No offense to Living Dead Doll collectors, but when that was the bulk of what Mezco was making, it was a far cry from those heady days when Hellboy comic and movie figures were dominating my shelves. But with their recent license acquisitions, coupled with setting a new bar for mixed media action figures in the 6-inch scale, Mezco is back, baby!
Today I got a closer look at the One:12 scale Batman and Judge Dredd, the Mortal Kombat X figures, and some upcoming figures for Breaking Bad.
Last week, a Florida mom petitioned Toys R Us to stop selling Breaking Bad action figures, using the tried and true family values argument. Nearly ten thousand people voiced their support, and then Toys R Us blinked. This helped fill out an otherwise uneventful news day (if you discount the news of Ebola landing on US soil) with a story that resonated widely by bringing together pop culture and human interest angles. The story was picked up by everyone from ABC News to Zimbio.
Mainstream media came out largely in support of the Florida mom and the actions taken by Toys R Us, and this prompted fans of the TV show and action figures to protest the protest. Action Figure Insider’s Daniel Pickett launched a counter-petition, keeping the story in the news cycle for another revolution. The petition to keep Breaking Bad on toy shelves has garnered over forty thousand signatures, but despite this, TRU has not reversed its actions. This leads me to today’s topic: who actually won this fight?
You might be surprised (if you already forgot the title of this article) – almost everyone comes out ahead.
As much as I love Breaking Bad (after resisting year after year, I finally binge-watched it during the final season), Mezco’s offerings in the Breaking Bad action figure line (or perhaps “6-inch action figure-sized statues” would be more appropos) were a bit sparse. How many different color variants of Walt can we get? Now that there’s a Jesse Pinkman sculpt, we get to ask that question for him. For Gus Fring, there’s just two – and to keep from spoiling it, at least in this post, you can see them in our album for Mezco’s Breaking Bad and Sons of Anarchy lines.
While I don’t watch Sons of Anarchy, it looks like fans are getting a little bit more in terms of character selection. However, if you’re hoping for articulated figures instead of mini-statues, you’re in the same boat as Breaking Bad fans.