On April 15th, you will have the opportunity to close out your classic 1977 Superman action figure collection on Matty Collector. In what is being described as “the third figure in a series of three”, the 12 inch figure of the Gene Hackman Lex Luthor is going up for sale; the good news for those that have waited to buy into this line, you can also pick up the previous two figures, Zod and Superman himself on that same day. It will be like a wash of Donner nostalgia for many that regard the Reeve Superman film as the best non-comic representation of the character. We have had the chance to show you Superman, now check out him most famous nemesis – Lex Luthor.
You know what makes a figure infinitely more awesome? Assorted hair pieces. Yep. Better still? Assorted 1970s hair pieces. Our normally follicle-challenged Lex Luthor comes with four of them. Leave it to me to focus on this, but the inclusion of these pieces is enough to get me to want to thank then design staff for nod. In fact, I think I am going to set a re- occurring calendar reminder on my phone so I can change his hair daily because no matter how bad of a day you have, knowing that you have a Lex Luthor figure with various toupees should be enough to make you giggle with geeky glee.
There are, of course, other aspects of the figure, but I am going to let the pictures do most of the talking. Like Superman and Zod before him, Lex comes with a variety of accessories (in addition to the hair) and multiple sets of hands. He has his all-important chain of Kryptonite as well as an unadorned figure stand, similar to the previous inclusions.
Lex is mostly constructed of the same 12 inch body that Mattel developed in-house for their 1:6 figures (including the Ghostbusters) so if you own any of the previous Superman movie or Ghostbusters figures, you know what you are getting. I have to admit, that aside from those mentioned just now, I do not own any other 1:6 figures so I don’t really have a base of comparison to judge the merits, but the Mattel body has tons of functional articulation points and Lex can get into any pose that would be appropriate for his character. At least I should think.
His outfit is made entirely out of cloth and it is delightfully tacky in its 30+ year glory. I certainly do not have any other figures with a cloth plaid suit on my shelf so, at the very least, he is sure to stand out. All of the pieces are well constructed and fit the figure well. I know that outfits are a real benchmark when considering figures of this scale so if I were to compare this outfit from what I have seen from figures that carry price tags of double, triple or even more than the $60.00 you will have spend to get Lex, I think it is a good value. I know that there are some insane details that are included in figures from Hot Toys and the like, but I don’t feel like I was cheated out of anything in this Lex figure. The price of all action figures (especially those designated as “collector” oriented) is constantly on the increase so these days, 60 bucks is actually a really good deal for a figure of this scale, accessories and all.
Finally, the likeness to Hackman is pretty good here, at least on par with the two previous figures from this line. The one place I would have liked Mattel to spend more money on (and the deferred cost to the end consumer would probably be worth it) is the paint applications on the face. Like the Chris Reeve Superman before, I think the sculpted likeness to Mr, French Connection here is actually really good, but due to missing paint detail, they subtle things are not brought out as much as they could be. I do like that they went with a neutral expression (a trend in this line) even though Lex ranted and raved his fair share in the movie. The look of the figure actually changes dramatically depending on what hairdo you choose for him (kind of the point, right?) so I think Mattel deserves some kudos in that regard. The funny thing is that I feel the resemblance to Gene Hackman is stronger than my perceived likeness to Lex Luthor. What I mean by that is I am so used to seeing Gene Hackman with hair, and the “wavy” do is pretty accurate to his normal look from his most prolific decade of movie-making, I see Gene Hackman on the shelf. He really could be anyone from any of his movie roles to me. I think that speaks to the likeness somewhat, but also to the fact that he always looked like bald Gene Hackman to me in the Superman movie, rather than Lex himself. I am not sure if that even makes any sense but it is most likely a personal issue with me…
Anyway, I think I like this Lex figure the most out of all of the Superman movie figures released by Mattel. Since they do note that he will be the last figure in the series (would have been cool to get Brando’s Jor-El too) it makes for a nice bookend to the line. I wonder what plans (if any) Mattel has for any future 1977 movie figure plans. We all know that Supes is getting a filmic reboot with Zac Snyder so I am sure Mattel will have their hands full with a full support of that movie over the next several months. Enjoy playing “70s hip styles with Lex” after you login to Matty Collector on the 15th.
*Thanks to Toy Guru and crew from making us all want such hip hairdos and quaff versatility! You know you are jealous of your toys.
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