Mezco Toys One:12 Indiana Jones

[Wookie_Wes06]

Yes, the others were done by Drew, starting with the (now) 10th Anniversary poster. It was used in overseas marketing for Raiders (and can be seen on Cheers when Sam is running around Italy looking for Diane and Frasier—though I'm sure that was a backlot). Struzan did a lot of Raiders comps as well. Amsel was chosen first, and then chosen again to do the re-release poster to echo more of the fun of the film. Struzan didn't even start out with Temple of Doom. The Style A for ToD was Bruce Wolfe. But again LFL wanted a more fun/adventurous campaign and Drew did his ToD. He has been considered the Indy artist since. Though Mark Raats did an awesome poster for Raiders' anniversary screenings.

Don't even get me started on Dial of Destiny's advertising! In a film centered all around the theme of an aging hero, they were afraid to SHOW an aging hero! Most people didn't even realize there was a new Indy film! He was kept in shadow while ancillary characters were prominently displayed in photoshop dreck. It wasn't until Stella's work was released that Indy was shown. And even then they mucked with the art. Why remove Klaber's gun from Stella's work but keep it in the photoshopped mess?

Thanks for the insight and yeah. Not using the Stella art was a huge freaking miss. Again I wasn't the biggest fan of Dial. But I can recognize good art when I see it. The posters they went with just felt utterly generic and uninspired.

 

[Wookie_Wes06]

Another Toht Unboxing/review. He's a bit disappointed with the jacket.

 

[French_Sidious]

I do have questions to all of you who own both Mezco and adventure serie Indy.
Have you ever tried to put the jacket of the Mezco on the Hasbro Indy?
Also, can the belt with holster and whip holder (Mezco pne) be removed from the pants and fit nicely on the Hasbro?
Could you take pics ?
Thank you.

 

[Wookie_Wes06]

I do have questions to all of you who own both Mezco and adventure serie Indy.
Have you ever tried to put the jacket of the Mezco on the Hasbro Indy?
Also, can the belt with holster and whip holder (Mezco pne) be removed from the pants and fit nicely on the Hasbro?
Could you take pics ?
Thank you.

My mezco Toht shipped. As far as putting the jacket on the Hasbro? It's probably too large. The Mezco tend to scale a bit larger than your 6" legends/adventure series. As far as the whip and holster? Also may be a bit large to use the coiled one. However I have seen the uncoiled action whips used with the hasbro and they look solid. So the coiled whips may look ok on the Hasbro. You can also use the uncoiled whips that come with the hasbro and coil them up and glue them and paint them a darker color too.

 

[Wookie_Wes06]

My Mezco Toht arrived today. I have some thoughts and photos I can share!





Extended thoughts...

  Spoiler:  

Funny enough, I preordered Toht after the Mezco Indy, and he arrived first. I am still waiting on Indy. Anyway, he arrived today and marks the first ever Mezco figure I have added to the collection.

To start, the box is great. I know you don't buy a figure for the packaging, but the artwork on the front is great. They use each side of the box to showcase different pieces of art featuring the ark, the spectre, and Toht's melting face. The figure comes in a series of trays so each of the components is secured.

I haven't included the top tray photo as it's the figure, hands and heads which I show in their own photos. The bottom two trays have the ark, spectre, stand, a plastic bag and mezco stand.

The figure itself is pretty nice. He is a bit larger than the Hasbro (see comparison at the end). The soft goods generally look ok on him. The pinstriping on his suit is nice and he definitely looks his best in the suit. And that's a pretty big caveat here which I will get into in a bit.
He comes with a pair of gloved hands, a few bare hands including ones that have the burn mark. One of these can hold the headpiece. He also has a pair of melting hands, and 3 alternate heads, and the red hot poker.

He also comes with a luger and several pairs of glasses. Two of these have detail on the lenses. One pair has a "cracked" lens and the other has red lenses for his "meltdown".

The headsculpts just look great. Again I loved what Hasbro did with the alternate head for Toht, but these are on another level. The skeletal nature of the final head sculpt is just super graphic and I love it.

The jacket...is frankly terrible. I could not get it to hang on his shoulders at all. There is a bendy wire at the back of his jacket (You can see that I just wrapped it around in front. so if you are wondering why, that's why). I don't know if it needs broken in or what, but it just does not work well at all. I feel like they needed to actually make the jacket a bit larger I don't know. And that is one case where the bulkier nature of soft goods would actually work to Toht's benefit. Maybe someone will come up with a custom solution. They shouldn't have too, at this price but this is where this figure falls short imo. I've seen other folks unboxings who have said the same.

One of the other reasons that makes this set worth picking up however is the ark. It is in larger scale compared to the Hasbro (and if you have the Hasbro, Scott has you covered with his custom Indy stuff if you want a spectre). This ark has a sculpted interior to look like sand but it lights up with the included 3 xAAA batteries. And boy is it bright! You can get some great lighting on Toht and the spectre. One thing I noticed though is it will actually be difficult to get Toht and the Spectre in the same shot because of the way the film was shot? you kind of only see the spectre before it cuts to show Toht and company. Trying to get them both in you will either have the back of the spectre in view, or the back of Toht. So you may need a 360 degree viewing or side shot to get them both in the shot. Still it makes for a great display piece.

So is Toht worth picking up? If you like Indiana Jones I think there is enough here to warrant it, as long as you are aware that the jacket isn't great. There may be custom options down the road but it's hard to tell. If that is a deal breaker for you then, that is understandable. I did as per a youtube comment on Geek Figure Fan's video try the Hasbro Toht jacket on the Mezco. It kind of...works despite the hasbro scaling slightly smaller.

• Great likeness to Ron Lacey
• the soft goods are detailed and don't look too bulky. They do restrict articulation quite a bit. His suit fits pretty tight so you have to be careful in not stressing the fabric too much. But as Geek Figure Fan said, it's toht, he's not superman. So you probably aren't going to be putting him in jumping poses, or doing splits.
• The jacket is a disappointment. I saw it where they put the jacket on him at the con and it looked weird. But it won't even hang on his shoulders all that well.
• the ark, spectre, alternate heads all look great.

I do have questions to all of you who own both Mezco and adventure serie Indy.
Have you ever tried to put the jacket of the Mezco on the Hasbro Indy?
Also, can the belt with holster and whip holder (Mezco pne) be removed from the pants and fit nicely on the Hasbro?
Could you take pics ?
Thank you.

I have not tried the Mezco Jacket on the hasbro. if I get a chance I can give it a shot. I did try the hasbro jacket on the Mezco though. The jacket just doesn't sit well on Toht's shoulders.

 

[Wookie_Wes06]

After many months of waiting (and then some)...the Mezco Indy finally arrived. I figured I would share my thoughts here.

First The box is great. You don't buy a figure for the box, but it has great artwork from the one sheet on the front. (We will come back to the box in a bit though).

First the soft goods look decent and he comes with more accessories than you can shake a whip at. The torch and darts are nice. And the spider and cobweb overlay is neat, though arguably would be more fitting on a Satipo. The soft goods are also where a few problems arise.

• They don't look too bulky and are fitted pretty well. The jacket is a bit tight in the shoulders so care has to be taken in posing so you don't stretch the fabric. The pleather like material is already going to be somewhat delicate and care will be needed to avoid high temperatures and direct sunlight.
• While the soft goods are well fitted they also are not as forgiving in posing as the box would have you believe. The picture on the back has Indy with his sleeves up to the elbow. Forget it, you can't do it. The sleeve is too tight on his arm and the best you can do is up to the forearm.
• The gunbelt looks ok but, while it has a snap? It can't be fastened and as a result it just looks unfinished. You can put the gun in the holster but you can't close it with the gun in it. So it ends up looking like his gun is gone and the only way it makes sense is if you display him holding the gun. You can't hide it with the jacket either because (to answer @French_Sidious you cannot remove the belt. It is stitched in place. So you can't render the belt around and it's off center.
• Satchel looks great and does scale pretty well with the hasbro. May be a tad big, but it can work. The jacket can probably be put on the hasbro but may look a bit bulky like the jacket shortround came with. The whips both coiled and uncoiled can be used with the hasbro and they do look great. They do not bend, so don't try that or they will break.

The likeness is one area where the Mezco falls a bit short. I do think the slight smirk kind of looks like him, it's close but I think the likeness isn't really capturing Ford. Maybe his stunt double? It's serviceable and I do appreciate having options and the hair and hat can be swapped freely.

The plinth is heavy and a notable improvement over the hasbro. Though I do admit I like the simple but effective functionality of the hasbro plinth so you can display it up or down.

Overall the Mezco isn't perfect but is still a worthwhile collectible if you keep in mind some of it's limitations in mind. Is there one you should get over the other? Well that depends on you. Some folks may choose to get all three. If you want a range of characters that broadly represents the films? The Adventure Series while having some gaps will serve you well. If you are wanting just a single Indy figure? The Mezco is pricey and may be hard to find. The SHF however sits comfortably between the two and offers a decent likeness and satchel full of accessories.

 

[French_Sidious]

Thank you for your review.
I bought from ebay whips, belt and jacket from the Mezco as I wanted to make the "ultimate" indy fig by mixing multiple figs and accessories (without repainting it).
I agree with you on almost everything you said.
The whips allow great poses and it is shamefull that the holster can close.
I use a little patafix to fix the problem.
I tried to put the jacket on the Hasbro.
It does not fit perfecty mainly because it is too tight on the elbow and you can move the arms without fearing to turn the jacket appart.
I change the head and put the SGH’s head.