#0752: Age of Ultron Minimates Boxed Set

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

FINAL FORM ULTRON, IRON LEGION 01, TONY STARK, MARK 45, & NICK FURY

MARVEL MINIMATES

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So, Series 61 and 63 of Marvel Minimates, plus the two TRU exclusive sets and the blind bagged figures, did a pretty reasonable job of getting us just about every important character from Age of Ultron. We got the whole Avengers team, plus several Ultrons, a few Iron Legion drones, two minor villains, and the Hulkbuster. However, DST felt that wasn’t quite enough, so we’ve gotten an extra, special five figure (that’s a whole extra figure!) boxed set to fill a few holes in the collection.  Without further ado, let’s have a look at Final Form Ultron, Iron Legion 01, Tony Stark, Iron Man Mark 45, and Nick Fury!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This set was one of the SDCC-exclusive sets offered by DST this year. The sets were then available at various retailers following the show.

FINAL FORM ULTRON

AoUMatesBox3Ultron looks a little….I don’t want to say puffy…  Yeah, so this is Ultron in his Vibranium infused body from the film’s big climactic battle, which is ever so slightly different from his main look for the rest of the movie. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation. Ultron uses the base Minimate body, with non-standard pieces for the head, hands, and feet, as well as add-ons for the shoulders and torso extension. All of these pieces are re-used from prior figures; the head is from Ultron Prime, the hands originated on DC Minimates’ Cheetah, the feet are from Nightcrawler, and the add-ons are pieces we’ve seen on numerous prior ‘mates. It’s definitely a hodge-podge of pieces, but the end result actually looks pretty sleek. Also, he amends the issue of size that plagued Ultron Prime; he’s not huge, but he’s certainly got a level of imposing-ness to him. The paintwork on this figure is superb. The silver is nice and cleanly applied, the detail lines are nice and sharp, and he does a pretty great job of replicating the film design. Everything looks really great, and he’s even got a full set of detail lines on the normal arms under the bulked up shoulders. Ultron includes a spare set of normal hands and feet painted silver, for those that don’t want the more unique pieces, as well as a clear display stand.

IRON LEGION 01

AoUMatesBox6Okay, so if there’s one thing this set might have been okay without, it’s another Iron Legion drone. The blind bags ran into a bit of an issue by seriously over-packing drones 02 and 04, which kind of got us all down on the drones in general. That said, there are actually supposed to be five of these guys, and we only had two (three if you count the Ultron Mk 1 as drone 03), so I guess getting another of them isn’t the worst thing. Of course, if I were choosing one more, I’d probably go with 05, since you could include the scepter the drone steals, but DST went with 01. I guess having 01, 02, 03, and 04 is better than having 02, 03, 04, and 05. This figure is virtually identical to the other two drones we got (reviewed here). He’s a vanilla ‘mate, with a fair amount of painted details. Obviously, he’s got “01” in place of the preceding “02” and “04,” and he’s also got grey accents as opposed to the blue and black, respectively, of the other two.

TONY STARK

AoUMatesBox2Hey, it wouldn’t be the Avengers without another Tony Stark, right? The “trying to lift the hammer” sequence from AoU was definitely one of the more popular scenes from the movie, so it’s not a huge surprise to see Tony in his look from that scene. Tony has 5 sculpted add-on pieces for his hair, vest, tie, and rolled up sleeves. These are all pieces we’ve seen numerous times before, and they do a good job of capturing his look from the scene. His paint is pretty simple, with mostly base color work. The facial likeness somewhat resembles RDJ, though I don’t think it’s as good as some of DST’s other versions of the guy. It’s also a little bit too high set. Tony includes one of his Iron Man gauntlets (taken from the Mark 43), which is kind of key to the scene, as well as a spare set of arms and a jacket piece, and a clear display stand. It would have been cool to include Mjolnir here, but I can’t say this guy’s lacking for extras.

MARK 45

AoUMatesBox5We got the Mark 43, we got the Hulkbuster, and we got a basic Tony. What’s left? The Mark 45, Tony’s armor from the last fight scene. It’s only a little bit different from the Mark 43, but it’s still its own armor, and it continues the trend of each model streamlining the basic design just a bit more. Structurally, he’s just a basic ‘mate, with the helmet from the Mark 42/43. It’s not 100% accurate, but at this scale, it’s close enough. The paint is the important part here, and it’s handled quite nicely. The red and gold are distinctly different from each other, and they’re both nice and bright. The details of the suit are rendered pretty nicely on the body, and look pretty accurate to the source material. Under the helmet, there’s another Tony face, which is much angrier looking than the regular Tony. It looks even less like RDJ, but I much prefer a different expression that looks less like the actor than the same expression over and over again. The figure includes the same hairpiece included with the other Tony, as well as a flight stand, and a clear display stand.

NICK FURY

AoUMatesBox7At last! A character who wasn’t released in any of the other AoU assortments! Fury was originally slated to be one of the figures in the blind bagged assortment before being pulled from the lineup, so it’s not a huge shock to see him turn up here. The figure depicts Fury in his somewhat more distinct look from his earlier appearances in the film. He gets two add-on pieces for his hat and coat. The hat comes from the Amazing Spider-Man Vigilante Spider-Man, and the coat is from Punisher War-Zone’s Frank Castle. These parts match up pretty closely with the look from the film, and their well-sculpted in general, so that’s good. Fury’s paint is fairly simple. He’s got a fairly drab color scheme, with a bit of detailing for the belt, shirt, and face. The face doesn’t really look much like SLJ, but he’s a decent looking Fury. Also, I really like that the eye patch’s strap goes all the way around the head, even under the hat, though it’s a little frustrating that the head has a peg hole at the top for the hat. Fury includes a spare head with the eye patch removed, a handgun, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Since I didn’t go to SDCC, I picked this set after the fact, courtesy of Luke’s Toy Store. This set doesn’t cover a whole lot of new ground, but it’s still a solid addition. Ultron is a significant improvement to Ultron Prime, Fury and Stark are both valid variants, and the Mark 45 and the Legion drone are decent enough. The final AoU line-up is pretty impressive!

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#0751: Batman

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

BATMAN

BATMAN: ANIMATED (DC COLLECTIBLES)

BatmanTAS4

Hey, do you guys remember how last year DC Collectibles debuted their line of super awesome figures based on Batman: The Animated Series? And do you remember when I reviewed the first figure in the line, which was Batman? And how I noted that he was actually Batman from the second incarnation of the show? And then I pointed out that the original design was slated for release later on in the line? Are you getting tired of these questions? Me too. So, yeah, the original Batman: The Animated Series Batman figure is finally here. Let’s see how it turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

BatmanTAS6Batman is figure #13 in DC Collectibles’ Batman: Animated line. Technically, this makes him the first figure in Series 4 of the line, but it seems DCC has completely given up on releasing these in actual assortments, so Batman shipped out on his own, though a few other figures arrived in the surrounding weeks. The figure is just shy of 6 ½ inches tall and has 24 points of articulation. The figure lacks the usual swivel joint on the lower leg, which is quite a pain when it comes to posing or even just trying to get him to stand, and also leaves him eternally pigeon-toed. The boots are even separate from the rest of the leg, so it looks like there should be movement, but there’s not. Batman’s sculpt has the task of translating a 2D character model into 3D, which is certainly not easy. From the neck down, the figure works pretty well. Everything seems proportioned right, and he’s more or less identical to the guy we saw on the screen. He seems a little on the small side compared to some of the other figures, but not terribly so. What about the head? Well, it’s hard to say. The prototype looked pretty dead on, but this doesn’t seem to have made it to the final figure. The shape of the eyes in particular seems off, and they feel way too small. It’s possible it’s a paint issue, so it’s hard to judge the accuracy of the sculpt. This figure only gets one cape, in contrast to the two included with the last Batman; all we get is the swept back look. To be fair, this is the preferred of the two looks, and the cape is accurate to the source material, but the option BatmanTAS7would have been nice. This figure makes out okay paint-wise. There’s the previously mentioned issue with the eyes, but other than that, the paint is pretty clean, and they seem to have done a pretty good job matching the colors from the show. Batman is packed with a B:TAS accurate batarang, a grappling hook, 7 hands (a pair of fists, a pair of basic grip, a pair for holding the batarang, and one with the grappling hook sculpted in place), and a display stand with his character design sheet printed on it. It’s not quite as much as was included with the last Batman, but it’s still a pretty impressive allotment.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Batman was purchased from my local comic store, Cosmic Comix. They had just gotten him and Poison Ivy in and I only had the money for one, so I went with him (I went back for Ivy later). I was pretty eager to get this figure when it was announced, what with it being my Batman and all, but I have to say, I was…disappointed with the final product. It really sucks to have to say that, to be totally honest, but it’s true. He’s not a bad figure, but the issues with the head and lack of movement in the legs hold him back. On any other figure, this might be forgivable, but on the definitive Batman, it’s a pretty big letdown. This figure is supposed to be repackaged with a new head in a two-pack with Phantasm early next year. It would be nice if DCC could fix the issues for that release. Until then, this guy’s certainly serviceable.

BatmanTAS2

#0750: Alien Warrior

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

ALIEN WARRIOR

S.H. MONSTERARTS

AlienAVP1

What’s this? Another Alien review? On my site? Why, that’s just unheard of! …Or, maybe not. So, what’s different about this review? Well, amongst other things, it’s a figure based on a movie I don’t like. Yeah, this here is one of the Alien Warriors from the first Alien vs. Predator film, a movie that’s only real saving grace is that it’s not as bad as its own sequel. In fact, it’s not a bad movie, just a mediocre one. That doesn’t seem right for Alien vs. Predator, which should really be a “go big or go home” affair. But, alas, we got the film we got, and it’s highly unlikely we’ll ever see another. Sorry, this is actually supposed to be a toy review! Let’s get on to the figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

AlienAVP2The Alien Warrior is a part of Bandai’s S.H. MonsterArts line, and was released as a standalone item in early 2014. The figure stands just shy of 6 inches tall (a little taller than Bandai’s Big Chap) and has 63 points of articulation. As noted in the intro, this figure is based on the Alien vs. Predator design for the Alien Warrior. It’s interesting that they opted to release this version of the alien so far after the movie instead of something more iconic, such as the Aliens version, but if I had to guess, I’d say AvP’s probably just the cheapest of the licenses to procure. I find that each successive iteration of the Xenomorph design after Aliens loses a little of what made the first two designs work, and in particular, I found the Xenos in AvP to be too skinny and waaaaay too slimy and goopy. While this figure does strive to be an overall fairly accurate translation of the design, I find it changes a few minor things that result in a much better end product. For one thing, the details and texturing feel much sharper here than in the film, which is definitely a change I appreciate. In addition, it seems they’ve shrunk the size of the head ever so slightly, so that makes the body feel less skinny by comparison. In general, the sculpt has some incredible detail work and there’s some really great touches that they could have gotten away with leaving out, like the fully sculpted head under the dome. That’s something we don’t see in the movie, but they put it there anyway. Also, like the Big Chap, the knees and the tip of the figure’s tail are made from die-cast metal, which is a cool little, easily missed touch. The figure also has the signature Xeno inner-jaw, though the instructions tell you to remove the whole outer jaw to get it out (side note: looks like they got an actual translator for the instructions on this one. It makes for a more professional end product, but I must admit to missing the just slightly off English of the Big Chap’s instructions. Oh well.)  The paintwork on the figure is pretty much what you’d expect on a figure of a Xeno; it’s black with silver highlights. The dark brown transparent dome is definitely a cool look, and I was quite happy to see that the fully sculpted head was also fully painted under there. The Alien Warrior includes an alien egg, a chestburster, two sets of hands in splayed and closed poses, and a display stand, which, like the Big Chap’s, seems a little out of place with this figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After getting me the Big Chap for Christmas, my boy Tim got me this guy as a birthday present. Though I don’t love the movie, and I’m not a big fan of the Xeno design as it’s presented in the film, I actually really like this figure a lot. He’s a ton of fun to pose, and the tweaks Bandai made to the design make it a lot better looking. Definitely an awesome addition to the collection!

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#0749: Jetpack ODST

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

JETPACK ODST

HALO: REACH

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In addition to making it pretty clear that I’ve gotten quite into the Halo series, I’ve also mentioned once or twice before how the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, aka the ODSTs, are one of my favorite parts of the series. Since Halo 2, these guys have shown up with a fair bit of regularity, including in the pretty awesome Halo: Reach campaign, where they assist Noble Team for a few levels, which seems to have been enough to warrant one of them getting an action figure in the accompanying toy line. I’ll be looking at that figure today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

ODSTJet3The Jetpack ODST was released in Series 3 of McFarlane Toys’ Halo: Reach line. His design is based on the working design (though not quite the final design) of the “Bullfrog” ODSTs from Reach, which is really just a merging of the original ODST design with that of the more basic USNC Trooper. The figure stands 4 ¾ inches tall (a little bigger than the other ODSTs) and has 24 points of articulation. He’s missing a few articulation points present on just about every other Halo figure; most notably, he has no bicep movement, which severely hinders his ability to hold stuff. Given that there’s a strap on his bicep that could have easily hidden a cut joint, I can’t imagine why McFarlane opted to leave this joint out. There actually aren’t a whole lot of new parts to this figure. His base body is repurposed from the Reach USNC Medic, with the shoulder pads from the USNC Radio Operator, the head from ODST Mickey, and the basic Reach jetpack. He’s got a few extra pouches glued on in a few spots, and an extra collar piece, which appears to be new. Regardless of whether their new or not, all of the parts used here are pretty nicely sculpted. The details and texturing are superbly handled, and help make this guy look like a real person. The collar piece renders the neck movement almost inert, but it’s easily removed, should you so choose. The hip joints are a bit awkward looking, and there’s the previously mentioned issue with ODSTJet2the arm movement, but the overall look of the figure is pretty cool. Like all of the other Reach figures, the Jetpack ODST’s hands aren’t molded to properly hold a weapon, but they do alright. The paintwork on the Jetpack ODST is overall pretty great, but there’s one major issue: the visor. In Reach, the ODST’s visor gave off a faint glow, which somewhat illuminated the surrounding areas of the helmet. On this figure, McFarlane just painted the visor and all its surrounding areas a straight metallic blue. You can still clearly make out the outline of the visor on the sculpt, but the paint just goes straight over it, which just ends up looking really sloppy. Aside from that, the paint is actually really nicely handled. There are lots of nice smaller details and insignias on the armor, and plenty of washes and dry brushing to help bring out the sculpts details. In addition to the titular jetpack piece (which is removable), the ODST includes a basic Magnum handgun.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After picking up Mickey and thoroughly the figure, I decided to take advantage of his seller’s rather substantial selection of well-priced loose Halo figures, which included this guy here. I will admit to being a little letdown by this guy when he first arrived, mostly due to the movement issues and him just not being quite as good a figure as Mickey, but he’s grown on me over time. He’s not my favorite Halo figure, but he’s really not bad.

ODSTJet4

#0748: Darth Vader

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

DARTH VADER

STAR WARS HERO MASHERS

VaderMasher1

So, hey, there’s like a Star Wars movie or something coming out this year. Did you guys hear about that? With a new Star Wars movie come new merchandising opportunities. That’s why Star Wars is showing up on everything, from kitchen timers to cans of soup. And of course, it wouldn’t be Star Wars merchandise without a healthy helping of toys. Hasbro, the masters of all Star Wars toys, have decided to add the Star Wars characters to their recently launched Hero Mashers brand. They’re starting things off easy, only tackling the pre-Force Awakens characters right now. Let’s have a look at the baddest dude to come out of the Star Wars universe, Darth Vader!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

VaderMasher2Vader is part of the first assortment of Star Wars Hero Mashers. There are three different “levels” of Mashers and he’s one of the basic figures, which seems fair enough. The figure is 6 inches tall and has 18 points of articulation. Unlike previous Mashers figures I’ve looked at, Vader’s shoulder joints are just simple cut joints, rather than the usual disc and pin style joint. The downside is that the joints look virtually the same aesthetically, but these are just lacking a whole range of movement, which is a bummer. And, judging by the Ant-Man figure I recently picked up, this appears to be something that’s happening across all the Mashers lines, which kinda sucks. Structurally, Vader’s very similar to just about every other Mashers figure. He takes the traditional Vader design and tweaks it to fit the line’s style a bit more, so he’s a fair bit chunkier and much more angular. It’s actually a look that works pretty well for Vader. Following the established Mashers gimmick, Vader can be disassembled at his neck, elbows, and knees, and his parts are completely interchangeable with all the other Mashers figures. I noticed that his pieces seemed to swap out a bit easier than previous Mashers, which is nice. Plus, they weren’t so loose as to ruin his integrity as a proper action figure, either, which is also nice. His cape and skirt are both separate add-on pieces; the cape plugs into place, but the skirt just sort of balances on his hips, which can be a bit frustrating. The paint on Vader is pretty simple, but effective. He’s got a few details for his various armor bits, but he’s mostly just black. Fortunately, the black has a multitude of different finishes, which helps to bring a bit of visual flair to the figure. Vader’s one accessory is his signature lightsaber, which has had its proportions tweaked to match him.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After passing on the Star Wars Mashers for a few weeks, I finally broke down and got this guy at Target. For whatever reason, he just spoke to me. I don’t know. I do think that he’s the best Mashers figure I’ve gotten. His design just translated very well. Don’t know that I’ll pick up any more characters, but this guy was fun!

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#0747: Star-Lord & Groot (& Rocket)

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

STAR-LORD & GROOT (& ROCKET)

MARVEL MINIMATES

StarLordGroot1

Okay, let’s do this animated thing one more time! With the unexpectedly huge success of the Guardians of the Galaxy movie, it’s not exactly a big surprise that Disney fast tracked a cartoon series focusing on the team. It’s also not all that shocking that a few members of the show’s cast made their way into the new animated sub-set of Marvel Minimates. So, let’s have a look at Star-Lord and Groot (and Rocket Raccoon)!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These guys are another set from the first series of Walgreens-exclusive Marvel Minimates. They’re based on their designs from the cartoon, which are, in turn, heavily influenced by the designs from the movie.

STAR-LORD

StarLordGroot2As the central figure of both the Guardians movie and the cartoon, it makes sense for Star-Lord to find himself in the first set of figures. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation. Star-Lord’s design on the show is more or less directly lifted from the movie, but, while almost all the movie merchandise (including the Minimate) was based on his long-jacketed look from the first few minutes of the film, the cartoon and its associated Minimate both depict him in the short-jacketed look he has for the majority of the film. So, it’s actually a new, valid variant of the character. Yay! Star-Lord gets add-ons for his hair/mask, coat, and wrist guard. The mask and wrist piece are both from the last Star-Lord, and the coat has been taken from Knight Rider’s Michael Knight. The coat and wrist thingy are fine, but the helmet still feels a bit too bulky. Maybe it would look better if the hair stood up a bit? The paint on Star-Lord is very nicely handled. The colors are nice and bold, and the line work is really clean. The finer details on the belt and boots are also pretty great, and the muscle detailing on the torso keeps him from being too boring. The mask is much better painted than the movie version, which ends up making it look quite a bit better. Under the mask is a fully detailed face, which fortunately didn’t suffer from the same paint mix-up as the movie version, so his eyebrows are the correct color. He’s definitely the animated Star-Lord, but he can pass for Chris Pratt in a pinch. Star-Lord is packed with a spare hairpiece (still re-used from Tomb Raider’s Roth, but it fits the animated design an bit better), one of his blasters, and a clear display stand. A second blaster would have been cool, but this is a pretty decent allotment overall!

GROOT (& ROCKET)

StarLordGroot3Star-Lord may be the central member of the team, but these two are definitely the fan favorites, so they definitely earned their slot here. Also, they were probably helped by the fact that they are identical to their movie counterparts tooling-wise. As with those figures, only one of these two, Groot, is actually a full-fleged figure. He’s got a specially sculpted head, hands, and feet, all re-used from the movie version, as well as a torso extender piece. The pieces were well done on the first Groot and they’re still well done here. I’m still not sold on the tabs on the back of Groot’s head to stand Rocket on, but they aren’t too noticeable, as long as you aren’t looking right at them. Groot’s paintwork is a lot more simplistic than his movie counterpart, which is much more in keeping with his animated design. He does a good job of capturing that look, though it’s nowhere near as interesting to look at. Still, his paint is nice and clean, so that’s good. Rocket is really just Groot’s accessory here. He’s the exact same unarticulated figure that was included with the movie Groot, with a very (and I mean veeeery) slight paint change. Instead of being yellow and black, he’s orange and black. That’s cool, I guess. The paint’s a little sloppier this time around, but not enormously so.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Now, this is the set I was looking forward to when the sets were first announced. The movie Star-Lord was easily the biggest disappointment of that series, so it’s great that we got another shot at him, especially with this look. Groot and Rocket may be somewhat redundant, but Groot’s the most stylized of the animated ‘mates, so at least he’s a little different.

#0746: Captain America & Hulk

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA & HULK

MARVEL MINIMATES

CapHulk1

Yesterday, I looked at the first set of the new Walgreens exclusive Marvel Minimates, so why don’t I continue that trend today? The last two sets of animated-style ‘mates were both based on Ultimate Spider-Man. Today, I’ll be looking at the first set based on Avengers Assemble. My relationship with that show is…strained. I loved its predecessor Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, which was canceled in favor of Assemble. That already put me off the show. What put me off more was the show’s first episode, which was…how do I put it? Horrendous. I tried to watch it on three separate occasions, and never could make it all the way through. So, I’ve not really caught the show. But now I have Minimates from it, so whatever. Let’s look at Captain America and the Hulk from that show.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Captain America and the Hulk are part of the first series of Walgreens-exclusive Marvel Minimates. As noted above, both are based on their designs from the currently running Avengers Assemble cartoon, specifically from the first season.

CAPTAIN AMERICA

CapHulk2It’s not the Avengers without Captain America, so…ummm, here he is? Cap’s design on the show is more or less the same as his early Ultimates appearance, which itself is just a minor tweak of the classic Cap design. The figure stands roughly 2 ½ inches tall and he has the usual 14 points of articulation. He’s built on the standard Minimate body, with add-on pieces for his mask and belt, as well as a hand with a plug to attach his shield. The mask first showed up on the First Appearance X-Men, and it’s a good match for Cap’s look on the show. The belt looks familiar, but I can’t see where I’ve seen it before. It’s just a fairly straightforward belt with pouches, and it’s well-sculpted at that. The paintwork on Cap is pretty great. Everything’s clean, and the colors are somewhat muted, but very nicely handled. The detail line work is quite sharp, and effectively balances the animated design with the modern Minimate aesthetic. Cap includes his Mighty Shield TM, an extra head with a more light expression, a hair piece (snagged from Marty McFly), and a clear display stand.

HULK

CapHulk3So, this marks the 32nd time Hulk has made it into Minimate form. For a guy who’s spent 50 years in nothing but a pair of tattered pants, that’s pretty impressive. This one doesn’t really break from the norm, what with wearing nothing but a pair of tattered pants. But this time he’s a darker shade of green. Hey, that’s new and different right? Eh, it’s different enough. He’s got 11 add-on parts. It’s pretty much the same assortment of parts we’ve gotten on most of the Hulks since they started using the bulked up parts for Hulk. They work well, so I can’t really complain. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Hulk’s paint is about on par with Cap’s, though it’s not as colorful. It’s generally pretty clean. There’s a bit of slop at the edges of the pants, but nothing unreasonable. The green could stand to be a little lighter, but it doesn’t clash with the pants or anything. Hulk is packed with an extra, smiling head, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, yeah, I got this set at Walgreens, of all places. Imagine that. I can’t say I was really anxious to get this set, given that I already have these two several times before. But, I was buying the other sets from the series, and this one looked pretty sharp, so I figured why not? It’s a pretty decent little set, so I’m glad I picked it up.

#0745: Spider-Man 2099 & Agent Venom

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

SPIDER-MAN 2099 & AGENT VENOM

MARVEL MINIMATES

Venom&2099a

So, on top of this whole bit with doing Minimates based on the various Marvel animated shows, DST is taking Minimates to another new place: Walgreens! Yep, Walgreens, our resident “out of left field” action figure distributor has picked up yet another line to carry, Marvel Minimates. That makes me happy, because hey, more Minimates to buy, but also sad because now I have to buy more Minimates. Oh well. I’ll get over it. The first set of Walgreens exclusive Minimates continue the animated Marvel trend, and while they haven’t yet gotten us any new characters (series 2 will change that) we have managed to get one very needed update, which I’ll be taking a look at today. Let’s see how Spider-Man 2099 and Agent Venom turned out, shall we?

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Spider-Man 2099 and Agent Venom were released in the first Walgreens-exclusive series of Marvel Minimates. Both figures are based upon the characters’ designs from Ultimate Spider-Man.

SPIDER-MAN 2099

Venom&2099cThis isn’t the first Spider-Man 2099 Minimate, but it is the first one in 11 years, so that’s pretty noteworthy. He definitely was high on a lot of lists for “most in need of an update.” And, 2099’s design in the cartoon is (mostly) the same as his comics design, so this one can work as either. The figure stands about 2 ¼ inches tall and has the standard 14 points of articulation. Structurally, he’s another “vanilla ‘mate,” so he’s just the base body. While that may work well for his regular time period counterpart, 2099 should really get a few extras. The last 2099 ‘mate was just the basic body too, and that was at least part of why so many people wanted an update. The animated 2099 ditches the cape of his comics counterpart, so its absence is excusable, and the arm spikes would have needed to be new pieces, so it’s possible they didn’t cost out, but he should have at least gotten a pair of clawed hands. Just to make him a little…different. On the plus side, the paintwork on this figure does its very best to make up for the lack of sculpted parts. The base blue is nice and dark, and the highlights add a nice bit of visual flare that was lacking from the previous 2099. Plus, the red details are also nice and sharp, and stand out nicely from the rest of the figure. Everything is really clean and very well handled, and he does a great job of balancing between animated and comic styles, so he’ll be right at home with either line. 2099 includes a web line (in blue) and a clear display stand.

AGENT VENOM

Venom&2099bIt hasn’t been nearly as long since Agent Venom’s last ‘mate (from the Venom Through the Ages set, for those curious), but he’s a popular enough character that it’s not much of a surprise to see him turn up again. Plus, given last year’s Marvel Legends exclusive, it would seem Walgreens is pretty fond of the guy. Agent Venom is built on the usual body, with add-ons for his chest piece, belt, boots, and gloves. The chest piece, boots and gloves are all the same pieces used on the previous Agent Venom. The belt was presumably deemed too textured for the animated design, so it was replaced with the belt from the Series 55 Classic Captain America. The pieces match up pretty well with the animated version of Flash Venom, so no issues there. This figure loses the extra mask piece and the leg holster of the last one; the mask was likely cut to streamline the design a bit, and the animated Agent Venom does not have the guns of his comics counterpart, and therefore doesn’t need the holster. The paintwork on Agent Venom is a bit different this time around. The animated design is just a bit different from the mainstream look, specifically on the mask. The eyes ditch the inverted Spider-Man design for something a bit more basic. It’s not as distinctive, but it’s accurate to the show. The figure has some pretty stylized shading, which is cleanly handled, and makes it more clear that this is an animated figure. Agent Venom’s one accessory is a clear display stand, which is a pretty big step down from the extra hairpiece and two weapons included with the boxed set version. I know the cartoon Agent Venom isn’t armed, but an extra unmasked head would have been nice.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Take a guess where I got this set. If you guessed Walgreens, you were correct. Good for you. 2099 was definitely the main draw for me. I have a bit of nostalgia for the original, but he was very, very dated, so an update is much appreciated. Yes, it would have been nice to get a few extra sculpted parts, but the paintwork does a lot to save this guy. Agent Venom isn’t really exciting to me, but I have the boxed set version. While that’s the superior of the two, this one isn’t bad at all, and I’m sure he’s awesome to someone who wasn’t able to get the last one.

#0744: Spider-Man – Stealth Suit & Sandman

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

SPIDER-MAN – STEALTH SUIT & SANDMAN

MARVEL MINIMATES

Sandman&Spidey1

After 63 series of Minimates based on Marvel characters from both the comics and the live action movies, DST has decided to mix things up a bit, introducing figures based on the current crop of Marvel cartoons. Generally speaking, that means a fair amount of repeats of the “heavy hitter” characters, but it also gives us a chance at some slightly more obscure characters and looks we might otherwise not get, which is always a plus. So, let’s take a look at my first set from this new breed of ‘mates, Spider-Man in his Stealth Suit and Sandman!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This pair was released as part of the 20th Toys R Us Exclusive series of the main Marvel Minimates line. All the sets in this particular series are based on the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon, and that includes these two.

SPIDER-MAN – STEALTH SUIT

Sandman&Spidey3Here’s the required Spider-Man. Oh boy. As noted in the name, this figure gives us Spidey in his SHIELD-issued stealth suit from the cartoon. Essentially, it’s just a clear Spider-Man Minimate. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation. He uses the standard Minimate body, with no add-on pieces, which is pretty much par for the course with Spidey. My figure has a slight misshaping on the front of the head, which is a little bit noticeable, but not the worst thing ever. The paintwork on the figure is pretty straight-forward. He’s molded in clear plastic. All the detail lines are done in white, and the logo and eyes are done in grey. The line work is nice and clean, and matches up nicely with the standard Spidey from this wave. Spider-Man was packed with a strand of web, an extra torso showing his costume de-cloaking (which is a pretty fun piece) and a clear display stand.

SANDMAN

Sandman&Spidey2Sandman is definitely the main draw of this set. It’s not the first time we’ve gotten Flint Marko in Minimate form (we’ve actually had five before this one), but it’s the first time we’ve gotten him in something other than the striped shirt. The costume he’s wearing here is, obviously, his design from Ultimate Spider-Man, but it’s also a pretty close match for Flint’s Jack Kirby-designed costume from his time with the Frightful Four. This is actually the first time this design’s ever made it into toy-form, so that’s pretty sweet! Sandman has three add-on pieces for his collar, shoulder pads, and belt, as well as non-standard pieces for his arms and feet. The shoulder pads were last used on Series 60’s Avalanche, the belt is a fairly standard issue piece, the arms are the same as those on the last three Sandmen, and the feet were used on the GotG Groot ‘mate. The collar appears to be a new piece, but I’m not 100% sure on that. The end result is a decent match for the show/comic design, and looks pretty sharp in general. Sandman’s paint application is pretty darn great. The design of the costume has been handled very sharply, with some great geometric work, and the texturing on the sand parts is well-handled. His face is a little more simplistic than some recent ‘mates, due to his animated origins, but he shouldn’t stick out too much from regular Marvel Minimates. Sandman includes a spare set of normal arms and hands and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Hey, remember Force Friday? Where I went to Toys R Us at midnight in order to get the new Star Wars toys? Well, if there was one plus to that trip, it was that I found this set, so that’s cool. I never got into Ultimate Spider-Man, but I’m a sucker for classic Kirby designs, so I’m happy to have this version of Sandman, and thrilled that he’s so well-done to boot. Spidey’s not much more than package filler for me, but he’s not a bad ‘mate, and he’s certainly different from the Spider-Men we’ve gotten before.

#0743: Falcon as Captain America & Red Onslaught

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

FALCON as CAPTAIN AMERICA & RED ONSLAUGHT

MARVEL MINIMATES

Falcap&Redons1

Change is an interesting thing in comics. While big sweeping changes to the established rules are a near constant, it is, at its heart, a very status quo based medium. No matter how great the change, things will always even out in enough time. In the last decade Marvel and DC have both become very entrenched in doing their best to convince everyone that this change will be the one that sticks, before inevitably resetting everything back to where it was. Ultimately, Bruce Wayne will always be Batman again, Tony Stark will always be Iron Man again, Bruce Banner will always be the Hulk again, and Steve Rogers will always be Captain America again. But, it’s certainly okay to let others who take up those identities have their time to shine, especially if they’re a good fit, such as Sam Wilson, aka the Falcon, as the newest Captain America. I’ll be looking at the first official figure of him in the role today.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Cap and Red Onslaught were released as part of Series 62 of Marvel Minimates. The whole series was based around the Axis cross-over event from last year. Yay.

FALCON as CAPTAIN AMERICA

Falcap&RedOns6Steve Rogers may have tons of Minimates under his belt, but this is only the third time Sam Wilson has made into ‘mate form. Here’s to lots more! As Captain America, Sam’s only actually had one look, so that’s the one DST’s gone with here. It’s actually a good merging of the Captain America and Falcon looks, and a pretty strong design all around, so I can’t really complain. Cap is built on the usual Minimate body, so he’s about 2 ½ inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation. He’s got 5 add-on pieces, used for his hair/goggles, harness, wings, and belt. These are all new pieces to this figure. They’re decently sculpted and accurate to the source material. The left wing has a peg to attach the shield, which is nice, but without an extra piece, it means that he’s permanently left with that pesky peg. Paint wise, Cap’s kind of a mix of good and bad. The colors are nice and bold, and the detail work is pretty sharp for the most part. However, the base color work is all over the place. Literally. He’s got a lot of slop and bleed over, especially on the mask piece. The overall figure looks alright, but that slop sure is annoying. Cap is packed with a spare hairpiece, his mighty shield, a pair of wristbands for a sans wings look, an extra wristband for use with the shield, a flight stand, and a clear display stand. That’s actually a pretty great assortment.

RED ONSLAUGHT

Falcap&RedOns3Red Onslaught. Oh, Red Onslaught. Let’s combine one of the most menacing Marvel villains with a literal walking Mega-Event. Brilliant. But hey, sales is sales. Plus, it means DST gets to reuse all those fancy parts they sculpted for the Series 50 Onslaught, so that’s a win for them. The figure makes use of 11 sculpted add-ons, all reused from the aforementioned Series 50 version. The parts are nicely sculpted, sharp looking, and they do a good job of bulking him up. Paint is where this guy really deviates from the series 50 counterpart. Where the 50 version was done up in metallic colors, this one is all flat colors, which make for a sufficiently different look. He’s also got the expected Red Skull detailing for the head, which is easily the best Red Skull we’ve gotten so far. The paintwork on the armor is good, but the real Falcap&RedOns4cool part here is what’s under the armor. He’s got a fully detailed Red Skull look underneath, which is certainly a cool touch. To aid with the alternate look, the figure has a black trench coat and a pair of black hands and feet, as well as an extra head and helmet to complete the Onslaught look, a cosmic cube holding hand, a bandaged stump (for Skull’s Uncanny Avengers look), and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, I had no interest in Axis or any of its fallout, and as such wasn’t super excited by the prospect of a whole series of ‘mates based on the story. That said, I really like Falcon and the concept of him taking over Cap’s role is cool. The design translates very well to ‘mate form, even with its paint flaws. I was not initially enamored by having to buy Red Onslaught, but the extra Red Skull parts make the figure really worthwhile, especially since it’s the best ‘mate of the character so far. This is a really fantastic set, and I’m glad to have picked it up.