The Mezco Daredevil was the first Mezco figure I ever ordered. However, he was not the first I owned. I want to say Modern Cap, or BvS Batman was available at the time so I bought him, while I only PO’d Daredevil. Prior to that, I thought the entire line was ridiculous. Soft goods on a 1:12 figure?
I know some people agree with that sentiment, and prior to Daredevil, I was planted firmly in that camp. What happened? Stick with me, because this logic only works in Justcrash world.
The Netflix Daredevil series happened. I fell in love with that first season and wanted a figure to represent my fanboying. However, it didn’t seem like Hasbro was in any hurry to take advantage of its success (why wasn’t there already a figure in the pipeline? That first season had ALL KINDS of heat going into it). What was a guy to do? Then I saw the solicits for the Mezco Daredevil and thought to myself, “self, this is probably as close as you are going to get.” It straddled a line between the comic and thanks to the “Mezflair” with the shoulder pads and such, it had enough of a nod to the Netflix series that I could justify it. I was going to put him on the shelf with my Marvel legends and be done with the line.
Obviously, that didn’t happen in any meaningful way.
If you live under bridges while stealing children and candy, Daredevil has been around for decades. He’s blind and his hobbies include not seeing stuff and telling crack whores his true identity. Oh, and he’s pretty much a ninja with super-enhanced senses, sort of like a bat’s radar but better. With a lot less bat feces on the ground. Not to brag, but my home has almost no bat feces in it. Ok, I feel I am at a level of bat feces that anyone with more bat feces in their homes wouldn’t be able to afford internet. Soft targets for me to mock.
Doing this review is unique though because I’ve owned this figure since it’s release, so over a year now. How did it hold up? Let’s find out.
What’s in the Mezco Daredevil box?
There are two other variants for the Mezco Daredevil. The first is the yellow and brown (or is that marron?) uniform from his first appearance. I hate that look. Always have. The second is the all black with red highlighted Shadowlands version. I didn’t follow that period of DD, so like many figures, it holds no emotional resonance for me. However, the red one, from the original Contest of Champions in 1982 on through today, man that get’s the geek juices flowing for me. Also, gross. Juices flowing. Sure, I could backspace over it, but then you’d never know. I need boundaries.
Obviously, the flip open Mezco Daredevil box contains the figure itself, the Mezco display base and display arm, two sets of his billy clubs. One non-attached set that fits in his billy club holsters, and another connected with a wire that gives you a modicum of poseability with them. He also has five sets of hands, a really cool “Daredevil augmented senses” effect and the display piece it attaches to, and finally, a total of 3 different headsculpts. One, the standard with his mask on, another, unmasked Matt Murdock head and finally, a battle damaged masked version. The latter happens to be my favorite. Here is the rest of the accessories:
What doesn’t work with the Mezco Daredevil?
I understand what they were trying to do with the poseable wire on the billy clubs. At least for me, they just seem floppy if I am trying to get some poses I have in my head out of them. Furthermore, I feel like they should have found a way to clip the effect piece to his person somewhere. It may seem petty, but I don’t have room to use the bases and the arms. Which rules out using the effects piece as it clips to the display arm.
The Mezco Daredevil is an early One:12 figure, but his ankle articulation is slightly better than some of the more modern ones. His uniform is partially some weird pleather that makes his articulation a little limited. However, as much as I like the look of them, his shoulder pads/armor really limit movement on those appendages. Yet, I’m more worried about cracking/tearing the fabric than the figure (you can see a couple spots on the shot above). I know the articulation is there, but it’s hard to use. I have his panties in a twist and I can’t fix them, but maybe there’s a lesson to be learned there.
What works with the Mezco Daredevil?
Despite my trepidations about articulating his articulation (and checking what condition his condition was in), there is only some slight fraying that may have been there when I bought him. Each of his head sculpts and hands are beautiful. This is the type of figure I think of when I get annoyed with other Mezcos that cost the same with a fraction of the packins. I like that he has both feet in the comic world and the more armored Netflix world. Granted, more in one than the other, but it just works for me. I like the effort they put into the billy clubs, even if I have a few issues with the execution. Finally, these two additional headsculpts remain some of the best in the line.
Should you buy the Mezco Daredevil?
If you can get him, yes. He’s also a great introduction to the series if you’ve never bought one. I consider him to be one of my favorite Marvel Mezcos. I’ve put him, Punisher and Modern Cap through the proverbial ringer for over a year now. I don’t play with them like a kid (man, I miss that), but they have been in a LOT of my photoshoots, which means I’ve handled them a lot and swapped out pieces a lot. I feel like I’ve been really lucky in that regard. Purchase this figure if you enjoy owning, displaying, and playing with nice toys. Or any of the above.
You can find him here, but he has gone up in price quite a bit:
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