A review of Mezco’s Catwoman – Purple Suit Variant figure from their One:12 Collective!

[wp-review id=”102832″] Catwoman is one of the fan favorites of the Batman Universe and Mezco released a version with her in a black costume a little while back. They have released a Purple-Suited Variant for Batman Day 2018. The purple is in homage to the suit that the character wore in Tim Sale’s rendition of the character. She is a part of the One:12 Collective and looks pretty dope.

PACKAGING:

The box is essentially the mirror image of the black costumed version. It is a purple-magenta with the writing being black. It has the same labeling as the other but with the Mezco Exclusive Golden Sticker. The font is still in that style from THE GOONIES. The sides are black and it has the cat with the reddish-orange eyes. The image on the back is done by the late, great Darwyn Cooke but in the purple to show off the suit. This might be one of my favorite uses of art from Mezco to date.

LIKENESS:

She comes with three heads: two are with her head cover or eared-hood up and the other has her head uncovered completely. One of her heads has an angry face like one that you can use in action poses or just making her look aggressive. The other covered head is the portrayal of her personality. She has that snarky face that is the sly cat in her. You can use the provided goggles over her eyes or relaxed on her forehead. The one with her head out completely is good for having some variety and posing her with other characters like Bruce Wayne. Her hair is nicely sculpted and she is a brunette with some lighter colors for a natural look. Her lipstick is black and it makes a nice contrast to the purple.
Her overall facial design is very comic book-like but it fits with the other DC characters in the One: 12 Collective. It is also very constant between all three. Her skin tone has a tanned look and not as, well, pasty as Deathstroke. Her catsuit is skintight like in pretty much every iteration of her aside from the early comics where she had a skirt or the literal Tim Sale catsuit. This gives her a stealthy look and nothing hangs, allowing her to get into places without alerting anyone. The design of it makes it look like there are some patterns on it and not just one solid piece of material. The design lines are black with a choker around her neck and a grey stripe up her sternum for a “zipper”. Because of the color of the suit, the stitching stands out on this version than the black. It is thick and can be seen from end to end. As for her boots, they are mid-calf and look like they have straps as well as laces. There are 4 painted buckles on each boot and are segmented at the ankle for movement. Now, something that is subtle on the black version but much more obvious here is the separations of her body underneath. Anywhere that she has a moving joint shows a definite crease.

ACCESSORIES:

She comes with a decent set of accessories: the three (3) head-sculpts, six (6) interchangeable hands, a backpack, a satchel. goggles, whip, a base stand arm for posing, the base stand with the movie logo, and a bag for the accessories. The six hands are all gloved with two clawed hands, one pointing hand, one fist, and two grabbing hands. They are on the glossy side and every one of them has her nails ready to scratch. The grabbing hands are for holding the whip and goggles. The whip being her weapon of choice, it is flexible enough for posing but if you overwork it, it may get damaged. What was silver on the hands before has more of a chrome finish to look more metallic. The backpack and satchel are removable but when it comes to the satchel, there is really is no reason to remove it once it on. You have to angle her arms back to put on the backpack and it stays in place. The pack itself is it made out of what feels like a flexible vinyl. The satchel can also open up to see the tools that she uses on the job. The tools are fixed and sculpted in plus with some silver paint to look like there are actual tools there. It is attached like a holster on her legs and waist. As I mentioned earlier, the goggles are removable and she can hold them as well. They can either sit on her eyes or rest on her forehead. A little tip for owners: It is so much easier to get the goggles on her head going from the neck up rather than trying to go from the top down. The lenses are translucent red so you can see her eyes underneath. It’s helpful to convey the emotions of her head sculpts. The base is a glossy black with what I’m going to refer to as “THE GOONIES” lettering but it has Catwoman. I might have gone with the cat logo from the side of the box but this looks good. It also has the foot peg that is removable and the clear posing arm going into that hole.

ARTICULATION:

Flexibility is not an issue here. The mesh-like catsuit and the body underneath has the double-joints at the elbows as well as the knees. (Correction: the knees aren’t double-jointed and they have the same joints as the other female releases) She is able to twist in her torso and with her sleekness, dynamic poses are easy. Her head and neck swivel naturally plus the heads are easy to swap out. The boots look like they’re solid but they swivel at the ankles. The wrists swivel in the same manners as most of the figures from this collection.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Catwoman is a nice addition to the Batman collection and the One:12 Collective overall. It shows that there is a need for female characters from the Batman universe and I would love to see a Batgirl, Batwoman, Harley, or even a Stephanie Brown Robin. Selina’s head sculpt here has a nice interpretation from the comic book version of the character, her suit design is cool, and the accessories all makes sense. She is a cool variant to the regular version and Catwoman fans should be pleased with the finished product. I like her and next to the black version, is different enough for collectors to want to own a second figure. The crease thing might be the one little bit that looks off but it is definitely not a deal breaker. The stitching is hidden if you do a forward-facing pose so side photos and views of the back are plainly seen. If you’re good with how she looks than I highly recommend picking this figure up but hurry, she is only going to be around for a limited time.

About the author

MEDIA JOURNALIST | Michael is a fanatic about all both cinema old and new. He collects anything from 1:6 Scale, 1:12 Scale, and vinyl Collectibles plus Slipcovers and Steelbooks. He loves pop culture, writing, reviewing films & collectibles, and journalism. An avid Batman, The Joker and anything comics junkie, he will also chat it up about pretty much anything. Go ahead and ask...