Note: Entertainment Earth provided the figures in this feature for review. Entertainment Earth and Superhero Hype are affiliate partners, but opinions expressed in the review are independent. Readers can obtain a 10% discount on in-stock items at Entertainment Earth via this link, with free shipping on orders over $59 using the code FREESHIP59. Superhero Hype may earn fees from these purchases.
A warning to anyone who might be new to Mezco‘s One: 12 Collective: DO NOT try to switch out the foot peg on the base for the flight stand without knowing exactly what you’re doing first. The natural supposition might be to push the foot peg down through the base, but that actually is wrong and makes it worse. Instead, flip the base upside down, then use the post on the flight stand to push the peg upward through the top. This will save you many headaches.
With that out of the way, let’s talk about The Crow. The gothiest ’90s superhero movie to ever goth, The Crow has maintained a consistent cult following likely above and beyond the comic it’s based on. It features a lead performance that might have made Brandon Lee an A-list star had he not died in the process. Its soundtrack encompassed the moment in its thematic use of both top headliners (The Cure, Nine Inch Nails), alt-radio staples (Rollins Band) and cult favorites (Medicine, For Love Not Lisa). And its setting of a stylized, nightmare version of Detroit that’s all gray tenements and fires pushed the Tim Burton Batman aesthetic even further into hard-R territory. A 4K seems long overdue.
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When McFarlane Toys first made an action figure for the Movie Maniacs line, fans got excited. In the years since, everyone from NECA to Diamond Select and Hot Toys had a go. Mezco’s is the latest, and even though they’re one of the few toy companies that doesn’t use the word “Ultimate” for their figures, it’s an apt descriptor here. The Mezco One: 12 Collective The Crow figure includes every accessory a fan could desire, and probably more.
Some of what you’d expect is here. The guitar, headstone, sword, coat, flaming crow logo and lightning rod have been done by other companies. Here we also get a cat, shotgun, handgun with removable clips (and a painted bullet about to go in the chamber), lighter, two crows with their own stands, mask, eight interchangeable hands (including one with a bloody hole in it), four interchangeable heads, and more. For once, he can even wear the mask, which fits under his hair.
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For the periodic Mezco buyer, the big surprise always comes in how small the figures actually are. At 6 inches, they’re shorter than McFarlanes, but with the detail of a 12-inch figure. Here’s the Crow compared to a Marvel Legends Jigsaw:
One looks almost photo-real. The other? Clearly a toy.
The main Mezco miracle is the tailoring of the tiny outfits, that hang in ways cloth almost never does at that size. It calls to mind the fairy tale of the elves and the shoemaker — particularly tiny hands must have managed to pull this off. They even made a scale wedding ring for him, which rests on a wire necklace. Easy enough to push flat against his chest, but the moment you pose the figure at all, that ring and necklace will need re-posing again. That ring tends to travel along the wire to spots that aren’t where it needs to be. As with everything else about this figure, it just requires a delicate touch.
As delicate as it all feels, the heads and hands feel soft and swap out gently. The hands recall the old kung fu grip. Flexible enough to easily place trigger fingers on weapons, yet not so loose they droop.
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Eric’s jacket features wires in both the belt pieces and the lapels/hem to allow for dynamic or static poses. If you prefer to remove it, that’s best done with head and hands popped off first. Underneath, he sports screen-accurate shirt tears, with the shoulder one exposing his shoulder articulation and mildly ruining the illusion.
Actor likeness depends on the expression, but the neutral and smirk look the best. The paint job even suggests more faded white makeup around the nose and such, and the face has more texture than most. Definitely some digital painting at work around the eyes.
Again, remember this is a six-inch figure, and depending on your device, that picture above is larger than the actual head. You pay $100, you get a $100 sculpt. Or four.
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Articulation under the clothing cannot be seen, but he’s poseable into just about any look you might want. Zero issues holding the sword or lightning rod dual-handed. Add the flight stand and get even more dynamic.
But if the flight stand for Eric seems impressive, the add-on for his crows is even better. A clip-on device for the stand creates holes in which to plug two posing wires. Those wires in turn plug into the backs of the crows. Typical Crow figures feature holes in his shoulder for the birds; to avoid that, the birds here can go anywhere in 3-D space thanks to the wires. Sit on his shoulder, fly around him…or both!
Also, the flame effect fits nicely around the whole assembly. If you’re a fan of the movie iteration of this character –comic versions have not yet been well served by toys — it’s probably the only figure of him you’ll ever need. As of this moment, Entertainment Earth still stocks a few, for $100. Use our link for a 10% discount, and code FREESHIP59 for free shipping. Check out even more photos in the gallery at the bottom of this page.
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But that’s not all that came from Entertainment Earth this month to review.
Two McFarlane figures came in the box with Eric. First up is Haunt, star of his own comics but presented as a Spawn figure. And an answer to the question: ‘What if an action figure looked like old, dead cacti come to life?”
Unlike many of the DC figures McFarlane makes, Haunt actually could use a trading card revealing his backstory, so kids who think he looks cool might have some idea what he does. Though it’s nowhere on the package, his actual story is very Todd McFarlane: a priest who merges with the soul of his dead secret agent brother to become super-powered in an ectoplasm costume.
The figure comes with an ectoplasmic base as well as the standard black disc base, a pointy symbiote weapon that wraps around his arm, and two extra hands that look AI-generated with extra fingers.
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He’s a nicely sculpted Spawny/Venomy character, a little smaller than the standard Spawn, and a steal at Entertainment Earth’s current clearance price (as of this writing) of $13.04. Additional 10% off through our link, as usual.
Finally, there’s Sabbac, with two b’s, as opposed to the in-universe Star Wars card game of Sabacc with two c’s. He’s the big bad in the Black Adam movie, and hilarious to those of us who remember when Walmart wouldn’t carry Lord of the Rings Balrog figures for being too demonic. Um, hi?
There’s a little weaseling for plausible deniability — the carving on his chest looks a bit rounded and fudged so it’s technically not quite a pentagram. But anybody looking at it knows what it is. This guy could’ve leaped off a Slayer album cover.
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An oversized figure, he nonetheless looks a little adrift in the mega-packaging.
Sabbac is not on sale, and still ruins $39.99 — save the 10% discount you’ll get through this link. Unless devil figures are specifically your thing, that seems a little steep, since he comes with no accessories, and some of the joints aren’t super-tight. Meanwhile, some of the articulation looks a little awkward. A simple ball-and-socket might appear cleaner than these shoulders:
In the spirit of McFaralne Toys’ early figure Angela, which ultimately had to paint underwear over her flesh tones so nobody would accuse the figure of being panty-less…Let’s just say Sabbac is a Ken doll under there. The pelvis piece is sculpted as if it has folds in cloth, but it’s the same color as his skin. You decide what that means. If you’re buying a figure that looks like Satan, clearly it’s not a prudish household.
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How big is the 10-inch figure, relatively? Here he is next to both Haunt and Black Adam:
For many, many more photos of all three figures, peruse the gallery below. Then let us know what you think in comments!
Recommended Reading: The Crow Hardcover – Special Edition
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