I’ve got a fever — actually, make that TWO fevers. After seeing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 this past weekend, I’ve got Star-Lord, Yondu, and the whole crew on my mind something fierce. And last week, after getting Mezco’s One:12 Collective Captain Marvel (Shazam!), I was reminded of how much I truly do like and appreciate Mezco’s soft-goods take on comic book heroes. So right now, for me, the best thing in the world would be to see these two predilections intersect by way of a One:12 Collective Star-Lord. And it could totally work. Right now, the Guardians, led by Peter Quill, AKA Star-Lord, are a hot ticket. The movie raked in $146 million over its opening weekend, so it seems much of the free world was reminded of how much we love this unlikely crew of ad-hoc heroes. And with Star-Lord’s popularity as the crew’s defacto leader, seeing a Star-Lord announced for the One:12 Collective line would be a high-five from the universe. Since Mezco is fond of releasing different versions of popular characters (like Captain America and Daredevi, for instance), there are a few variations of Star-Lord we’ve seen over the years that would be a perfect fit for Mezco’s release model.
The best place to start would be with Star-Lord’s modern look, which is very similar to his cinematic counterpart in terms of costume design. Despite how long the character has been around, this is the version most are familiar with, thanks in no small part to the blockbuster movies. The costume would be a perfect fit for Mezco’s soft-goods approach. There would be a reddish overcoat, like they’ve done in the past with Hellboy and the upcoming Knightmare Batman and Logan figures. Underneath that there would be a grey t-shirt and some blue pants. The pants wouldn’t necessarily be spandex; they could be a material similar to what Mezco used for their modern Captain America, which was a more “pants-like” material rather than spandex, if that makes any sense. After that, we just need some sculpted boots that the pants would tuck into, and then the usual swappable hands and head sculpts. His accessories could be his blasters and the bag he slings over his shoulder — easy!
Since Mezco hasn’t necessarily been going for actor likenesses unless they’re releasing actual movie-inspired figures, they could sculpt a helmetless head with some messy blonde hair as a nod to how he’s often been depicted in the comics. They did a good job with Steve Rogers’ head in that it looks like Steve but also has a generic quality to it, so this could be along those same lines.
For other variations, like a PX Exclusive or even a con exclusive, there have been a few different versions of Star-Lord over the years that should be easy to choose from. I think the obvious go-to would be the one in the center of the above pic. We’ve seen that uniform released in Hasbro’s Marvel Legends line, and it would be a solid candidate for the One:12 treatment as well. There are even variations of just that costume too — we could go with the red trim above, or we could go with the white trim below:
Either way, this version of Star-Lord would probably do very well as an alternate release along with the more standard and, at this point, more familiar version with the overcoat. And if Mezco wanted to get really adventurous, they could go with an early, first appearance look for Star-Lord, like in that first pic in the series above or like this one:
I mean, it almost comes across as a completely different character. This Star-Lord definitely has a John Carter or a Captain Kirk quality to him (could be just because of the damsel wrapped around his leg), but it’s an important aspect of the character’s development and would be a massive nod to the fans of the comics if this version of Star-Lord were to ever see the light of day in a premium line like One:12 Collective.
I know Mezco has been rolling out the Marvel One:12 Collective offerings slowly, and they’ve so far been sticking to the mega heavy-hitters like Deadpool, Wolverine, and Spider-Man, but I’m willing to argue that Star-Lord is just as heavy a hitter at this point and would be at home among the major “faces” of Marvel. He’d be an awesome addition to the line.
So this could be my key hope in terms of Mezco reveals at this year’s SDCC. What say you, though? How would you feel about a One:12 Collective Star-Lord? Sound off below!