He finally arrived! Specifically, my Popeye One:12 Collective figure, from Mezco Toyz. Well, he arrived a couple of weeks ago. Things have been a tad hectic, so I'm just now getting to my review. But here it is!
I grew up watching various Popeye cartoons, mostly the toons from King Features Syndicate (I still remember that opening with the Pegasus). And then there was the great live action movie in the 80s, starring the late, great Robin Williams and Shelly Duvall. Because of all this, I have a soft spot for Popeye. So, when Mezco announced earlier this year that they were putting out a One:12 figure, I jumped on that pre-order right away. I did cancel my initial pre-order and re-ordered through a Black Friday sale for about $20 less. Thank you to Toy Bomb for that deal! And then I waited...
What can I say, except that this figure is amazing! Easily figure of the year contender, in my opinion. As usual, the Mezco One:12 packaging is spot on, with the classic cartoon Popeye on the front and the content display on the back. Good ole Popeye comes with numerous accessories for endless posing possibilities. 2 portraits, 3 hats, 3 pairs of hands (and an extra pointing right hand), 6 pipes (3 with smoke, 3 without), 2 cans of spinach (1 crushed, 1 not), a compass, a spyglass, a duffel bag, a pea-coat, and display base and stand. This is definitely a "bang for your buck" figure.
Now, Mezco went with a realistic look to this figure, but it is unmistakably Popeye. The squinty face, the extra large forearms (with anchor tattoos!), and his corncob pipe. They went with the darker color scheme, with the navy and red shirt, from the various looks Popeye has had through the years. And the detail put into the body is amazing! The torso is incredibly sculpted and his fingernails are even dirty! After seeing some preliminary reviews, I removed the shirt on my figure to see the detail. He even has a compass tattoo between his shoulders! But, the shirt was a pain to remove. You have to remove the forearms and head, then slowly and carefully work the shirt off the body. And as much of a pain as it is to remove the shirt, it's an even bigger pain to replace it. It's a shame that Mezco put so much detail into his body and then made it so difficult to remove the shirt to admire it. But I understand that a Velcro seam, or similar material, may have upset the aesthetic of the figure. And that's probably my only con to this figure.
But where a seam on the shirt would've been out of place on his shirt, it works just fine on his pea-coat. It is a little work to get the sleeves over the forearms, but nowhere near as bad as trying to remove/replace his shirt. Paired with his shoreman's cap and duffel bag filled with the excess accessories, he's a pretty good looking sailor out for shore leave.
To sum things up, I love this figure! Mezco did a magnificent job with their production of Popeye, and I applaud them for it! And shortly after I received him, they announced a Mezco Exclusive of Popeye in all white, with a spinach can tin collector's packaging.
I took a little longer to get this to than I wanted, but here it is. I have lots more planned that I hope to get out in the next few weeks, if not sooner. My first Sixth Scale purchase, a Mezco One:12 Iron Man review, my Spooktacular win, and a year end Top 5 (maybe 10) favorites list. Not necessarily in that order. I also plan on doing a little shout out to my favorite small biz dealers.
Until next time, you'll find me in the toy aisle.