Review of Superman Classic
One:12 Collection Action Figure

Introduction

Earlier this week, I ordered my Michael Myers and new Spider-Man from the One:12 Collective by Mezco. As I was doing it, I realized...it's been ages since I reviewed a figure from this line!  And then, as if my wish had been heard, the classic Superman hit my doorstep.

This new figure is based on the comic book look, taken from a Mezco perspective. Like their other comic themed releases, they aren't going directly for any one specific artist or period look, but rather taking a more generalized approach to a character we all know and love, while throwing in a bit of their own design style.

This guy will run you around $75 at most retailers, but finding him might be tough. He is definitely a popular release, and I suspect we'll see them visit him again in some other slightly altered fashion eventually.

Packaging - ***1/2
While the outer slip cover is fairly basic this time, it does include some nice shots of the figure on the back. The inner box is very sturdy, a big plus with this series, and of course it's all collector friendly. They use a double layer of plastic trays to keep everything safe and sound, and you can remove it all and pop it back with no damage to any of the packaging materials.

Sculpting - ****
Regular readers might have noticed this - at least those that use a computer to view the site - but I usually reserve larger (800px wide) photos for collectibles that are sixth scale or above, and stick with slightly smaller photos (500px wide) for collectibles that are smaller than sixth scale. The One:12 Collection are an exception, because the overall quality is so amazing.  They look fantastic even at the larger size, which says volumes about them.

But that can mean confusion for the viewer, who can see far greater detail and might forget that this guy is just 6 1/2" tall, similar to a Marvel Legends or Star Wars Black release. You will see some imperfections in the photos, and some issues I point out will look much worse in the photos once I point them out than they are in hand. I'll be pointing this out in later categories when we get to these problems.

This is not an issue for either portrait, however. The regular classic head looks fantastic, with a sharp, well defined structure and jaw line, nicely stranded hair, softly cut eyebrows, and even a perfect trademark curl. The second portrait, with laser beam eyes, has a stronger, meaner grimace, appropriate for the situation, and adds a few wrinkles for greater effect. The heads swap easily, and getting a second portrait is always a big boost to a figure.

The hands are properly scaled, and sculpted in poses that work with various stances and accessories. These swap pretty easily as well, and I've never had a problem with a wrist on any One:12 release.

There is another issue here with the symbol on his chest, but rather than include in the Sculpt section, I'll be discussing it in the Outfit category.

Paint - ***1/2
One area where Mezco has really worked to create a high end experience with these small figures is production paint.  In hand, this figure is another killer.

You will see some minor issues in macro photos however. The hair line isn't quite perfect, and there's a few sloppy edges around the symbol. But other key spots, like the skin tone (including the red hue added to the second laser eye portrait), lips, eyebrows, and of course, the eyes themselves, look fantastic. Again, you have to remember that this guy is half the size of the standard sixth scale figure, making the paint work all that more impressive.

Articulation - ***1/2
Regular buyers of this line know the drill, but the joints here are largely mobile and tight.

There's two joints at the neck - one at the jawline, one inside the torso. This gives you a ton of potential with every pose, and you can add just the right amount of personality, creating more life-like stances.

The rotating hinge shoulders, pin elbows, and rotating hinge wrists allow for lots and lots of arm poses, and the costume is not too restrictive. As I mentioned earlier, the hands swap pretty easily - they're easier to pop off than pop on - and stay in place while posing.

The torso and waist are a little limited by the suit, as it tends to push him back to center. You can get some turn and lean out of it though, and leaning him backward in the 'chain breaking' photo was quite easy.

The rotating hinge hips, pin knees, and pin ankles work pretty well, really only restricted by the costume at the crotch. You can't get super deep stances, and I wish the ankles had a little more rocker movement, but it's a minor nit overall.

Accessories - ****
Mezco continues to crush it when it comes to extras.

I've already discussed the paint and sculpt on the second 'laser blasting' portrait, but the mere inclusion of an additional head is a huge boost to this category every time.

He has a total of six hands, including the fists he comes wearing, a set of flat palm 'flying' hands, and a set of wide grips. These are a little tough to pop on, but they stay tight while posing.

There are three bullet effects as well, tiny translucent plastic 'blasts' that attach to the chest symbol via a magnet. While the final look isn't perfect, and using all three is tough (there's only so much real estate), it's a pretty cool idea. They are in the photo below, but tough to see on the white background.

There's a small piece of Kryptonite, perfect for diffusing his powers, and perhaps the coolest of all the extras...a bottled shrunken City of Kandor! It's not super detailed, but this matches the comic book style.

To recreate a scene from the old comics, he also comes with two bendable chains that you can wrap around his chest in various ways. If you'd like to pose him with them breaking in front, you can use a special attachment for the display stand.

Which brings us to the last item, that stand. It's similar to the other previous releases, with a clear waist gripping support that can hold him aloft in jumping or flying poses. It also has the aforementioned extra attachment for the chains, and it has the special attachment to spread and pose the cape behind him. They've updated the overall design slightly, and the clips are in clear plastic this time, but it's the same general idea we saw with earlier figures.

You can also skip the big support structure and simply use a foot peg, another smart design decision. The base itself is the classic S on a round plastic piece, as you might expect.

Outfit - ***
The outfit is very bright, very vibrant, very classic. The soft red cape includes the symbol as well, and the thin material hangs off the shoulders nicely. There's no wire for posing, but in most stances gravity will be your friend, and you can use the attachment on the stand support to pose the cape as well.

The tight blue costume looks great, with sleeves long enough to cover the wrists in most poses. The undies and belt are separate from the suit, making it easier to adjust them on his hips. The two piece sculpted plastic boots are a bit basic, but work well with the overall classic design.

And then we get to my one big complaint with this figure - the S symbol on his chest. This is another one of those areas where in hand it's not nearly as big a deal as in photos...but it's still a pretty big deal. You will notice it, no doubt about it, when you're handling the figure.

The symbol is made from a very hard material, which has enough metal in it to allow the bullet effects to stick. It's hard to tell if the whole thing is metal (it feels too light) or if just key areas have metal included, but either way, it's a hard hunk of stuff.

Because of this, it doesn't fit as tight to the chest as I'd like. The bottom and top edges float about the material, and I was constantly worried I might pull it loose as I was working with the figure. He looses a full star here for this, and only the overall look of the figure saves him from even a bigger hit in this category.

Fun Factor - ****
The articulation and accessories work together to give you all sorts of cool options when posing and displaying. This is the sort of figure that you'll return to, time and again, looking for a new pose for the shelf.  For a collector, that can be a lot of fun, and provides long term interest.

Value - **1/2
While this guy is a smidge more expensive ($5) than usual, the money was put to very good use with the accessories. I have no problem with the $70  - $80 price point on these, as long as they continue to keep the overall quality high and the number of accessories large.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not much. As I mentioned, I was a bit worried that I might snag the edge of the symbol when I was posing him and pull it loose, but it never actually occurred.

Overall - ***1/2
I'm loving this design overall. The portrait is everything I want in a Superman, and the quality of the cloth pieces of the costume is excellent. The number and quality of accessories - including the very cool City of Kandor - is top notch.

I am a little annoyed by the chest symbol, but when you see it in hand you'll realize that the gap at the top and bottom is much, much less obvious than it is in macro photos. I understand that the material they used made it tough for the symbol to attach all the way around, but the annoyance is still great enough to pull down the Outfit score, and to a lesser degree my Overall.

Hopefully we'll see several more One:12 figures ship soon, and the new movie themed Thor goes on sale November 3rd!

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

Where to Buy 
This guy is selling out fast, so I can't make any guarantees, but some online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth was at $75, but appears to be sold out.

- Mezco has him on wait list at this point, also for $75.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I've looked at a lot - most - of the One:12 releases, with the last one being the Morales Spider-Man. I've also covered the summer exclusive Deadpool, the exceptional classic Punisher, the regular release Punisher the Toy Fair exclusive version, Shazam, the classic Daredevil, the Flash and Reverse Flash, the BvS Superman, the comic based Joker, Green Arrow, the Frankenstein Monster Diorama, Frankenstein Monster, the BvS Batman, the Bvs Armored Batman, Captain America, Star Trek Kirk, the Mirror, Mirror and Cage variants of Spock, Sulu, the Toy Fair exclusive Spock, and the regular release Spock as well. Other One:12 Collective figures released so far include Dredd and his Lawmaster, the NYCC exclusive Judge Dredd, the DKR Batman and Mutant two pack, the Batman exclusives, and the initial DKR Batman.

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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