naturally over his shoulders and down his back.

Accessories - ****
As with the Mezco Direct version, there's a ton of extras with this Batman.

He has those three additional heads I already discussed. Even with the 're-use factor', getting this many different portraits is a huge plus. And if you buy every variety, you can use them to full advantage on the shelf.

There's also plenty of extra hands. He comes wearing fists, and there are open grips, two sets of tight grips, and guns grips to go with them. There's also one additional right hand wearing the Kryptonite knuckles, perfect for taking on his old friend Superman.

He comes with two types of batarang - one large version, and ten (yes, ten!) of the smaller version. He can wield these with the gripping hands.

Those gun grip hands need something to hold too, and it's not a gun. He has a 'sonic disrupter', which looks like a satellite dish on the end of a raygun. The dish part is also removable. And if the disrupter is not your thing, there's a grappling gun as well. There are two swappable tips - one, a folded grapple, and the other a grapple with a long string attached. This string can then be attached to the end of the gun itself.

As with the earlier version, there's also a 'bat drone'. This large wasp-like contraption has articulated wings (although they don't move much), but there's no great way to pose it with him. A separate support rod and base would have been nice.

Speaking of which, the figure comes with the usual display base, which you can use with either the single foot peg or the large, complex support rod. There's the cape extensions too, which can be used to hold the cape in jumping and leaping poses.

Outfit - ***1/2
I've heard some weird complaints about this outfit. Some have said it looks like pajamas - sorry, I ain't seeing it.

I do like the all black costume on the Onyx version better, but that's personal taste. That version had the thin, glossy plastic pieces applied to create the tactical look, but this version uses variations on the suit texture itself to get a similar effect. The one difference with the marketing photos and the final release is in the lines separating various areas, which were much darker on the prototype. They blend in a bit more here, but I have no issue with that, and actually think it looks a bit better this way.

The quality of the costume is excellent, including the attached plastic bat-symbol on his chest. The cape is made from a very thin material, and it hangs naturally over his back and off his shoulders. The bronze colored belt is weathered with decent detailing in the sculpt, and the gauntlets and boots look great. It's not my personal favorite Batman costume, but it doesn't look like he's in his PJ's either.

Fun Factor - ****
All of the One:12 figures are a ton of fun, but with this many accessories and portraits, you get even more posing and re-posing potential. Is anyone else jonesing for some Joker designs to go with these? And be honest - doesn't he look like a chipmunk in the photo below?

Value - **1/2
Eighty bucks is the usual price for a standard One:12 release right now, and while it's not cheap, the level of quality in every area, along with the large number of extras, make it an solid average value.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing. I had no worries about any of the accessories or the costume, and I had no issues which require a warning.

Overall - ***1/2
While I really like this figure - and don't understand where some of the complaints are coming from - I will also admit that I like the Onyx version a bit better. There's something about that costume that reminds me of the 89 Keaton Batman (thanks to the yellow and black symbol of course), and the tactical nature comes through a bit more.

We still have the Previews Exclusive to come, but I doubt it will unseat my favorite of the three. While I appreciate the blue/gray color scheme, it's never been high on my list. But getting multiple variations like this really fills out the shelf nicely!

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

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth had him for $80, but it looks like they may have sold out already.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I've covered the Onyx Edition Sovereign Knight, as well as the Toy Fair Ascending Knight, previews exclusive Ascending Knight, Mezco Store exclusive Ascending Knight, and the regular release Ascending Knight.

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

Discussion:
Want to chat about this review?  Try out one of these terrific forums where I'll be discussing it!

Enjoyed this review? Be sure to head back to the main page to find thousands more just like it!