Popeye and Bluto

Popeye and Bluto

Stormy Seas Ahead : Deluxe Box Set

Mezco ONE:12 Collective

Welcome back, Popeye!  It’s been a while since Mezco’s last offering took “toy of the year” right before the stroke of midnight New Year’s Eve, and this set looks to take the competition by storm all the same.  The Popeye figure might look familiar, but he’ll need the change of duds after going toe to toe against his arch-nemesis, Bluto!

Since this is a re-deco, let’s talk Sailor Man first.  Here, Popeye gets a rerelease in more Navy/nautical colors.  He comes with the same accessories as the last (pipes, hats, alt heads, hands, spyglass, compass, peacoat, duffle bag (though in new colors), and of course, spinach cans.  You get the same stand and “flight” rod system (now white instead of navy blue...one for Bluto, too). Nothing has changed as far as sculpt or articulation...you can’t improve on perfection.  Other than the new togs, there are a few new accessories that will make this double dip all worthwhile.  More on that after a look at Bluto.

He’s large. (Laaaaaarge!)  He’s mean. (Do you know what I mean?)  He’s everything you could want out of an exaggerated, yet realistic take on these characters.  The grimace captures the big palooka picture perfect.  Just look at the weathering on those shoes and pants!  He has a fair amount of articulation in the head, arms, and legs...the most important to posing being the wrists for interchangeable hands and accessories.  He has some motion in his waist, but nothing for the chest.  This is not disappointing, as it’s true to the barrel-chested nature of the beast.

Accessory-wise, he comes with a removable hat (magnetic), three sets of hands, a boat hook, a giant wrench, and a 300 lbs weight.  I had no idea that the wrench and weight would be die-cast metal until I took them out of the package.  Not a necessary detail in the least, but very cool.  Really let’s your Bluto figure show off his heft, balance, and strength.

Now, the bonus.  Both Popeye and Bluto come with alternate, battle-damaged heads!  There are some really neat bumps (Boff!), bruises, (Wham!) and even a little bit of blood.(Un’erstan’?)  So, down some spinach for some knock-down, drag-out, Fleischer-esque fisticuffs!

Bonus bonus!  Which I guess adds to the “Stormy Seas” theme...both characters have some extra sea-weathering gear!  Popeye gets a rain slicker and matching hat, and Bluto gets a big leather peacoat.  While I usually get a Bluto-sized grimace when it comes to the struggle of changing out soft goods outfits on action figures, these weren’t so bad.  They don’t look too bad for soft goods either.  Popeye’s rain hat may have been better as a sculpted item, but it’s by no means terrible.

I jumped on the preordered for this set maybe a year ago?  If you didn’t do the same, you may have missed the boat:  sold out in most online retailers.  I’m happy that there are enough fans out there to want figures like these. I imagine more variants will be on the way...heck, Popeye has always been a new head away from his Poopdeck Pappy.  Not sure if they will do an Olive Oyl...not sure if I would want one, thinking about how freakish she could look in a realistic take.  Eh, I’d still buy it.

Take a look back at the previous adventures of Popeye:

https://terribletoyman.blogspot.com/2019/01/mezco-one12-popeye.html

https://terribletoyman.blogspot.com/2018/07/popeye-and-pirate-ship.html

Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad

Mezco

While the uber-dorks fight about the end of Game of Thrones, I'm over here revisiting Breaking Bad.  Sorry tits-and-dragons fans, BB is still a better show in many, many aspects.  However, I'm sure GoT fans have better "action" figures.

Mezco produced a small line of 6-inch figures that caused quite a stir between uptight moms and Toys R' Us.  Stick to the Playmobil and baby section, ladies, or get with the 21st century and keep your ungrateful little yuppie larvae out of the "adult collector" section.  Who's gonna tell them that blue sticker on the tiny plastic tray is supposed to be meth anyway?

Anyway...these are plastic statues that can barely hold their accessories.  Nothing to get worked up about here, unless you paid full price for these.  I got Walt and Jesse for about $4 each from Big Bad Toy Store recently, which is totally worth it if you are a fan of the show.  The sculpts are a bit exaggerated and cartoony, like some of Mezco's early lines (Goonies, Blues Brothers, Warriors).  GASP!  Maybe they were intentionally made cartoony to appeal to young children and turn them on to the world of drugs, guns, and crime?!

Mezco One:12 Popeye

Popeye

Mezco One:12

Happy 90th Birthday to the man with the spinach can!  To celebrate, let's take a look at the definite figure of the year for 2018: Mezco's One:12 ultra-realistic Popeye!

Like Scrooge McDuck, Popeye is an old favorite of mine.  I couldn't resist this figure.  Having done a Popeye line in 2001 (see my retro review here), someone at Mezco must really love this guy to take a chance on a single, high-dollar figure.  So far, it sounds like the action figure community as a whole is eating him up.  And everyone should, especially comic book fans.  Popeye is the prototype superpowered superhero.  I needed this figure standing side by side with the Man of Steel and sitting next to Luke Skywalker on the Council of Nine.  He's epic and deserves an epic figure.

Let's get the griping out of the way first.  One:12 is a pretentious way of saying "it fits with the standard 6-inch figures."  Want some more pretension?  How about going all Mego with cloth clothing...seriously?  Who prefers cloth clothing on scales below 12 inches?  I really hope that's not the detailing that pushed these figures up to the $80 mark (wait for it.)  That's right...$80 for a 6-inch figure.  I will not be making a habit of this.  Well, unless they bring out more strange properties that you don't see everyday...like Popeye!

The cost aside, he delivers.  Over 28 points of articulation, an interchangeable outfit, and a fair amount of accessories along with a unique sculpt that is either something of dreams or nightmares.  The ultra-realistic take with cartoony proportions is both strange and beautiful.  All the lines in the forearms and face and...ew...cloth clothing means you can look at Popeye's defined abs!

Accessory-wise, you get a couple of hats (captain's hat, sailor cap, stocking cap), 2 cans of spinach (one closed, one crushed open), an opening compass, a telescoping spyglass, a duffle bag, and a peacoat.  There is also a large, round base with interchangeable foot peg or flight stand.  I guess the flight stand is for those big uppercuts.  You also get a plain pipe and one with a little, pissed off smoke cloud coming out of it (plus several extras of each, because they are so small and easy to lose.)  There is a second head for the figure, but it only has a slight variance in some gritted teeth.  I would have preferred a battle-damaged look with some scuffing, blood, and a black eye like Bluto really let him have it before it was time to break out the spinach.

  

This figure was announced some time ago and has been at the top of my "must haves" for some time.  I am glad to have him and he is a great figure, but I do have to end this on a sour note.  Out of the package, I noticed some popped or missing stitching on one of the inside pantlegs.  I contacted Mezco customer service to ask about replacement parts (which they do have as an inquiry selection on their contact page.)  I bought this figure from Big Bad Toy Store, so they said it was their policy to have me return it there for a full replacement.  Really?  You don't have a tiny pair of replacement pants handy?  Instead of dealing with the return hassle and wait to get a completely new figure, I'm living with the defect.  I find that hard to swallow on a big-ticket item.  It should be perfect, and good customer service should make it right with as little stress to the consumer as possible.  Despite where I bought them, I have had excellent, direct replacement service with figure defects from Diamond Select Toys and DC Collectibles.  For shame, Mezco.  As I told their "customer service" rep, Popeye would be disgusted.  Pissed off, in fact.  He would probably give you one chance to make it right before he popped you in the mouth and your pants comically exploded into hundreds of tiny replacement pants.

The Fantastic Feats of Captain Strong!

Austin Powers - Space Base Playset

Austin Powers

McFarlane Toys - Mezco

also featuring the 

Space Base Playset

ReadySetz

Yeah baby!  Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery is back in full force on my toy shelf!  I had the key players (Austin and Dr. Evil) from McFarlane Toys when they came out close to twenty years ago, but a lull in current toy releases, revisiting the movies, and a trip to Ebay helped me get my mojo back. Short of a couple of Mezco variants (Sumo Fat Bastard Man and Prison Dr. Evil with Mini-Me), I picked up a well-rounded line-up for next to nothing.

The McFarlane figures that came out with "The Spy Who Shagged Me" were par for the company at the time:  little more than statues with a fair amount of accessories that they may or may not be able to hold.  They did produce some of the most realistic sculpts (again, at the time), but they were pretty fragile figures (Vanessa's hand decided it was time to snap off just for this photo shoot) and don't hold up to today's standards.  They each came with a rather large sound feature stand that took three little batteries just to say one quote.  Some of the "mint on card" pick-ups I got lacked the sound feature, but came with some corroded batteries!  Yay!  Let that be a lesson to you: they are TOYS.  Take the TOYS out of the box and play and display!

Mezco produced a wave for "Goldmember."  These are a little bit cartoony or exaggerated in the sculpts (like my Goonies figures), but have far more articulation than the McFarlane figures.  I saw somewhere that they had a Foxxy Cleopatra prototype that didn't make it to production, which is a shame.  Especially since someone wasted plastic on Heather Graham, who I am convinced is only a good actress at playing parts where she is supposed to be a bad actress (See "Bowfinger").

As a fan of these movies, (and the 007 franchise they spoof lovingly) I wish there were more bad guys in the line-up:  Frau Farbissna, Number Two, Mustafa, Random Task, Paddy O'Brien, etc.  And could Michael Caine really want that much money for his likeness, or did they not think anyone would want a Nigel Powers figure?  Has there ever been a Michael Caine figure in any toy line?  Hmmm...something to look into.

Complete or not, I had a great time displaying these figures on the new Space Base playset from ReadySetz.  As you may have seen in previous reviews, I also have their Urban Playset.  These are huge, fun, foldable playsets that are great for toy displays/photography and, of course, play.  Highly recommended for both collectors and kids!  Austin Powers won the toss for first use, which was a hard call for a lot of other lines I collect.  Doctor Who, Alien, cosmic-themed Marvel Legends (Fantastic Four, Guardians of the Galaxy, etc), and the X-Men (cosmic adventures in the Claremont era, Asteroid M) are all in line to get some time in on this baby.

My mini-Austin Powers shopping spree didn't end with the figures.  I picked up a "Big Boy" bank, a guide to all the movies, a Johnny Lightning Shaguar die-cast car, and this odd Upper Deck costume piece card, which claims to have a tiny piece of Austin's blue, crushed velvet pants from the first movie embedded in it.  Fab!