Action Figure Mezco One:12 Collective - (1:12 scale) DC Comics Figures
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dukefett
Super Freak
In no way shape, or form are SH Figuarts desined for kids. Are kids even DBZ fans? All the fans I know are 30+. You may personally prefer clothed figures at 1/12 scale but as much as I do like some Mezco, there's plenty of terrific and better figures out there that are all molded plastic.
The clothed figure looks better than a exposed joints all plastic action figure. Only people who value articulation over looks say the all plastic action figure looks better.
Otomofan
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Clothed figures will forever look like little dolls in ill-fitting, under-detailed, oversized outfits. Mezco and 3A and some other companies gave it a try and for the most part it just doesn't work.
People who prefer sculpted and accurate details on their figures say that plastic action figures look better.
People who prefer sculpted and accurate details on their figures say that plastic action figures look better.
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3A was stylized so it worked for them. Mezco look awkward for the most part as you say. Those Palm Empire samurai and knights look very good, I think, but all the armour no doubt helps; I think I?ve seen some 6 inch tactical military stuff that also looks good.
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Again. If you are mostly interested playing with the figures you will pretend exposed joints look better but thats impossible. Anyway if you feel that way you should be in the exposed joints action figure thread instead.
I have my cyclops and tactical suit batman figures out now and they don't look ill fitting. Some do but there are plenty of examples that do not. Some dolly players value playing with the figures over everything and will attack figures with soft goods because it will limit their playing. They will complely ignore all the ugly exposed joints on a action figure and pretend those look good
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I don't remember Cyclops but I do remember Tactical Batman looking quite good. Even so, many of them do look awkward and I think it's a combination of tailoring, fabric choices and the bodies Mezco designs, which often tend towards oddly stocky.
Don't know about 'plenty' but there are probably a few. I mentioned the Palm Empire line and similar -- fabric can be done effectively in this scale depending on the costume and the company.
They're two different classes of product, each driven by a separate design ethos and drawing on different origins.
The pre-cursors to Hot Toys would have been Mego and vintage GI Joe dolls; S.H. Figuarts and MAFEX have their origins in old Kenner and Hasbro toys. Both share common ancestry if you go back far enough.
fett is right, padawam. The Dragon Ball Figuarts are aimed at collectors/adults. They're priced that way (the average new figure is now $50+ unless it's a Goku body re-use). I'm part of some Facebook groups and there are some high school collectors, but the majority of the fans are 20+. Dragon Ball Stars is aimed for the younger audience.
I think the main issue with doing cloth for the small scale figures is that it will never look "right" unless there is money invested into it. It is cheaper and more economical for them to mass produce plastic than it is to add cloth. Most cloth (with the exception of slim outfits) used on figures tends to look bulky and baggy on smaller figures...you see it on some of the Mezco ONE:12 figures. It just never "sits right"...even Hot Toys can't always get it right.
Goku has a baggy outfit, so you might have to incorporate some wires to get it to sit right on him. Also the material used, will it be able to drape? Would it be cheap and semi-stiff? What about the dyes used? Would they stain the plastic figure (like Hot Toys?)? Lots of variables to think about and I think for the scale that Figuarts is working with, what they're doing is fine.
Now if Bandai wants to try fabric at a LARGER scale like the ImaginationWorks line...then I'd welcome seeing what they can do.
I could have sworn you hated softgoods. Only on 3.75'' Star Wars figures?
I don't Iike it on 3.75 but the Kylo Ren looks decent.
amos brearly
Super Freak
I'm liking the deeper dive. No movie tie in or other perceived cash grab. Nice work, I will be down for sure. The JSA are made for the Mezco soft goods treatment.
Whoa who would've thought
I really liked Dr. Fate in the JLA series, excited for it.
Captain Clown
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I wish Mezco would stop photoshopping the heck out of their promo pics.
Has anyone here bought any bootleg Mezco figures before? I just ordered a bootleg Cavill Superman with the intent on using the suit for a custom Snyder cut black suit Superman, and I'm wondering what the suit is like. Is it decent enough quality? Are they able to be removed?
Has anyone here bought any bootleg Mezco figures before? I just ordered a bootleg Cavill Superman with the intent on using the suit for a custom Snyder cut black suit Superman, and I'm wondering what the suit is like. Is it decent enough quality? Are they able to be removed?
dukefett
Super Freak
Pretty much all of them you'll have to cut stitches to remove it.
The price itself doesn't totally determine if it's aimed at kids or adults. See the Toy Story Signature figures? I know kids who have those and they were pricy figures.
The market has evolved a lot.
I don't recall figures that were Hot Toys expensive back in the 90's. I'm really talking about figures, not statues. But the market clearly wasn't what it is now.
Oh wait, I recall figures that weren't cheap compared to most: Knights of the Zodiac. I'm not talking about the Myth Cloth but the vintage ones. They had armor pieces that you had to clip on the figure, I got my first one when I was 5 years old.
DBZ is still very popular with kids. It's still extremely popular all around.
The DBZ figuarts are the figures I wanted as a kid in the early 90's (we got the anime way earlier than the US over here). Back in the 90's, we had garbage figures, even I knew it as a kid. I bought the very first DBZ Figuarts of the line back in... was it 2010? 2009? 2011? I'm not sure. I eventually sold them as it wasn't on par with my standards, even back then, but I told myself "if I had those as a kid, it would have been perfection". I eventually came back in the line because they improved the quality and because they're making most characters of the DBZ/DBS universe. I eventually sold everything two months ago.
I'm not saying they are bad looking figures, they are really the best DBZ articulated figures on the market as of now. But it's not up to my standards, definitely. If I had a kid, I would definitely buy him some of those figuarts if he loved the show though.
There's a difference between "figures I wanted as a kid" and "figures I want now".
The Super Shredder by NECA, for instance, is the kind of figure I wanted as a kid. It would have been a dream figure if I got it right after seeing Turtles II in the theater. I wouldn't have seen the flaws (I did see the flaws on the original Super Shredder figure we got back then though). I was a Turtles nut in the early 90's, as much as a DBZ fan, if not more. As of now, I'm not going to buy it though. I can't stand the visible articulations but most of all, the choice of paint on the body. It's terrible. That said, I can definitely understand why people love this figure and want to buy it, it resonates with the kid inside them.
I just have high standards now. I really see some of those figures as art, not just toys that you can play with (I don't play with my figures, I just find the perfect pose for me and let them be).
I'll say this again, but the very first Mezco One:12, the Dark Knight Returns, is art. To me anyway. In this scale, it's mindblowing, and there is no competition. They did a fantastic job with this figure. That latest Batman they released (Supreme Knight) looks like a toy, when TDKR Batman looked like a piece of art you'd see in a museum.
But of course I get your point about plastic being cheaper and easier to do than finding the right clothes, make them fall properly on the body & such.
I agree there's generally a problem with clothes on figures, especially on the 1/12 scale. Though I'll say that whenever the clothes are too baggy on a 1/6 figure, you have the option to buy a phicen body, and sometimes it can work wonders.
They have to work hard to adapt the clothes properly, which is what they did on TDKR. The clothes weren't baggy on that figure, they fit perfectly, it was extremely tight, and the sewing job was perfection (the only real drawback was the apparent stitch line on the back of the figure, but it has its charm).
5 years later, they have completely shifted from the original direction, and we're seeing a lot of baggy clothes on the One:12 collection, much more plastic & vinyl (the so-called "Mez Flair" I hate with a passion). And also visible articulation on some figures, like modern Cable. I saw it in person in a store (the same store when I saw TDKR years ago, at the same spot) along with the latest Mezco, and I couldn't help but think they've cheapened the collection terribly. The figures look more like cheap toys you could find for $25 than anything else.
Add that to the pick of characters + their vision of the characters. It's not exciting for me. I really hate the direction they've taken.
When I look at all the current & upcoming releases, there isn't a single one I'm excited with.
-Mr Freeze: no thanks, I don't relate with this design, what tf is this? Why not offering us the Animated Series one? Or the Batman Beyond version (best Mr Freeze version/design ever, to me). Or even Arkham City version? Hell I'd even accept a Schwarzenegger Batman & Robin version. It's a pass.
-Two Face: looks alright but again, I don't relate with this version. Give me TDKR Two Face. It's a pass.
-Thanos: I can see what they're doing with this one, but the clothes and choice of material absolutely don't work. Weird proportions, just looks too weird. It's a weird mix of classic & modern (especially with the choice of material). It's a pass.
-Keaton Batman: a figure I had anticipated from the start of the line (they teased him yeaaaars ago), it should have been the holy grail, and it just doesn't live up to the hype, the body suit looks terrible, and the face isn't good enough (for now, who knows is the final product will be better or worse). Also I've grown out of this design with time, and I still own the Hot Toys, so why bother? It's a pass.
-Reeve Superman: again, a figure I wanted years ago, that one does look very good actually. But was it Tony Mei who made one years ago and which looked better than this Mezco? And, like Keaton Batman, I've grown out of it. Shame because it does look good (unlike the Keaton one) and it's certainly a figure I would have bought instantly 3 years ago.
-Wonder Woman: give me a Lynda Carter version with proper clothes. All of the Mezco Wonder Woman look like cheap toys, there's just not enough real cloth, and the female body they use are terrible. It's a pass.
-Harley Quinn: it does look like the Animated Series version, but not close enough. Also the body is terrible, and the headsculpts don't cut it. It's a pass.
I could go on & on. I don't want to even start ranting about the Gomez figures (which do have some nices accessories & outfits, but I don't give a single F about Gomez). They are making way too many figures (along with variants) and the quality has dropped immensely. I just remembered about a figure I had anticipated for a long time: Symbiote Spider-Man. This is one of the figures that gave me the warning with Mezco. Remember the promo pictures of Symbiote Spidey? The material was supposed to be classic clothes, and the final product was rubber. It looked like a cheap medicom doll when it should have been a really classy & timeless figure. I passed on it. And the Red Son Superman fiasco with that terrible sticker, I still haven't accepted it years after.
I demand a complete reboot of the One:12 line. Stop it now, start again with TDKR and stay classic. I know it won't happen sadly.
As for DBZ, I could totally see a line of figures with real clothes, and with 1/12 phicen bodies. It would be more expensive and you wouldn't get 10 figures per year if it's done properly, but I could see it happening someday, if the public evolves globally.
I don't want to sound mean, but it will sound mean no matter how I phrase it: I think the main problem as of now, is that a lot of collectors are adults who still have their children eyes & heart, which is moving really. But they buy anything, without real taste, whatever the quality. They just like the characters and wanted those figures as a kid. I get it. That's why Marvel Legends & Neca still sell so much.
But once they move on from kindergarten to Art appreciation, it could be the start of much higher quality figures.
We would also need more companies who stop milking it once they notice they make so much money. We need companies with ethics and who want to make real art, not just objects of consumption for the masses.
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