Mezco Pits Batman Against the Mutant Leader for SDCC Exclusive

Didn't get your hands on one of Mezco's One:12 Collective Dark Knight Returns Batman figures the first time around? Do you really love that moment from the book where Batman takes on the Mutant Leader in the mud pit and loses horribly? Good, because Mezco's upcoming summer convention exclusive is a pretty bogue box set commemorating the fracas.

Mezco kicked off its One:12 Collective series this year with a standard Dark Knight Returns Batman, available in a variety of outfits from the seminal comic series. All of them quickly sold out. At Toy Fair, the company teased the Mutant Leader as one of its next figures (as well as a sick Judge Dredd we're eagerly awaiting) in the One:12 Collective, but were vague about its potential release date. Now we know why.

If you haven't been keeping up with Mezco's new One:12 Collective, the line is a 1:12 scale series (it's not just a clever name) that offers heavily articulated and accessorized figures with tailored costuming. It's a high-end line but with greater affordability than many competitors working in the same scale. Batman and Judge Dredd were the first to be announced, but Mezco has plans to keep expanding the line with its many licenses.

This boxed set includes a reworked Batman figure, complete with a new, damaged head sculpt, as well as a dirtied and torn uniform. If you want to get technical, that's not the right costume Batman was wearing during the first encounter with the Mutant Leader, which this figure is largely based on due to the tearing and "knock-out foam" accessory. Batman doesn't switch to the oval-less Batsymbol until the second encounter where he defeats the Mutant Leader. It's not a deal-breaker, but for how well the rest of the Batman figures already released have been so accurate, it's odd that this one feature is wrong.

The Mutant Leader sculpt looks good, and will come with a few different hands and a crowbar. The articulation looks great in the images, though the pants look a tad bit bulky. That's okay if it allows for more freedom in posing in the sculpted display base, which replicates the Gotham City junkyard where the fight took place. He's a bit of a plain figure, and while he might not be as desirable a figure on his own, the two-pack makes great sense, and should make fans of TDKR rather happy.

The One:12 Collective Dark Knight Returns Batman vs. Mutant Leader Deluxe Boxed Set is available for pre-order now for $150. It's expected to ship (for those who can't attend San Diego Comic Con) sometime in August. You can try to pick one up at the show as well, but as with trying to get any convention exclusive at SDCC, good luck. If you already have a Batman, the Mutant Leader will be available separately later this year, too. Details on that will likely come sometime this summer.