Popeye (Popeye (Boss Fight Studio)) Review

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Popeye (Popeye (Boss Fight Studio)) Review

Popeye
Popeye (Boss Fight Studio) (Boss Fight Studio)One of the most iconic characters in pop culture history, Popeye has been around for decades, nearly spanning a hundred years of his debut. Whether you know him from the long running comic strip, the theatrical shorts, or even the Robin Williams movie, you've certainly heard of him one way or another. Back in the early 2000s, Mezco put out some rather nice figures, and they're still doing a few things with the license today, but Boss Fight Studios has recently been putting out a new line dubbed "Popeye Classics."

The packaging on the series is great, utilizing a yellow and blue motif combined with a nice illustration and a "Popeye's Journal" feature on the back, describing the character through the sailor's point of view. The box is also very collector-friendly; no twist-ties holding in the figure, just plastic trays. Remove the two bits of tape on the side and you're good to go.

These figures are sculpted by Paul Harding, whose work for NECA I've covered quite a bit, and are meant to resemble the original comics. Popeye, of course, has his big chin, permanently closed eye, and pipe, along with the option of an open mouth or a closed mouth head. The pipes are removable on both, but they have to share a hat. Said hat is held in place with a magnet, but it's not super strong, likely due to the hair. I don't recall him ever having hair, but that may have just been a comic thing, and I grew up with the shorts.

Popeye gets his usual attire here, with his buttoned shirt with red collar, and big flat shoes as well. One of his most notable features, though, are his beefy forearms. Popeye is one strong fellow, and those are proof of that. The sculpt is very dead-on to the old comic style, and the paint is mostly good, aside from some marks on the sleeves. For some reason, his skin tone isn't painted, resulting in a glossy appearance that's rather off-putting. At around 4 3/4" tall, Popeye is smaller than I thought, but I don't mind it all that much.

This figure gets a good amount of articulation, and it reminds me a lot of the Sam and Max figures the company did a while back. The ball/socket head has a great amount of tilt, allowing Popeye to look all the way up and down. The swivel/hinge shoulders and elbows work well, and the wrists are only swivels, but I'm fine with it since it keeps from breaking up the sculpt. The figure also gets a ball/socket waist, hips, and ankles, along with swivel/hinge knees, and all of the joints move well. I wish he had a chest joint for more dynamic poses, but other than that, it's enough for any desired pose you have.

There's not a lot of accessories here, but it's enough to fit the figure. There's the alternate head I mentioned, and swapping them isn't too difficult, but heat will make it easier, and I would recommend taking out the pipes before swapping so you don't lose them. There's also three pairs of hands - open, gripping, and closed - and Popeye's ever-reliable can of spinach. I hate to bring up the old Mezco figure, but that one had some very cool extras, including a pop-on bicep muscle, an anchor, and hinged shark jaws. It would've been nice to see something like those be included here, especially with the price.

While I still love the old Popeye figure Mezco did, this one is a nice, modern upgrade. Granted, I do have a few issues with him, such as the unpainted skin and small amount of accessories, he's still a very well-made figure that offers plenty of fun. If you're a fan of the license, you won't want to pass on this guy.

- 6/14/23