The One:12 Collective Batman – 1989 Edition is an action figure years in the making. Or maybe, more accurately, years in the shipping. Originally up for preorder in 2020, I preordered the action figure in January 2020. That’s a long time for folks to stew on the investment of a $120 action figure. With the action figure in hand–likely not coincidentally with The Flash movie coming out and Michael Keaton returning as Batman–did it live up to the anticipation and hype?
There really isn’t any other Batman action figure like the One:12 Collective figure. That’s because it has a few new tricks up its sleeve, including the new Mezco-developed rubber body with articulation hidden underneath. Gone are the action figure hinges, so posing the action figure has never been more realistic. There’s also a magnetic connector for the head and body. This allows the head and cowl to keep the cape pressed down. It’s also far easier to swap heads than by conventional means.
The One:12 Collective Batman – 1989 Edition action figure comes in a box that should have your nostalgia raised to 11. From the classic metallic logo to the back of the box featuring some cool shots of Michael Keaton in costume there’s a lot to love with the packaging.
A more unexpected innovation is the ability to make Batman look left or right. The feature is only available on one of the heads, but a switch on the back of the head allows you to make him look in different directions. Considering Michael Keaton couldn’t turn his head in the suit, it’s a clever and welcome addition.
This isn’t a perfect figure, though, as was revealed last week when Mezco put out a disclaimer about the body of the action figure being covered in a non-toxic powder augmenting the darkness of the rubber. As you can see below, this makes the body not quite match the cape and cowl, although Mezco says with enough handling, it’ll rub off, or you can rub it off with some water and a cloth.
The articulation also comes with a warning, as you can bend the action figure too far without knowing it. This might be an unexpected result of the articulated limbs under a rubber coat. There’s no way of telling by the eye if you’ve gone too far, so there’s some danger of damaging the action figure. They also warn he might seem stiff initially, which isn’t too big of a deal.
So how’s the figure overall? Once you get past the strange discoloration of the body, it’s pretty damn good. The details on each of the head and cowls are exceptional. He has four heads in total, with one sporting a scar, one with the mouth slightly open, another with the mouth closed, and a fourth allowing posable eyes. You can see the pupils in his eyes, and the details make it look shockingly photorealistic to Michael Keaton. 
The magnets that stick the heads to the body are fairly sturdy when connected, although the cape does tend to create a bit more separation making the seal less solid. While posing this figure, I had the head and cape fall off since the connection wasn’t as tight as one might like. It wasn’t a dealbreaker by any means, but it did make posing the figure more of a delicate process.
That also goes for using the speargun with a wire hook that sticks into the gun. The wire goes into the gun easily–it is super tiny, though, so you might need good eyes to get it in there–but it could fall out if you moved the arm the wrong way. It doesn’t plug in or stick.
The figure comes with two capes, one with a wire inside for posing and another that drapes flat. Both are made with a leather-like substance that feels expensive and looks the part.
Accessories are plentiful, with four Batarangs to hold, one Batarang connected to a metal wire, the infamous gauntlet, speargun with hook, collapsed speargun, a time bomb, and a throwing star. The item below the throwing star is a smoke capsule, which is so tiny you’ll probably lose it eventually, but thankfully Mezco packs an accessories plastic bag with the figure for safe keeping! There’s also what appears to be a radio stick that even has a super tiny silver Batman logo. There are accessories here that weren’t originally listed, it appears. He also comes with the standard Mesco base with the classic Batman logo and an additional six hands for different functions.
The figure has a lot going for it, but the body being slightly white without some care or wear and tear does leave me slightly disappointed. Time will tell how the figure looks, but as a collector who poses action figures once and doesn’t touch them for a year or more, I might need to break out the cleaning gear to see how dark I can make the body on this suit.
Overall I’m pleased with the One:12 Collective Batman – 1989 Edition. He’ll be a good addition for any Batman action figure collector thanks to the cool bells and whistles, and if you pick up the Beast Kingdom Joker, you have a pair that’s straight out of the movies. This is a collector’s action figure more than a toy to play with, so if you’d like to invest in one of the most realistic depictions of Batman in action figure form, you can’t go wrong with Mezco’s 1989 edition.
The action figure is currently on the waitlist if you want to buy directly from Mezco. I suspect you’ll find him in comic shops and toy stores soon.
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