Review of Aquaman - Justice League
One:12 Collective action figure

Introduction

DC has some movie problems, no doubt about it. Justice League was actually a step up for them, but still there were some pretty serious issues. One of the positives though is getting a cool, interesting Aquaman, a character that's never been my cup of tea.

Mezco has been doing a nice job with the DC movie based figures, including a couple versions of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. They just started shipping their Aquaman, a regular release figure available through most stores for around $80.

Packaging - ***
The box is a little bigger than some, made from sturdy cardboard. The interior plastic trays hold things safely, and in a collector friendly manner. I like the graphics, and there's more color and content than usual, driven by this particularly license.

Sculpting - ***
I usually love the One:12 portraits, but I'm lukewarm on the final result here.

The biggest issue isn't one of sculpting...there's only one portrait. One:12 figures traditionally have at least two, sometimes more. I'm not docking them in this category for it, but you'll see a pretty heavy hit in the Accessories section.

The work on the single portrait has decent realism. The hair sculpt is a little soft, but remember the scale here - this guy is only about 6 5/8" tall.  They've given him a little skin texture, and the beard and eyebrows have detailing that looks good in hand.

The expression is also fine. He's stoic and determined, but not excessively emotional. The squinted eyes and arched brows match his personality and attitude in the film.

But I'm not getting much Momoa. I don't know if it's the cheekbones or the nose, or maybe just the soft Santa Claus look of the beard, but if you popped this head off the body and handed it to me, I doubt I'd get it right on the first guess.

The saving grace is the sculpt work on the various pieces of plastic armor. This is his official costume, although there were a couple other looks in the film. There's a ton of detail in the various textures and designs of the armor, and it definitely makes it clear who this is.

Paint - ***
The paint work is good, as you'd expect with any One:12 release.

While much of the work is clean and neat (particularly those squinty eyes), the highlight is the inclusion of the scar in his left eyebrow. It's hard to see in hand, but shows up clearly in macro photos. That's the sort of attention to detail expected in this series.

On the opposite side, I'm not loving the highlighting in the hair, both on the beard and hair on his head. Rather than bring out the detail, it creates a chunkier appearance to the strands.

The quality of the paint on the armor is solid, and they did a good job creating visual pop with limited colors. My one complaint is the buckle in front, which matches the rest of the armor. As I recall, it was shinier on screen, so that it stood out from the rest of the costume, much like the symbol on other character's chests.

Articulation - **1/2
There's a lot of armor on this figure, and that means less mobility.

First, don't tear this figure apart to prove the obvious - yes, the underlying body has all the joints. They just aren't going to do as much with a solid piece of armor restricting them.

The arms work better than I expected, however. The arm articulation allows for good movement, and you can create plenty of one and two handed poses with the trident. The hands swap easily, and they stayed in place when posing as long as you ensure they are pushed all the way down on the short posts.

The plastic does not restrict the hips or knees, either. There's a tight body suit under the armor - more on that in the Outfit section - and while it is stretchy, there's limits. The ankles are encumbered by the sculpted boots, although the two piece design does mean there's some movement there as well.

The biggest issues are in the neck, where the long, sculpted hair can cause problems, and the torso, where the solid armor ends any hope of forward, backward, or side to side movement. I don't have a huge issue with this Overall - it's going to be a problem with an armored character, no matter the scale or manufacturer - but it does mean the score in this category is lower.

Accessories - **
One area where I do have a huge issue is the Accessories.  This is a One:12 Collective figure, and it commands a One:12 Collective price tag. Sadly, by dropping the second portrait, they hurt themselves a lot.

There are several additional hands. He comes with a set of fists attached, and there's a set of tight grips, a set of wide grasping hands, and a set of 'swimming' palms. They swap easily enough, and I had no fear of breakage.

He has his all important Trident too, which is properly scaled and a nice sculpt. He can hold it in one or two hands, and look good doing it.

He also has one of the Mother Boxes, critical component of the movie. The size seems about right - the boxes were pretty big - and the sculpt and paint look good.

Finally, there's the standard One:12 stand, with the translucent post for flying/jumping poses (or swimming, in this particular case), as well as the simple foot peg for standing poses.

And yes, I said 'finally'. There's not much with this guy, far, far less than we usually see with any One:12 release, and that's going to be a huge negative for me Overall.

Outfit - ***
While much of the costume is armor, there's a full body suit underneath with textures and details that blend it in perfectly with the plastic pieces. You can see the suit at the joints - shoulders, elbows, hips, knees - and the smooth transition is excellent.

There's no saggy crotch either, always a positive. The suit is a bit tight, and while it's stretchy, it's still not particularly forgiving. I do think they could have tried to incorporate the chest joint on the body and the seam across the torso armor into a moving joint, but I'm not surprised they couldn't pull it off.

Fun Factor - ***
You won't be able to get a ton of poses, but you can get some natural looks. On his own he's not that much fun, but paired up with other recent DC movie figures he gets a lot more interesting.

Value - *1/2
Here's the other big hit, at least for me, and it revolves around some of the other issues. There's no second portrait, the articulation is limited, and the rest of the accessories are fairly simple. And yet, he's still going for the full $80. You don't have to compare him in this category to other figures in the market, you can simply compare him to other figures in the One:12 Collective, and you'll see he comes up short.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing.

Overall - **1/2
I love the One:12 Collective, but every series has a blip here and there. Aquaman is hopefully merely one of those blips, the exception to the rule.  While I'm sure some people will be deeply offended by the lack of a torso joint, that's not a big reason for my lukewarm reception of the figure. No, for me it comes down to the lack of accessories at this price point. Without the second portrait and few other goodies, there's simply no way he's worth the now standard $80.

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

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 -
I've looked at most of the One:12 line, including the Wonder Woman, Batman, Armored Batman, Knightmare Batman, and Superman from the recent films. You'll find plenty more One:12 reviews in the Search Reviews page.

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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