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REVIEW: NECA ¼ Scale Man of Steel Superman
The Iconic Hero In Quarter Scale...
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NECA has continued to excite collectors with an array of movie based action figures that boast impressive amounts of detail in sculpting, paint, and articulation. But I have always found their quarter-scale figures to be the most impressive due to their large size and greater detail then their smaller counterparts. The quarter scale offerings have improved over the years and while there was brief time when they were making next to none, they have come back with a vengeance and even better articulation and detail, as well as an increased number of offerings from a wide array of licenses. A new addition to the NECA family is DC Comics, with characters from film, tv, and video games all on the horizon. The premier character to launch this great brand is Superman from the recent blockbuster film Man of Steel.
The figure is packaged in a fairly large window box featuring a textured blue to replicate the texture of his suit with a large film logo. The back of the box is completely plain, but printed to look like his rippling red cape. Inside, the figure is suspended to a background insert with an aerial city view of “Metropolis” to make the figure look like he is hovering above.
Superman aka Clark stands an impressive 18” from bottom of boot to finely styled hair. The figure itself is hefty and solid, weighing in at around 4 pounds. While I feel like the figure overall captures the look and essence of the likeness of Henry Cavill in the film, there are several points where the facial sculpt could have been improved, most notably in the nose. I feel like the figure comes off a little cartoony as the facial features seem exaggerated. However, the costume is fantastic with the small textured pattern of the suit replicated across the whole figure.
As a whole the paint apps are good on this figure. I really like the airbrush black that’s used throughout the figure for shading as it has a glitter of some sort in it that makes the whole figure’s suit glisten in the light. But as great as the coloring and paint apps look, in closer inspection the figure has quite a lot of paint flaws across the board, such as places where paint bleeds over, mismatching gold between sections of suit, and heavy pink paint on the hands. I particularly don’t like the flesh around the ears going into the hairline and the amount of black scrapes on the neckline.
A highlight of the figure is the use of a fabric cape. So many of the superhero figures in recent time, especially Superman figures have the vinyl capes which limit articulation and look un-natural compared to the free-flowing fabric. The figure doesn’t include any accessories, but does feature a second set of hands to pose him like he’s flying.
With the Man of Steel film arriving on home video in next week, now is great time to pick up your own Man of Steel quarter-scale figure. He is still available at many fine online retailers, along with a newly announced repaint featuring the alternate black and silver suit from the film. Both figures retail for around $85.
Review & Photos by Michael Klein
Review Sample Courtesy of NECA
