Way back in 1973 Spider-Man made his debut in Mego’s “World’s Greatest Super-Heroes” line, a line of action figures outfitted in soft-goods costumes along with, in Spidey’s case, a plastic mask/head. For its time, that Mego figure was incredible, but the jarring contrast of fabric costume and plastic mask was one of that figure’s stylistic shortfalls, so when Mezco announced they had plans for a Spider-Man in their One:12 Collective line, my cheif concern was how they were going to approach the costume-to-mask issue. Have they surpassed Mego’s classic attempt? Let’s take a look!Spidey’s packaging is in line with the newer, more simplified Mezco One:12 packaging. The outer sheath is character specific, while the interior tray and box are pretty uniform. It’s not the most eye-catching design, but it does the job. Included are the usual array of extra hands, a swappable head, a stand, display stand attachments, and the same magnetic stand piece that came with Miles.
At a glance, it is clear this figure is what the old Mego figure dreamed of being. He looks great, and Mezco was able to better integrate the plastic mask by pairing it with what feels like a vinyl overlay for the red bits of his costume. The colors are about a 99 percent match, and a difference is only there when you’re really looking for it. Light tends to catch the fabric lines that lay beneath the red, so you do need to grant the transition certain allowances. It does look great when observed from a reasonable distance.
His second head is a classic first-appearance look. The eyes are squinty and very “1970s.” I like it and have fond memories of it, but I do prefer the big white eyes that took root in the ’80s.
His shoes have an “athletic trainer” quality to them. They look like space-age running shoes. It’s actually kind of cool and makes more sense to me than pajama footies.
Posing is easy and smooth, and the costume does not hinder his movement at all. More range of movement in his ankles would be appreciated, but I’ve learned to work with what we’re given with One:12 ankles.
The best accessories are the webs. They attach easily and look very comic accurate. You get a few different lengths and styles, and some can be used with your Marvel Legends figures as well.
His stand is designed to match the logo on his back, which I think is a nice touch. Again, there is something about this that strikes me as being very “1970s,” so I love it.
His general size works well with most 1:12 figures. It’s a slim build that does suggest “tall teenager.” Maybe not as slim as the average Marvel Legends Spidey, but still. My biggest nit when looking at any group pics like the one below is the blue of his costume — I would definitely prefer a lighter shade of blue, but that is purely personal preference. The blue we got does complement the red nicely.
Overall, this is a solid Spider-Man figure, and it hits lots of nostalgia spots for me since the original Mego Spidey was one of my earliest “favorite toys.” Handling the soft goods here brings back a flood of memories. But it’s not all nostalgia that makes this figure work — Mezco came up with a clever solution that works for his costume, so I am definitely impressed. I passed on Deadpool because I didn’t like the costume-to-mask material discrepancy, but here it works. Recommended.
