Drederick Tatum (Simpsons (Super7)) Review

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Drederick Tatum (Simpsons (Super7)) Review

Drederick Tatum
Simpsons (Super7) (Super7)It's been a long while since I last reviewed a Super7 Simpsons figure, partially because they lost the license last year because Disney was tired of their incompetence when it came to Ultimates for their IPs, but mostly because I never really picked up the remaining two I needed because I was looking to pay less than retail for them. Devil Flanders has sold out through most places and seems impossible to get for retail now (probably for the best since I heard he's bad even by S7 standards), but I wasn't going to miss out on two figures, so I got Springfield's heavyweight champion Drederick Tatum, receiving his first-ever figure.

Tatum was heavily based off Mike Tyson, and you can see it a bit in his design, including his large build. He doesn't look exactly like his inspiration, as his head is somewhat square, with flat hair and a zig-zag beard pattern around his mouth. The default expression is stern and ready to kick some butt, but as per usual, you get two extra portraits. One of them is a triumphant grin, while the other is more irked with gritted teeth, looking off to the side. The third head looks fine in a couple of fighting poses, but it really should've been looking forward like the others. Super7 seemingly cut back from fully painted figures to matte plastic in the final releases, but Tatum has no gloss to him at all, and the work on the heads is pretty clean. One thing to note is that his beard is a darker color than the skin, and although it usually doesn't appear like that, it did in "The Homer They Fall," the episode this figure is based off of. Gotta give credit to Super7 for accuracy.

While not as big as Kang or Kodos, Tatum stands over most of the other figures at 7 1/2" tall. He's about as tall as Duffman, but with a bulkier, more muscular body. This is how Tatum appears in the ring, wearing just shorts, boots, and boxing gloves. The body sculpt is great, looking spot-on to the show and having a mostly clean, solid appearance. He's not really solid, as most of the body feels hollow, but the quality of the plastic is good. Paint could've been much, much better when it comes to the shorts, as paint scraped off onto the abdomen as I moved it, and the work around the thighs could've been cleaner. At least he fares better than King-Size Homer.

Being a pro boxer, Tatum needs as much articulation as can be worked into the Simpsons style for plenty of fighting poses. He gets a ball-jointed neck, chest, waist, and hips, swivel/hinge shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles, and swivel shins at the boots. On the positive side, the joints have plenty of range, including the chest and waist, and the heads swap easily. However, the arm joints, especially the shoulders, are pretty tight. A couple of hinges on him are ratcheted, even though I feel they don't need to be. The hands pop out too easily, and the right leg has a tendency to come out at the hip (not as bad as Radioactive Man, thankfully), so keep those in mind when posing him. Also, the gap where the neck meets the torso is a smidge too big, and it's quite off-putting.

Drederick is outfitted with a couple of fitting accessories, the main one of which is his robe. It's fabric, because Super7 loves doing soft goods when they can with Ultimates, and it fits on Tatum with ease. The "Mr. Armageddon" lettering on the back is clean, and the piece as a whole adds a level of coolness to him. Other than that, he also gets a towel that hangs over his shoulders and a championship belt. The belt can't be worn, but it can be held, thanks to a combination of large pegs on the back of it and an extra pair of hands with sockets to hold it with ease. As a bonus, he gets the "butt-ugly" shoe he was paid millions to endorse in "Large Marge." The shoe is fully painted and looks great, as does the belt, and it can rest in his open hands.

The first wave of Simpsons Ultimates had two characters that never got figures before, so it's somewhat fitting that what ended up being the final wave did the same with Tatum. He looks great and has more effort put into him than the rest of the wave, but that doesn't mean he's great. I don't like how Super7 felt the need to charge $10 more for him because he's a little larger than most of the line, but I figured I may as well suck up the cost now than risk missing out and having to pay more through eBay. Now to think about whether or not I want to pay aftermarket prices for that crappy Devil Flanders for the sake of completion…

- 3/27/25