Popeye (One:12 Collective) Review

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Popeye (One:12 Collective) Review

Popeye
One:12 Collective (Mezco)What started out as a comic strip character meant to be a one-timer became a pop culture phenomenon, as Popeye, the sailor man with superhuman strength, has been in just about every form of media. That includes action figures, as the franchise was one of the first licenses Mezco picked up, resulting in a line with great sculpts and fun accessories. Mez returned to the sailor in the late 2010's with a rendition of him in their One:12 line, and earlier this year they announced a reissue of him, which I believe isn't common for One:12. I got him not too long ago, and I'm happy to finally have him.

One:12 boxes are usually simplistic in style, and Popeye's has the sailor's traditional look on the front and top, and anchors on the sides. It's nothing too exciting, but it works. One thing I found unusual was that unlike the other One:12 figures I have (I.e. two), it's not a slip cover over a window box, but rather just a windowless box. The contents inside are kept securely in place by the plastic trays, and it's easy to get everything out. The box doesn't take up much space either, though they included a plastic bag to contain the accessories if you prefer keeping him out in the open.

In order to fit with the rest of the One:12 line, Mezco gave Popeye a more realistic look, but kept all the exaggerated details. The big chin, bulbous nose, and shut tight right eye are preserved and actually fit well with the design, and the paint is excellent, with a few small specks on the skin and a slight five-o-clock shadow. The alternate head isn't too different, but has a slightly angrier look and visible teeth on the left side of his mouth. Both heads have a slightly visible mold line on the bottom on the jaw, but it's not that noticeable. He has his usual hat, with fits onto the heads through the use of magnets, and there are small holes in the left corner of the mouth for his pipe. He gets two versions of the pipe, one standard and one with a small puff of smoke coming out of it, and there's three of each in case one gets lost or broken.

At 5 7/8" tall without the hat, Popeye remains his buff frame, making use of unique tooling. His huge, beefy forearms are the most noticeable, with a realistic skin texture and printed anchor tattoos, which have a slightly faded look to make them more life-like. Most of the body is covered up by his traditional clothes, done in tailored cloth and denim, and it looks great without being too loose-fitting. Under the clothes are a muscular chest and six-pack, as well as big, buff calves. The underlying legs don't have the detailed paint the upper body does, but they still are nicely sculpted, and the wash on the boots looks great. You can actually remove the shirt, since the forearms pop out easily, allowing you to get a good look at the torso underneath, and revealing a ship's wheel tattoo on the back.

While a little different from the usual One:12 figure, Popeye still has plenty of useful articulation. He has a barbell head, neck, chest, and ankles, swivel/hinge shoulders and elbows, revolver-joint wrists, ball-jointed waist and hips, double-hinged knees, and swivel thighs and calves. Even without double-jointed elbows, Popeye can manage a lot of poses, and the extra parts swap easily. The outfit doesn't restrict the articulation much, though the hips feel a little limited, and I would prefer if the ankles were swivel/hinge joints instead of barbell pegs, as to allow for better deep stances.

Then there's all the extras, with enough for various looks. The sailor man has seven hands: two closed, two gripping, two relaxed, and a pointing right. Thanks to the soft material used for the hands, they swap on and off the pegs easily, and can grip accessories with no issues. He has his ever-trustworthy spinach can, alongside a crushed version with no label, but the vegetable inside spilling out the top. His standard hat can be swapped out for a traditional sailor's cap, which also uses a magnet to stay onto his head, and the usual One:12 base with an anchor printed on, and the choice between a foot peg or a posable arm. For a more seafaring look, Popeye has a peacoat that goes on him with little difficulty, a longshoreman's hat that fits snugly on his scalp, a collapsing telescope, an opening compass, and a tailored duffel bag. There's plenty to do with him given all the accessories, and you may find yourself changing up his look time and again.

Having missed out on the first release and later versions, Mezco putting Popeye back out was a generous move, and he's quite the fun figure. Not perfect, but the great design and plenty of accessories make him enjoyable. Hopefully he's popular enough to warrant a reissue of the two-pack with Bluto, and bring some other characters like Olive Oyl and Wimpy into the line.

- 11/17/24