Tag Archives: Diamond Select Toys

#0377: Star-Lord & Ronan

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

STAR-LORD & RONAN

MARVEL MINIMATES

There were quite a few awesome movies released this summer. The cool thing is that, thanks to three of those movies being Marvel movies, there are Minimates from those movies! One such movie was Guardians of the Galaxy. I looked at a few of the Guardians Minimates a few months ago when the TRU series first hit stores. The specialty series was just released, and I acquired a set. Today, I’ll be looking at the film’s primary hero, Star-Lord, and its primary villain, Ronan.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Star-Lord and Ronan are one of the two carry over sets from the Guardians Minimates. They saw release in both the TRU exclusive series, as well as Series 57 of the main Marvel Minimates line.

STAR-LORD

Who!?! Star-Lord, legendary outlaw of—never mind. Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, makes his first foray into the world of Minimates with this figure. Star-Lord is about 2 ½ inches tall and he features 12 points of articulation. He’s obviously based on the film version of the character, but more specifically, he’s based on Quill’s look early in the movie, primarily the opening credits scene. It’s the look Marvel was really pushing, and it’s the look that just about every figure has, but it’s unfortunately not a look he has for very long in the movie. Star-Lord is built on the standard Minimate body, with additional sculpted pieces for his hair, coat, left wrist padding, and boots. The hair is a re-use from Tomb Raider’s Roth. I’m not sure about this piece. It seems a bit off for Star-Lord. The rest of the pieces are new to this figure. They’re all well sculpted, but there are some questionable choices. The decision to have the coat closed at the top is a strange one. In the short time he wore this coat, I don’t believe he ever had it closed like that. Perhaps it was based on some sort of early costume design or preliminary shooting. Regardless, it looks rather goofy, and makes the character look unnecessarily bulky. To DST’s credit, the work on the boots is nothing short of amazing, so they deserve props for that. The paint on Star-Lord is alright, but sort of confusing. The coat exhibits passable work, but there’s some slop here and there. The arms are nicely detailed, and while the torso under the coat is completely blank, he features a fully detailed belt that no one will ever see. The face is an okay Chris Pratt likeness, but it seems that there was a bit of a mix up with the colors, leaving his eyebrows and stubble far too bright. Star-Lord includes his helmet, his twin guns, a walkman with headphones, and a clear display stand. The helmet is okay, but the paint is sloppy and too light, and the sculpt is too…wide? It just doesn’t look right. The blasters are well sculpted, but the figure does have a little trouble holding them.

RONAN

Ronan, the first Kree ever to be seen in film! That’s gotta be an accomplishment! Like Star-Lord, this is his first Minimate, though it won’t be his last. A comic version of Ronan has already been announced for the 19th TRU Exclusive series of Marvel Minimates. But that’s in the future; let’s focus on this figure, shall we? Ronan is 2 ½ inches tall and he features 13 points of articulation. He’s built on the usual body, with additional pieces for his headpiece and skirt. Both of these pieces are new to this figure, and they look to be accurate to the movie design. They are very nicely sculpted, and incredibly detailed. The headpiece renders the body’s neck articulation motionless, but going by how Lee Pace was moving in the movie, it seems safe to say the real piece did that too. The Kree are all about evolution. Maybe Ronan just evolved beyond the need to look to the side. One of this figure’s greatest highlights is his paint work. While it would have been easy for Diamond to phone this one in and just do a straight black/dark grey, they have placed texture detailing on just about every surface of the figure. It helps keep the figure from being as drab as he might have otherwise been and really gives the figure that extra pop. Ronan includes his trusty hammer and a clear display stand. Unfortunately, it seems the head of the hammer is on upside down. I don’t know how this happened, but a quick comparison shows this is very definitely the case. While it sucks, I honestly had to have it pointed out to me by someone else, so I feel like most people really aren’t going to be bothered by it. At the very least, a corrected version should be offered with the comic Ronan, so there’s that.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set was purchased, along with the rest of Series 57, from my favorite Minimate retailer Luke’s Toy Store. I mostly bought the Series for the two specialty exclusive sets included. Admittedly, I’ve been putting off buying this set. I passed on it at TRU, and I only really got it from Luke’s because I was buying the series in a bundle. I think Star-Lord is the main reason for that. Sadly, he’s the weakest figure in the series. Diamond obviously put in the effort, but he just ended up turning out sorta goofy. That being said, the set is worth it for the Ronan figure. For all that went wrong on Star-Lord, Ronan gets pretty much everything right. On the plus side, Star-Lord is the low point of this series, so, it can only get better from here!

#0375: Frankenstein Minimates

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

FRANKENSTEIN’S MONSTER, HENRY FRANKENSTEIN, ELIZABETH, & THE BRIDE

UNIVERSAL MONSTERS MINIMATES

It’s Halloween! Ooooooooooo!  Scary!  ….Okay, it’s out of my system.  Just like last year, I thought I’d do something festive for the holiday. And wouldn’t you know it, it’s Minimates! This actually marks one year since my very first Minimate review on this site, so that’s pretty cool! Last year, I took my first look at Diamond’s Universal Monsters Minimates with the Dracula boxed set; this year I’ll be taking a look at the line’s Frankenstein set. Incidentally, while most of the Universal Monsters Minimates were based on one movie, this one’s actually based on two, since it features characters from both Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These four were released as a set in the second series of Universal Monsters Minimates, along with the Dracula set. This is the specialty exclusive boxed set, which included Elizabeth. The other three were also available in two-packs at Toys R Us, where the Bride was packed with an exclusive angry villager.

FRANKENSTEIN’S MONSTER

Not quite the titular character, but generally the character most people think of when they hear the name. The Monster’s really the selling point of the set. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and he features 14 points of articulation. He’s based on the Monster’s appearance in the first film, which is a good way to go. The Monster is built on the standard Minimate body, with a non-standard head and feet, as well as sculpted add-ons for the jacket and neck. All of these pieces were new to this figure, though the neck piece and feet have seen subsequent re-use, most notably on The Munsters’ Herman. The jacket sculpt is a little soft, but not bad. The head is really well done, with superb detail work on the hair and ears. The paint on the Monster is really just limited to the areas where skin is showing, which is the hands, lower arms, neck and head. The skin tone is pretty evenly applied, and there aren’t any really issues with slop. The hairline could be a bit better, but it’s not horrible. The face is somewhat generic. It’s certainly The Monster, but it’s not a definite Karloff Monster. Still, the detail work is well applied, and he’s certainly a serviceable version of the character. The Monster included no accessories.

HENRY FRANKENSTEIN

This IS the titular character, but he tends to be somewhat forgotten. It’s of note that this is Henry Frankenstein, rather than the usual Victor Frankenstein. For whatever reason, they felt the need to change his name and shunt the “Victor” name on another character. The good doctor is 2 ½ inches in height and features 14 points of articulation, though the leg articulation is a bit hampered by the bottom of his coat. The doctor is based on his laboratory appearance, complete with the proper lab coat of the time. He’s built using the standard Minimate body, with a hair piece and piece representing the bottom of his coat. The coat is new, while the hair is a re-use from the CA:TTA “Reborn” Cap (to be fair, the piece was first shown on Henry, but there was a bit of a delay between Henry’s prototype being shown and his actual release.) Both of these pieces are pretty good, and they do a decent job translating the source material. Henry’s paint is pretty decent. Everything is cleanly applied, and the detail lines all seem pretty sharp. The face seems a little off to be honest. It has a decent enough resemblance to Colin Clive, who played Henry in the film, but it seems a bit enlarged, and the eyes seem a bit oddly spaced. Henry includes no accessories.

ELIZABETH

The set’s exclusive figure is Elizabeth, the fiancé of Dr. Henry Frankenstein.  That’s kinda it. She’s not the most exciting character, but she’s sort of important, so here she is. She’s 2 ½ inches tall and she features 14 points of articulation, though most of the leg articulation has been restricted by her dress. Elizabeth is based on the usual Minimate body, with add-ons for her hair and the lower half of her dress. Both of these pieces are new to this figure, and they’re both very nicely done. The hair in particular is very nicely detailed and accurate to the source material. Paint is really where this figure excels. While she may look bland at first glance, her paint is incredibly detailed, especially on the upper part of her dress, which features some really great texture work. Like the others in the set, Elizabeth includes no accessories.

THE BRIDE

The Bride is probably the set’s second most memorable character, which is cool. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and features 14 points of articulation, though the legs and waist articulation are mostly rendered motionless by her dress. She’s based on the Bride’s look following her “unveiling,” which is easily her most essential look. Like all the others in the set, the Bride is built on the standard Minimate body, with additions for her hair and dress. These are both brand new to this figure, and overall they’re pretty good. The hair is pretty much spot on to the look from the film, and it’s well textured. The dress (well, sheet…) is okay, but not perfect. It’s a little bit bulky, which doesn’t quite suit the Bride’s svelte build. That being said, it’s well sculpted and it looks pretty decent overall. The paint on the Bride is respectable. The likeness of actress Elsa Lanchester is pretty much spot on, and the wraps on her arms look really great too. I wish they continued all the way around, but I suppose that’s just a limitation of the paint apps. In a predictable move, the Bride has no accessories. An extra wrapped head would have been nice, but it’s okay.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Frankenstein set is actually one of my earliest Luke’s Toy Store purchases. I had gotten away from Minimates for a little while, and I had had a rough couple of weeks. I had been meaning to give Luke’s a try, so I ordered myself a care package of sorts. This was probably one of my favorites of the selection I got, and I think it’s a great set overall. While I felt some of the Dracula Minimates were a little lackluster, I don’t feel the Frankenstein set has any real short comings.

#0364: Charles Xavier & Bone Claws Wolverine

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

CHARLES XAVIER & BONE CLAWS WOLVERINE

MARVEL MINIMATES

That’s right, I’m squeezing in one more Minimates review before the big One Year stuff tomorrow. Have to boost those Minimate numbers! Once again we dive into the world of Marvel’s Merry Mutants with another set based on this year’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, a film that really brought the X-Men back to where they should be, in my opinion. Today, it’s another set of characters from the film’s 70s timeline: Charles Xavier & Wolverine!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Charlse Xavier and Bone Claws Wolverine are a two-pack from the 58th series of Marvel Minimates. The series is based on the film version of Days of Future Past, so these two hail from the movie.

CHARLES XAVIER

In Days of Future Past’s 1970s timeline, Charles Xavier has yet to become the man we all know as Professor X. He was on his way at the end of First Class, but it seems he got lost along the way. Charles’s return to his cause is a key part of the movie, and Charles essentially serves as the movies main protagonist, so his inclusion here is essential. This figure is based on the young Charles, who is probably the more important of the two, story-wise. Charles is about 2 ½ inches tall (standing) and he features 14 points of articulation. The figure is based on Charles’s look from around the mid-point of the film, right as he starts to return to being the man we’re all used to seeing. What’s key is that it’s a look he has both while walking around and in the chair, which makes the figure a bit more versatile. The figure was built on the standard Minimate body, with add-ons for his hair and jacket. The hair is re-used from the Thor movie Civilian Thor, but the jacket appears to be a new piece. Both pieces look good. The hair isn’t spot-on for Xavier in the movie, but it’s not far off. The paint on Xavier is pretty good overall. Some of the colors seem a bit off, most notably the hair, which seems too red, and the coat which just seems too light. The likeness on the face also seems to be a bit off, which is a shame, because the First Class Xavier nailed it. On the plus side, everything is clean, and the details on the funky 70s shirt are really awesome. Xavier includes his wheelchair and a clear display stand. The wheelchair is the key accessory; it most clearly shows Xavier’s return to his proper path when he goes back to the chair. So, it’s pretty important to get it right. It’s an all new sculpt and it’s a spectacular recreation of the chair from the movie, so kudos to DST.

BONE CLAWS WOLVERINE

In the film version of Days of Future Past, Wolverine takes Kitty Pryde’s place as the X-Man sent back in time to prevent the bad future. This places him in the lead role for the first half an hour or so of the film, but once Wolverine tracks down Xavier, he takes a back seat to the rest of the cast, and he’s even mostly absent from the climactic battle. Still, he’s an important character, and he’s freaking Wolverine, so it’s no surprise to see him here. Wolverine is about 2 ½ inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation. He’s based on Wolverine’s look from the 70s timeline. As the figure’s title denotes, one of the changes with past Wolverine is the presence of his “bone claws.” Wolverine makes use of the basic Minimate body, with sculpted parts for his hair, jacket and hands. The hair and hands are re-use from the Series 52 Wolverine, which is sensible, seeing as that was the last movie Wolverine. The jacket is new to this figure, and it looks like a pretty great match to his jacket from the movie. The paint work on Wolverine is great apart from one small issue. He had a bit of stuck paint on his left knee joint, which ended up leaving a patch of unpainted plastic on the knee. It’s only noticeable if you have the knee in deeper poses, so it isn’t too bad. Apart from that, the Jackman likeness is the best one we’ve seen so far, and the work on the shirt and belt is incredible. Wolverine includes a spare torso, arms, and hands, as well as a clear display stand. The spare pieces depict Wolverine shirtless (because why not) and they feature some great detail work, right down to the bullet wounds Logan receives right after arriving in the 70s.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While I was able to get Magneto and Mystique from my local comicbook store, they had sold out of this set. Fortunately, I was able to get a set from the always awesome Luke’s Toy Store. Admittedly, this is a set I wasn’t really thrilled by at first. Charles seemed kind of boring, and I didn’t feel I needed yet another Wolverine. After seeing the movie, my opinion changed, and seeing packaged shots of the set completely pushed me over the edge. While it’s not as good a set as Magneto and Mystique, it’s still a pretty solid set of Minimates. Xavier’s worth it for the chair alone, and Wolverine is the best movie version of the character yet!

#0360: Iceman, Bobby Drake, & Sentinel(s)

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

ICEMAN, BOBBY DRAKE, & SENTINEL(S)

MARVEL MINIMATES

Of all the original X-Men, Bobby Drake, aka Iceman, is probably the most straight forward. It’s all there in the name. He’s a guy who does stuff with ice. That’s pretty simple. Interestingly enough, he was also one of the first X-Men to make it big, thanks to his role as one of the titular friends in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. He’s often looked at as rather goofy, but he’s actually got one of the more impressive power sets on the team. Anyway, Bobby has distinctive looks for his powered up and powered down forms, and it’s rare to see the powered down form in the toy world. Diamond is using their recent All-New X-Men themed wave to break convention and give us both versions of him, as well as one of those wacky, purple, mutant-hunting robots, the Sentinels.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These figures were released in Series 59 of Marvel Minimates. Each of the Icemen was packed with a Sentinel, with the iced-up version being the more plentiful version and Bobby Drake being the one-per-case variant for this series.

ICEMAN

Iceman pretty much breaks even on the whole “All-New” thing. Bobby really hasn’t had much happen to him since the early days of the X-Men, so his character has remained relatively the same. Still, you can’t bring all but one of the original X-Men forward in time; they’re kind of a package deal. Iceman is about 2 ½ inches tall and he’s got 14 points of articulation. He’s in his iced-up form, but you can make out most of his Immomen-designed costume. Iceman is a “vanilla ‘mate,” which means he’s built out of the standard Minimate body with no other add-ons. It’s not really a surprise, since that’s in line with the design. This means the figure is entirely reliant on the paint. The good thing here is that Iceman easily has the cleanest paintwork in the series. He’s molded in solid white plastic, which is a departure from the usual semi-transparent plastic we’ve seen on previous figures. I think I like it better because the detail lines stand out much better. The detail work is really great, with all the proper line work for his uniform, as well as some additional texturing to really sell the ice look. Iceman includes an ice blast, an ice sled, and a clear display stand. Both of the ice structures are new to this figure, and they look really great, sculpt wise. The ice sled is a piece I’ve been waiting to see for quite some time now.  However, the pieces are a little bit yellowed, which doesn’t seem right.

BOBBY DRAKE

Ah, yes, the illusive Bobby Drake. So, this is what Iceman looks like powered down. How about that? Like his icy incarnation, Bobby is about 2 ½ inches tall and features 14 points of articulation. He’s completely powered down, allowing you to see his All-New X-Men uniform in full detail. Bobby makes use of the standard Minimate body with one sculpted addition: his hair. Now, here’s where things get interesting. Bobby’s hair is a re-use of the T2 Kyle Reese’s hair, but that’s not what’s in the pictures. Somehow, my Bobby ended up with a different piece. This one is from T2’s young John Connor. I’m not sure how it happened, but there it is. Both pieces are respectable hair pieces, though neither one is a direct match for Bobby’s hair in the comics. If I’m honest, I probably prefer the hair I got, so I don’t mind the mix-up. Bobby’s paint is pretty well done. It’s not as clean as Iceman’s, but it’s a bit more complex, so there’s that. The initial prototype for this figure was missing the black details on the shoulders, due to Bobby’s comic design being changed before print, but DST managed to get it fixed before the figures saw release. The coolest thing about Bobby is that the detail’s line up perfectly between him and Iceman, very nicely conveying that they are one and the same. Bobby includes an ice blast, a chunk of ice that a figure can be placed in, and a clear display stand. The ice blast is shared with the main Iceman, and the chunk of ice was originally seen with the Frozen Captain America from the CA: TTA set.  They too seem a bit yellowed, which is a shame.

SENTINEL(S)

The final figures in the set are the Sentinels. This marks the fourth version of the Sentinel in the line (not counting Nimrod, since he’s kind of a different thing). The Sentinel is a little over 2 ½ inches tall and sports 12 points of articulation. As is a common issue with the Sentinels in this line, he’s woefully out of scale, but that’s just a thing everyone has to live with. The Sentinel is a hybrid of multiple designs, with a leaning towards classic. The figure makes use of the basic Minimate body with sculpted add-ons for the helmet, upper torso, waist, gloves, and boots. The parts on this figure are 100% re-use. The helmet is from the Marvel vs Capcom 3 Sentinel, the hands are from the TRU exclusive Omega Red, the torso cover is from the TRU exclusive Extremis Iron Man, and the waist and boots are from the TRU Exclusive Box. These pieces are pretty well chosen, though the upper torso is just a bit too distinctive to Iron Man. The changed colors mean this isn’t too noticeable, but it’s there. The paint on the Sentinel is pretty good overall. The base colors are a bit more drab than what we saw on the DoFP Sentinel, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. There’s a bit of slop on one of my Sentinels’ torso pieces, but nothing too distracting. The torso and waist feature full detailing, allowing you to remove the covers and display the Sentinel in a classic set-up if you so choose. The Sentinel includes two tendrils (courtesy of Omega Red), a blast off base (previously used on the Marvel vs Capcom 3 MODOK), and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Iceman and his corresponding Sentinel were purchased from my local comicbook store, Cosmic Comix, just like the other two sets. However, my store had already sold Bobby, so I had to order him through the always reliable Luke’s Toy Store. Iceman is the real star here, but Bobby and the Sentinel are still respectable ‘mates in their own right. Bobby is just slightly off from the source material (which is true even with the right hairpiece), and the Sentinel’s only real fault is that I don’t personally like it as much as the recent DOFP Sentinel. Still, this is a good set of figures, and the series as a whole is really a lot of fun.

#0359: Angel & Beast

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

ANGEL & BEAST

MARVEL MINIMATES

It there’s one thing the X-Men are good at, it’s costume changes. As a team, they have to have the highest turnover rate in uniforms of any team in comics. Another thing that X-Men are big on is alternate versions of established team members running around. Combine those two, and you have a dynamite pitch for selling lots of toys of the same characters. This seems to be the case with the line-up of All-New X-Men, which has brought early versions of the original X-Men to the present, and given them a new set of threads along the way. Yesterday, I looked at Cyclops and Marvel Girl; today, I’ll be looking at Angel and Beast, both in their “pre-blue” forms.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Angel and Beast are a two-pack from Series 59 of Marvel Minimates, which is based on the designs of the team as seen in recent issues of All-New X-Men.

ANGEL

Angel is a character that has kind of broken even on the whole “previous version” thing. The old Angel has certainly gone through his fair share of stuff, but his thing is mostly ping-ponging between being classic Angel and Archangel. I guess it’s not terrible to have a pre-ping-ponging version running around. The figure is about 2 ½ inches in height and he features 16 points of articulation, thanks to the wings. He’s based on All-New Angel’s second costume, which is a variant of the base costume everyone else got. His is accented with red, which serves as a nice callback to his Champions and X-Factor costumes. The figure features the basic Minimate body, with add-ons for his wings and hair. The wings are the same three-part piece we’ve seen on previous versions of Angel, and the hair was first used on Lost in Space’s Doctor Smith. The hair offers a nice “rich-boy” look, and the wings are a very definite case of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Angel’s paint is generally a lot cleaner than what we saw in the Cyclops/Marvel Girl set. There are still a few sloppy areas with the base paint, but overall everything is pretty clean. I think the face looks perhaps a little too old for a younger Angel, but that’s really a personal thing. Angel includes a flight stand and a clear display stand.

BEAST

Beast seems like the one time-shifted X-Man who might work pretty well in conjunction with his modern day counterpart, but not as a replacement. They haven’t really screwed Beast up too bad, and most people like the few changes they’ve made to the character. Still, this reset version does serve as a pretty good counter point. Beast is a little over 2 ½ inches tall and features 12 points of articulation. Like the others in this series, Beast is in his second, Immomen-designed costume. Honestly, Beast’s is probably my least favorite of the five. The brown accents seem odd, almost like he got them because all the other colors were taken by the rest of the team. The brown/yellow, coupled with the goggles, kind of makes him look more like X-Men foe Mimic than Beast. Beast is built from the basic Minimate body, with add-ons to bulk up his torso, waist, shoulders, hands, thighs, and feet, as well as a goggle/hair combo. The hair and goggles piece is new, and it looks pretty spot in to what’s seen in the comic. The bulk up pieces have been seen on the Avengers movie Hulk (hands and feet), GotG’s Drax (torso), and countless other figures (everything else). I’m not sure I’m a fan of Beast being this bulky, but that’s gonna vary from person to person. Overall, Beast’s paintwork is pretty good. Mostly, the lines are clean. However, there is a random bit of brown paint on his goggles that very definitely shouldn’t be there. Beast includes a spare head/hair (with hair from Universal Monsters’ Henry Frankenstein) and a clear display stand. The extra head features a pair of glasses and a more reserved facial expression for Hank.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like Cyclops and Marvel Girl, Angel and Beast were picked up from my local comic book store Cosmic Comix. I hadn’t initially intended to get these two, but I wanted Cyclops and I liked the Icemen, so I figured I might as well complete the team. I still think this is the weakest set in the series, but they aren’t bad. Perhaps if Beast had costume detailing under the bulked up pieces, I’d enjoy him more, but I can’t fault Diamond for going that route. All in all, this set is good, but not great.

#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!

#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.