Batman, Robin, the Joker, the Riddler and Superman are a triumph way beyond any expections.
—
Like the Colossus of Rhodes — they stand tall over my collection.
Like the Titan of Braavos — they proclaim the strength and power of the city-state of Megodom.
Figures Toy Company‘s 18-inch figures are here: All five of them and they are a dazzling sight to behold.
All pix by Sam Greenfield
I wrote recently how ambivalent I was about these figures. For me, 8-inch figures were long the standard and 18-inch Megos just seemed too … much. But these kept calling my name.
Now, seeing them up close — especially all together — is breathtaking to a guy weaned on the World’s Greatest Super-Heroes. These aren’t action figures — they’re monuments.
Unlike virtually every other action figure I own, I don’t plan on removing these from their boxes — because the almost two-foot-tall containers are pieces of art in and of themselves: Blister packaging never moved me quite like the Mego window box. Even as a kid, I remember seeing the carded figures and being vaguely disappointed. Why? No idea. The heart wants what the heart wants.
And my heart wanted these. Once they got here, it was like a birthday only I felt 40 years younger. Each came wrapped in tissue paper, so it was even like opening a gift. I actually gasped when I saw Robin and Riddler up close, such is the fealty to the originals. Batman, Joker and Superman are superb too, but those first two are startling.
Seeing these figures at this scale is overwhelming and exciting. I’m not overstating it.
And placing all five in a row over a set of shelves, fronted by their 8-inch brethren — and fronted still again by the even-smaller Mattel Batman ’66 figures — is practically intoxicating to a fan like me.
As I implied earlier, if you’re looking for a review that looks at articulation, look elsewhere. These items, in my mind, are meant to be looked at as they were shipped.
The boxes themselves are fine — if gigantic — reproductions of the originals, taking into account the changes in company trade dress and so forth.
The color schemes are spot on, though Robin‘s blue is a little darker than the original. And Batman‘s logo is one of the standard comics logos of the time, as opposed to Mego‘s slightly altered version. So what, though. Seriously — so what.
Like most of Figures Toys‘ output, the stock art is not the same as the originals — except Batman is pretty damn close, using one of Carmine Infantino‘s classic poses, as opposed to the Megoized version. Superman appears to be either a Vince Colletta image or maybe Colletta over Curt Swan, or maybe it’s George Tuska. The rest typically feature the usual, standard DC/WB-approved retro-style art.
Other characters — including a non-original like Bizarro — make cameos on the sides of the boxes. That of course, begs the question of — as a lot of people have been wondering online — what will come next, if anything.
As anything in life, if people buy (these retail for $100 each), the company will keep making. Basic law of economics. If all goes well, the next two likely additions to the line would be Aquaman and Shazam!
And if all goes well, I will be making room for more plastic titans on my shelves.
Brilliant.
So enjoy more pix:
June 14, 2015
Very cool, sir.
By the way, that Superman shot is Swan/Colletta–it was done for the cover of Parade Magazine in 1977:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1977-PARADE-magazine-I-Flew-With-Superman-by-Mort-Weisinger-/371180423814
November 4, 2015
I remember that! Still have my original from childhood, but it’s taken as much of a beating as I have. 🙂