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Captain Toy/Michael's Review of the Week

Review of KGBeast

Mezco Toyz
Date Published: 2020-12-14
Written By: Michael Crawford
Overall Average Rating: 3.5 out of 4

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KGBeast One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

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Introduction

As big of a Batman fan as I am, I'm not particularly knowledgeable on KGBeast. He's a late 80's product, coming in at a point where I wasn't paying a lot of attention to the comics. So for me, he never really caught on.

Still, when Mezco announced him as part of their One:12 Collective line up, I was all over it. Another Bat-villain? Yes, please! This guy just started shipping, and ran around $85 at original retail.

KGBeast One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

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Packaging - ***
The box is the usual, with plastic trays inside holding the figure and accessories safely. It's also very collector friendly of course. It's not something you'll have on the shelf, but it does the job.

KGBeast One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

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Sculpting - ****
KGBeast includes not one, not two, but three portraits, a great number for any One:12 figure. There's a more modern mask, with the sculpted red pattern around the eyes, a second masked version that's more of a hard shell look, and a third unmasked head.

The sculpting on all three are excellent, with lots of small details. Remember, this guy is under 7" tall, and the cuts and edges are sharp and clean even at this tiny scale. The unmasked head has a manly mustache, and the shaved head has a unique shape.

KGBeast One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

The costume has a ton of sculpting detail as well, from the pieces of spiked armor plating to the plastic bags and bits around the belts. Even the red vinyl on the chest has tiny sculpted rivets!

KGBeast One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

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Paint - ***1/2
The paint work is clean and realistic, particularly on the costume. There's a few blips here and there, but they are far and few between.

The two masked heads look great, with nice work on the eyes, either white (covered) or visible. The unmasked head has a really impressive mottling on the scalp, creating a shaved appearance, but the eyebrows and mustache are just a smidge off in a couple spots.

Small rivets, buttons, and edges on the belts look great as well, and there's lots of realism to the look of the armor pieces thanks to the paint work.

KGBeast One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

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Articulation - ***
The chunky body isn't quite as poseable as some of their base bodies, but it's still easy to get reasonable stances.

The ball jointed neck works well, with some decent tilt and lean, and the heads swap easily. The rotating hinge shoulders, elbows, and wrists are restricted a bit by the chunky muscles, but you can create single hand gun and weapon poses that look good.

The torso rolls and leans, with little issue from the shirt, and the hips, knees, and ankles can do medium to short stances easily. The two piece boots allow for some rocker movement, but not enough to make really deep stances look quite right.

KGBeast One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

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Accessories - ****
The dude is extremely well outfitted, beyond the three portraits. But let's be honest - three heads goes a long way to bumping this up to a full score.

He also has some extra hands of course. There are four additional right hands in various poses, as well as one extra left. Remember, KGBeast cut off his own left hand to escape Batman, and has since become sort of a J.J. Arms - remember him? While he has only one official extra left hand - in a tight grip - he also has several weapons that can be attached directly to his arm.

The first of these is a spear head. It has a post, and takes the place of the hand. There are also two hammers, a favorite weapon, one with the short handle and one with an extended handle. These can either be wielded in the two gripping hands in a traditional manner, or the handle can be inserted directly into the left wrist.

KGBeast One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

His best prosthetic weapon is the machine gun. This one requires popping off not just the hand, but the gauntlet as well, and that will expose a post. The gun then fits on this post. There is an extra magazine too, which can be attached to his belt in a special holster.

He has another handgun, also with extra magazines (one short, two extended). These extra magazines can fit in a pouch on the belt as well, and the gun slips into a holster.

He has two more bladed weapons - a machete like sword, and a sickle. The sword fits in a scabbard on his back, and there's a clip to attach the sickle across this scabbard.

He has one extra that's not in the marketing information - an eye patch. I'm going to be honest, I don't recall him ever wearing an eye patch for any reason, but it looks great and fits perfectly on the bald head. The unmasked head looks all the better for it too, but that's coming from someone who isn't going to be super picky about the representation of the character.

Finally, there's the usual display stand, which can be used with either the single post or the large, clear plastic support rod system.

KGBeast One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

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KGBeast One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

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Outfit - ***1/2
The outfit is fairly complex, although it doesn't have a lot of layers.

The tank shirt has some very well done vinyl strips, and while it's tight fitting and nicely tailored, it isn't restrictive.  The pants include some great cloth pouches as well, and the excellent tailoring continues here.

The armor and belts sport nice sculpts and paint jobs, making them quite realistic even at this scale. My only complaint is the loose fit of the gun in the holster. It's almost as if the holster is for a much wider handgun, and when you're handling this guy, remember that the gun can drop out quite easily.

KGBeast One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

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Fun Factor - ***1/2
Lots of accessories, great multiple portraits, and some decent articulation means you can revisit this guy regularly on the shelf, and come up with different looks. Add in your favorite Mezco Batman, and you're good to go!

KGBeast One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

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Value - **1/2
The $85 price tag is pushing the limit, even with three heads. This is one of those characters that will be beloved by Batman/DC fans, but may not see a lot of traffic outside of those ranks.

KGBeast One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

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Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing. It was all sturdy and solid, with no worries about breakage.

KGBeast One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

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Overall - ***1/2
If you're looking for another great One:12 villain to pose battling your Batmen, you've got it right here. He's got the size, the weapons, and the attitude to make a believable foe, and Mezco did a great job with their interpretation of the character.  I'm not a huge fan of KGBeast and even I'm impressed!

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

KGBeast One:12 Collective action figure by Mezco

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Where to Buy 
You can jump on the waist list at the Mezco site where he's still $85. Online options include these site sponsors:

- you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Other recent One:12 figures include Nosferatu, Hellboy, Harley Quinn, and Popeye.

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!

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KGBeast One:12 Collective action figure 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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