This years Summer Tentpole release from Warner Bros. is Zack Snyder's big budget reboot of the Superman franchise. Originally scheduled to be released in the overly subscribed release period of December 2012, the studio wisely decided to allow a 'make or break' movie for the entire DC Comics stable to breathe and to devote some serious marketing power to the worldwide release now scheduled for 14th June 2013.
With any good superhero movie you need to not only satisfy the needs of the audience in the theatre but also the needs of the playground and the increasingly larger adult collector market for toys and action figures. The studiod turned to longterm master licensee partner Mattel to accomplish the mass market releases for action figures.
Mattel, following on from the very disappointing show for the Dark Knight Rises line went back to the drawing board for this one and covered the three main areas that make up any toy geeks collection. 3.75 inches, 6 inches and the more cartoony stocky 2 inch figures.
BUT...the real question has to be does the line fare any better than the ill-fated Dark Knight Rises?
I'm pleased to say that the answer to this is a resounding YES but by just how much. Let's look...
This review will focus on, what for me, is my own personal favourite scale, the 6 inch scale. The 'Movie Masters' series.
For the uninitiated, the Movie Masters series are meant to be more 'realistic' sculpts with a touch more articulation than 'Kids' toys. The series began with the rather lukewarm 'Superman Returns' but really hit it's stride with the phenomenally successful 'The Dark Knight'.
So enough of the waffle, let's get down to it.
The series, features, as can be seen above, the titular Man of Steel, Superman himself, Jor-El and General Zod.
Let's look at those individually.
First up, as it should be, is Superman himself.
All three of the characters come packed in a blister card with a brief synopsis of the character and their role in the movie on the back.
Each character in this wave also comes with their family's own sigil that they wear upon their chests...and you thought it was just a convenient 'S' for Superman...
I was, it has to be said extremely disappointed when I unpacked this figure. I just couldn't see Henry Cavill in the sculpt. Henry Cavill is a ridiculously attractive fellow with definite chiseled features and on first impression the jaw line was far too wide.
As an action figure of Superman though everything was there, multiple points of articulation (I counted 22 points but I could be mistaken). The real problem with this figure is that the cape is simply too thick and certainly hinders any dynamic posing and also prvents any real decent look at what is no doubt top quality scuplting on the rear of the figure because that it where this figure excels, the sculpting.
The costume in the movie is highly textured (a source of some costernation of fans) and I'm glad to report that this has been translated very nicely onto the figure itself an area that could easily have been foregone as a cost saving measure has, instead, been faithfully rendered.
As has the other decorative features of the new Supersuit. Again, what would normally have been done with a paint job has been sculpted onto the figure.
Even the boots have the texturing followed through. a very impressive feat (or feet even...)
But as I said above, I was having real difficulty seeing Henry in the figure when it was in flat light. That is until I hit it with other lighting which altered the scenario substantially. a light in right place brought the sculpt to life in a huge way.
It ain't perfect by any chalk but it's definitely Superman as we'll see him in the movie.
Certainly, it's markedly better than the effort to capure Brandon Routh back in 2006. Here's a side by side shot.
So, some really good plus points and to be honest, every fan of Superman SHOULD have this figure in their collection because it's the best 6 inch scale representation of Superman from the movie that you're going to get and it is really is a decent figure.
Then again, that's maybe the problem. It's just a decent figure. Nothing more. There's certainly an argument that this is the figure that should blow you away. It doesn't. But it is a good figure.
There are however the drawbacks that I've mentioned above. The sculpting only really comes alive when it's lit, the hands ar sculpted closed and that bloody cape hampers any decent poses.
The stand that comes with the figure is a nicely opaque representation of the 'S' that we know and love with a single peg that slots into the left foot to allow the figure to be displayed on the stand.
At the end of the day, if you own any of the other Movie Masters figures of the the characters from any of the other DC movies you really need to get this figure if only to be able to take this photo and get excited at the possibilities...
moving now onto what was, hands down the most impressive of this trio of releases in wave one, the daddy himself, Jor-El...
As you can see from the above photo, the sculptors at mattel have been working overtime on this one and it really, really shows.
An incredibly detailed figure, from the textured bodysuit to the subtle striations on the armour.
Certainly with this figure it's initially better to let the pictures do the talking...
Unfortunately, with all of the time taken over the body Mattel really let themselves down by not sculpting the beard onto the facial sculpt relying solely on paint to accomplish the look. This renders the figure as looking less like Russell Crowe than it would have done if the beard had been sculpted and again, until you hit it with some decent light whilst the man who is Javert is there it's a case of 'B+ could do better...'.
But when you do hit it...blimey!
There, you have Russell Crowe as Jor-El.
Really, a very cool figure and like Pokemon, you gotta catch 'em all so this is certainly one to pick up if you see him on your toy shelves.
Jor-El, like Superman, comes with a stand featuring the 'El' family crest.
Again the figure has the same 22 POA as the Superman figure but the armour may well restrict some upper arm movement.
A nice Father and Son shot
Definitely two very nice figures and for the $15 pricepoint certainly favourably comparable with everything else on the market at that price.
I just wish the same could be said of General Zod...
Michael Shannon has the 'benefit' of being a man with very *ahem* striking features. Imagine therefore my puzzlement when I unpacked Zod.
Frankly, the figure looked nothing like him.
Even worse, in every single shot we've seen of Zod he has a beard. Missing. Not even painted on.
NB. - Update. It's been pointed out to me that this is in fact the Zod when he's being sentenced on Krypton and that he doesn't have a beard in this scene.
Sure, the texturing of the costume is as nice as the other two figures, same POA and same great sculpting on the other features of the suit.
Presumably, this is sort of what is hidden by the cape on the Superman figure.
A lesson learned however with the other two figures made me hit it with a different light thinking it would make a difference. Thankfully it did but not as drastic as the other two.
It certainly became more Shannon like but still missing Zod. Until I changed my angle of shooting.
There was Zod. A clean-shaven Zod to be sure but Zod to be sure.
Call me silly, but I don't think you should have to go to all the trouble of lighting and choosing which angle you look at your figures from to get a decent representation of characters. I use this as an example a lot but Designworks Windsor's work on the 5 inch Scale Doctor Who line was, to me, the benchmark of what should be acheived with a mass market figure line.
This has certainly affected my scoring of the line as a whole and I hope it's something that's taken into account on Wave Two of the line.
Zod again comes with his crest as a stand.
Which, again only in my opinion, looks a bit Soviet Russia 'Hammer and Sickle' - perhaps shades of the influence of Mark Millar's seminal 'Red Son' Graphic Novel.
Also, because I couldn't resist the temptation to do it I pulled out the other franchises villans for a quick photo...
On the whole therefore, Wave One is definitely worth picking up. As a die-hard Superman fan I absolutely had to have these figures which, unfortunately, due to the usual crazy marketing decisions taken by Mattel UK I have had to secure from the USA as they won't be stocked over here at any mainstream toy outlets and will only be available in small quantities at inflated prices from specialist stores.
A shout out then to my man, Brandon, for stepping into the breach and getting these babies in my hand for review before many US stores have them in stock for sale.
For all fans of the character I think you should pick these up as soon as you or indeed any US friend can pick them up. Certainly judging by the groundswell of support that I'm hearing for this film these will certainly be getting harder to find as the film is released.
So, from me a thumbs up but with my Superman Bias turned off I certainly think twice about getting the General Zod figure.
Separate scores :-
Superman - 7/10
Jor-El - 8.5/10
General Zod - 6/10
See you in the aisles...
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