So now I live in a world where a high-quality, collector-grade action figure of Freddie Mercury exists. And people say the world just keeps getting worse. Well, so long as there are things like this, one day can be counted as better than the last because let me tell you, this offering from Bandai is KILLER. It’s a Killer Queen (member) actually, and no matter how you slice it, it is Dynamite with a laser beam, guaranteed to blow your mind. Anytime.
Yes, yes – I could regurgitate song lyrics for the distance of this review, but I am going to try to spare you as much as possible, though I might not be able to resist every opportunity. If you have been reading this site lately, you know that just about all of us are 100 percent bought into what Bandai is doing with their S.H. Figuarts line, especially with the Star Wars property. However, there have been a few things here and there that cause us to go outside of our normal wheelhouse in terms of subject matter, but while we have not had a lot of Queen coverage up to this point, there was no way I was going to let this figure go by without featuring it. To be fair, it is not like there has been a ton of Queen action figures produced (especially at “our” scale), and after the release of this Freddie Mercury, I don’t see the need for another any time soon.
Frankly, I love Freddie Mercury. There are few people who have spent time on this planet who accelerated more at what they were meant to do than him. Freddie Mercury was meant to be the lead singer of one of the biggest rock and roll acts of all time, and he was meant to be (arguably) the era’s biggest and most engaging showman. While his time on Earth was far too short, he certainly made the most of it, and, to this day, big time musical acts attempt to mimic him, especially with his stage presence. I was too young to appreciate him when he was still alive, but there is no denying the talent of a man who was so full of life, especially since he had the musical abilities to back up his theatrics. Anyone who takes a stage in front of a band wants to be, at least in part, something like Freddie Mercury.
So, as humans, we continue to pay tribute to the man by enjoying his timeless music, watching videos, and looking at pictures of his biggest performances while wondering if anyone will ever come close to being like Freddie Mercury. As action figure collectors, we extend that tribute to being able to keep a plastic idol of him on our shelves, so when this figure arrived late last week, I was pretty over the moon. The subject matter is obviously great, but this figure might be the best one I have gotten from Bandai yet.
I can mostly make the comparison to past figures via the S.H. Figuarts Star Wars figures, and in terms of quality and likeness, this Freddie figure ranks up there with the best of them. All of the impressive articulation that we have come to expect from this execution is there and accomplished very well. The detailing is amazing, especially for this scale, and the paint/likeness work is on par or better than the work done on the Obi-Wan Kenobi figure, and this figure actually works out a couple of nitpicks I have had in the past. So to say that I really love this figure, and that I am having a great time with it is, well, an understatement. It becomes increasingly difficult to talk about this figure since so much just comes off as heaped-on praise, but I knew I was getting carried away when I had snapped about 75 pictures of this guy without even realizing it.
Since that is the case, I am going to make that work for me as much as possible, and hopefully the pictures will do the job in telling the story of this figure. I have a couple of things to highlight because I think that they are important, but needless to say, if you want a great action figure of Freddie Mercury in one of his most iconic looks (Webley Stadium, 1986), you will want to buy this. If you are already convinced, you can do so HERE. If you did just order and you have decided you don’t need to proceed with reading any more, I completely understand. Please enjoy your figure.
If you are still here, I want to highlight some of the important things that come with this figure, so thanks for sticking with me. I will be quick and to the point about it, so this won’t take much longer, especially since you can probably already see most of what I am going to mention. First the “printed” likeness to Mercury, along with the overall sculpt work on all three of the interchangeable heads is really superb. I have held the Kenobi/McGregor likeness in the highest esteem thus far, but Freddie is every bit as good, if not better.
Additionally, if you have read my previous Figuarts features, you know that one of my biggest points of concern for these figures has been the swappable hands. Don’t get me wrong, I love them, but often times the pegs are extremely small, and both those and the hands are made of a relatively hard plastic, so swapping can be a difficult and scary endeavor. I am not about to line up to break a $50 figure just so I can change out a hand. Well, this figure improves on BOTH of those concerns, and, frankly, that comes as a serious relief. The pegs are bigger, so they do not seem as fragile, and the plastic in the hands is also slightly softer, so the be changed out a lot easier than before. When you compare Mercury to Maul, there really is no comparison, so I REALLY appreciate these improvements. I took a lot more pictures, and did a lot more posing with this figure because it was easier to do, and it makes me appreciate the quality and functionality even more.
Past these points, the figure just continues the tradition of Bandai finding new and old ways to impress me. The details are all great, and seeing Freddie in the iconic yellow coat and white pants is really fun; oh, and his shoes, while not bearing the actual Adidas logo, DO have sculpted soles, and that is always a fun detail for me. The faces, hands, and two microphones all work together to make this figure look like it is actually singing, so doing a quick image search of that performance from 1986 will offer you countless pose options, and you will be hard-pressed to keep him in one formation for very long.
What a fun figure! Sure, he stands out as a bit of an anomaly since I don’t have a ton of musical personalities on my shelf, but he will be happy to keep Devo, Iggy Pop, and some others company. This figure is iconic and a fantastic tribute and representation to and of Freddie Mercury, so if you are a music fan, figure fan, or both (lucky me!), you will not want to miss this. The figure makes me want Bandai to take on more musical acts as well, so I feel a Top Ten coming on. Freddie is out in Japan now, and he will be hitting the States by the end of the month – do NOT miss out on this tour!
Oh, but while you wait, enjoy:
