Tag Archives: Diamond Select Toys

#0204: New Mutants Magik & Warlock

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

NEW MUTANTS MAGIK & WARLOCK

MARVEL MINIMATES

Warlock&MagikWarlock&MagikAlt

Marvel! Minimates! Marvel! Minimates! Marvel Minimates! Yep, another Marvel Minimates review today. This time around, I’ll be taking a look at two of the New Mutants (well, technically three), an offshoot of the X-Men. The characters are Magik (or, “New Mutants Magik,” because branding) and a combo figure of Warlock and Cypher. If you’d like to know a little bit more about them, check out Magik’s backstory here, and Warlock and Cypher’s here.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This set was released as part of the 9th Toys R Us exclusive series of Marvel Minimates, and was released to coincide with Diamond’s New Mutants boxed set.

NEW MUTANTS MAGIK

Magik was one of the more prominent members of the team, and ended up being one of the few to move to the X-Men proper. She’s depicted here in her New Mutants uniform, so she fits in with the others. Magik is built on the standard Minimate body, which means she sports 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall. She has a sculpted hairpiece and a shoulder pad. Both pieces are new to this figure and look spot on to her comicbook counterpart. The shoulder pad is a bit loose, but it looks good when it sits properly. She also features gloved right hand, which is a re-use. The paint work is a bit mixed. The detail lines are nice and clean, and I quite like her sly expression, but the base paint is a bit sloppy. Magik has two accessories: a fiery sword and a stand that replicates her teleportation abilities. They are both new pieces, and they are great additions to the figure.

WARLOCK

Now, the figure that is actually two figures in one. This figure not only represents shape-shifter Warlock, but also the team’s resident brainiac Cypher. It’s a nice idea, given the closeness of the characters and the fact that Cypher might not be the most exciting figure on his own.  Warlock/Cypher is built on the basic body, just like Magik. He features five newly sculpted add-ons: head/mask, gun arm, claw arm, torso, and left foot. Warlock had an always changing look in the comics, but these seem to do the job well enough. He also features a torso extender, which is reused from a modern Battlestar Galactica Cylon. The paint is similar to Magik, in that the detail lines are nice and clean, but some of the more base paint is a bit fuzzy around the edges. Still, the detail work is impressive, especially at this scale. Warlock includes a hairpiece, hands and feet to allow you to display the figure as Cypher, which is a really cool option.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set is actually one of the few TRU exclusives I didn’t have any trouble tracking down. Just found it in my local store one day. If I recall correctly, I was even asked what Minimates were by the woman standing behind me in line, which was cool. I really like this set, especially because it features my three favorite members of the New Mutants, especially Warlock. In a sad twist of fate, Warlock is actually one of the few Minimates I’ve ever lost, misplaced somewhere between my dorm room and home. I ended up having to get a replacement (for quite a mark-up) from Amazon. But, it was definitely worth it. I really like this set, even more than the boxed set it was meant to augment.

#0199: Vision, Hawkeye, & Vision 2.0

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

VISION, HAWKEYE, & VISION 2.0

MARVEL MINIMATES

Time for another entry in the tales of the Mates of Mini! Or something like that… More Minimates is what I’m getting at here.

This is yet another set from the Marvel Minimates line. The three characters looked at today all hail from the Avengers side of the Marvel Universe. The characters featured are Vision (who you can read about over in the Backstories Section), Hawkeye, and the variant release Vision 2.0.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These three were released as part of series 20 of the Marvel Minimates line.

VISION

Vision has always one of the most important members of the Avengers in my personal opinion. The character was a prominent member for many years, and it was cool to see him get a release in the line. The figure is based on Vision’s classic look. He’s built on the standard Minimates body, which means he has 14 points of articulation and stands 2 ½ inches tall. He has 2 sculpted add-ons: a cowl and a cape. Both pieces are brand new, and look pretty much spot on to the character’s look. Paint is where my one real issue with the figure lies. They’ve attempted to depict him in mid-phase, which leaves his arms, legs, and cape permanently in a state of semi-translucence. It’s not terrible in theory, or if it had been a separate set of pieces, but as the standard look for the figure, it’s disappointing and ends up making him look awkward on the shelf. One other issue is that I feel his greens and yellows are a bit too washed out, especially compared to more recent releases. The basic details are handled well enough, though, and the figure features no noticeable slop or bleed over.

HAWKEYE

If Vision is one of the most important Avengers, Hawkeye is the quintessential member. It’s just not the Avengers without him. He’s also based on his classic look, and is built on the standard Minimate body. Hawkeye features three sculpted add-ons: a mask, a torso cover, and a belt/loincloth piece. These are okay pieces, but they feel incredibly dated, especially the bulky upper torso piece, which gives the character some inappropriate girth. Paint is okay, but once again the colors seem just a touch too subdued. There is also a small bit of slop around the boots, and the face doesn’t quite line up with the masks. Hawkeye includes his bow and a sonic arrow.

VISION 2.0

Vision 2.0, or Jonas as the hip and happening kids call him, is not quite as prominent as the other two reviewed here, but he is a neat little character, and he’s a great fit for the variant slot. He’s fairly straight forward, being a vanilla ‘mate accessorized with the same cape sculpted for the normal Vision. The figure is molded in clear green plastic, of which I am always a fan, with some painted details. While I do feel that the face may be a bit crowded, everything else looks pretty cleanly applied and well handled. This figure is definitely a lot more vibrant than the other two, which is kind of funny, seeing as he’s the only “modern” character in the lot.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got these sets right around the time of their first release. Vision 2.0 was actually one of the very first variant sets I ever acquired, given my fandom of the character. The set was cool at the time, just to get Hawkeye and Vision, who were both essential members of the Avengers. Hawkeye certainly hasn’t aged well, but there have been a few more recent releases that improved greatly on this one. This is to date the only Vision available. That’s too bad, but it’s not the worst Minimate ever. Plus the character may actually be coming into a bit more prominence in the upcoming year or so. All in all, not a terrible set, but not really the greatest.

#0193: Mark I, James Rhodes, & Mark II

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

IRON MAN MARK I, JAMES RHODES, & IRON MAN MARK II

MARVEL MINIMATES

Minimates, Minimates, time to review some Minimates! Yep, it’s more of my favorite line of toys to review, Marvel Minimates. It’s a long running line, with almost 60 main series, plus lots of supplemental boxed sets and exclusives. And I own a very large portion of them, so there’s quite a few for me to review. Today, I’ll be looking at a set from the tie-in series for 2008’s Iron Man. It’s James Rhodes and the Mark I armor, plus the variant Mark II armor.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These guys were released in the 21st series of Marvel Minimates.

IRON MAN MARK I

While stranded in a cave, being held captive by a terrorist cell, Tony Stark builds his first suit of armor, dubbed the Mark I, from scrap parts. That’s right, Tony Stark built it. In a cave. With a box of scraps! The Mark I is built on the standard Minimate body, which means it has 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall. The figure has 10 sculpted add-on pieces: helmet, chest plate, upper arm covers, lower arm covers, thigh covers, and boots. All of these pieces look great, and have a tremendous amount of detailing. The coolest feature about the figure is what’s underneath of all those pieces: a whole Tony Stark! Add the included hair piece and spare feet, and you get a pitch perfect interpretation of what Tony wore while working on the Mark I. It’s a great touch, and this was one of the very first Minimates to implement such a feature. The paint work is very detailed and quite cleanly applied, especially on the underlying Tony pieces. This is by far my favorite figure in the set, and in fact the whole of series 21.

JAMES RHODES

James Rhodes, or Rhodey as Tony likes to call him, is Tony Stark’s best friend and confidant. This figure is kind of funny now, given that it’s based on Terrance Howard’s ill-fated portrayal of the character, and is in fact wearing the very outfit he has on during the infamous “Next time, baby!” scene. The figure is built on the standard Minimate body with two add-on pieces: hair and jacket. Both pieces were new to this figure, and both are pretty much spot on to how Rhodey looked in the film. The paint work on the figure is pretty nice, with no real slop, and some very nice detail work on the shirt and pants especially. The face isn’t quite Terrance Howard, and it seems like the skin may be a tad too dark, but it’s a valiant attempt. Rhodey included no accessories.

IRON MAN MARK II

After he returns home from captivity, Tony decides to refine the Mark I, and builds the Mark II. It’s a sleeker design, and it’s a bit higher powered. It’s also a really easy repaint for toy companies, given that it’s really just a silver version of the Mark III, the film’s main armor. So, here it is, for pretty much that reason. The figure is on the basic Minimate body, with 6 uniquely sculpted pieces: two-piece helmet, chest piece, gloves and legs. All of these pieces are well sculpted, and look accurate to the movie. Not as impressive as the Mark I, but still pretty good. The paint is fairly basic, being mostly one shade of silver, but they did put all the appropriate rivets on, which is a nice touch. The figure includes a spare set of hands and legs, and a hair piece, to allow a more disassembled look.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I really loved the first Iron Man film, and patiently awaited the release of the tie-in ‘mates. They kept getting pushed back, which was very annoying, but once I had them, they were one of my favorite series of Minimates for a very long time. I still love the Mark I, and all the amazing detail present in that little guy!

#0187: “World of the Psychic” Peter Venkman

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

PETER VENKMAN – WORLD OF THE PSYCHIC

GHOSTBUSTERS MINIMATES

I think most Ghostbusters fans will agree that Ghostbusters 2 isn’t anywhere close to the level of the original, however, it’s not as bad as some will lead you to believe. One of the cool things to see was just what all of the characters had been up to since the end of the first film. Peter Venkman seemed to get the most entertaining of gigs of all the main characters, working as the host of the show World of the Psychic, where we get to see him interacting with two people who believe they know when the world will end. It’s one of the more amusing scenes in the movie, and Diamond Select Toys decided to honor it with the release of Peter from that scene in Minimate form.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Peter was released as part of the third series of Toys R Us Exclusive Ghostbusters Minimates. He was packed with the film’s main villain, Vigo the Carpathian, but my Vigo figure’s gone missing, so it’s just Peter today. Peter is built on the usual Minimate body, which means he has 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall. He has two sculpted add-ons: a hairpiece, and a coat. The hair is the same piece used on the previous versions of Venkman, and the coat was a new piece, I think, but it has seen a fair number of re-uses since then. The paint is fairly basic, with mostly solid blocks of color on each piece, but he does have a decent Bill Murray likeness, this time with a more solemn expression, and he has funky red shoelaces on his shoes. Peter’s one accessory is a hairless cat, which is a great scene specific piece that could have been easily over looked.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up Venkman and Vigo from my local TRU. I believe it was an after school trip with my Dad during my senior year. It’s neat idea for a figure, I suppose, though it’s a bit drab and it will hardly be anyone’s definitive version of Venkman. Still, I suppose it’s not too bad.

#0178: Rogue & Beast

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

ROGUE & BEAST

MARVEL MINIMATES

Sometimes two things come together in a way that’s more awesome than you can possibly imagine. Such was the case for me with Marvel Minimates series 34. Obviously, the mere fact that it’s Minimates makes it one of my favorite things, but in addition to that, this particular wave was based on Jim Lee’s early 90s work on X-Men. This means they happen to have the same designs as the versions of the characters present on X-Men: The Animated Series, the cartoon effectively responsible for getting me into superheroes and the toys that accompany.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

As noted in the intro, these two were released in Marvel Minimates series 34, and are based on Rogue and Beast’s appearance in the comics in the early 90s.

ROGUE

This isn’t the first time I’ve looked at a figure of Rogue based on this particular design; I’ve previously looked at Hasbro’s interpretation from their Marvel Universe line. As I said in that figure’s review, I think the costume is a good choice because it’s the one most people remember. She’s built on the standard Minimate body, so she has 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall. She features 6 sculpted add-on pieces: Hair/headband, rolled up sleeves, leather jacket/belt, and boots. The hair and jacket are brand new pieces and the rolled sleeves and boots are re-uses, seen several times in the line. The hair looks pretty much spot on to Rogue’s style of the time. The jacket isn’t bad, though it might be a bit bulky around the shoulders. The paintwork is cleanly applied for the most part. The detail lines are pretty much limited to the front of the torso and head, though she also has the appropriate x-logo on her right shoulder, which is nice to see because it often gets overlooked. Rogue included no accessories.

BEAST

For many people, this is the definitive version of Beast; a hulking, blue, furry guy in blue shorts with an x-logo and sporting some serious Wolverine-hair. I’m more partial to the more reserved George Perez styled Beast from when he was a member of the Avengers, but I certainly appreciate this look. He’s built on the usual Minimate body, like Rogue, so he has the same basic height and articulation. Beast features 9 sculpted pieces: hair, bulked up torso, elongated forearms, clawed hands, belt, and big, furry feet. The hands come from DC’s Cheetah, the forearms come from the sentinel released in the previous wave (more on that in a second), and the torso and belt are standard pieces; the hair and feet are new. The new pieces are great. The feet are just the right size, and while the hair may be a touch too big, it still looks good. The reused pieces are a bit of a mixed bag. The hands work fine, but the torso cover isn’t one of my favorites, mostly due to those shoulders. The forearms are odd, because they were initially used as blast-off hand pieces in the sentinel. They were cool there, but here they look way too long, giving the arms a strange set of proportions. Fortunately, they can be removed, which greatly improves the figure. The paint detailing is pretty good. I especially love the face, as it’s the perfect expression for Hank. The coloration is off on the bulked up torso, which is a bummer, but you can remove it to reveal a full set of details on the under-lying torso, so it’s not too bad. Beast includes a spare set of feet.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was pretty excited when this series was announced, but I will admit this set is just average at best. It’s easily the weakest of the wave, but it does have some redeeming features. The Rogue featured here is easily the definitive version of the character, and Beast is a passable version of a character who is severely lacking in alternative choices. It’s a solid set, and I’m certainly glad I have it.

#0176: Avengers Boxed set

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

HULK, GIANT MAN, CAPTAIN AMERICA, & KANG

MARVEL MINIMATES

If there’s one toyline I like more than all others, it’s Minimates, particularly the Marvel Minimates subset. Frequent readers should be well aware of this fact, given the sheer volume of Marvel Minimates reviews present on this site. Anyway, I’ve got another Marvel Minimates review for today. This set is important in that it heralded the first release of long-demanded villain Kang!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This was one of two boxed sets released exclusively through the Disney Store in 2012. The sets were both Avengers related, in an attempt to tie into the movie release. The sets featured three all new figures packaged with five re-releases from Marvel Minimates series 44.

HULK

The Hulk is one of the three re-packs in this set. He’s based on his Professor Hulk incarnation, from Peter David’s run of Hulk. The basic idea was that Banner’s intelligence remained when he turned into the Hulk. It was a pretty big moment in the comics, and it definitely deserves a Minimate. This is actually the second Minimate of Professor Hulk, but the less said about the first one, the better. The figure is built on the standard Minimate body, with sculpted add-ons for bulk. He stands a little over 2 ½ inches tall and has 12 points of articulation. Most of the bulked up pieces are the same ones seen on other large characters, but he does feature a new set of feet, new hair, and it’s the first official release of the basic bulked up hands. All of the pieces look pretty good, and it’s nice to finally get a hairpiece that accurately resembles Hulks occasional bowl cut look. The paint work is good overall. There’s a bit of slop a few places, but all detail work is sharp. Hulk includes two rock slabs.

GIANT MAN

GiAnt Man is yet another of the repacks from this set. He’s based on George Perez’s redesign of the character from his and Kurt Busiek’s run on The Avengers in the 90s. The idea behind this redesign was creating a look that could easily morph between Hank’s Giant Man and Ant Man personas, hence the GiAnt Man title. It’s not a bad look, so its inclusion here is fair. He’s also built on the standard Minimates body, so he’s about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation. The number of add-ons depends on how you set him up, but amongst them are a Giant Man helmet, an Ant Man helmet, a belt, a torso extender, a pair of tall feet and a pair of short feet. The figure seems to be a case of better in concept than in execution, as the Giant Man set-up looks a bit strange, the Ant Man set-up is a bit too large, and neither helmet actually fits his face properly, leading to his mouth being too far down, making him look silly. The figure also includes a spare hairpiece to display him unmasked. It’s a re-use of Renfield’s hair from the Dracula set, and I’m not sure it quite fits Hank. Overall, this figure had some potential, but ends up being a bit of a mess.

 

CAPTAIN AMERICA

Cap is the final repack in this set. He based on Cap’s typical look, though it does take some of the more specific cues from George Perez’s work. The figure is on the standard body, so he’s got the usual stats. He features six sculpted add-ons: mask, glove cuffs, shield strap, and boots. All of these are reuse from previous Captains, but it’s kind of a case of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The paint work is all pretty good. Everything is nice and clean, and he’s even got little details, like the scales on his shirt or the blue shorts he’s sometimes depicted wearing over the pants. One area that is a bit off is the face, which seems a little bit angry looking for Cap. Other than that, he’s a pretty great standard Cap release. He includes his mighty shield (in metallic colors!), and a spare hairpiece, which is a re-use from one of the Back to the Future Marty McFly figures.

KANG

KAAAAANG!!! Yeah, he was a pretty big deal. Kang is the only exclusive figure in this set. For those of you who don’t know Kang, he’s one of the more pivotal Avengers foes. He was a conqueror from the future that came back in time to take over earlier. The Avengers of course would always stop him, as they do. For a quick explanation, I’d recommend checking out the character’s appearances in Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, which is currently available for streaming on Netflix. Kang is built in the standard Minimates body, so he has all the typical stats. He features 7 sculpted add-ons: helmet, gloves, shoulder armor, belt, and upper arms. The upper arms are the same ones seen on Betsy Braddock and the Hydra Elite. They aren’t my favorite piece, but they do work for depicting more billowy shirt material, which Kang does have. I think the rest of the pieces are new, though the gloves mightbe a re-use. The paint work on Kang is pretty good. Nothing spectacular, but it isn’t bad and everything is nice and sharp. Kang includes two guns and a pink teleportation stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was pretty excited about this set. The update on Professor Hulk was much needed, and the release of Kang was super cool! I wish Giant Man had been a bit better, but overall, this is a pretty good set. I got this set from Disney’s online store, as none of the Disney Stores near me carry Minimates. I like the idea of Disney exclusives, if it gets us cool sets like this, but they should definitely work on distribution.

#0162: The Infinity Gauntlet Minimates

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

ADAM WARLOCK, MEPHISTO, DRAX THE DESTROYER, & THANOS

MARVEL MINIMATES

Have you guys had enough of a break from Minimates? No? Well, this is a bit awkward… I’ve already got the review written. I guess we’ll just power through!

Today, I’ll once again be pulling a set from the Marvel Minimates line, the line that keeps going and going. It’s like the Energizer Bunny! This is a boxed set from a few years back, and it’s one of the few ventures into the cosmic side of Marvel. I imagine that might change thanks to August’s Guardians of the Galaxy film.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These four were released back in 2009 as part of boxed set based on the classic cross-over series The Infinity Gauntlet. It features Adam Warlock, Mephisto, Drax, and the main man himself Thanos in their looks from the series.

ADAM WARLOCK

Adam Warlock is an interesting character. He was created back in the 90s by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby while they were working on Fantastic Four, but there he was just known as “Him.” It wasn’t until 1972 that he would acquire his name in a story written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Gil Kane. The character really came into some popularity under the helm of Jim Starlin, who would go on to use him as a prominent character in The Infinity Gauntlet. He’s presented in his third costume, which also happened to be the first time he actually had pants. So, yay for pants, I suppose. He uses the standard Minimate body, so that means he has 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall. He has 2 sculpted pieces: his hair and his cape. These were both new pieces to this figure. The hair has only been used with this figure, but the cape was actually shared with pack mate Drax. Both pieces look accurate to the source material, and have lots of very cool finer details. The paint work on the figure is passable, but not great. The detail work, especially the face look great, but some of the basic paint apps are sloppy or fuzzy. The collar of his cape gets hit the worst by this, with some pretty bad over bleed from the red of the rest of the cape. Warlock’s one accessory is his Karmic Staff. It’s appropriately detailed, and looks like a staff should.

MEPHISTO

Mephisto is the Devil. No, seriously, Mephisto is the Marvel universe version of the Biblical Devil. That’s pretty much his whole deal. He serves as an advisor of sorts to Thanos during The Infinity Gauntlet. Mephisto’s had two looks in the comics and they’ve gone with the original, which was a good move. The other design was from the 90s, and no one wants to see that. Mephisto is on the standard body with 5 sculpted add-on pieces: hair, cape, belt, and clawed hands. The clawed hands originally were released on the X-Men Origins: Wolverine version of Sabretooth. The cape, hair, and belt were new pieces, with the cape later being reused on the classic version of Mandarin. The new pieces really have some expertly handled detail work, which is impressive to see on a Minimate. The paint work is clean and well detailed. The face in particular looks spot on to Starlin’s interpretation of the character. Mephisto includes no accessories.

DRAX THE DESTROYER

Drax the Destroyer is the character in this set that will probably be a bit better known once Guardians of the Galaxy is released. Simply put, he’s a guy who was killed by Thanos and placed in robot body without any of his memories. He’s green, and he seems to like the color purple. Drax is on the typical body, and has 7 sculpted add-ons: cowl, cape, bracelets, pelvis add-on, and boots. The cape is shared with Warlock, the bracelets were originally released on Ocean Master, and the pelvis piece and boots have been used on numerous figures. The cowl is a new piece, though it appears it might be a re-tool of the helmet used on one of the Classic Iron Man releases. So, he’s a bit of a mix-and-match of parts, but it works. The paint work on Drax is pretty good. He’s better than Warlock, though there is still a little bit of slop. He has a butt-load of detail lines, though. I do wish his belt detailing continued down just a bit further, so he didn’t have that small green patch there. Otherwise, he’s a great figure. Drax includes no accessories.

THANOS

Thanos is the most important character in the set, being the wielder of the titular item. He’s also likely to be a pretty big character in the coming years, thanks to his recent play as a main antagonist in the recent mini-series Infinity, and his appearance post credits at the end of 2012’s The Avengers. This guy’s going places! Thanos is on the usual body, with 6 sculpted add-ons: helmet, torso cover, gauntlets, and boots. The boots were originally used on several figures from DC Minimates. Everything else was unique to this figure. Everything has some great detail work. Thanos is one of the few Minimates to actually have 10 defined fingers. I’m still uncertain of this move, but DST wanted to get the gems of the Infinity Gauntlet to line up properly, so this is what they went with. I also feel like the “helmet” is far too bulky. Thanos was usually depicted has having a rather small head compared to the rest of him, and this piece makes him look a bit like a bobble head. The paint on this figure is easily the worst in the set. The muscles on his torso are set too far down, and every instance of gold is sloppy and uneven, which really makes the figure look pretty bad. The face actually turned out nicely, but gets lost amongst the missteps of the rest of the figure. Thanos includes no accessories.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like with so many of the Minimates I own, this set was purchased from my local comicbook store upon its release. I really like Drax, and Warlock is still good despite his sloppy paint. Mephisto is great for fans of that character, but I’m not really one of those. Sadly, Thanos, who should have been the star of the set and is worth the big bucks on the aftermarket, is easily the worst in the set. He has some good qualities, but he’s a miss overall. Hopefully his newfound fame with general audiences will get him a re-do sooner rather than later. Overall, this wasn’t a bad set, and I hope Guardians of the Galaxy leads to us getting more sets like it.

#0160: Captain America & Absorbing Man

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA & ABSORBING MAN

MARVEL MINIMATES

After another short break, I’m once again going back to my favorite toyline: Minimates.  Once again, I’m pulling a set from the Marvel Minimates line.  This set is one of the earlier sets in the line, and features the first releases of one very prominent character and one moderately well-known character.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This set was released in the 5th series of the Marvel Minimates line.  That was quite a while ago.

CAPTAIN AMERICA

This here is Captain America’s very first Minimate release.  It’s very funny to think that he wasn’t released until 5 waves in, and he was the first Avenger to see a release, but the characters had yet to see their big resurgence at this point.  Cap is of course based on his classic look.  He’s built on the typical Minimate body, though it’s important to note that he sports the original style feet, which were longer and lacked the peg holes in the soles.  Cap features 3 sculpted pieces: mask and a pair of gloves.  These pieces would see quite a few reuses later, but this is the first appearance of them.  They look pretty spot on, and fit great with the more simplistic style of the line at the time.  The paint is quite good.  Minimalistic, of course, but very well handled.  The face has a great look of friendly assurance, which looks perfect for Cap, and I really love how well the eyes match up to the mask.  Cap includes his mighty shield, and a clip to put it on his arm.  Unlike later releases, he doesn’t have a spare non-gloved hand, which makes putting the shield on a pain, but it’s easily remedied with a spare hand.

ABSORBING MAN

I just recently looked at the most recent re-release of Absorbing Man, so it’s cool to get to look at how far the line has come.  Absorbing Man is based on the same basic look as the newer figure, just done a bit more simply.  Like Cap, he’s on the usual body, with the earlier style feet.  He’s a “vanilla ‘mate”, so not add-ons.  The paintwork isn’t bad.  Quite a bit of detailing for the time, but I’m not sure it works.  They’ve given him a screaming face, which doesn’t really suit Absorbing Man, in my opinion.  The details are all pretty well done, but he’s missing some details, such as ears.  Absorbing Man includes one accessory: his ball and chain.  It might be the same piece included with the new one, but I honestly can’t tell.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This was the 5th set of Minimates I ever got.  I acquired it from a nearby comic book store.  I know I had heard that the set was being released, but I didn’t know they were out until I came across them in that store.  I remember being very excited to buy them.  Cap was my default version of the character until about wave 45, and to this day still remains one of my very favorite Minimates.

#0155: Havok & Polaris

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

HAVOK & POLARIS

MARVEL MINIMATES

Continuing the X-Men theme from yesterday, and Minimates theme from… all the time, today I’ll be looking at some X-Men Minimates.  Yay!

The two Minimates in question today happen to be two of my favorite X-Men, Havok and Polaris.  Havok is Cyclops’s younger brother who has a similar power set.  Polaris is sometimes Magneto’s daughter, and sometimes not, but she has the same powers regardless.  The two are frequently portrayed as a couple, and have been X-Men from time to time.  They’re biggest break, however, is probably Peter David’s run on X-Factor which featured both of them as prominent characters.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released as a set in Marvel Minimates wave 20.

HAVOK

Havok is shown here in his classic costume from the 60s, designed by the great Neal Adams.  It’s essentially the look that the character sported for about 30 years, and is also the look that most of his subsequent designs were derived from, so it’s a good choice.  Havok is built on the basic Minimate body, so he stands about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  He has two sculpted pieces: his headgear that channels the solar energy to his powers and a specially designed version of the Minimate head to accommodate this.  The rest of the detail work is handled through paint.  The face has a lot of detail, and does look kinda like a Neal Adams drawing, but I’m not really sure how well that works.  He’s permanently screaming, and since the mask is painted on, you can’t even sub in another head, which means he has to be displayed in attack mode.  What really sucks about this is that Diamond actually did a neat thing so that his torso is detailed on both sides, allowing you to depict him fully charged up or more controlled.  However, with the facial expression, it’s a bit difficult to utilize.

POLARIS

Polaris, like Havok, is depicted in her classic 60s costume, designed by Werner Roth.  She went back and forth between costumes depending on the artist, but this was the costume that most people remember.  It’s a really cool look, so no complaints there!  She’s got two separately sculpted add-ons: hair/headband, and cape.  The cape was a reuse from the C3 version of Superman, but the hair is a new piece, and is beautifully done at that.  The hair is sculpted with a bit of a wind flow to it, but not too much to make it quite as pose specific as Havok’s face.  The paint on this figure is rather nice, with a great set of details on her torso and legs.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I said above, these are two of my favorite X-Men, so I was pretty thrilled when they were announced, and I bought them as soon as I could.  While Havok isn’t perfect, he was a pretty good hold over until I got one I was a little happier with more recently.  This is Polaris’s only Minimate, but given the quality of this Minimate, that’s not the worst thing ever.  She really makes this set worth having for sure.

#0153: Tory & Anders

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

TORY & ANDERS

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA MINIMATES

So, yeah, today’s gonna be another Minimates review.  I’ll be taking another look at a set from the Battlestar Gallactica line.  I’ve talked about this line before, in my review of D’Anna and Apollo.  Not much more to add there.  Today, I’ll be looking at Tory and Anders.  Tory was President Laura Roslin’s second assistant and Anders was a resistance fighter who ended up marrying hot-shot pilot Kara “Starbuck” Thrace.  Also, (Spoilers from about 5 years ago)….

They’re both Cylons, specifically member of the “Final Five,” who were the last five Cylons revealed amongst other things.  Let’s take a look at the figures.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This set was released in the second TRU wave of BSG Minimates, and was one of the few sets carried over completely unchanged from the cancelled waves 5 & 6 of the main line.

TORY

First up, presidential assistant Tory.  I honestly wish there were more to say about her, but she never went much beyond that.  She’s on the basic Minimate body, so she stands roughly 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  She has a sculpted hair piece and no other add-ons.  The paintwork is fairly clean, and the likeness on the face is pretty food.  For some reason, she’s barefoot.  Not exactly sure why that is, but there it is.  Tory includes no accessories.

ANDERS

Next, the resistance fighter turned Viper pilot who always seemed to end up as the Damsel in distress for Starbuck, Sam Anders.  Anders is depicted in his Viper pilot look from the final season of the show.  It’s probably the most interesting of his looks, so that works.  They’ve put a different spin on the uniform, depicting it with the top half pulled down, as many of the pilots wore their uniforms while not flying a Viper.  Anders features 3 sculpted pieces: hair, belt/jumpsuit, and a holster.  The paint work is pretty good on this guy.  The face looks good, the shirt detail goes all the way around, and they even gave him the tattoo that he and Starbuck both got after getting married.  Anders is accessorized with a standard BSG handgun.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like the first series of TRU BSG Minimates, I got this wave as soon as I could.  I was still pretty excited about the show and was glad to round out the characters.  Looking back, I still think Anders is a pretty cool figure, and is certainly one of the better figures in the line, but Tory is a fairly boring figure of a fairly boring character.