INTRODUCTION:
Popeye the Sailor is a cartoon fictional character created by Elzie Crisler Segar, and first first appeared in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on January 17, 1929.
Popeye will go on to later appear in theatrical and animated cartoons.
In 1933, Max Fleischer adapted the Thimble Theatre characters into a series of 'Popeye the Sailor' theatrical cartoon shorts for Paramount Pictures- which proved to be extremely popular and continued production through 1957 via Paramount's Famous Studios. Popeye an affiliated characters are now owned by Turner Entertainment and distributed by its sister company Warner Bros.
Growing up, you'd be insane to not be able to identify Popeye- that one-eyed sailor with a penchant for solving problems and saving the day, spinach in one hand and a smoky pipe in another.
Popeye has displayed a keen nose for investigative work, scientific ingenuity, superhuman strength (after eating spinach). However one of his greatest accessories is his pipe!
It has faithfully served Popeye and has been used as a cutting torch, jet engine, propeller, periscope, musical instrument, and a whistle with which he produces his trademark "toot". He also eats spinach through his pipe, sometimes sucking in the can itself along with the contents.
Looking at Mezco Toyz's latest offering, I can safely say this is one of the company's most underrated figures. Its a beauty to behold in hand, and comes with so, so many accessories.
PACKAGING- 7/10
Popeye comes packaged in the standard Mezco Toyz window box panel, and is kept in a tray which can be used to store his accessories.
ACCESSORIES- 10/10
Mezco Toyz didn't skimp on accessories for Popeye, unlike some of their other figures. He comes loaded with:
. 2 interchangeable heads
. 7 interchangeable hands
. 1 tailored black dress shirt
. 1 blue sacks
. 1 pair of brown work boots
. 1 tailored pea coat
. 3 hats
. 3 corncob pipes
. 3 corncob pipes with smoke effects
. 2 spinach cans
. 1 compass
. 1 spy glass
.1 duffel bag
FIGURE- 10/10
The headsculpt and tattoos, details and weathering on Popeye's body is truly a work of art. Mezco Toyz has managed to insert the same kind of details one would expect for a 1:6 inch figure and make it work for a 1:12 version instead.
You'll have to heat up the arm joints in order to remove his clothing. I used a hairdryer, and after a few seconds of wiggling around the arm joints came off without any incident.
Popeye scales at just about the same height as the Mezco Toyz Wonder Woman, which means he's shorter than the average One:12 figure. BUT this isn't a problem, as Popeye is supposed to be short. Here are some pictures for size comparisons.
ARTICULATION- 7/10
I'll admit, there are some limitations in Popeye's articulation- no double-jointed elbows and his arms and feet don't really do a 90 degree stretch.
WHICH is fine, because he isn't Spider-Man, hence there isn't any expectation for him to be able to pull of some extremely articulated poses.
But he can still execute poses like this:
POSEABILITY- 9/10
You'll have quite some fun posing around with this Popeye. No issues to look out for; he's quite a solid figure.
VALUE- 10/10
For nostalgia's sake and the fact that its a really good Mezco Toyz figure should be reason enough for you to go out and buy yourself a unit. I don't think anyone foresaw this figure to be a hit among collectors, but the good thing is that you can still and scout around online for one at retail price. BBTS was selling him for US$80 (RM334.48) but they've since sold out.
OVERALL SCORE: 8.8/10
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