Geek4Life: May 2013

Hey guys, it's been a while! For those of you wondering, no I wasn't dead, I was conquering what is known as the dreaded College Finals. But anyway, I'm back and what better way to make my return than with some figures I have been clamoring for since they were revealed! Today we're going to be taking a look at the Man of Steel Movie Masters Wave 1, consisting of Superman, Jor-El, and General Zod!

The Basics:
Price: $15.99-$17.99 each at retail. Up to $45 each on Amazon, if not less.
Scale:6"

The Packaging:
Normally I don't do this but the packaging just looked so damn cool for these, so just a quick look at them in their plastic prisons.

Let's kick it off with Superman!

Superman:

Character Bio: Born on the doomed planet Krypton, Kal-El's parents knew the only chance their child had to survive was to find him a new home - the planet Earth. Here, he was found and raised by the Kent family, growing up on a farm in Smallville as their son Clark Kent. Although his body slowly developed extraordinary powers, Clark didn't realize his full potential until he uncovered some links to his birth planet, including a glyph-emblazoned blue and red suit, and his journey as a hero truly began.

This figure is amazing. I had a few months back made a rant regarding Mattel's Injustice Joker, and while I don't take it back, these Movie Masters are some of the best figures Mattel has put out. The attention to detail is amazing, and pictures really don't do these guys justice. The suit from top to bottom has the exact same texture as can be seen in all of the pictures and trailers. The other details on the suit, including the "S" logo are sculpted with precision and the paint is perfect! The cape looks so cool with all of the folds in it and even some light paint shading!

Even the likeness to Henry Cavill is really good! While it isn't identical, it is pretty damn good for a 6" figure, and the detail in his hair is nuts! In terms of articulation, He comes with a balljointed head, swivel-hinge shoulders, swivel biceps, hinge elbows, swivel wrists, swivel waist, DCUC style hips, swivel thigh, hinge knees, and hinge ankles. Two things worth mentioning here. One, he does not have an ab crunch, and you know that from my past reviews that I am an articulation junkie so take it to heart when I say, I don't even care that he is missing an ab crunch. Two, when I got mine out of the packaging his head could look side to side but couldn't go forward and back. Just keep twisting and bending the joint really fast over and over and it'll free up. For accessories, he comes with an awesome base!

General Zod:

Character Bio: Imprisoned in the Phantom Zone, General Zod, a warrior born from generations of warriors before him, escaped when Krypton was destroyed. He led a small band of surviving Kryptonians in search of a new home. In the process, they discovered a planet called Earth and a man once known as Kal-El.

The General shared the same body as Superman, save for the crest on his chest and his head sculpt. Not much to say other than his head sculpt has a really good likeness of Michael Shannon, and his paint is crisp and clean.

Seeing as how he sports the same body as Superman, he also has the same articulation but with one difference. His head cannot go as far back as Superman's can. Not the worst thing, but kind of sucks a bit. He does come with an awesome base, just like Supes does!

Jor-El:

Character Bio: The leading scientist on his home planet of Krypton, Jor-El had a son named Kal-El, a child who would one day be known on Earth as Superman. In order to save Kal-El from the impending destruction of their planet and subsequent chaos, Jor-El and his wife Lara sent him in a spacecraft to Earth. Jor-El wears his ancestral Kryptonian Armor, which is emblazoned with his family crest.

This is the figure that completely took me by surprise from the wave. He is truly amazing to look at. He is chocked full of detail and whoever handled the sculpt on this guy is amazing. The armor is one of the best sculpts I have seen come out of Mattel, I feel like I could spend days staring at him and still find something new, it just looks absolutely incredible. This has me so excited for the armored Zod and Faora coming out later this year. The paint work is truly remarkable with the armor having this "rusted bronze" look to it and the undersuit a nice muted blue.

The face is pretty spot on to Russel Crowe in my opinion. In terms of articulation he has the same as Superman and Zod however the armor does slightly restrict some areas. Mainly how far out to the sides his legs can go, and his shoulder movement but it doesn't restrict it to the point where its bad, just slightly. For accessories, like the others, he comes with a base.

OVERALL:
If you were thinking about skipping this line, don't! It took my be surprise with unbelievable sculpts and paint, and some really damn cool bases. This is the whole Wave 1 and wave 2 will consist of Superman with a Kryptonian Key replica, Armored General Zod, and Armored Faora. I also saw pictures of the same General Zod from this review but with shackles, so not sure if that is some kind of variant or he will be a store exclusive somewhere down the line. All in all this was a fantastic purchase and I cannot recommend each one enough!
Superman 10 out of 10!
General Zod 10 out of 10!
Jor- El 10 out of 10!!

Really wish I had some flight stands so I could have made some sick pics for this.