Mezco One:12 Collective Popeye

I don't have too many Mezco figures, with the previous Space Ghost being my only one. But from what I see from other collectors, they continue to put out great figures in this 1/12th scale. When they announced their Popeye figure, it was another case of 80s cartoon nostalgia for me. I used to watch the Popeye cartoon reruns in the 80s along with the other classic 80s shows on weekend mornings and after school! I had to have it, and Mezco did not disappoint!

Click through below to check out my full review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. Hope you can click that like button, and subscribe to the channel to stay tuned for more upcoming reviews! :)

I love the simple yet classy style of packaging from Mezco. Everything is collector-friendly, and houses the great accessories nicely. The set comes decently decked out, and the overall quality is excellent.

I love the white bag with just the right amout of weathering. It fits the other accessories nicely, and I just put a bit of rolled up tissue inside to pad it out. The separate outer jacket is pretty nice too, with velcro up the front and around the wrists to help in getting it on the figure. It is a pretty tight fit though, so I didn't even bother. I do prefer him without it, so for my display that was fine.

The options for different head gear are nice, with a traditional captain's cap, sailor's cap, and a black beanie. They fit nice and snug on the head, with the captain's cap using a magnet so that you can place it at different angles on his head securely.

The range of hands is also great, with options to hold the various accessories and make gestures. The paint app on the hands is pretty good, and matches that of the exposed arms and head sculpts. The swap out head sculpts aren't too dramatically different, with one having more of an opening in the mouth. I prefer that one with the pipe inserted.

I love that they give plenty of spare pipes, with three having the smoke coming out. They fit in the tiny hole of the head sculpt well enough, but just be careful inserting them and moving the figure around.

The spinach cans are also great, and it's awesome that the crushed can fits perfectly in one of the sculpted hands. The telescope and compass are nicely sculpted and painted. The telescope does retract and extend, and the compass can open and close, which are nice little touches on such small accessories.

The figure itself is very nicely done. The arms do not have a double jointed elbow which hinders articulation a bit, but all other details and articulation are good. The costume is fantastic, with nice denim-look pants. The shirt is also nice, but be careful of loose strands that might get caught in the elbows as you bend them.  There are stick on buttons on the pants and shirt, but they feel fairly well stuck and did not tend to fall off when I touched them.

The total package is just a fantastic homage to Popeye. Perhaps the only nitpick I can point out is that the colour of the wrist joints stand out a bit from the nice paint application of the hands and forearms. But with a bit of creative posing, then can be hidden well enough. Overall posed on display, he's a great release by Mezco, and to me solidifies why they are so well regarded in this scale!

Collection Update - August 2017

It's been a while since I did a collection update video on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. I figured I'd do a run down on the things I've received so far this year across all the stuff I collect. So this covers things from 1/6th scale, Transformers Masterpiece, smaller action figures, and statues!

Hope you can check it out at the link below :)

Sideshow Collectibles C-3PO 1/6th scale figure

Well in mid-January 2016 the Sideshow Threepio was finally released to complement their previous R2-D2 figure. I was looking forward to getting the figure since I really did want a weathered version to go with his droid friend.

But as you'll see in the video review below, I had a few issues with some paint defects that ultimately meant I got a refund from Sideshow since they wouldn't send me a replacement.

Main issues on mine were the paint marks/scratches that were not the intentional weathering effects, and also the left arm that was stuck at the joints. There were many other reports in the forums and groups regarding broken pistons.

Hopefully one day I can get this at a sale price, but for now, my Tamashii Nations version will do the job nicely :)

Some pics of the figure below. Overall it looks pretty good, especially next to Artoo. But build quality issues are what ruined it for me. I ended up having to destroy the figure and get a full refund from Sideshow.

Overall in terms of build quality, the Bandai Tamashii Nations Threepio still beats the Sideshow by a wide margin. If only Bandai actually produced the diecast Artoo that they teased along with their Threepio!

Worst defect, that annoyed the crap out of me because of how prominent it looked on display, was this weird paint scratch on his chest. At first I thought it was some weird residue, but it couldnt be rubbed off.

Paint scratches on the hip that affected the gold paint.

Not sure what the hell that weird protrusion is on the back of his head.

I hate it when I see fingerprints in paint applications on figures, especially at this high price point! Sideshow's QC and factory production process should be better than this.

In the end, a bit of a disappointment for me, especially after such a long wait. But I'll check out the sales towards the end of the year and see if I can get it at a discount cheap price.