“In country, we used white phosphorous grenades. Willy Peter when you screamed the order. The wounds would have to be de-seeded by the corpsmen or else some splinter-riddled prisoner might re-ignite aboard a Huey. The dream clung to me, that morning. I only know one way to kill it.”
Mezco has finally arrived at the Marvel character that I feel makes the best case for this line. The Punisher.
There is so much to say, yet so much of it is unnecessary. If looks could kill, we’d be done for. Frank Castle is done here in what you could consider his truest form, with no Franken-parts, no angelic armory, and no superhero trappings. This is a guy in black BDUs with black boots, some combat gloves, a custom plate carrier, and a face that tells the entire story and pulls no punches. This is the Frank Castle I know. I feel like the aged and ragged appearance put him in the origin I love best, out of the jungles of Vietnam. Frank looks old beyond his years, with features carved out of stone. The options on the head sculpts go from stoic to battered to bloodlust — and they are all fantastic. The only thing I could offer as a suggestion here would be maybe a Tom Jane or Jon Bernthal option down the road, just for some cinematic fun. But for comic Punisher? this is the last set of head sculpts I will ever need.
As a base, Punisher is essentially Commander Rogers. He has the same boots, same build, and similar, but slightly different, sculpted hands. This is a base that clearly was built with these guys in mind, and it looks as good on Frank as it does on Steve, maybe even a little better. His black BDU shirt and pants are actually one piece, but it looks pretty natural, even without the plate carrier and belt covering it. Like Commander Rogers, the ankle joints are a little more giving than some previous figures. It’s not perfect, but we’re getting there. For hands, Frank has the necessary trigger and holding hands, fists, and palms, and an interesting palm-strike hand that I really like. Also borrowed from Rogers is his fighting knife. I actually like it enough that I’m shopping for a real-world equivalent.
He also makes use of the same sheath, though the belt is new. And while I do like it, that brings up my only complaint about this Punisher: not one holster?? It’s hard to complain, especially with all the goodies we get, but that one’s a little strange.
From there on out, though, everything we get here with the Punisher is new and unique.
And it’s a little hard to keep in mind, but this is the standard version. Included here we get a battle rifle, sidearm, SMG, and grenade launcher. Each comes with an extra magazine, or in the case of the launcher, six 40mm rounds.
Frank’s battle rifle is what I would call this generically a 5.56 “Recce” rifle, since it has a free-floating forend, presumably a magnified optic, and a side-folder style stock. It looks like a combination of real-world elements, like some HK stylings — like the diopter rear sight and the cosmetics, AR-15-style ejector port and dust cover, and even has Magpul-style removable magazines! It reminds me overall a lot of the Magpul Masada/Bushmaster ACR rifle. Whatever it’s true pedigree is, it looks sufficiently realistic to feel at home in Punisher’s hands.
A surprise addition to this already solid loadout is the fire-effect piece. It is molded in semi-translucent plastic and even has a bullet leading out of the muzzle flash. It fits in all of the gun barrels very nicely, and again, was a total surprise to me.
His sidearm is much easier to identify — a 1911A1 pistol with a chrome comp (or muzzle brake), much like the ones from the Tom Jane movie. Everything is done in perfect detail, even the stipling of the grips, and the hammer and beavertail safety are fully recognizable.
And the fact you can slam home a magazine and rock the damn slide back? Ohhhh baby. See, THIS kind of thing is why we need Knightmare Batman — he would also come with a 1911, and a SCAR-L, and then we’d have even more weapons!
As it is, well, hell — I had to buy two. And that picture alone makes it worth it.
Next we have the MP5 SMG. Something we see with some regularity these days, but, man, did Mezco nail it. The size of the MP5 is kind of tricky, they tend to look smaller than they should in figure’s hands. But this “pistol” version is just about right, with the shorter barrel and no buttstock because these chopped versions are really just that — big select-fire pistols. The foregrip makes it a very easy gun to get into Punisher’s hands for a good pose, but again, what really kicks ass is giving him two.
Like the other two, the MP5’s mags are also removable, and on these it’s particularly nice, since they stick in the magwell very securely.
Lastly, Frank comes with a Mikor 40mm launcher. This is actually the second 40Mike-Mike we’ve gotten from Mezco, the first being that sleek FN that Armored Batman comes with. This one is a lot more utilitarian, with a better capacity, and a nice pivoting stock.
It can be loaded by turning the grip out to the side, not unlike the real thing, actually, and you can drop six of the HEDP (high explosive dual purpose) rounds into the cylinder.
It doesn’t quite pose as nice as the other three, but then again, it is a 40MM — having one is the first step to winning a fight.
It really comes down to this: Whether you grab this standard version, order the deluxe, or wait for the classic exclusive, this is the Punisher you need. I know a lot of folks were very pleased with that Walgreens Legends one last year, but THIS is the real deal. You may end up like me and find yourself needing a few. But the main takeaway from this specific review is, even as a standard release, you still get a lot for your money here, and is definitely worth the purchase, especially if you don’t want to spring for the other two. And not that I needed much encouragement, but now I definitely need more Mezco figures that come with excellent guns. Save Knightmare Batman!