Several weeks ago we asked you what you thought the best toy for 2011 was. We got many varied responses, but the one response that seemed to come up more than any other was Hot Toys’ new 1/6th scale Superman Movie Masterpiece Christopher Reeve figure.
Because so many readers chose this figure as the best of 2011, we decided to take a closer look at it for ourselves to see if it truly is worthy to be named figure of the year.
The packaging for this figure is very impressive. It comes in a large outer brown cardboard-type box which opens to reveal another box. The inner box is shaped and colored to look like the ‘S’ shield seen on Superman’s costume. A second cardboard piece can be used as a display stand for the ‘S’ Shield box.
The top of the ‘S’ Shield box lifts up and off to reveal the inside contents which are covered with a see-through plastic cover. If you wanted to keep your figure in the packaging but still wanted to see it, you could display the box with just the plastic cover.
Getting the figure and accessories out of the plastic inserts is fairly simple, however the cape on my particular figure seemed to get rather wrinkled in the package.
For accessories, the figure comes with two sets of extra hands besides the pair already on the figure. There is a pair of close-fisted hands, partly opened hands and fully open with fingers extended completely for the full in-flight effect. An extra pair of connectors to connect the hands with the figure’s wrists also is provided.
The regular figure stand says Superman The Movie and the figure’s name “Superman” on it. A more deluxe looking stand is made to resemble Superman’s Fortress of Solitude. You have to assemble this one by placing the the crystal-looking pieces into the base which sounds easier than it really is. Unfortunately (at least with mine), the plastic pieces don’t fit very tightly into the base so as you try to put one in, another tends to fall out. Even once you get them all in, you had to be careful that one or all of them don’t fall out. The base is a nice idea and looks cool especially with some nice lighting, but it didn’t seem to be made very well which was a little disappointing with a high-end product like this.
The figure itself comes fully assembled. All you have to do is remove it from the plastic insert. As I mentioned before, the cloth cape got a bit wrinkled, so you may want to iron it if you are proficient at that sort of thing. Otherwise, the figure basically is ready to go.
The detail of the figure is pretty incredible. Based on actor Christopher Reeves’ portrayal of Superman from the 1978 movie, the likeness of the head sculpt to Reeves is incredible. This is truly the thing that makes this figure shine above any other. I never thought a figure could look so life-like until I saw this one in person. You would probably need to go to a Madame Tussaud’s to have a hope of seeing a more life-like representation of a character like this. My hat’s off to Arnie Kim, JC. Hong and Yulli for creating a truly amazing head sculpt.
For the rest of the figure, it is pretty standard from what you would expect from Hot Toys. Multiple points of articulation including double-jointed knees and elbows, chest ab joint. The one drawback for articulation is that you can’t tilt the head that far back. I am sure this lack of movement was sacrificed for aesthetic purposes, and I probably agree with that decision. However, it does limit the positions for the head when doing flight poses.
The costume is all cloth except for the boots, the belt, and the emblem on his chest which seems to use a soft leather-type material. The costume has a zipper in the back and the belt (with some effort) can be removed, but overall the costume doesn’t really seem to have been made to be removable. You can detach the boots from the figure’s legs but there are no actual feet in the boots. A nice touch would have been a suit so you could transform your Superman into Clark Kent.
The biggest drawback for this figure is cost. It will likely run you between $200 and $250 to buy this one in the US. Of course, another bonus is that Hot Toys donated a portion of this collectible figure's sales to the Christopher & Dana Reeves Foundation. The Reeves Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to curing spinal cord injury by funding innovative research.
When it comes down to it, this figure is a great display piece. There aren’t a lot of accessories or features to go along with it (like you find with many Hot Toy figures), so basically what you’re paying for here is a figure that looks incredibly like Christopher Reeves.
If you are a Superman fan or more specifically a fan of the Christopher Reeve era Superman, then this one is a must own for you. For the head sculpt alone, we think this figure does in fact make a good choice for TNI’s 2011 Toy Of The Year.
Check out our
GALLERY of detailed images for this figure below and let us know what you think of it.
Appearance 10/10
Features 8/10
Playability 10/10
Articulation 9/10
Fun Factor 8/10
Final Judgment 45/50
