No, this isn't a light-up effect version as seen in the photo above (that's only a lamely photoshopped heat vision effect), just my personal review of my Hot Toys: Man Of Steel - Superman Movie Masterpiece. Its been a long time since I did a figure review of a figure from my own collection. This is probably the best way to get back into play. I am still new to collecting Hot Toys and this is my first attempt to review a sixth scale Hot Toys MMS, so please forgive my beginner's mistakes and my ignorance on some matters. May I present to you, the Hot Toys treatment of Henry Cavill as the Man Of Steel.
So this is the Hot Toys version of the famous Henry Cavill's Superman. It is based on the Man of Steel movie. This is the second Hot Toys MMS based on that movie, the first one is Jor-El MMS which I have no plans of getting. That one is also a nice figure, but I have to keep my purchases for the ones that I really love. There's also an upcoming General Zod MMS, but I might pass on it as well.
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| Man Of Steel Official Poster |
If you don't know about this movie, then you must be living in a cave for quite sometime now. The movie is a new take on Superman's story by director Zack Snyder, a director who also made 300 and Sucker Punch movies. And a new Superman version would simply require a revamped costume.
At first, I didn't like the costume, but the more I see it, the more it grew up on me. And after seeing the movie, I fell in love with the movie and the costume as well. So what's the best way to relive the experience? - Be a fanboy and get the a nice looking figure that would represent the movie in your display shelves. And here it is, the Hot Toys version.
What made me decide on getting this? Well, I'm a Superman fan myself but I don't own any Superman figure, not even one. My son's toy wasn't counted. I was actually thinking of getting the Sideshow Premium Format Figure which is totally killer, but held back because the price itself is also a killer. At the time this figure was announced by Hot Toys and went up for preorder last year, June of 2013, I don't own any Hot Toys item yet. I love the movie and the promo photos looks convincing, so getting this is an easy decision for me.
This figure was released last month December 2013 and I received my copy a week ago, last Friday from Figmation. I got it at a fairly discounted preorder price. I believe it is still being sold at a reasonable price somewhere and it isn't getting too expensive yet anytime soon.
The figure stands about 325 mm, almost an inch taller than 12 inches. Quite taller than an average sixth scaled figures. Standing on the base, the overall height is 345 mm where the 20 mm accounts for the height of the base. Keep this in mind if you're displaying it in a shelf.
Box Art and Contents
(click any photo to launch the images in Lightbox)
The box is a standard Hot Toys box, with the size of about 360 mm x 127 mm x 235 mm (LxWxH). It weighs around 750 grams. Neither too huge nor too heavy. Since I just got locally, I received it in a paper bag with the box itself wrapped in a plastic bag. No box damage or dent visible.
The box has a book type box cover that you can open to reveal the windowed contents of the box. Front has the Man of Steel movie name, a huge logo, the figure name and MMS200 code. The artwork seems to be based on the snowy mountains from the movie where Superman started learning to fly. A nice contrasting bluish background to the huge red Superman logo. Simple yet cool design. The back of the box has those warning labels, etc.
Both top and bottom part has the Man of Steel name. Upon opening the front cover, you can already see the box contents in a window. There's also some written credits about the production staff at the back of the front cover.
Inside the box, the figure and its accessories are protected with molded plastic support just as some other collectibles. It has four layers of plastic support. The top layer to protect the front of the figure, the second layer where the figure and all accessories are resting, the third layer that separates the cape and the base, and the bottom black colored layer where the base assembly is resting.
The figure isn't resting directly the cape. There is a square hole at the back of the third layer plastic, just around the back of the shoulders, where the cape is inserted all the way. Then there's a small plastic bag support to protect the cape and as I mentioned, the third layer support. The figure is totally protected inside the box, so no worries for those who wanted to keep it mint in sealed box for years.
Checking the contents, it has the figure of course, three pairs of hands not including the one that is already attached to the figure, a 1:6 and 1:1 scaled Kryptionian command key. For the base assembly, the main base, the flexible pillar, the holding clip and a cap. I'll talk about these accessories as we go.
Personal Impressions
Ok, so let's talk about the figure itself. Starting from the one thing that can make or break the overall looks of the figure - the headsculpt. The overall look of the headsculpt is a very crucial part of any figure, but for Hot Toys, it is their most important selling point, with the exception of their masked figures like Iron Man of course.
The headsculpt of this figure is topnotch. It may not look exactly like Henry Cavill but is has a good resemblance to the actor. I kinda still seeing Christopher Reeve here. Maybe they really look alike in some way.
The paint details really gives life to the face. Looking very close, you can see the tiny freckles and skin wrinkles detailing. The eyes seems to be the real thing. You will notice the blood veins around the eyes and the detailing of the iris itself. Really looks amazing.
A very subtle lip color makes it look natural. That frown gives it a really nice relaxed but ready to battle expression. The hair has those detailed strands with nicely applied dark brown color. I can't believe that I'm looking at the details a small head.
The face looks fantastic on every angle. Even the ear detailing looks great.
At sideview, the seam of the separation of the head and the neck is very obvious. It breaks the realism, but this is an articulated action figure, can't do anything about it. The hair still looks great here by the way.
Just a quick look at the back of the head. Great looking hair details.
There are some collectors who likes to replace these sculpted hair with real or synthetic hair strands. Something that is commonly found on dolls like Barbie. I believe they wanted to make the hair look more realistic, specially with long hair like Thor's. No offence to those who customize it like that, but I find it looking weird. These are action figures, not dolls. I really hate those hair strands. To me, it looks really creepy. I'm perfectly fine with a nicely detailed and sculpted hair.
A good view of the upper body. When the promo photos of this figure was revealed. Most collectors whine about the body that was used to be too fatty/muscular. It didn't reflect the body proportion of Henry Cavill in the movie. That's true, I also noticed that as well. But upon release, they change it to a much more movie accurate body type.
For some reasons, the actual color tone of the blue costume isn't what came out on these photos. Maybe my white balance is off, maybe my lighting, or maybe I need to stop buying collectibles and invest on a better DSLR. But believe me, the color is actually darker blue in person. It's not as dark as in the actual movie costume though, that's for sure.
It's also a little different from the costume of the prototype on the promo photos. That one has those subtle shading to highlight the curves of the muscle, and it have a sharper texture which doesn't appear to be on the final release. Those promo photos we're probably post processed though, so its really hard to tell if we're seeing actual prototype.
Back when I was at STGCC 2013, I saw a displayed prototype. The blue tone is also a bit different. It's not the same as either the promo photos or this final production release. I can't make out the actual color because it seems to be matte and isn't glossy like this. The texture is also a bit different.
The final release may not look the same as any prototypes that we've seen, but it still got the essence of the costume based on the movie. I'd still prefer if they made it the texture a bit finer and sharper to match the actual movie costume. The final release has a less sharper texture making it much less accurate. Anyway, it doesn't matter now since I am totally happy of how it turns out.
Notice the black part that holds the cape? I was actually worried about this part because I saw a lot of photos of this on the internet (specifically from some members of One Sixth Republic - Awesome group by the way) which is slightly raised and removed from being glued. Good thing mine is still in good condition. I hope I won't have a problem with this in the future. This is one major flaw of this figure.
So what's the "S" stands for? It's not an S. It means hope... for Hopeman. Just kidding. I do love how they interpret this as a symbol instead of the first letter of Superman. You wouldn't want to see Batman with a capital "B" on his chest right?
Anyway, the S symbol on his chest is close to what we've seen on the actual costume. It is made of an embossed rubber. A little too thick in my opinion but not a big deal, specially when you look at it at a distance. The thickness is just obvious on close up shots like these. It's good enough I suppose. At least they didn't use a textile paint like what they did on the costume of the Christopher Reeve MMS version.
The positioning of the emblem though is a little off. It should be a bit higher, closer to the neck. As for the shape, there shouldn't be any rounded contour. It should be a sharp diamond-like shape. Maybe it's just stretched, that's why it looks like that. Another thing is that it's supposed to have that metallic/foil feel like in the movie. Here it's clearly an embossed rubber. Nevertheless, it's still a really good looking Hopeman.. errr... I mean Superman symbol.
The closed fists is the pair of hands that is attached out of the box. It looks nice with all those veins detail. It is attached by removable plastic joint.
That black wrist band is a removable rubber-like material. It supposed to be skin tight and metallic in the movie. Not a very accurate detail but I guess it's just fine.
Here you can see a good shot of the abs. It does show up slightly over the costume. The crotch area is what I really don't like. I can't tell exactly but there's something off here. I believe it should show the shape of the underwear even if it doesn't have that usual Superman red Speedo.
Those black trim on the costume looks nice. But again, like the wrist bands, it supposed to be metallic. It's made of a glossy rubber too so it's not too bad. The blue tone on the costume is what's a fault here. That black trim should blend better if only the costume is darker blue like in the movie. With this lighter blue, it turns out to contrasting with those black trims. Looks good but not 100% movie accurate.
For the yellow parts of the trim, again it's supposed to be metallic as well. Just the same as yellow parts of the S symbol on the chest.
A good look on another angle of the face.
The cape as I have mentioned is being held by that black rubber. It has pleats from the top towards the bottom at the back.
The fabric material that was used isn't of high quality. It just an ordinary cloth. It can easily get crumpled if you're not careful. Something that can easily be fixed by Iron Man though. Don't forget the pleats if you're going to iron and be careful not to burn it. There's hem on the edges of the cape to prevent unraveling of the fabric.
Notice in the above photo that I already put some crumples/wrinkles on the cape.
Overall the cape is good enough, although I prefer some higher quality fabric that would make it look more flattering.
Hidden under the cape are the ugly stitches at the back of the costume. The cape isn't just for aesthetics only after all. So if someone ask why Superman wears a cape, there's your answer.
The boots are looking fine, but I believe this is supposed to be much higher, closer to the knee.
A shot of the left boot. By the way, the feet has also some articulation at the heel and the toe. Great when doing an aerial pose.
In this photo above, this is how high the arms can reach without rotating the shoulders. So let's talk about a bit of articulation now. It said to have over 30 points of articulation. I didn't count though. It may be a fully articulated figure but the problem is the skin tight costume. It doesn't actually hinders the articulation but I'm worried that I might put too much stress on the costume that it may end up deformed.
The material of the costume seems to be made of a spandex-like fabric. It's somewhat stretchable but I haven't really stretched it. Whenever you change the pose, the costume is bound to have some unwanted creases in certain areas, especially at the joints.
Another problem is that you cannot see the movable joints. So be careful when moving or rotating parts. If you're not too careful, you may end up forcing moving parts the wrong way and end up breaking the joints. I believe this shares the same problem on the previously released Hot Toys: The Amazing Spider-man MMS.
It has double jointed knee and can be bend about 45-50 degrees. Notice the costume creases at the back of the knee.
This is just about how high the head can look up. The head is ball jointed and you can make him face in a lot of directions. I haven't tried to pop out the head but I believe it's safely removable. I just don't want to see a decapitated Superman.
This is just about how low the head can look down. According to the manual, you can only rotate the head side to side when looking straight or upwards. When facing all the way downwards, you cannot rotate the head. I find that you can still rotate the head a few degrees when facing downwards though.
Arms can be bent like in this photo (left arm). It can be bent by more than 90 degress before you can feel some contrasting force.
Just some ready-to-run pose. I am not really very creative in posing action figures.
Let's go through the optional parts in details. As I mentioned earlier, it comes with additional three pairs of hands not including the one that is already attached to the figure, which are the closed fists. The other three pairs are a pair of relaxed palms, a pair of open palms and a pair of holding palms. That makes a total of four pairs of interchangeable hands. I'll get to each pair in a little while.
There's a full scale and a sixth scale Kryptonian command key. You can also see two additional joints to attach the hands to the wrist. So you are actually getting four wrists joint including the two that is already attached to the figure.
This is the full scale (1:1) Kryptonian command key. It said to be a Special Celebration Gift. It's not some special edition item like Iron Man hologram figures because it's included on all distributions. I wish Hot Toys do the same on all releases and make all their releases special editions.
Anyway, the 1:1 Kryptonian command key looks really cool. It's made out of metal and has some weight in it. Not a really important part of the figure but it's cool to have it. I'm thinking of making a custom display case for this alone. And who knows, I might find a Kryptonian ship to use this key and learn about my real identity.
Back into scale, this one is the 1/6th scale version of the Kryptonian command key. So small that you should be careful of not losing it. It's black, so if it fell on the dark areas or dark floor, you will have a hard time looking for it and end up shouting "I will find it" like General Zod.
Just to show you again, here's the hand that is attached when it shipped - the close fist. Let's try to removing it now to replace with another hand.
Here's a shot with the hand taken out. As I mentioned, the hands has a removable wrist joints and this is how it looks like without it.
It's not so hard to separate the wrist and the wrist joint. What's really hard is separating the hand from the wrist joint because you can only pull it by holding the small peg. It really hurts my fingers. I had to use some tool to pull it. Good thing there's two extra wrist joints.
Without the black wrist band, it looks like this.
This is the open palm. This one is supposed to be used on Superman's flying pose, but I feel that it's much better to use the close fist when on doing flying pose. So this one might not be very useful to me. Still good to have it though.
This one is called the holding palms. Probably for holding something, like General Zod's head to break his neck.
This is the relaxed palm. Relaxed cause it's actually not doing anything. I can be used to hold something, or shake hands.
One good way to use the relaxed palm. There isn't any specific hand to hold the Kyptonian command key actually, so this could work. Not exactly holding, but handing it over or showing it off to someone else.
This is the manual that comes with it. It tells how to set-up the base and just some obvious warnings and advise.
Here's the base assembly. It comes with the holding clip, a cap to cover the top of the pillar, the flexible pillar, and of course the diamond shaped Superman logo base itself. The flexible pillar is similar to those phone holders that is usually seen inside cars. It's great that it comes with this instead of the clear acrylic rod.
The base is made out of plastic. It's really great that the figure comes with this cool looking base that is designed specially for Superman. The previously released Hot Toys Jor-El MMS also comes with a base like this but it's in black.
The overalll base assembly is almost the same as the Dynamic Figure Stand that it being sold separately by Hot Toys. I wish all future releases would come with a base like this.
Setup of the base is extremely easy and straightforward. You don't even need the manual. Just attach the bottom part of the pillar to the base just like a bolt.
Then slide in the holding clip to the hex screw head. Then twist cover the top with the plastic cap. Done! The overall height of the base assembly is 340 mm. That's from the plastic cap to the bottom of the base.
Just a good look at the label plate on the base. I haven't removed the plastic protector yet.
So here's our hero in mid-air using the base. With the pillar of the base straight, and the clip on his mid-torso like this, the overall height is about 440 mm. It really adds a substantial amount of height. You need to keep that in mind when displaying in your display shelves. The pillar is only flexible to a certain extent but you can do a variety of mid-air poses with it.
Like I said, I'm not really very creative in posing action figure. So I just copied the pose from one of the promo photos.
So what's a Superman that can't do a flying pose? As you can see here, he can do it, but you have to be careful on raising the arms like this. To do this, you have to rotate the shoulder joints. But like I mentioned, it's hard if you're not seeing the joints, you might do it wrongly. Don't put too much force if you're not sure that you're doing it the right way.
The fabric of the costume should also be kept in correct position. It should not follow the displacement of the arm but rather it should rotate a well. Just imagine yourself raising your arm while you're wearing a long sleeve shirt. The fabric should behave like that.
I'm actually afraid of putting too much stress on the fabric and end up being deformed. I had to massage the fabric frequently as I raise the arm. I don't think I would do this pose too frequently. I'm really worried that I might mess up an expensive collectible.
It can do the flying position but the head has a limited upward looking position, so it ends up facing downward every time and doesn't look where he's flying towards to. I hope he won't hit and destroy any building while he's flying.
Just a pose from the movie poster.
Another pose from the movie poster
I think you already knew where I got this pose.
A pose based from a Superman artwork.
A pose copied from the Sideshow Premium Format Statue. That one still looks a lot better, but this isn't too bad either.
And yes, he can do a repulsor blast too. Or let's say he's holding a big moving vehicle.
There's a lot of things I can say about this awesome Hot Toys figure, but I suppose you're tired of reading. This Superman figure may not be perfect and not perfectly accurate to the movie, but it's by far one of the best Man of Steel Superman figure to date. You wouldn't really notice those movie inaccuracy details unless you compare the photos from the movie side by side. As long as you can see the essential details of the character and costume, it is clearly the Man of Steel himself.
The topnotch quality of the headsculpt alone is enough to justify the purchase. The overall look and feel is of a high end collectible figure. With the price tag, it's not regrettable to have purchased it as an addition to my collection. So far, the only better Man of Steel collectible figure than this is the Sideshow Premium Format Statue. Sadly, it's about two times the price of this Hot Toys Man of Steel. If you have enough funds for your collection, I say get that. But for me, this figure enough to satisfy my fanboy cravings being the next best thing.
If you love Superman and you loved the movie, get one of these for yourself. The next Superman movie a.k.a. Batman Vs. Superman, won't be around 'till 2016. Hot Toys may produce a better version of Man of Steel based on that movie, but it's still two years from now. So I think it's better not to wait that long for the next Hot Toys version of Cavill's Superman. It's costume design maybe a lot different than this.
I hope you enjoyed reading. Please check out the photo gallery below.
Photo Gallery
(click any photo to launch the images in Lightbox)
Excellent, comprehensive review! Nice layout with a great selection of photographs.
ReplyDeleteOf course this is subjective, but I prefer this figure to the DC statue that you mentioned: this one looks a lot more like Henry Caville IMO.
Keep up the fine work!