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View Poll Results: Who do you think does a better job of upholding and enforcing the law?
Judge Dredd 10 90.91%
Robocop 1 9.09%
Voters: 11. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 02-14-2016, 01:09 PM   #1
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I Am The Law! - The Judge Dredd statue by Mattel (Mega Heroes Collector Series )

No man is above the law and no man is below it;
nor do we ask any man's permission when we require him to obey it.
Obedience to the law is demanded as a right; not asked as a favor.

- Theodore Roosevelt

Hi guys,

this weekend I received the Judge Dredd statue as released by Mattel in their Mega Heroes Collector Series.
I have had this statue on my shortlist for quite some time and I am truly happy to finally have a Judge at home in my collection.
I owe a big THANK YOU! to my fellow reviewer and forum member StatueHunter75 for allowing me to add this statue to my collection: Dean, thanks buddy; you are the man!
As a big fan of both Judge Dredd movies (I think Sylvester Stallone and Karl Urban really kicked a$$!) and I am excited that one of my longtime wishes has now been fulfilled.

I am currently working on a review of this statue but wanted to share some pictures of this statue with you in advance.
Please let me know in case you have any questions or remarks and feel free to check out my review in a couple of days.
Have fun for now but remember to walk a straight line when looking at Judge Dredd since this Judge will find out if you broke the law!



My Verdict

Manufacturer: Mattel (Mega Heroes Collector Series)
Statue Number: 2351/3500
Overall Height: 12”(30 cm)


America is an irradiated wasteland. Within it lies a city. Outside the boundary walls, a desert. A cursed earth.
Inside the walls, a cursed city, stretching from Boston to Washington D.C.
An unbroken concrete landscape. 800 million people living in the ruin of the old world and the mega structures of the new one.
Mega blocks. Mega highways. Mega City One. Convulsing. Choking. Breaking under its own weight. Citizens in fear of the street.
The gun. The gang. Only one thing fighting for order in the chaos: the men and women of the Hall of Justice. Juries. Executioners. Judges.

- Judge Dredd

Sculpt: 9.0 – Excellent
The first thing that hit me when I first looked at this statue is how well Mattel succeeded in bringing a comic book and Pop Culture icon like Judge Dredd come to life.
Judge Dredd is all about upholding the law using the nice and easy way if possible and the hard and brutal way if necessary.
Dredd fights fire with fire if that’s the way it has to be and he is not one to back off when the going gets tough.
Anyone who makes the mistake of putting this Judge in a rough spot thinking that he will flee or break, will soon feel the graveness of his or her mistake
when they realize Dredd is not only not about to walk away but also the body count starts increasing rapidly at an alarming speed.
Judge Dredd knows how to take a punch but he knows even better how to strike back twice as hard the painful and unforgiving way.
After all, the law must be obeyed, one way or the other.
That heroic determination and courage combined with a righteous anger and the willingness to use brutal force if need be, characterize Judge Dredd and Mattel really managed
in capturing the essence of this iconic crimefighter.
The grim and resolute look on Dredd’s face, his firm and fearless stance, the dynamic pose of his body while releasing the full force of the law on those who mock and despise it;
they all characterize Dredd and make him come to life.
Justice is being served and in your imagination you can hear Dredd shout with a booming voice that judgment has come for those that are guilty.

But the goodies do not end there. The details on Dredd’s costume and body armor are fantastic (I love Dredd’s big badge wiith his name on it as well as his belt buckle with the
stars and stripes design!) and a true tribute to the skills of the sculptor(s) of this statue. Everything from the delicate wrinkles in his costume to the sturdy look of his boots
or the deadly details of the Lawgiver passing on death sentences, adds to the appeal of the statue.
Judge Dredd is a man of few words but all the more action and this sculpt masterfully manages to show us the Judge doing what he does best: serving Justice by using the powerful fist of the law.
More so it does so in an utterly dynamic and convincingly cool comic book style.

Paint & Mixed Media: 9.0 – Excellent
The paintjob is very good on this statue; in fact I like it so much that at first I was afraid I would not be able to say much in this part of the review.
After all, how often can you say that the paintjob is really good without repeating yourselves?
Let me start by saying that the paint has been applied very neatly on my statue. There are no paint blotches, no parts on the statue where the paint is missing and
no oversprayed parts.
The paintjob is very neat and clean. I like the shiny dark blue of Dredd’s uniform and think it matches well with the matte green of his boots and gloves.
Another cool thing is that you look closely at Dredd's daystick you will see some faint red spots on it which, I imagine, are the blood staines left by the guilty and criminal
perpetrators Dredd has judged.
Dredd’s belt buckle with the stars and stripes-motive is a real eye-catcher but there are two things which all in all impressed me most.
The first is the weathered look of Dredd’s gold-coloured body armor and badge.
It fits Dredd very well IMHO: Dredd is a Judge who has seen a lot of action on the streets and it would be odd if his body armor would still look
like he just picked it up from the police arms depot.
His body armor looks weathered, a bit dull and dirty like it has been through a lot and that’s exactly the way it should be.
The same goes for his badge which Dredd wears proudly but which has seen more action than most people can imagine.
It’s not shiny, it does not look new but then again the same thing can be siad about Dredd, can’t it?
The second thing which I really like from the start are the two white lightningbolt like stripes on Dredd’s visor.
I believe the stripes are meant to create the illusion of reflection or the incidence of light on Dredd’s visor and I feel it’s looks insanely cool!
The base is also painted solidly in a matte, gold coloured paint which matches well with his body armor. I think te base is very well chosen and will elaborate more on
that in the next section of this review.



Design: 8.5 – Very Impressive
Ever since I first saw this statue I have been intrigued by the design of it in more than one way.
I think it’s fair to say that the first thing you will notice is the dynamic and action-filled pose of Judge Dredd.
Dredd is leaning backwards and his pose reminded me of the pose of Neo in the first Matrix movie when he is falling backwards trying to dodge the bullets
the Agents are firing at him.
Looking at Dredd I think he is not so much trying to dodge bullets but is rather much too busy shooting at the criminals who broke and spit on the law.
I imagine Dredd has selected the automatic firing mode on his Lawgiver and the recoil of this powerful gun might have pushed his upper body back.
Somehow the fact that Dredd is leaning backwards gives this statue a very dynamic and action packed feel making the comics come to life.
We see Dredd in full action doing what he does best: upholding the law the righteous and determined way and it seems that Dredd walked right out of the
pages of a comic book while doing so.
A special note should be made here to the base which I think is very well designed.
Dredd is standing on an enlarged version of his badge which in itself looks cool and is an original variation on nameplates which you can sometimes find with statues.
I think however there is a deeper meaning to the fact that Dredd is standing on his badge. The way I see it his badge symbolizes that which is most important to Dredd in life.
Dredd is a Judge and his goal is to bring law and order and to make sure the law is upheld by each and everyone.
What Dredd is and what he does, what he believes in and is determined to achieve, can be determined by looking at his badge.
The fact that Dredd is standing on his badge form implies to me that the law and his duty to defend it, are the fundament not only of his job but also of his personal believe and view on life.
Everything Dredd does or doesn’t can be traced back to his determination to serve the law and to protect it.
Without the law there would be no Judge Dredd and without Judge Dredd the law most likely would have been dismissed or ridiculed a long time ago already.
A truly great and symbolic choice!

Production & Build Quality: 9.5 – Outstanding
Make no mistake guys: this is a heavy statue, a truly solid piece of polystone. While I do not think the weight of the statue is necessarily directly related to the builld quality of a piece,
I must admit that the statue feels reassuringly solid when you hold or lift it.
There were definitely no corners cut here and you can literally feel the ruggedness of this statue.
If you treat this statue with the normal TLC it will definitely survive the test of time with ease and provide you a lifetime of enjoyment.
A very cool feature is that the statue is not placed on the base through a rod; no, instead the statue needs to be attached to the base by screwing it on the base
using the screw which is included in the box!
This can be a bit tricky since I had to lay the statue on its side while screwing it onto the base but once attached the connection feels very rugged.
I have no fear whatsoever that leaning issues will ever occur with this statue since the screw used makes for a very strong connection.
Another cool thing is that there are thin felt pads placed underneath the soles of Dredd’s boots making sure that the base is not scratched when Dredd is placed on the base
or when you change Dredd’s position on the base. (you can move Dredd around a bit and determine how he is positioned on the base).
This statue is produced with care and meets high quality standards and as such Mattel really did an outstanding job.

Overall rating: 9.0 - Excellent
This statue delivers the spades in goods and I am very impressed by it. It's a great statue of a cool comic book icon and looking at the statue it's easy to believe that
Judge Dredd has almost come to life.
I therefore highly recommend this statue to every Judge Dredd fan in particular but also to every collector in general out there; this statue is really that good!



Background Information

Understand, our police officers put their lives on the line for us every single day.
They've got a tough job to do to maintain public safety and hold accountable those who break the law.

- President Barack Obama

Full name: Joseph Dredd
Affliliated to: Mega-City One Justice Department/Academy of Law
Abilities: Excellent marksman as well as an expert in unarmed combat.

Judge Dredd is a fictional character who appears in British comic books published by Rebellion Developments, as well as in a number of movie and video game adaptations.
He was created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra, and first appeared in the second issue of 2000 AD (1977), a weekly science-fiction anthology.
He is that magazine's longest-running character.

Joseph Dredd is the most famous of the Street Judges that patrol Mega-City One, charged to instantly convict, sentence, and execute offenders.
Dredd is armed with a "Lawgiver" pistol (programmed to recognise only his palm-print, and capable of six types of ammunition), a daystick, a knife and stun or gas grenades.
His helmet obscures his face, except for his mouth and jaw. He rides a large "Lawmaster" motorcycle equipped with machine-guns, a powerful laser cannon,
and full artificial intelligence capable of responding to orders from the Judge and operating itself.
Dredd's entire face is never shown in the strip. This began as an unofficial guideline, but soon became a rule.
As John Wagner explained: "It sums up the facelessness of justice − justice has no soul. So it isn't necessary for readers to see Dredd's face, and I don't want you to".

Senior Judge Joseph Dredd and his brother Rico Dredd were cloned from the DNA of Chief Judge Fargo, the first chief judge, in 2066.
Their growth was artificially accelerated to an apparent physiological age of 5, with all the appropriate knowledge for their age electronically implanted in their brains during gestation.
The name 'Dredd' was chosen by the genetic scientist who created them, Morton Judd, to "instill fear in the population".
As cadets during Atomic Wars of 2070, they were temporarily made full Judges to restore order to the panic-stricken streets.
Distinguishing themselves, they were chosen to take part in assaulting the White House when the Justice Department deposed President Booth.
They were fast-tracked through the Academy of Law, Joseph graduating second in the class of 2079, while Rico came first.
Later that year, Joseph was forced to arrest Rico for murder and corruption.
Twenty years later, when Rico sought revenge after serving a 20 year sentence, Joe was forced to shoot him in self-defence.
Joe Dredd excelled as a judge, rapidly gaining promotion to the rank of senior judge.
Offered the opportunity to become chief judge in 2101, Dredd declined, preferring to serve on the streets.



Judge Dredd lives in a dystopian future Earth damaged by a series of international conflicts; much of the planet has become radioactive wasteland, and so populations have aggregated in enormous conurbations known as 'mega-cities'.
One of these mega-cities is Mega-City One, on the east coast of North America.
Within Mega-City One, extensive automation (including intelligent robots) has rendered the majority of the population unemployed.
As a consequence, the general population is prone to embracing any fashion or craze they encounter.
Mega-City One is surrounded by the inhospitable "Cursed Earth"; in the city itself the population lives in gigantic towers known as City Blocks, each holding approximately fifty thousand people.

Weapon: Lawgiver

Manufactured by General Arms, the Lawgiver is a voice-activated machine pistol that serves as the standard sidearm issued to Judges.
Several designs have been produced, and each is a multi-faceted weapon capable of firing a variety of speciality ammunition from a single cartridge.
The Lawgiver is a handgun featuring semi- and fully automatic fire, manual and automatic focusing and targeting, plus a built in computer capable of controlling its operation.
An in-line gunsight shows the view directly down the barrel. A Lawgiver can only be operated by its designated Judge owner, whose palm print is programmed into the gun's memory.
Should an attempt be made by an unauthorised person to use the Lawgiver, it will explode in that person's hand.
Recognising that this generally practical safeguard can sometimes impede Judges in the execution of their duties,
the Justice Department computers contain instructions on bypassing Lawgiver palm-recognition systems.
These instructions can be accessed by senior Judges, but are generally employed only in severe emergencies.





The gun has a maximum range of up to three miles and has six distinct settings:
Standard execution - A standard bullet, with identical effects to normal kinetic energy projectile weapons.
Heat Seeker or Hot Shot - A standard bullet propelled by the unstable element, 'Argon 886'.
Heatseeker rounds lock onto the target's heat source, enabling the Judge to target fleeing perps, accurately fire in low-light situations and so forth.
Ricochet - A metal bullet coated with rubber. Ricochet rounds can bounce off solid surfaces while retaining enough kinetic energy to penetrate flesh.
This enables the Judge to, for example, kill a perp that is using a human shield, bouncing their shot off a back wall and hitting the target from behind.
Incendiary - Capable of setting its target on fire. Less widely used due to practicalities of incinerating targets in built-up city areas, although useful against unconventional adversaries such as Judge Death.
Armour Piercing - Armour-piercing rounds are extremely dense and contain a more powerful charge for higher muzzle velocity. Useful against cybernetic criminals and armoured opponents.
When used against human targets, it can travel through multiple targets.
High-Explosive (HI-EX) - A round containing an amount of extremely concentrated high explosive. Judges must employ caution when using this extremely dangerous round;
the blast caused by the exploding bullets can just as easily harm those firing as well as the target. Generally used rarely; against crowding attackers or large/dangerous foes.



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Old 02-14-2016, 01:38 PM   #2
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This isn't a negotiation. Your sentence is death.
- Judge Dredd











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Old 02-14-2016, 01:41 PM   #3
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We determine the guilty. We decide the punishment.
- Codex Arbites - the Commandments of Justice, Warhammer 40,000











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Old 02-14-2016, 01:43 PM   #4
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I am the law! Put down your weapons and prepare to be judged.
- Judge Dredd











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Old 02-14-2016, 01:47 PM   #5
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One man is Judge, Jury, AND Executioner.
- Tagline movie Judge Dredd











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Old 02-14-2016, 01:49 PM   #6
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Mega City One. 800 million people living in the ruin of the old world and the mega structures of the new one. Only one thing fighting for order in the chaos: judges.
- Judge Dredd











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Old 02-14-2016, 01:51 PM   #7
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In the future, one man is the law.
- Tagline movie Judge Dredd











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Old 02-14-2016, 01:52 PM   #8
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Judgment is coming
- Tagline movie Dredd













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Old 02-14-2016, 06:52 PM   #9
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Very nice!
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Old 02-15-2016, 03:17 PM   #10
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Awesome. This is my first time seeing this piece, it looks very cool.
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