Weight - ****
This is one honkin' heavy-ass figure. Seriously, if an action figure could be used as a murder weapon, this is the guy. No blow molded hollow plastic here, he's solid through-and-through. I haven't weighed him, but I'm guessing 3-5 pounds. There's something very satisfying about the weight of him, which makes him very toy-etic in an impressively primal way. My girlfriend collects Japanese balljointed dolls and he's got that feel to him. Bravo to NECA for that!

Sculpting - ****
Is this Henry Cavill? Maybe 80-90%, maybe more, maybe less. Is it Superman? Oh hell yes! He looks fantastic!

Fantastic, too, is the word for the rest of the sculpting. He's suitably beefy and muscular, and his outfit has the requisite detailed texture that all the cool movie superheros seem to require these days. His chest shield is nicely raised and looks just like the movie version. I could go on, but why bother? The sculpting here is absolutely top notch, almost impossibly so. I'd pick nits, but there simply aren't any!

There are sculpted pegs in place to hide all of the posts for the major points of articulation. The paint/texture doesn't match 100%, but it likely looks much better than leaving them open.

Paint - ****
Clean and simple. It's not Hot Toys in it's incredibly layered detail, but it's all clean and neatly applied. Additionally, he has a wash over his entire outfit that beautifully mimics the look of the movie costume. Again, I'd pick nits, but there simply aren't any!

Articulation - **1/2
Ah, here's where things start to fall apart, and not because of a lacking, but because of too much.

Above the waist, things're pretty much perfect. He's got a nicely expressive ball-jointed head, ball jointed shoulders, the nicely hidden bicep-twist which is de-rigueur these days. Then he has pin elbows, which are nice, but which make the bicep swivels redundant... okay, whatever. Then he has pin hands (with an alternate set you can swap out). The joints are all nice and tight but smooth.

He has an ab crunch, which works quite well to assist into a "heads up" flying position. And he has a swivel waist.

He has the weird swivel/hinge hip joint that are on all of the 6" DC Universe figures, which works well here really. They don't move forward or backwards quite enough, but they are completely acceptable. Then he has double-jointed knees, with clickys so they hold a pose... very nice! And there are hidden swivels at the boots, around the calf. Hot diggity... He's got all the articulation you could possibly want, and it's all beautifully integrated!

Except. They went overboard.

He's got thigh swivels. Not only are they redundant, but both of them gap horribly. And when you twist them, everything gets ugly.

And then the ankles. He's big and heavy, but they went for ankle articulation. Not only that, but the popular dual-plane ankle articulation we're seeing on a lot of the 6" figs these days, where it goes forward-and-backward, side-to-side.

Hoo boy.

Just let it be said, I've not been able to get mine to move. At all. However, he's also fallen forward more than once. He almost killed my cat.

Seriously, this is a place where we needed one-piece lower legs, from the knee down. A figure this heavy simply can't deal with ankle articulation. It's only just been perfected for the 6" figs, and you try to take it up to a figure this big and heavy? Honestly, it just doesn't work!

I really wish there was some way to get rid of these POA... it would push him a long way towards "perfect". But, as it is, they take down an otherwise excellent figure into "adequate".

Accessories - **
He has his two flat "flying" hands, which swap out easily enough. I prefer him with the fists. Honestly, I'd have preferred a set of "neutral" hands to the flat ones. 

Outfit - ****
His cape is fabric, beautifully tailored and glued in place. The outside is more of an almost velvet texture with a matte finish, the inside is a silky, shiny fabric. There may be some small imperfection in how mine is placed, but that's a given on a mass produced figure like this. Again, it mimics the look of the cape in the movie beautifully. No wire, so it hangs naturally, which may bother some when he's in flying poses. Myself, it's how all my figures have always been, so I think it's cool.

Fun Factor - ***
There's something very satisfyingly "toy-like" about this guy. He's so big I feel like my six-year-old self holding my first G.I. Joe, except that it's Superman! And he really dominates the room... when I can get him to stand up, that is!

Value - ***
I picked him up on Amazon for $80 w/ free shipping. That seemed to be the best price, perhaps a bit below retail. Given that we can pay upwards of $12 for a 3 3/4" figure these days, I'd have to say this is what a non-mass-market figure will go for. But, at this price, I won't be getting every one of NECA's future releases.

Overall - **1/2
Honestly, I wanted to give him a better score. But those ugly, redundant thigh swivels, and ugly, non functional ankles bring him down a bunch. If there were some easy way to undo those joints I'd like him a lot better. As it is, they're "workarounds" that just continue to annoy me. I'm hoping that future releases will come closer to the "sweet spot" that will make these irresistable. But right now, I can resist.

Score Recap:
Packaging - **
Weight - ****
Sculpting - ****
Paint - ****
Fabric/outfit - ****
Articulation - **1/2
Accessories - **
Fun Factor - ***
Value - ***
Overall - ** 1/2

Where to Buy -
Amazon may be your best bet, or try some of the other online toy retailers. And there's always eBay. I don't think any of the "big box" stores will be getting him in; perhaps you can find him at a comics shop or specialty retailer. But I was extremely happy with Amazon... he was here in less than three days!

Who Am I -
Bob "Ministan" Snare here. A lifelong toy collector whose earliest memories are of getting a Batman 'Captain Action' and soon after, his first G.I. Joe. It's a toss up as to which figures were my faves as a kid; my 12" G.I. Joes or my 8" Mego superheroes! Reach me at rtred@cox.net.

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