Monthly Archives: March 2015

#0496: Kill Bill Minimates – Masters of Death

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

BEATRIX KIDDO, BILL, HATTORI HANZO, & PAI MEI

KILL BILL MINIMATES

“I’m calling you a killer. A natural born killer. You always have been and you always will be.” – Bill

I didn’t see Kill Bill when it was first released. In fact, I didn’t see Kill Bill for several years after it was released. On the outside, Quentin Tarantino’s movies never really appealed to me. But then, Diamond Select Toys got the license to make Minimates for a few of Tarantino’s films, Kill Bill among them. And, seeing as both parts were up on Netflix, I figured it was as good a time as any to watch the movies. And I really quite enjoyed them. The first two sets in the Kill Bill Minimates line were firmly based on the first film, specifically its final scene. While I certainly enjoyed the first movie, I think the second is the stronger of the two, so I was happy to see that the third set would be delving into that movie. So, let’s see how this set turned out.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

The third set of Kill Bill Minimates is officially titled “The Masters of Death Set.” Unlike the previous two sets, it isn’t based upon a particular scene or sequence from the movies. Instead, the theme of this set is the Bride and the three men who helped her hone her skills as a killer.

BEATRIX KIDDO

Okay, spoilers: the Bride’s name is Beatrix Kiddo. Bam! Mind blown, right? This is the second figure of Beatrix in the line. The figure is roughly 2 ½ inches tall and features 14 points of articulation, although most of the leg articulation is rendered inert by the skirt. The first Bride figure was based on her look from the first movie’s climactic battle with the Crazy 88s. This one is based on her look from the second half of the second movie, which includes the sequence where she fights Bill. It’s not quite as distinctive as the yellow tracksuit, but it’s an important look nonetheless. Beatrix is constructed on the standard Minimate body, with add-ons for her hair, jacket, and skirt. The jacket is a reuse from the Marvel Minimates Series 22 James Rhodes, which is a pretty great leather jacket piece. The hair and skirt are both new. The hair seems a little on the bulky side, but it’s not terrible. The skirt is pretty accurate to the source material; the details aren’t the sharpest, but they’re decent. Beatrix’s paintwork is overall pretty clean. The colors are nicely matched to the source material, and the leather jacket is appropriately shiny. The sash on her skirt piece shows a little bit of bleed over, however, it’s nothing too severe. The detail line work is all very sharp and clean, and the face has a passing resemblance to Uma Thurman (I thought the last one was a bit better, though). Beatrix includes her Hattori Hanzo sword with a scabbard to match, a handgun, a spare set of sleeveless arms, and a clear display stand. The sword and scabbard, it should be noted, are the same as those included with the first Beatrix, which means the scabbard is still upside down.

BILL

So here’s the guy the Bride was out to kill. It says so right in the title! Bill is presented here in all of his Bill-ish glory, depicting the character as he appears in his scenes at the end of the second movie. Though, to be fair, Bill looks about the same for pretty much all of the second movie, so this figure works for just about all of his appearances. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall, with 14 points of articulation. Bill is constructed on the basic Minimate body, with add-ons for his hair and jacket. The jacket is the same basic suit jacket that DST had been using since way back in the Back to the Future Minimates “Enchantment Under the Sea” Marty. It’s a good, standard suit jacket, so the re-use is certainly warranted. The hair is new to Bill, and it’s a fairly decent approximation of his hair in the movie. It’s sculpted with some rather nice fine detail work and the bottom has been handled in such a way as to not impede articulation. Bill’s paintwork is pretty good. It’s sort of a subtle sort of a paint job, that looks pretty basic at first glance, but actually has quite a bit of detail. His jacket has the proper detaiing at the top, which could have easily been overlooked. His shirt is also fully detailed, with wrinkles and such, and you can even see some of his chest hair. The best part of the paint is definitely the face, which is a pretty great likeness of David Carradine. It’s very definitely Bill. Bill includes a Hanzo sword, a revolver, a bamboo flute, and a clear display stand.

HATTORI HANZO

Hattori here is the only figure in this set who hails from the first movie. That being said, his role in the first movie is pivotal to the second, and he and his work as a sword maker are brought up quite a lot in the second film. So, he’s definitely not out of place here (although being pretty much the only genuinely good person in the set does make him a little out of place). The figure is roughly 2 ½ inches in height and sports 14 points of articulation. Hattori is based on his appearance when he first meets the Bride, while working in his sushi restaurant. He uses the basic body, with add-ons for his headband, sleeves, and the lower portion of his robe. The sleeves and lower robe are both fairly standard pieces that we’ve seen many times before. They are well chosen and do their job admirably. The headband is a new piece; it’s a fairly straightforward piece, and it captures the look from the movie nicely. Overall, the figure’s paint is pretty good, but there’s one rather annoying issue. The figure’s skin tone on the body is appropriately warm and lifelike, but for some reason, the skin tone on the head is more gray. It doesn’t look right, and it clashes with the rest of the figure. Other than that, the paint is nice and clean, and the figure has some wonderful detail line work. Hattori includes one of his own swords and a clear display stand.

PAI MEI

Pai Mei is an intriguing character. He’s a very important character to the story, but his role is entirely in flashback. By the actual time of the movie, he’s been dead for some time. He also portrayed as a positive figure in Beatrix’s life, while at the same time being one of meanest characters to her in the movie. Seriously, she’s treated much better by the people who are actively trying to kill her. But, he’s key to her training, and, more specifically, her defeat of Bill. This is Pai Mei’s first Minimate, but it’s the second Minimate his actor, Gordon Liu, has received for Kill Bill. His other character, Johnny Mo was one of the Crazy 88s featured in set #2. Pai Mei is about 2 ½ inches tall, with 14 points of articulation, although, just like Beatrix, the leg articulation is restricted by the sculpted parts. Pai Mei is constructed from the basic Minimate body, with unique forearm pieces, as well as add-ons for his hair, beard, and the lower half of his robes. The robe piece and forearms are re-used from the Marvel Minimates Series 52 Mariko, and they are definitely a reasonable re-use. The beard and hair are both new to Pai Mei. They are decent pieces, though the eyebrows could stand to be a bit more distinctly separate. As it stands now, he sort of looks like he’s got a very strange haircut. Also, on my figure, the left strand of hair was stuck between his head and his torso, causing it to be misshapen. It can be fixed pretty easily, but it’s still annoying. Pai Mei has pretty good paintwork. The black/white contrast is nice and bold, and there’s plenty of fine detail work. Pai Mei includes his distinctive staff and a clear display stand. I do kind of wish he’d had a spare beard piece that could be held, but oh well.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like yesterday’s Godzilla set, I got these four from my very favorite Minimate retailer, Luke’s Toy Store. I was fairly excited for this set. It’s nice to have a Bill for Beatrix to… uhh… kill. And, Hattori is one of my favorite characters from the movie, so I’m definitely glad to get him. The one thing I will say about this set, is that it and the next set feel like their release order has been reversed. This set featuring both Bill and the final battle version of Beatrix kind of makes it feel like it should be the final set. But, as long as they all get released, it doesn’t really matter in what order they’re released.

#0495: Godzilla Minimate Set #2

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

ATOMIC GODZILA, MECHA GODZILLA, HEDORAH THE SMOG MONSTER, & JET JAGUAR

GODZILLA MINIMATES

CREEEEEEEEEONK!!!!!!!!!!!! Did you hear that? That’s the sound of a Godzilla. I know it is, cuz that’s how it’s written out in all the comics! Do you know what that sound means? No, it’s not actually Godzilla. That’s the dumb talking. Obviously, the only thing that sound could possibly mean is that I’m totally about to review some Godzilla Minimates up in here!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This sets makes up “series 2” of the Godzilla Minimates line, which is being handled through boxed sets, at least for the time being.

ATOMIC GODZILLA

First up, it’s the title character, Godzilla. This is the second Godzilla in the line, which isn’t surprising, given there have been two sets. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall, with 14 points of articulation. This Godzilla, like the last one, is something of an amalgamation of a few of the “classic” Godzilla designs. The main difference between this Godzilla and the last one is that this one represents Godzilla when he uses his atomic ray, which is one of his most distinctive attacks. The figure is built using the standard Minimate body as a starting point, with a unique head, hands, and feet, as well as add-ons for the torso/tail and upper thighs. All of these pieces were used on the previous Godzilla, which is a sensible re-use. The pieces are pretty well sculpted, although the fact that the arms and legs are just basic Minimate arms is a little goofy looking. The torso piece is also a little on the simple side for Godzilla, especially when compared to the other figures in the set. The head is very well sculpted, though, so it’s definitely got that going for it. The paintwork on the figure is generally pretty good. It’s pretty straight forward, but it’s nice and clean. Plus, his back spines are molded in clear blue, which is just plain cool. The figure includes an atomic ray piece and a clear display stand.

MECHA GODZILLA

You can’t have Godzilla without having his mecha counterpart, so here it is! Mecha Godzilla is 2 ½ inches in height and he has 14 points of articulation. I’m pretty sure he’s based on the first version of Mecha Godzilla, though there were more than a few versions of the concept. The figure uses the basic Minimate body as a starting point, with a new head, hands, and feet, as well as an add-on for the torso. The pieces are all new to this figure and they are incredibly well sculpted. All of the details are nice and sharp. Just look at those rivets! Amazing! The figure’s paint is a little bit more detailed than Godzilla, with some more fine detail. Everything is nice and clean, and all the line work is really sharp. Mecha Godzilla includes a clear display stand.

HEDORAH THE SMOG MONSTER

Okay, so I don’t actually know anything about Hedorah. He’s apparently a smog monster, so there’s that. I’ve gathered that he’s one of the more minor Godzilla foes, but you have to get a few of them in to keep the line going. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and he has 13 points of articulation. He has unique hands and feet, as well as an add-on for the head/torso/tail. When fully assembled, the figure is really quite large. Like, so large that the package had to be specially shaped just to accommodate him. I’m pretty sure that’s a first. The sculpt is certainly unique, and very gloopy. He does look like a smog monster, so that’s a plus. As far as paint goes, Hedorah actually pretty lax on the paint work. For the most part, he’s molded in a dark green plastic. He’s got some detailing for his eyes and a few spots of brighter green. The paint is cleanly applied, and the detail work is pretty sharp. Hedorah includes a clear display stand.

JET JAGUAR

Jet Jaguar! Jet Jaguar! So, um, Jet Jaguar. How about that. See, I don’t know a whole lot about Jet Jaguar, but he’s one of my favorite parts of the Godzilla mythos. And that’s mostly because he is literally just Ultraman. And that’s totally okay. The figure is 2 ½ inches tall with 14 points of articulation. He’s built on the same body as the others in the set, with a unique head and an add-on for the shoulder piece. Both pieces are new to Jet, and they’re both pretty good translation of the Jet Jaguar design, so that’s good. Jet probably has the most complicated paint work in the set. With the most room for error, Jet does end up with a few more issues with bleed over. That said, most of the work is really great. The colors are bold and bright, and the line work is clean and sharp. Just look at that awesome grin! Jet Jaguar includes a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I ended up passing on the first set of Godzilla Minimates for a variety of reasons. However, when it was announced that both Mecha Godzilla and Jet Jaguar would be in the second set, I was immediately on board. I picked this set up from my favorite Minimate retailer, Luke’s Toy Store. I really like this set a lot. The figures are definitely unique looking and very well put together. I may even go back and get the first set now!