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Captain Toy/Michael's Review of the Week

Review of Popeye and Bluto
One:12 Collective Action Figures

Mezco Toyz
Date Published: 2020-11-02
Written By: Michael Crawford
Overall Average Rating: 4 out of 4

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Popeye and Bluto One:12 Collective action figures by Mezco

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Introduction

Mezco has produced a couple Popeye figures in their new One:12 Collective series, but it's not their first work with the old school license. It's hard to believe - at least for those of us collecting this long - but it was almost 20 years ago that they did their first Popeye action figure line.

The latest installment pits Popeye against his rival Bluto. This two pack has just started shipping, and was around $165 when it went up for pre-order. Sadly, that was quite awhile ago, and that means you're only chance now might be ebay.

Popeye and Bluto One:12 Collective action figures by Mezco

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Packaging - ****
Many of the One:12 packages, particularly with lines like Marvel, are quite spartan with simple designs. Not so with Popeye. The packaging features some terrific cartoon artwork and very bright colors, and it's gorgeous. It's all collector friendly of course, and quite sturdy as well.

Popeye and Bluto One:12 Collective action figures by Mezco

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Sculpting - ****
It's important to note right up front - this is *almost* the same Popeye you got before, at least in this category. He has the same two portraits, one with the closed mouth, one with the slightly open. Both can hold the pipes.  And both are just as good as before, with a slightly realistic take on the classic cartoon.

I said *almost* because you do get a third head sculpt this time. This one is a bit abused, with some bruising and damage, perfect for a mid battle pose with Bluto. The heads swap easily, and all three are designed with magnets to hold the hats in place. I've included a comparison photo in the Accessories section.

Bluto has two heads. One has his trademark gritted teeth grin, just like on the cover of the box. The eyes are squinted, the beard is bushy, and the detail work on the hair and skin texture is fantastic. The second head is designed to go with the battle damaged Popeye, with a eye swollen shut and a fat lip. Again, he has a slightly more realistic look than a straight up cartoon figure, but that's due in part to the extra detail work. Both heads work with his hat as well.

Popeye comes in at just under 6", with Bluto closer to 8". They'll fit in nicely with the rest of the line of course, but we really need Olive Oyl to cap things off.

Popeye and Bluto One:12 Collective action figures by Mezco

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Paint - ****
Like the sculpt, the paint work is top notch. Edges on the beard and hair are great, with clean eyes, eyebrows, and teeth on every portrait. There's some five o'clock shading on all three Popeye heads that might look a bit much from certain angles, but in hand it looks terrific.

All the accessories have great paint operations as well, with plenty of small detail work on items like the pocket watch. Mezco continues to produced some of the nicest paint work in this scale on the market.

Popeye and Bluto One:12 Collective action figures by Mezco

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Articulation - ***
The articulation on these figures isn't perfect, but it does allow for some decent fighting poses.

The ball joined neck on Popeye, with a joint at the jaw and in the chest, really works great. You can get lots of lean and tilt, and add plenty of personality and attitude to his poses.

The shoulders, elbows, and wrists can manage standard arm poses, but the single hinge elbows aren't my favorite. He has a good torso crunch, and the hips and knees can handle most stances. The boots hold up the ankle articulation a bit, but you can get wider stances with a little patience.

Bluto has a very chunky body, and as you'd expect, that means the joints have less range of movement. The neck is stubby and those huge shoulders and arms make the articulation there a bit restricted. The torso can move a bit, and the hips, knees and ankles are similar to Popeye. But with the thicker parts, he's not going to get in super deep stances.

Popeye and Bluto One:12 Collective action figures by Mezco

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Accessories - ****
While there's a lot of re-use here for Popeye, there's still a ton of extras.

Each has those heads I mentioned before, and giving Popeye a third new visage really goes a long way to helping this score.

Popeye and Bluto One:12 Collective action figures by Mezco

They also have extra hands. Both come wearing fists, but you can swap in gripping hands or a set of grasping hands for Bluto, and a set of tight grips, wider grips, and a pointing right for Popeye. They swap easily, and I had no worries about breakage.

Popeye and Bluto One:12 Collective action figures by Mezco

Both figures have the usual display stand, with the single foot peg or the transparent support rod.

Popeye gets a lot of the stuff from his previous releases. There's a can of spinach, as well as a crushed can that fits in one of the hands. There's the pocket watch, the collapsing spy glass, and his cloth duffle bag with his name on it. This bag has changed from the original white to a dark blue.

He also has the three hats we've seen before - captain, sailor, and longshoreman. These have a magnet with keeps them tightly on his head, and they all look great with the various costumes.

Popeye and Bluto One:12 Collective action figures by Mezco

I mentioned that his pipe fits in any of the three heads, and there are six pipes in total. Three regular, and three with a transparent plastic puff of smoke rising from the bowl. While you might only need one of each, giving you three insures you won't cry the first time you lose one.

There's a fourth hat that's specific to the yellow slicker - a yellow vinyl rain cap. It looks much better in place than I expected, and is perfectly sized for his head and body.

I'm going to put the slicker and peacoat in with the costume discussion - more on that in a minute. You'll find Bluto's leather jacket there as well.

Speaking of Bluto, he also has a plastic hat that stays in place on either head with the help of a magnet. And to battle Popeye, he has three nice weapons - a large kettle bell, a big wrench, and a dangerous looking gaff hook. The kettle bell and wrench are both made from actual metal, giving them some heft, but the joints on the figures are tight enough that they can keep them suspended in the air.

Popeye and Bluto One:12 Collective action figures by Mezco

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Popeye and Bluto One:12 Collective action figures by Mezco

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Outfit - ***1/2
Both costumes are fully cloth, with a variety of materials depending on the piece.

Again, you've seen most of the Popeye costume before, but in a different color. This time we get the pants in white, while the shirt is a navy blue. There's buttons glued to the front, and the sailor collar drapes down the back. The tailoring is excellent, as always.

He also has the dark pea coat, which works great with the longshoreman's cap. He can wear it with the collar down or up - I shot it both ways. New to this release is the bright yellow slicker with the bright yellow hat, and the fit on these is excellent as well. Getting the coats on and off can be a little tricky thanks to that limited arm articulation, but once you get it just right you'll be quite pleased with the look.

Bluto has a more complex standard costume, with the slightly dirty yellow pants, belt, white undershirt, and dark short sleeve shirt. Again, the tailoring is great overall, but he does have some collar issues. It's the huge shoulders and back, combined with the short neck. Getting the small collar to stay turned down is tricky, and never looks quite right to me. It's a minor nit however, and if you put his black leather jacket on - another fantastic piece - you'll fix the issue.

Popeye and Bluto One:12 Collective action figures by Mezco

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Fun Factor - ****
While there's a minor nit here or there, these really are fun figures with a ton of posing potential. I'm going to use the yellow slicker and hat with one of the Popeye's just as soon as I find a properly scaled boat wheel to pose him behind. A storm's a'coming!

Popeye and Bluto One:12 Collective action figures by Mezco

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Value - **1/2
At $165, your paying about $82 each. That's about the going rate right now for single figures. There is a lot of re-use with Popeye of course, but there's enough new to make the overall purchase well worth it.

Popeye and Bluto One:12 Collective action figures by Mezco

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Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing. Putting the coats on can take a little time, since the shoulders and elbows can't quite get out of their own way, but with a little patience you should have no issue.

Popeye and Bluto One:12 Collective action figures by Mezco

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Overall - ****
I loved their first One:12 Popeye, so it's no real surprise that I still love him in this release. The color combo on his costume looks great, I love the new head and the new rain slicker, and getting another one allows me to use more of these extra costume pieces in the display.

Bluto? He's fantastic, perhaps the better of the pair. Part of that is simply his uniqueness, but part is also the exceptional job they did with him.

Now we really, really need an Olive Oyl to finish things out, although considering the age of the license I'm not optimistic. Then again, Mezco does love the characters, and if anyone can find a creative way to make it happen, they can.

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

Popeye and Bluto One:12 Collective action figures by Mezco

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Where to Buy 
You can get on the wait list at Mezco's store, where the set is $165. Online options include these site sponsors:

- had the pre-order for $165, but looks like they sold out. However, once they start shipping they may have had some orders canceled, so it can be worth checking in.

- Entertainment Earth had it at $165, but may already be sold out.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Recent One:12 reviews include Harley, Supreme Knight Batman, Gambit, and John Wick. This isn't their first Popeye either - they did him by himself for the One:12 Collective, and they had a regular action figure line back in the day.

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

Discussion:
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Popeye and Bluto One:12 Collective action figures by Mezco

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This product was purchased for the review by the reviewer. Photos and text by Michael Crawford.

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