To be quite honest, I haven’t really been much of a fan of the Man of Steel merchandise that has been hitting retail recently. A few weeks ago I saw the first few 3.75″ figures appear, and they were just not for me. This weekend I was doing some driving so I stopped into every Walmart on the way and I finally found the Man Of Steel Movie Masters 6 inch figures from Mattel. I must have missed the first wave of these guys because I seem to have already found part of wave 2 with the Man Of Steel Movie Masters General Zod In Kryptonian Armor Figure. There was no sign of Faora though.
General Zod in Kryptonian Armor was just so damn cool that I also decided that I would pick up Superman, which I’ll be doing a review on shortly. A quick comparison of the Zod in pajamas and Zod in his Kryptonian armor made it too easy for me to pass on the Zod in pajamas figure from wave 1. The Kryptonian armor is awesome. Let’s take a look in a full-blown review of him.
Packaging
General Zod comes packaged in a blister card package, which is shaped like the Superman symbol. The front of the packaging is labeled “Adult Collector” because these figures are supposed to be made with “supreme quality” as the back of the packaging says. They really are pretty great. The blister shows off the figure and the accessories pretty well, allowing for you to examine the paint job of the figure before you purchase it in the store.
The back of the packaging gives you a bio for General Zod and also tells you a little bit about the Movie Master series. Pictured to the side of the text are some of the other figures that you can collect. The only difference on General Zod’s packaging is that Faora is now pictured because she is also part of wave 2.
Sculpt
The head sculpt is different from the wave 1 Zod. I think that this version of his head makes him look like more of a badass. Now he has a goatee and I’ll just assume for now that it’s what he looks like in the movie.
Zod’s cape is jagged on the outside, giving it a torn appearance. His armor is what really stood out on the peg in the store, and ultimately what convinced me to pick up Superman and him. It is well sculpted and has a ton of details. His helmet fits on tight and has a rubbery inside so that it stays tight on his head without falling off.
Apart from his helmet, Zod also comes with a figure stand with 1 peg on it. It is more than enough for getting some deeper poses out of the figure and I’m really glad that Mattel included stands with these figures. Figures with capes can be very difficult to pose.
Paint
The paint on Zod’s armor really makes him shine. It’s not perfect, but it’s still pretty good. The armor was cast in black plastic and then brushed with silver paint. It’s really hard to appreciate the paint job until you actually have the figure in your hands.
There are a couple of spots where there is some slop, but that is to be expected at this scale.
Articulation
Since General Zod has some pretty bulky armor, you can expect that his articulation is going to be hindered a little bit. Let’s go over his points of articulation and then talk about the limitations. He has:
- Ball joint neck
- Ball joint shoulders
- Swivel biceps
- Hinge elbows
- Swivel wrists
- Swivel waist
- Swivel/hinge style hips
- Swivel thighs
- Hinge knees
- Hinge ankles
The articulation is similar to what DCUC figures have, minus the ab-crunch. You can get his arms above his head if you raise his arms at the front of his body. If you try to do it at his sides, his shoulder armor will get in the way.
His hips are really limited because of the utility belt that is sculpted to his hips. You can force his hips to move through the belt, but it is kind of hard because the belt is made of a pretty thick rubbery plastic. It doesn’t completely destroy his articulation, but it is something that will be frustrating with deeper poses.
Overall
If you are looking to get some Man of Steel figures, then Mattel’s Movie Masters series is a good place to start. These figures retail for about $16 – $20, which is a little bit high for 6″ figures, though they are really well made. If you can get over the price point you will be very satisfied.
If you aren’t a completest, then I would get General Zod In Kryptonian Armor (this figure) rather than the wave 1 version of him in pajamas.
Ordering
UPDATE: If you are interested in ordering the Man Of Steel Movie Masters General Zod In Kryptonian Armor Figure, you can still get one through Entertainment Earth. Or, you can hop on eBay and see if you can find a sweet deal on this armored General Zod action figure.
i saw a general zod at target without the cool armor. just some black tights. wasnt impressed. but this one looks pretty sweet!
The one with the black tights is the one that I was referring to as the one in pajamas… He just looks ridiculous.
lol, i get it now, zod in footie pajamas
yes!
Mehh… I don’t think anyone really reads the “Adult Collector” label. Last night when I decided to stop at Walmart to check out if they had any new MLP Merchandise, I saw a little boy running around the aisle grabbing the superman and putting it in his mother’s shopping cart then begging for it. I saw the same thing with the Dark Knight Rises Movie Masters…
I think that the “Adult Collector” label is more just there to tell the consumer that the figures are more collector friendly. Meaning that they have better articulation and paint, which many collectors are looking for.
that’s a cool fig. been looking out for him, but haven’t seen him. actually if i see the movie masters at all, it’s generally just Supes.
like the pics, too!
I had a hard time finding the Movie Masters as well. When I finally found them it was already wave 2. Recently though, I have found wave 2 in every Walmart around me. That’s saying a lot too because the Walmart close to me never gets any half decent figures.
awwww…yea! i got ‘im! found him at Walmart of all places!
Nice! Don’t the paint apps look way better than the pictures show?
yea. he’s one of those figures that actually looks better than the production shots.