Review of Death Brokers
One:12 Collective Action Figures

Introduction

The last couple years have been tough for manufacturers. The pandemic caused all kinds of issues, and truly upended the entire supply chain. It was a worldwide upheaval and interruption, and every company felt it. Some more, some less, with various factors influencing that effect.

It's clear that Mezco felt it, with their shipping schedules extended in ways we've never seen before. But it looks like the dam is starting to break, and when it does, oh boy. The collectors of One:12 figures are going to see boxes piling up on their doorstep, and funds draining from their bank accounts.

I believe this flood has started. We've seen several figures ship in recent weeks, and we've been notified of a bunch more charging very soon. Starting off this wave, at least for me, is the three pack of Black Skulls Death Brokers, part of the Rumble Society. Now I know I'm a bit behind with my review - blame it on my own schedule interruptions.

This set is now shipping, and ran $265 directly from the Mezco online store.

Packaging - ***
The boxes are attractive, completely collector friendly, and of course, very sturdy and well made. Not quite as exciting as the tin boxes, but the box and plastic trays do the required job, and look good doing it.

Sculpting - ***1/2
If you've picked up any of the previous Skulls releases, from Pink to White to Red, you know what these look like. The detail is excellent, and very realistic. The bulging eyes lend a nice, creepy air, and the sculpting detail around the teeth and mouth is excellent.

However, the three skulls here are identical, and I'm not thrilled by it. With other releases, like the recent Chaos Club, you got three different expressions, adding something to the look of the group on the shelf. Here, the identical look makes the set less appealing overall.

Paint - ***
There's not a ton of paint detail with this release, but there's some key areas.

The yellow, which is very, very neon, looks great against the black clothing and heads. The bright eyes are mesmerizing, and the tie and weapons really pop on the shelf.

But that's about it for detail. The heads are all black outside of the eyes, and while it's a nice, consistent color and coverage, it also hides some of that great sculpt detail and texture.

Articulation - ***
The underlying bodies have the better articulation, such as the double pin elbows that allow for greater arm poses. But I couldn't get the ankles to work quite the way I wanted, which limited the action poses for me.

The ball jointed neck works well, although the skulls don't quite tilt and lean as much as I'd like. The aforementioned arm articulation is the best feature, and you should have no trouble finding interesting arm poses. The ab-crunch twists and leans, breaking up some of those unnatural straight lines in the torso, and the hips and knees allow for deep stances, as well as kneeling and sitting poses.

But the ankles didn't have enough forward, backward, and rocker movement to keep them flat on the ground in deep stances, and I couldn't risk putting too much pressure on them and forcing it. A bit more movement in the ankles, and this score would have been much higher.

Accessories - **1/2
This set is quite expensive, and yet it comes up pretty short on the extras.

Of course, there's lots of hands. Each figure has 12, and these 12 are repeated for each.  They are also hands we've seen with most other Rumble Society figures, including the wide grips for hand grenades (or beer cans). They swap easy enough, but are a lot of re-use.

Each figure gets the same additional set of extras - gun, extra clip, gun blast effect, knife, and handcuffs. The guns, knives, and handcuffs are done in the neon yellow plastic, which seems a bit more brittle than usual. Take extra care with the guns and cuffs, particularly the trigger guards.

There's a couple other issues as well. I appear to have been shorted two sets of cuffs, with only one in the package. And as others have noted, getting the effects to fit in the barrel of the gun can be very tricky. It is doable, but you'll want to do it slowly, and with a little heat on the barrel just in case. Once inserted, removing them may also require more care than normal.

Each figure also comes with the usual black stand, which can be used with a foot peg, or the larger, clear plastic support rod.

The best accessory of the bunch is the neon yellow suit case, which includes the cool light up feature I'll discuss in the next section. It's the overall highlight of the accessories, but the lack of many other new items, and the lack of any other heads, hurt this score for me.

Light Feature - ****
For me, the highlight of this set is the light up briefcase. They have included the necessary three batteries, and these are quite easy to insert. Operating the light is also easy - just open the case! Closing the case turns it off again. This makes it a very useful feature, one you can easily use on the shelf. The ease of use and bright glow make this one a terrific addition.

Outfit - ***
Each is wearing an identical outfit, with black shirt, pants, and jacket. Each has a bright yellow tie, and each has a surprise in his right shoe.

The tailoring on the suit is excellent, and the fit and tailoring of the clothing is just about perfect. However, on two of the three, the thin, properly scaled lapels are not fitted tight to the chest. It looks like they had been glued, but this glue has given way. I will be able to get them to lay flat again over time, either by steaming or by gluing myself, but it was a bummer to have the issue out of the box.

The ties look great, and are wired with a relatively thick wire. This allows you to pose them in more dynamic ways, and add some visual motion to a stance.

I mentioned the surprise in the right shoe - each has a knife tucked away in the toe. Slide the heel of the shoe forward and the knife is exposed. It's a very cool extra, one that fits nicely with their assassin theme.

Fun Factor - ***
As villains for Gomez, these will work nicely on the shelf. The consistency between them is a bit too much this time around however, making them more redundant than other Skull releases.

Value - **
At $265, don't feel bad if you were expecting more. There's a ton of re-use here, and I suspect we're going to see a lot of people selling off parts of this set, only keeping one of them for the shelf.

Things to Watch Out For -
As I mentioned, the plastic used with the neon accessories seems a bit brittle this time, so you should take extra care putting the guns in their hands, or inserting the effect in the barrel.

Overall - ***
While I'm generally a huge fan of the Rumble Society and the Skulls, this set was a little disappointing. The missing cuffs, the wonky ankles, the lack of new accessories, the extreme consistency between the three, all added up on the negative side for me. However, the light up briefcase is fantastic, and as with all the Skulls, these guys do look terrific together on the shelf. It's not a terrible release, but it is one that will really only appeal to the die hard Rumble Society collector.

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

Where to Buy 
The Wait List is still open at the Mezco Online Store, where these are $265. Or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I just recently reviewed the terrific Pink Skulls Chaos Club set - check that one out!

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

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