Monthly Archives: October 2014

Guest Review #0012: Ash Ketchum & Pikachu

Posted by Christian Wilson in Guest Reviews and tagged with , ,

ASH KETCHUM AND PIKACHU

POKEMON (TOMY)

Ash1

Hey guys!  The following is a Guest Review from my awesome brother Christian Wilson!  Take it away Christian…

Look….. Don’t hate me but….. I’ve never played Pokemon. I’ve wanted to, but never really found the interest. And it isn’t that I don’t have a way to play it, on the contrary, I have two systems that are capable of playing Pokemon, but I never cared enough about it. But nonetheless, this is REALLY COOL figure. So, like Ethan here’s my review of an action figure from a video game that I’ve never played.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

ASH KETCHUM

Ash2Ash, or Sacha in French (but Ash in EVERY OTHER LANGUAGE), stands at 5 inches tall with 15 points of articulation. The one thing that really stands out to me is the amazing paint job on Ash. While writing this review I continued to look for ANY paint errors and I can’t find any. For only $20, that’s really cool to have a toy like this look so aesthetically pleasing. Another thing I find with a lot of Action figures is their inability to stand without long periods of me just screaming “No that’s not— No, No, No, TO THE LEFT” (I’m looking at you P-Body!). However, this is the case or Ash. While he has no foot articulation whatsoever, he stands very nicely and very easily. The only part of him that’s a bit difficult to deal with is his hands, as they are very loose in their joints and wiggle easily, but do not turn easily. Overall, Ash himself is very pleasing.

Ash comes with one accessory, a backpack, which on a scale of 1 to 10 of how easy it is to get on him, the backpack gets a resounding “Ehhh.” It’s a nice looking backpack. There’s not much else to say. Moving On, I CHOOSE YOU, PIKACHU!

PIKACHU

Pikachu (Still Pikachu in French, for some reason)is the lesser quality portion of this two-pack. Standing at 1 ¾” tall with 0 points of articulation, Pikachu looks great, but less so when you compare him to Ash(Pikachu’s a boy, right?). The red circles on his face aren’t all painted in and the ID number on his tail is very noticeable, but otherwise it’s a cool figure. Ash and Pikachu do go very well together, unless you try to stand them together, which leads me into a rant.

You may notice, on the top Ash’s backpack, a small hole. That hole is for putting Pikachu’s foot in and standing him on Ash’s shoulder. BUT THIS HARDLY EVER WORKS FOR ME!!! Ethan got it [I’m an action figure god!–Ethan], but most people who aren’t that great at standing up action figures will be tearing their hair out because if the frailness of Pikachu when he is ATOP Ash. As I said, they are otherwise great figures.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I bought this two-pack after eyeing it at my local comic book store for the past few weeks. I had the money and it was a cool action figure, so I grabbed it. Not much else to the story. These action figures do their franchise justice as I 1) Want to play a Pokemon game now and 2) Want to collect all the other Pokemon in this line of toys. Whelp, I’m done. Good Night Seattle, We love you!

#0358: Cyclops & Marvel Girl

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

CYCLOPS & MARVEL GIRL

MARVEL MINIMATES

The X-Men may not be the merchandise powerhouse they once were, but they still maintain a decent hold on the market. One of the things that makes old fans of the series love the team while simultaneously scaring away new fans is the sheer level of backstory involved. In an effort to help make the team a bit more approachable, Marvel has done an interesting move: they brought back the original X-Men. Yeah, the founding five have been brought forward in time, allowing for the series to present them in a more innocent, less complicated form. Diamond has decided to base their most recent series of Marvel Minimates on this incarnation of the team. Today, I’ll be looking at Cyclops and Marvel Girl.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Cyclops and Marvel Girl were released as a two-pack in Series 59 of Marvel Minimates, which is based on the team as they’ve appeared in recent issues of All-New X-Men.

CYCLOPS

Perhaps the character to benefit the most from a “continuity reset” is the team’s leader Cyclops. Cyclops is a character who writers don’t really seem to know what to do with, resulting in a lot of questionable things being done with him in the last 20-30 years. Recently, a lot of those things have piled one, leading to the character coming off as a tremendous jerk and becoming essentially a villain. A Cyclops without all of these things is a breath of fresh air. Cyclops is about 2 ½ inches tall and features 14 points of articulation. He’s based on All-New Cyclops’s second costume, designed by Staurt Immomen. It matches the rest of the team without being too similar, and it’s all-around not a bad design. Cyclops is built on the traditional Minimate body, with an add-on for his hair/visor. This is an all new piece, and it does a pretty great job of capturing the design from the comic. The rest of the figure is reliant on paint. It’s not bad overall, but it could be better. The base paint is rather sloppy, especially on Scott’s visor. Fortunately, the detail lines are all nice and sharp, which helps to offset the questionable base paint. Cyclops includes two alternate hair pieces, one sans-visor(a re-use piece, seen on numerous figures) and one with his optic blast in full force. He also includes a standard clear display stand. The sans-visor hair is nice, as it allows for you to display the sunglasses painted under Scott’s visor, and the optic blast head makes for a lot of fun setups. I am hopeful that the optic blast piece is the new standard for Cyclops Minimates going forward.

MARVEL GIRL

Marvel Girl, aka Jean Grey, aka the Pheonix, aka the Song that doesn’t end, also benefited from the reset. Her present day counterpart is dead and all, plus now she just has the one code name, as opposed the 37 or so she had before. Marvel Girl is about 2 ½ inches in height and she sports 14 points of articulation. Like Scott, she is based on her second, Immomen-designed costume. I really like the green accents on hers; they really make her pop. The figure makes use of the base Minimate body, with the addition of a hairpiece. The piece is a re-use, first seeing use on The Spirit’s Sand Serif. It was also used on the first appearance Jean from a few years ago, so it’s a nice call back to see it here. I think it’s one of the nicer female hairpieces. The paint on Marvel Girl is similar to that of Cyclops: the base work is sloppy, but the detail lines are nice and sharp, which helps save the figure. I do wish the patterns on her legs were actually mirrors of each other, but they aren’t terrible. Marvel Girl includes a spare head/hair for a full “powered-up” effect (I’m gonna assume it has something to do with the Phoenix, but I haven’t read All-New X-Men, so I can’t confirm), a “jumping stand” and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Cyclops and Marvel Girl were picked up from my local comicbook store Cosmic Comix. Initially, this was the only set I had planned on getting from this series. I don’t read All-New X-Men, but I have been following Cyclops, which stars this version of the character. Ultimately, I ended up getting the rest of the series, but these two still remain my favorites. There are a few paint issues that could stand to be worked on, but other than that, this was a really strong set.

#0357: Young Magneto & Mystique

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

YOUNG MAGNETO & MYSTIQUE

MARVEL MINIMATES

 I realize as I write this review that I have made nary a mention of X-Men: Days of Future Past on this site. I guess that’s what happens when there is minimal merchandising for a movie. Well, there’s no time like the present. Simply put, Days of Future Past was the X-Men movie I’ve been waiting for since the very first X-Men movie was announced. It handled the characters brilliantly and had one of the best emotional through lines I’ve ever seen in a super hero movie. It was a very, very good movie. When it was first announced that the roles of Charles Xavier and Magneto were going to be recast for X-Men: First Class, I was hesitant. Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen set the bar pretty high. However, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender did an exceptional job filling those shoes. Fassbender in particular has become one of my favorite parts of the franchise, thanks to his wonderful performance as the younger Magneto. Today, I’ll be looking at the Minimates of Fassbender’s Magneto and Jennifer Lawrence’s Mystique.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Young Magneto and Mystique were released as a two-pack in Series 58 of Marvel Minimates. Originally, Young Magneto was supposed to be packed with old Xavier and Mystique was supposed to be packed with old Magneto, but Diamond changed the pairings at the last minute. I find that this pairing makes more sense, as Magneto and Mystique’s conflict in the 70s is a major point in the film.

YOUNG MAGNETO

Magneto, as far as the movie goes, is actually the more minor character in this set. He still has a pretty substantial role, but he kind of takes a back seat to Charles and Raven during the movie’s climax. This is the second time we’ve seen Fassbender’s Magneto in Minimate form; the first was in the TRU exclusive series based on First Class. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and he features 14 points of articulation. Obviously, he’s based on Magneto from the 70s timeline, but more specifically he’s based on Magneto’s fully costumed look from the second half of the movie. It’s a slightly toned down version of the costume we saw him wearing at the end of First Class, and I think it’s one of the better costume designs we’ve seen in an X-Men movie. The figure makes use of the traditional Minimate body, with add-ons for his half-cape thing and his helmet. Both of these are new pieces, and they both look pretty good. I wish the helmet was just a tad smaller, but it looks pretty good, and it’s a pretty great replica of the helmet seen in the movie. I’m not sure what movie-verse Magneto’s obsession with half-capes is (he sports one in both timelines) but they’ve done a good job translating this one to the Minimate form. The figure’s paint work is all pretty great. Nothing is too sloppy and there’s no bleed over to speak of. The detail lines on the head, torso, and legs all look nice and sharp, and the head bears a pretty decent Fassbender likeness. Magneto includes an alternate hairpiece, a flight stand, and a clear display stand. Like the helmet, I feel the hair is just a bit too large, but it isn’t monumentally off.

MYSTIQUE

Mystique is arguably the lead character of Days of Future Past. She’s very definitely the most important character. It was nice to see her get some serious screen time, especially after she was essentially a bit player in the first three movies. Like Fassbender’s Magneto, this is the second time we’ve gotten Jennifer Lawrence’s Mystique in the Minimate form. And, as an added bonus, she works pretty well as a Rebecca Romijn Mystique too! The figure is about 2 ½ inches in height and she sports 14 points of articulation. Mystique’s pretty much just got the blue-scaly-naked look, so that’s the one they went with. Mystique is built on the usual Minimate body with the addition of a hairpiece. The piece is brand new to the figure, and it looks to be a pretty spot on recreation of Mystique’s hair in the movie. It has some very nice detail work, so that’s good. The rest of Mystique’s look is done with paint, so a good paint job is key. Fortunately, Diamond has delivered on that front. While it’s hard to mess up straight blue, they’ve also done a tremendous amount of detail work, all of which has turned out really well. What impresses me most are the eyes, which have way more detail than you’d expect at this scale. Mystique’s sole accessory is a clear display stand. It’s a bit of a letdown after the comic DOFP set did such a great job conveying Mystique’s powers with the accessories. A Trask head on par with the Senator Kelly head from that set really would have put this two pack over the bar.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set was purchased from my local comicbook store Cosmic Comix. I must admit I was a little underwhelmed by the Days of Future Past Minimates when I first saw them. Still, I enjoyed the movie, and they were still Minimates. Plus, I certainly wasn’t going to pass up a figure of the 70s Magneto design. I’m glad I decided to pick this set up, because these two are truly impressive. Mystique is a long needed figure, and Magneto may very well be one of my favorite Minimates.

#0356: Plants vs Zombies Minimates

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

CHOMPER, SUNFLOWER, PEASHOOTER, FOOT SOLDIER ZOMBIE & SCIENTIST ZOMBIE

PLANTS VS ZOMBIES: GARDEN WARFARE MINIMATES

Plants vs Zombies is not a topic I ever really saw myself writing about here. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not much of a video gamer, and iOS games aren’t really my thing either. I knew of PvZ (as the cool kids call it…I think. Back me up cool kids!) but I myself have never played the game. So, why, oh, why would I have PvZ toys? Minimates. Yes, it seems DST has picked up the license for the latest PvZ game Garden Warfare. And I have a serious week spot for Minimates. This will be a slightly different review, as I know next to nothing about the figures in the set.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

There are two boxed sets in the first series of Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare Minimates, and this set is the Toys R Us exclusive set, which just started hitting TRU shelves.

CHOMPER

The Chomper seems to continue the long standing tradition of large, man-eating plants. It’s a tried and true formula, so I can’t fault the creators there. The figure is about 2 inches tall, making it the largest of the plants, and it features 1, count it, 1 point of articulation, at the base of the head. The figure has a completely new sculpt. It’s not a shock, as the base Minimate body doesn’t exactly lend itself to the plant designs. The sculpt is pretty good, though some of the details are a little bit gummy. It’s pretty much on par with most Minimate accessories in terms of quality. The paint on the Chomper is okay. It’s a bit sloppy, especially on the changes from green to purple, but it’s not horrible. The Chomper includes no accessories, though I guess you could argue the plants themselves are accessories.

SUNFLOWER

The Sunflower is probably the figure in the set I know the least about. I seem to recall that their sort of a mid-level plant, but I don’t know for sure. The Sunflower is about 1 ¾ inches in height and, like the Chomper, it features 1 point of articulation at the base of its head. Once again, it’s an all-new sculpt, tailor made for this particular plant. The sculpted work is actually a little sharper on the Sunflower than it is on the Chomper, which is actually quite nice. The head in particular features some really sharp work on the petals, which definitely makes this plant stand out. The paint on the Sunflower is cleaner, but admittedly simpler, than the Chomper. The Sunflower does feature some detail lines for its face, which are nice and sharp, and it seems to capture the Sunflower’s look pretty well. The Sunflower includes no accessories.

PEASHOOTER(S)

Okay, the Peashooters I’m actually pretty familiar with. They’re the base infantry for the plants, and they have one of the more clever names the game makers have thought up. There are two Peashooters included in the set, but both are exactly the same, so I’ll just look at them once. The figure is the smallest in the set, at about 1 ½ inches tall, and it features the a point of articulation at the base of the head just like the other plants. The Peashooter is the only of the plants to sport the Minimate aesthetic, as the heads have been built using the basic head as a starting point. It’s still a totally new sculpt, but it’s not far off from what we’ve seen before. It’s a pretty good sculpt, though the head has some obvious mold lines. The overall quality of the sculpt falls somewhere between the Chomper and the Sunflower, which isn’t bad. The paintwork is pretty straight forward. It’s one base coat of green, with some black paint for the eyes and the interior of the … shooter? I guess that’s what you’d call it. Anyway, it’s all pretty clean, so that’s good. The Peashooters include no accessories.

FOOT SOLDIER ZOMBIE

The Foot Soldier Zombie appears to be a fairly straight forward zombie from the game. I don’t know a whole lot about him, but I’d wager he’s a zombie who’s a soldier. Far out concept, right? The Soldier Zombie is 2 ½ inches tall and features 14 points of articulation. Unlike the plants, the Soldier Zombie is built on the standard Minimate body, with add-ons for his helmet and his collar/backpack/belt/skirt. The sculpted work is pretty great, especially the classically-styled infantry helmet. The paintwork has it’s plusses and its minuses. Overall, it’s not bad. The basic work on the body is good, and the detail lines are nice and clean. Unfortunately, the paint on the belt is…well, bad seems like an understatement. The colors aren’t even close to where they’re supposed to be, and the lines are incredibly sloppy to boot. I’ve honestly never seen paint this bad on a DST product before, and it’s limited exclusively to this one part of this one figure. How does that happen? It’s a shame, because it distracts from what is otherwise a well put together figure. The Foot Soldier Zombie includes a gun with a foot on it (something from the game, I’m assuming), a large rocket-launcher-thing that plugs into his back, and a clear display stand.

SCIENTIST ZOMBIE

Last, but far from least, is the Scientist Zombie, who I must admit was the figure that drew me to the set. Something about the mad scientist look is just really cool. Anyway, the Scientist Zombie is about 2 ½ inches tall and features 14 points of articulation. The figure is built on the standard Minimate body, with add-ons for his hair/goggles, lab coat/backpack, and gloves. The gloves are the basic glove pices that have been in use since the “Captain America: Through the Ages” set was released, but the hair and lab coat are all-new to this figure. Both pieces are superbly sculpted. The level of detail is a bit surprising, given the source material, but that’s not a bad thing! The paint on the Scientist Zombie is pretty great over all. There are a few small instances of bleed over, but no major issues like the Foot Soldier. I love that he even has little stains on his lab coat! The Scientist Zombie includes some sort of gun thing and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like I mentioned in the intro, I’m not much of a PvZ guy. Even when the Minimates were first announced, I just assumed I’d pass on them. But, the other day I was walking through TRU with my Dad, and I saw this set hanging there. It just kind of called to me. It’s a shame to see such shoddy paint on the Soldier Zombie, but assuming that’s mostly a confined issue (which it very likely is), this set is a lot of fun. All of the other figures have great work in both paint and sculpting, and it’s a fun bunch of designs. If you’re a fan of the game, I’m sure you’d really enjoy this set!

#0355: The Dino Hunter

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with ,

DINO HUNTER

LEGO MINIFIGURES

Generally speaking, the figures in the LEGO Minifigures line are based on basic stock character ideas. Occasionally, they’ll break out into things that are slightly more genericized versions of popular characters, (such as the Barbarian, which appeared to be a take on the movie version of John Carter). More recently, they’ve also been using it to add additional figures to some of their in-house lines that aren’t in production anymore. That’s the case with today’s figure, the Dino Hunter.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Dino Hunter is the 10th figure in the 12th series of LEGO Minifigures. The Dino Hunter is meant to be an additional teammate for the human characters in LEGO’s Dino line from 2011. There was only a single female character in that line, so this figure seems to be an attempt to avert the tokenism. The figure is about 2 inches tall and sports 7 points of articulation. The Dino Hunter is built using the standard LEGO body, with a sculpted hairpiece which looks to be new to her. It’s a nice piece, with a longer ponytail than the usual female hairpiece. The rest of the details are handled via paint, and they’re done very nicely. She features details on just about every piece, a rarity for LEGOs. The detail present on the figure is all really nice, and I love the little bits of damage here and there. The figure is rounded off with a bow/arrow, a needle (in the familiar Dino green), and the standard Minifigure stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Just like the Swashbuckler, the Dino Hunter was picked up from a Toys R Us on the way back from a beach trip with my Super Awesome Girlfriend. She just happened to be one of the two packs I picked up at random. I was a big fan of the Dino line, so I was thrilled to get this figure. Those were some pretty cool figures, and the Dino Hunter really takes it to the next level!

#0354: The Swashbuckler

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with ,

SWASHBUCKLER

LEGO MINIFIGURES

The last few reviews have been a bit on the lengthy side, but fear not faithful readers, today’s will be on the shorter side.

Excluding Minimates, my favorite minifigure line (and most people’s favorite) is the LEGO Minifigure line. Usually, said Minifigures could only be gotten by buying one of LEGO’s sets, but in the last few years, LEGO’s had some success with their line of blind-packaged Minifigures. Today, I’ll be taking a look at the Swashbuckler from the most recent series of the line, which has just started hitting stores.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Swashbuckler is figure #13 in Series 12 of LEGO Minifigures. He appears to be modeled after an Errol Flynn style adventure hero, which is a pretty classic type of character. The figure is about 2 inches tall and it features 7 points of articulation. The figure uses the basic LEGO body as the starting point, with a hat with a feather in it. The feather is a piece that’s been used a few times before, but the hat appears to be a new piece. They both work well for the desired look, so that’s good. The rest of the look is handled via painted details. He features detailing on his torso and face. The facial expression is pretty much perfect for the style of character they’re going for, so that’s good. The torso depicts a billowy shirt that is open to reveal his chest, which admittedly looks a bit cheesy. But, hey, that’s the style, right? The Swashbuckler includes a foil for proper swashbuckling, and the standard Minifigure display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Swashbuckler was picked up from Toys R Us, on the way back from going to the beach with my Super Awesome Girlfriend. I saw the display on the way to the register and pretty much grabbed two bags at random. The Swashbuckler is definitely one of the cooler figures in the series. It’s a somewhat cheesy look, but sometimes you have to be cheesy!

#0353: Deadliest Foes of Spider-Man Minimates

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

CARNAGE, DOCTOR OCTOPUS, LIZARD & SANDMAN

MARVEL MINIMATES

One of the greatest rogues galleries in comics is the Spider-Man rogues gallery. When you take into account that his main competition for that spot is Batman, a character that has been around for an extra 20 years, it’s a pretty impressive feat. With Minimates, getting Spider-Man’s rogues proved a bit tricky. Thanks to the multi-pack format, each spider-villain was bound to be packed with yet another variant of Spidey. However, Diamond has been getting more inventive with their sets, and just recently, they finally offered a set of Spider-Man villains with no Spider-Man included. Okay, it’s all figures with previous figures, but it’s the gesture that matters!

THE FIGURES TEMSELVES

This set was released in the title “Deadliest Foes of Spider-Man.” It was originally meant to be one of two exclusive sets carried by Action Figure Xpress, but they had to back out, leaving the sets in limbo. Minimate retailer Luke’s Toy Store stepped up and picked up this set as an exclusive to their store.

TENDRIL ATTACK CARNAGE

Carnage is the most recent character in this set, though he’s still over 20 years old, so I guess he’s still a “classic.” Generally, he’s not as well-known as Venom, the other Symbiote villain, but Venom has gotten his fair share of Minimates recently. The original Carnage Minimate from way back in Series 2 is generally considered to be one of the best of the early Minimates, so he’s definitely a tough act to follow. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and he features 14 points of articulation. Carnage has only ever had one basic look, so the figure unsurprisingly makes use of that look. He makes use of the basic Minimate body, with non-standard upper arms, a tendril add-on piece for the neck, a tendril hand, and an axe hand. The upper arms and neck piece were both previously seen on the “Venom: Through the Ages” Ann Weying. Since that figure was released, there’s been a campaign for those pieces to be used for Carnage, so it’s good to see that finally pan out. The hands are both brand-new, and they work pretty great for the character. I do kinda wish the tendril wasn’t quite as straight, but that’s a minor complaint. The big focus for Carnage is his paint. This was the strongest area of the very first Carnage, and I’m happy to say this one has surpassed him. The paint work on this figure is truly outstanding. Virtually every surface of the figure is covered in detail, which is not something you usually see on Minimates. Carnage includes an alternate Cletus Cassiday head (which re-uses the hair from Ghostbusters’ Janoz), an additional tendril hand, two claw hands, and a clear display stand.

ARM ATTACK DOCTOR OCTOPUS

Otto Octavius, aka Doctor Octopus, is probably the best known of the villains in this set. He’s also kinda dead right now, but his stint as the Superior Spider-Man just ended, so he’s still on everyone’s mind. The last proper Doc Ock Minimate was in the “Friends and Foes of Spider-Man” set from a few years ago. However, that set was riddled with horrible quality control, so Ock was in dire need of an update. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and features 18 points of articulation, courtesy of the extra arms. The figure is based on Ock’s classic green and yellow spandex look he sported throughout the 70s and 80s, which is the same look seen on both of his previous Minimates. The figure is built on the standard Minimate body, with additional pieces for his hair, torso, and his mechanical arms. These are all new pieces, and they are all really great for the character. The paint on Doc Ock is pretty good, though it could be a little better. The actual detail work is really great. Ock’s face is spot on for the character, and all the colors and such look just right. Unfortunately, the application of the yellow paint is rather sloppy, which is fairly distracting. It’s not enough to ruin the figure, but it is a little annoying. Doc Ock includes a spare set of lower arms which allow him to stand on them, and two display stands to facilitate this.

TRANSFORMING LIZARD

Curt Connors, aka The Lizard, is probably one of Spider-Man’s more tragic foes. He only becomes The Lizard due to his desire to grow back his missing right arm, and The Lizard is a personality entirely separate from his own. Curt Connors was a minor character in two of the Sam Rami Spider-Man movies, and The Lizard served as the primary antagonist in the first Amazing Spider-Man, so the character is certainly well enough known. He’s had one comic Minimate before, back in Series 37. That one was based on his design from his earlier appearances, whereas this one is meant to be based on his appearances in the 80s and 90s. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall, and in his default set up, he has 12 points of articulation. The Lizard is built on the same Minimate base as the other two, but he features a different set of lower legs, as well as clawed hands, a lab coat, and a slip-over lizard head. The lower legs originally saw release on the Movie Lizard in Series 46, and the coat was originally used on the Series 37 Lizard. Near as I can tell, the head and hands are new. The reused pieces are sensible, though I’m not 100% sold on the lower legs. They seem a little off. The head is better than I thought it would be. Prototype pictures made it look far too large, but in person it looks about right. The paint work on the Lizard is pretty good overall. He doesn’t have any real issues with slop, but it would be nice if there was a little bit more detail on the head, especially on the teeth. The Lizard has the best accessories assortment in the set; he includes a hair piece (re-used from the “Captain America: Through the Ages” Armored Cap), a lab coat and an alternate half arm (both from the Amazing Spider-Man Doctor Connors), an extra hand, and spare legs, allowing him to be converted into a comic-styled Curt Connors. The parts are excellently chosen, and fully assembled he’s a spot-on Connors figure!

SHAPE-SHIFTER SANDMAN

Sandman is an early Spider-Man villain, but he’s had a more varied history than most. After fighting Spider-Man a few times, he joined up with the Fantastic Four villains The Frightful Four for a little while and then he even joined the Avengers, before once again returning to Spider-Man’s rogues gallery. Most notably, he was one of the villains in Spider-Man 3, which contributes a lot to his notoriety amongst the more casual fans. Sandman is no stranger to Minimates; he’s had two previous comic-styled Minimates and two Minimates based on his film appearance. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and features either 14 or 4 points of articulation, depending on how you set him up. He’s overall based on the character’s classic design, though I’m not 100% sure when he had the short sleeves. Right out of the box, the figure only makes use of the standard Minimate head and torso, with non-standard arms, and a sand base in place of his legs, as well as a sculpted hairpiece. The arms and sand base both were previously seen on the Series 18 Sandman, and the hair was first used on the Thunderbolts set’s Norman Osborn. The sand pieces work great, but I’m not sold on the hair. I didn’t particularly care for it on Norman, and I think it’s even less fitting on Sandman. It’s just too bulky to look right, especially in the back. The paint on Sandman is really great. All the base work is nice and clean, and the details are all really sharp. The face has just the right look for Sandman, which is great. Sandman includes spare arms and a regular lower half, allowing for him to be displayed as Flint Marko, as well as a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like yesterday’s “Days of Future Past” set, I picked this set up from Luke’s Toy Store. Not that it should be a shock, what with it being a LTS exclusive and all. I’ve been pretty excited for this set pretty much since day one. It’s a really great set, and it fulfills several needed figures. Lizard is definitely my favorite, with Carnage not far behind. Were the QC on Ock a little better, I’d probably like him more, but as is, he’s a good update to an essential character. Sandman is the weakest in the set, mostly due to him being the only one with no new pieces and his look being a little off. Still, he’s not a bad figure, so I can’t complain. All in all, this is one of the best sets of Minimates put out this year, and that’s really saying something. So, if you’re a Spider-Man fan or a Minimate fan, or just a fan of good toys, head on over to Luke’s Toy Store and pick this set up. It’s worth it!

(Holy crap, that was a long review.  I guess I had a lot to say…)

#0352: Days of Future Past Minimates

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

FUTURE WOLVERINE, FUTURE KITTY PRYDE, MYSTIQUE & FUTURE SENTINEL

MARVEL MINIMATES

Minimates! Oh, how I’ve missed you. It’s been almost 30 reviews since I last looked at a set of Minimates, and almost 50 since I last looked at any Marvel Minimates. I’m not sure how I let that happen. I guess I was just buying too much other stuff. So, here’s a set based on one of the best known X-Men stories of all time!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This set was released as a San Diego Comic Con exclusive, just this summer. It’s based on the “Days of Future Past” story that ran through X-Men #141-142. The set was released to coincide with the movie adaptation of that story, released this past summer.

FUTURE WOLVERINE

It wouldn’t be a proper X-Men set without Wolverine, now would it? Wolverine is, as the figure’s name notes, based on the version of the character from the bad future presented in DOFP. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this version of Wolverine in Minimate form, as it was also a variant all the way back in Marvel Minimates Series 13. However, a few things necessitate a re-do of this particular look: 1) The style of Minimates has changes since then, 2) This figure actually represents what wolverine looks like in the actual issue, while that one was based on the slightly different look from the cover, and 3) the old figure just isn’t very good. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation. He’s built on the basic Minimate body, with a set of clawed hands and additional pieces for his hair, coat, belt and the pouch on his leg. All of these pieces are re-use. The hair and hands have been used on a handful of previous Wolverines. Thecoat is from the Street Fight Wolverine from Series 52. The belt is a generic piece used several times before, and the pouch has been used before, but I don’t know where. Aside from the coat being a touch long for the one Wolverine was sporting in the story, all these pieces are spot on, and they do a great job translating the look to the Minimate form. For the most part, the paint on Wolverine is relatively basic, but it’s pretty good. There are a few areas on the coat and around the boot lines where the lines are a little sloppy, but otherwise it looks pretty great. The face and torso also have some very nice detail line work, which give the figures some pretty good dimension. Future Wolverine includes a clear display stand. 

FUTURE KITTY PRYDE

Okay, so right off the bat, I have a slight bone to pick with DST: In DOFP, Kitty isn’t Kitty Pryde, she’s Kate Pryde. It’s a small but important difference. That being said, I suppose for marketing purposes, it makes sense to call her Kitty. Anyway, she’s the main character of the comic version of the story, so it’s good to see her included here. She is, of course based on the future version of Kitty from the story. In her default setup, she’s meant to replicate Kate’s look from the cover of X-Men #141. Kate stands about 2 ½ inches tall and features 14 points of articulation. She’s built on the standard Minimate body, with additional pieces for her hair, collar, and coat. Like Wolverine, all of the pieces are re-use. The hair is from the Shadowcat Minimate from Series 31, the coat is from the Series 46 Peter Parker, and the collar is just a generic collar piece. These pieces make for a decent approximation of Kate’s cover look, which is good. The coat has a small hole on the right shoulder where Peter’s book bag originally attached, but it’s forgivable since it’s re-use. The paint on Kate is basic, but clean. The jacket, pants and shoes are all solid colors, but at least she doesn’t have any slop. The facial expression is a near perfect recreation of her face from the cover, so that’s great. Kitty includes a clear display stand, a spare hairpiece (re-used from Series 43’s Aunt May), and extra arms and legs. By removing the coat and replacing the arms and legs, you can recreate Kate’s prison camp look, which is the look she actually has in the story itself. It’s a masterfully done extra look and it’s absolutely spot on to what she looked like in the story.

MYSTIQUE

Mystique is the only “current” figure in the set. She’s a great choice, seeing as she operates as the main antagonist in all of the present day sequences, plus she was in dire need of an update. Mystique is in her classic costume, which is the one she was wearing in DOFP, so that’s cool. Mystique is about 2 ½ inches in height and features 14 points of articulation. Like the others, she features the standard Minimate body as her starting point, with add-ons for her hair and skirt. The hair is re-used from the “Curse of the Mutants” Vampire Jubilee and the skirt is from the Series 38 Elektra. These are both very nicely sculpted pieces, and they work great for Mystique. Mystique’s paint is very well done. Everyhing is clean and sharp, and the line work brilliantly translates Mystique from the page to the Minimate. There are even ties on her sides going from the front to the back of her dress! Mystique includes a clear display stand and two extra heads: one Senator Kelly and one half-Kelly/half-Mystique (both of which make use of the hair previously seen on the Lost in Space Minimates Doctor Smith). The heads are a great idea. The half-and-half head makes for a perfect illustration of Mystique’s abilities and with the addition of a spare suit body, the Kelly head allows you to make your own Senator Kelly, another character pivotal to the story. (For reference, I used the body of a Series 43 J Jonah Jameson, which I have several of thanks to SHIELD Agent army building.)

FUTURE SENTINEL

This particular Sentinel could work equally as a current day and future Sentinel, but the box says “Future” so that’s what I’m going with. The Sentinels are the antagonists of the future sequences, so the inclusion of one here is perfect. I just wish it were available outside of this four pack because I’d love to have a few of them. The Sentinel is based on the classic Sentinel design, as was seen in DOFP. The figure is a little over 2 ½ inches tall and features 12 points of articulation. The height puts him way out of scale with the rest of the set, but that’s just a thing we’ll have to live with. The Sentinel is built using the standard Minimate body, with add-ons for the helmet, hands, torso extender, and feet. The helmet first saw use on the Marvel vs Capcom 3 Sentinel, the hands are from the TRU exclusive Annihilus, the torso extender has seen a few uses, and the boots are from the TRU exclusive Box. All of these pieces add up to the best looking Sentinel the line has offered yet. The paint on the Sentinel seems particularly good. All of the details are very shard and clean, and the shades of purple and pink are just right, which was something I always found off about the previous Sentinels. The Sentinel includes an alternate battle-damaged head, an orange flight base, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Since I did not attend San Diego Comic Con, this set was picked up from my very favorite Minimate retailer, Luke’s Toy Store. When Diamond first announced they were planning on doing a set based on the story, I was pretty excited, and this set really lives up to my expectations. Mystique and the Sentinel are easily my default versions of those characters now, and Wolverine and Kate are fun variants. Throw in the fact that I can build my very own Senator Kelly, who I never though in a million years we’d get, and I’m as happy as I could be with this set.

Guest Review #0011: Siris – V1

Posted by Tim Marron in Guest Reviews and tagged with , ,

SIRIS -V1

INFINITY BLADE COLLECTIBLES

Sirus1

Today’s review is written by Tim Marron.  Check out more from Tim over at Tim’s Blarg and Timsical Thoughts.  Take it away Tim!

One of my favorite game series of all time has got to be the Infinity Blade franchise, developed by Chair for iOS. It’s got everything I love: swords, fighting, swords, monsters, weapons, and swords [also swords. –Ethan]. The 3rd volume of the game was released in 2013 and somewhere along the line, there was an update that added the feature to order a custom 3D printed figure of your character straight from the game. The figures can be printed in small (~3 ½ inches), medium (~4 ½ inches), and large (5 ½ – 6 inches) sizes. Today, for my inaugural IB figure review, I’ll be looking at version 1 of my Siris build in small.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Sirus4Siris is based on his appearance in Infinity Blade 3. Mine specifically is 3 ½ inches tall and shows him sporting the Nightbringer helm, Still Plate armor, Starsh sword, and Nodus shield in the “crossed” pose. Being 3D printed, all of Siris’ sculpt is new, and because it was printed using the game’s model data, it’s pretty spot on. Certain areas like the shield can seem a little chunkier than in the game, but at such a small scale, beefing up parts like that to improve durability is perfectly acceptable. In addition, the coloring is quite impressive. There isn’t a drop of paint used on the figure, instead, all the color comes from the print medium itself. The shield again seems to have a little trouble with some of the details being slightly fuzzy but it’s not terrible and the rest of the figure is nice and clean. Sandboxr, the company that handles printing these figures describes the medium as a “sandstone-like powder” material that is then treated to make the print a solid piece. The choice of medium allows for much more detailed prints than with plastic filament printers and also gives the figure a nice amount of heft. Aside from the aforementioned sword and shield permanently affixed to his back, Siris features no accessories and has no articulation.

Sirus2Sirus3Siris5

 THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Until just a couple months ago, I had no idea the feature of having your character as a 3D print was even a thing, so when I stumbled across the Infinity Blade Collectibles website and found it, I immediately jumped into the game and decked out my character. The wait between placing the order and receiving it seemed a little long, but honestly, for something custom made, the turnaround was not bad at all. It is a bit of a shame that they only make static figures, although the level of customization involved would make fully articulated figures a bit of a pain to produce. In the end, it’s a super cool little statue to have and I’m already looking into getting more.

#0351: The Tenth Doctor

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

THE TENTH DOCTOR

DOCTOR WHO (3.75)

It’s a Doctor Who review!  Those are becoming more and more frequent, aren’t they?

For several years, the Doctor Who line chugged along in the 5 inch scale. It didn’t really fit with other contemporary lines (5 inch is really a 90s scale), but at least there was some internal consistency. Recently, however, Character Options opted to move the line to 3 ¾ inch scale. This provided a bit of an issue for people that had been collecting the larger line, and also left some pretty big holes in the smaller collection. Character Options is on board with filling those holes, because it means they get to do yet another release of each of the heavy hitters! The most recent series features a small scale take on the fan-favorite Tenth Doctor. Let’s see how that one turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Tenth Doctor was released in the third series of the smaller scale Doctor Who line. He’s 3 ¾ inches in height and he sports 14 points of articulation. Seems the doctor has traded in his larger counterpart’s hinged hips for a set of hinged shoulders. It means he has the same number of points of articulation, but he can do a little bit more with the shoulder movement than the hip movement, so it’s a good move on their part. Ten features an all-new sculpt, depicting him in his signature pinstripe suit and long coat. Even at the smaller scale, I must admit, the sculpt on this figure improves on the larger figure in almost every way. The likeness on the Doomsday Doctor’s head was pretty good, and this one is even better. That’s very definitely Tennant. I’m also glad to see the long coat, as the Doomsday figure didn’t have that. The biggest improvement on this figure is that the suit is a much better fit, not too bulky at all. That’s nice to see. While the sculpt is a definite improvement from the previous Ten, the paint sadly isn’t. It’s not terrible, mind you. It’s just that the Doomsday Doctor had stellar paint, and this figure’s paint is just okay There’s a few bits of slop here and there, and things like the details on his tie just look off here. Ten includes his sonic screw driver and a red DW logo base. The sonic isn’t as nice here as the larger one, but that’s to be expected. I have no use for the stand, but I guess it’s nice that it’s there.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, it’s a Doctor Who review. You can probably guess who I got this figure from. Yep, this is another figure purchased for me by my Super Awesome Girlfriend. While we were at Walgreens looking for Star Wars: The Black Series figures, we discovered that Walgreens also carried the smaller scale Doctor Who figures. I expressed interest in the Ten figure, so she bought it for me. Isn’t that nice of her?

The figure is really good. I still like the Doomsday Doctor for his own pluses, but this figure definitely has led me to consider what the smaller scale has to offer. In the meantime, this can be my “Travel Doctor”! Allons-y!