Mezco One:12 Collective The Dark Knight Returns Batman (Mezco Direct Exclusive)

I wrote this review 1.5 years ago but since I'm on a Batman kick and I'm lazy, I'm republishing it here:

Greatest 6” Batman eveeeerrrr!

‘Game-changer’. That’s the term being tossed around when describing what is now considered in many circles to be the BEST Batman figure ever created in the 6” scale. It’s appropriate that this ‘game-changing’ figure is based on the ‘game-changing’ Batman storyline, ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ by Frank Miller. The book came at a time where comic books sales were in a slump and portrayals of Superheroes were seen as punch-lines or hokey (look at the Adam West ‘Batman’ TV series).

 

 It wasn’t until when ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ was released when people took notice that comics can be serious, artistic, and the writing can hang with the likes of Shakespeare and Hemmingway. It made Batman the dark, serious, and brooding hero that he is today at the same time that book made comics a serious and respected medium. It caused comic books and their characters to be embraced among pop culture, and not just a thing for ‘nerds’.  Just look at how comic books have influenced so many different genres and how popular comic book characters are in both TV and movies.

 So when toy company Mezco (producers of great horror figures and the even more fantastic ‘Hellboy’ comic and movie figure series) came up with the concept of ‘One: 12 Collective’ line, it lit a fire in the collector world. Combining a fully articulated figure with plastic and cloth outfits and a crazy amount of accessories, Mezco hit a homerun before the figures were officially released.

 In the book, Batman had various looks of his costume (light blue and grey, black and grey, navy blue and grey, etc) so Mezco came up with the idea to release the various colors in various ways. The black and grey being the mass produced version, the light blue and grey being a comic vendor exclusive, and the navy blue being Mezco’s own exclusive (which also comes with extra accessories beyond the other releases.

 I had to wait 5 months before I got this figure and it was worth the wait! The packaging is beautiful and comes protected in a white mailer box. The sleeve comes off and the main box has a flap door to display the window. The presentation is pure quality.

 The figure…is beyond words. The cloth costume was a concern for me initially but seeing it in hand, I can tell by the quality of the material and the way it’s stitched together, that time and care was put into it to make it as durable as possible. The cape is cloth too and it’s made from a really cool feeling material that’s light, yet durable and poses great. The belts, boots, gloves and head are all plastic but the different material works together wonderfully.

 This guy can hold a tremendous amount of poses. The breakdown on articulation is pretty intense.

 Mezco definitely wanted to make sure that this guy can move. I had a lot of fun putting him in various positions and figures with play value like this makes the investment that much sweeter.

 As far as accessories go, Batman is loaded. He comes with a leg belt, 3 extra set of hands (I love the batarang hands), a boot w/holster (exclusive to the Mezco set), alternate head, pistol (exclusive to the Mezco set), rifle, grappling hook, clear stand, cape stand (for cape posing as if wind was blowing it around), and figure base. Man, that’s a lot of goodies.

I cannot stop gushing about how amazing this figure is. The quality is top notch, the look and feel are aces, and the amount of fun this figure provides is endless. I’m throwing my vote in early as ‘Toy of the year’. There isn’t a question in my book. Best 6” Batman ever? It’s no contest in my book. With one figure in the bag, this line is already a huge hit with collectors. There are more characters coming from this line and more characters specifically from ‘The Dark Knight Returns’. I’m so stoked for what’s to come! Bring on Superman!