This review has taken me
weeks to post, I got this set at the May MCM convention, that’s over a month
ago. Why has it taken so long? Well the last picture in this review came out blurry
(all of them I took, around 15) so I had to retake it – yes this took me a
month to do. I lost the figures, I couldn’t get to the loft, I had a birthday, I
had various small bouts of depression, I’m a lazy fuck, all kinds of shit. Now I
have the pictures and with very little other content to post because I’m super
busy with other stuff (including replacing all the pictures in over half of the
posts on here) so I’m finally posting this bloody thing. SO… I went to MCM’s
May convention, in was quite frankly better than it’s been in years, two rooms
of dealers, a much bigger list of guests (doubly impressive as another
convention was happening the same weekend) and just overall a better
experience. Sadly my cosplay fell apart before I got in the damn place but that
meant I got to walk around the whole thing in ratty clothes and socks, treating
the place like it was happening in my living room, it was very satisfying. I came
home with two sacks of stuff, some for my birthday (paid for by others), some
for myself to enjoy at the time, such as this: Neca’s Superman vs Muhammad Ali
two-pack.
It dawns on me that if you
don’t know about this then you’re likely confused as to why anyone would make a
two pack of figures featuring a boxer and a superhero. Well once upon a time,
roughly 1976, DC Editor Julie Swartz came up with the idea of having the most
famous person in the world team up with Superman. Celebrities have crossed over
with superheroes more than you might think, even by this point, sometimes
because they had their own books (like Bob Hope and Jerry Lee Lewis), sometimes
because the celebrity wants it and is big enough to get it (like Eminem) and
sometimes just because DC/Marvel thought it would sell or be cool (like this),
Kiss and the Saturday Night Live crew have appeared in comics so Muhammad Ali
shouldn’t be too ridiculous to comprehend. It took a lot of negotiations and
behind the screens fiddling (rumour has it that Ali wrote his own dialogue) but
the book finally came out as a huge coffee table sized $2 comic in 1978: All New Collector’s Edition C-56,
complete with a tag-line to get some sales off the back of Star Wars (I kid you
not: the ridiculously clunky phrase ‘Star Warriors’ is nearly as big as the two
leads’ logos). The cover has become somewhat iconic in comic book circles and
the book is one of my favourite Superman tales of all time; produced by one of
comics’ best duos – Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams – it delivers on its concept
and the hype that surrounded it, helped by the fact that Ali is one of the few
real-world people who I believe could and would have done something like, oh,
say, boxed an alien and won if given the chance. Usually the celebrities in
these things feel out of place, or worse the book feels like double-sized issue
long blowjob for them (read the Punisher/Eminem special for such things) but
Ali was so big and so good and known for being so good that his involvement as
Earth’s Champion in an alien pissing contest feels as normal as Superman’s, in
1977 they’re easily the first two people the world would have chosen, with Luke
Skywalker being number 3.
To the figures, Neca has
the rights to Ali and are always trying to find dodges to make more DC heroes
(they can, basically, get permission to do one off stuff like this without
treading on Mattel or DC Direct’s toes so take any chance they can to do one
off things) so I can’t believe I didn’t see this coming, but when it was
revealed (either this Toy Fair or last NYCC) I was a very excited little bunny.
Now I have it it’s…let down by Superman. Ooh before that though, the box: the
two figures are packaged to replicate the comics’ cover which is awesome and
for a moment made me question unboxing ‘em, so it must be good (it didn’t work,
but I’ve kept the box), it also uses text from the opening page on each side of
the box for each of the two fighters’ descriptions, pretty classy. So the box
is a win on references alone.
So Superman’s the slight
let-down, he’s just too damn thin. Not too thin for Superman overall, he’s been
this lithe before, but too thin for Superman as drawn by Neal Adams in All New Collector’s Edition C-56, which this figure is
supposed to be re-creating. From face to physique this is the Superman of
another artist from another decade and even though I don’t own it for an
accurate comparison I’d put down good money that this is built from mostly
reused parts from their 6” Christopher Reeves Superman just on my (disturbingly
good) knowledge of Reeves’ physique alone - and a Google Image search seems to
back me up. It’s a shame because the figure itself is pretty damn cool: after
careful consideration and fiddling I’ve decided that he does in fact have an ab
crunch but because his torso is covered in an overlay it’s blocked when moving
it up and down, other than that he’s constructed lovely; I am now a fan of
these elbow and knee ‘cuffs’ that allow for bending with less obvious joints
and Superman has them, so that’s a win, the cuffs of his gloves are attached to
the hands for a better visual when bent and to allow for hand-swapping, Supes
coming with both ungloved fists and flying hands that ARE reused from their
Reeves figure, they’re the sets only accessories but allow you to use your
Superman for more than boxing and allow Neca to have released another straight
Superman figure, the tricky bastards - if you want a decent late Silver Age
Superman figure this set has you covered. I’m not a fan of cloth capes but they
do have a deliciously retro feel and perfectly suit the timeframe when the
special came out (back when Mego made superhero figures so everything was
cloth) and the sort of person who would have nostalgia for the special left
over from its time of release (who would also have nostalgia for said Mego
figures, presumably), so I can see why such a decision would be made. His paint
work is perfect, not just perfectly executed (it is, no cock ups anywhere) but
perfectly designed, NECA have gotten really good at these ‘in the style of’
paint jobs on their video game series and that experience translates perfectly
into making a figure that apes the outlined, shaded art of a comic book in
general and Neal Adams in particular, I have no idea why they chose to give him
Curt Swan-esque closed eyes though, Neal Adams never drew him with anything but
normal eyes. Mine does have slight damage on the back, the soft plastic
covering his torso has ‘laddered’ a little by his belt, the cape covers it so
it doesn’t upset me, but watch out I guess just in case it is a reoccurring
problem and it happens at the front, I won’t be putting mine anywhere near
direct sunlight just in case of degrading.
Ali’s the star of the set,
though you could argue his arms look a little thin too, they’re closer to Ali’s
arm (and ironically, Superman’s arms as drawn by Neal Adams) than Superman’s
are to Superman’s. Ali shares Superman’s construction (ball joints at the neck,
shoulders, elbows, knees, wrists and abs, double jointed ankles), complete with
‘cuffs’ on the elbow and knee joints but with additional toe-articulation
(because if Ali can’t go on tiptoes you have failed as a toy designer) and exchanging
blocked ab crunch for blocked crotch joints, his trunks are thick and unpliable
and it’s the figure’s only downside, a bit hard to float like a butterfly when
your legs are stuck in a ‘standing your ground’ pose. Still as most people
won’t be posing his legs any other way maybe it doesn’t matter. I was under the
impression that this was just an Ali figure repainted, I was wrong, I’m certain
there is a lot of reused parts on him (the muscle definition doesn’t match the
‘shading’ a dead giveaway that NECA has reused on these ‘in the style of’
figures, see their video game figures for this in action) but if there is (there is) it’s all from the
Rocky figures because this is NECA’s first 6” Ali figure and their first
articulated Ali figure – holy shit I feel so much better about paying £45 for
this set now I know that, suddenly it seems cheap. The reason Ali is the star
of the set (got there in the end) is a combination of a fantastic likeness
mixed with the same awesome ‘in the style of’ shading paint apps as on Superman
that stay the same level of quality (again in both design and execution) while being
much higher in quantity (Ali, being dark skinned and mostly nude, received more
shading and muscle definition than Superman’s comparatively light suit) add in addition
of him being the first from NECA - hopefully they’ll repaint him in a realistic
way, if they do will they get another £20 from me – and it just all combines to
make a really good toy, and even if I retire Superman from my shelves (which
won’t be for a while), Ali will remain.
 |
| Dream match? |
My gripes about Superman’s
weight issues aside this is a good set, do you want to know why I know it’s a
good set? These were at my Nan’s house and she moved ‘em from the dining table
to the extension for whatever reason and, without me being there, without
anyone being there, posed them as if they were boxing – if a regular person,
someone who is not a toy collector or toy fan, feels compelled to play with and
pose them? They’re a complete success.
 |
| Dream match. |
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