Tag Archives: Diamond Select Toys

#0151: Scarlet Spider & Hobgoblin

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

SCARLET SPIDER & HOBGOBLIN

MARVEL MINIMATES

Well, we took a break to do the usual HT review for the 150th review, but now we’re back to, that’s right, the Minimates.  Once again, it’s an entry from the expansive Marvel Minimates line.  This time around, it pulls two characters from the Spider-Man corner of the Marvel universe: Scarlet Spider and Hobgoblin.  Scarlet Spider is Ben Reilly, clone of Peter Parker.  Hobgoblin’s been a few people, but in general, he’s kind of a successor to the Green Goblin legacy.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released as a FYE & Suncoast exclusive set a few years ago.

SCARLET SPIDER

Scarlet Spider is up first.  He’s based on the original Scarlet Spider, not the more recent one, so he’s in Spider’s early 90s look, which was assembled from pieces from a novelty shop, I believe, on his first adventure.  Dude wore a hoody with the sleeves torn off and his first adversary was Venom.  Can you get much more 90s than that?  Spider is built on the basic Minimate body, so he’s about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  He’s a vanilla ‘mate, so all of his details are painted on.  Everything is pretty clean, though he is a bit basic, which does date the figure a bit.  I also do wish the eyes were a little higher, but that’s more personal preference.  Scarlet Spider included a web-line.

HOBGOBLIN

Up next is Hobgoblin.  He was a pretty big character in the 90s, but his popularity has died down a bit recently.  This figure is based on the character’s more reserved original appearance, instead of some of the more ghoulish looks the character got later on.  Hobgoblin is built on the usual body, so he’s got the standard stats.  He’s got 3 sculpted pieces: Hood, cape, and hand holding a pumpkin bomb.  These pieces were all new to the figure, though the pumpkin bomb has been reused a few times since.  The hood and cape are nice, and look pretty spot on to what the character looked like in his classic incarnation.  The paint is much more detailed here than it was on Scarlet Spider.  He actually holds up pretty well, if you’re really looking for a classically styled version of the character.  Hobgoblin includes no accessories.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up this set at a Suncoast at my local mall.  The Suncoast isn’t there anymore, which is a bit sad.  This was one of the few times in recent years that I can actually remember being surprised to find an item I didn’t know was being made.  I’ve always kind of liked Scarlet Spider, so I was glad to get him, and Hobgoblin’s not bad either.

#0149: Winter Soldier – Agent of SHIELD & Hydra Elite

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

WINTER SOLDIER –AGENT OF SHIELD & HYDRA ELITE

MARVEL MINIMATES

Okay, so I may have lied about “new Minimates” reviews being done for a while.  Yeah, I was kinda at Toys R Us, and found the one set of figures from TRU wave 18 that I hadn’t found yet.  So, I’m reviewing those today.  It should be a quick review, as I already reviewed one, and the other is only a slight tweak on a figure I already looked at.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Winter Soldier and the Hydra Elite were released as part of the 18th Toys R Us exclusive wave of Marvel Minimates.

WINTER SOLDIER

So, after being turned into a Russian-Assassin, Bucky got better, and became an Agent of SHIELD.  So, he got a haircut and stuck a new bumper sticker on his robot arm.  Now he’s a hero!  Yay!  He’s pretty much the same figure as the last Winter Soldier I looked at.  The difference is that he’s got a different hairpiece, his uniform is a brighter blue, and instead of having a red star on the robot arm, he’s got a white star in a blue circle.  Everything, including the accessories and the detail lines is the same.  I can’t blame Diamond for taking advantage of the near identical looks.  They’re close enough to share parts, but just different enough to require separate figures, and there was demand for both versions.  I still prefer the other version a bit more, though I may swap the robot arms.

HYRDA ELITE

This figure is exactly the same as the Wave 54 Hydra Elite.  Exactly the same.  No minor differences or anything.  However, it is an army builder, so I doubt anyone will complain about it being more plentiful.  I certainly was glad to get another one.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, this isn’t the most thrilling set if you’ve already got wave 54, but it’s a decent accent.  Plus, I got it for $3.98, so I’m pretty much just buying it to get another Hydra Elite.  Now I have 4!

#0147: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly Minimates

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THE MAN WITH NO NAME, TUCO, ANGEL EYES, & SHOWDOWN BLONDIE

THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE UGLY MINIMATES

Okay, here’s a review that should be fun.  It’s another Minimates set, but it’s based on The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly, a movie I’ve never actually seen.  Yeah, I know, bad Ethan.  How can you not have seen that movie?  It’s a classic!  Well, I’m not a Western kinda guy.  I like them in theory, but the actual watching doesn’t always work out for me.  It’s not a hard set rule, but it’s the excuse I’m using in this case.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This set was released a while ago, when Diamond was attempting to get the license to do anything they could as Minimates.  They released three boxed sets, each based on one of the movies in the “Dollars Trilogy” (For a Few Dollars More, Fistful of Dollars, & The Good, The Bad &The Ugly).  This set is based on the final film in the trilogy.

THE MAN WITH NO NAME

First up is “The Good.”  This is one of the versions of Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Name.  This one looks to be a bit better dressed than the others, with a nice grey over-coat and a scarf.  TMWNN has 4 sculpted add-ons: hat/hair, coat/scarf, and boots.  The hat and coat were new pieces and look pretty good; the boots were the same ones used for most of the characters in the set, which seems to be a case of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.  The paint is a bit of a mixed bag.  The facial details are really great, and it’s a spot on representation of Clint Eastwood, but the more base paint is pretty sloppy.  TMWNN is easily the worst painted in the set, which is a shame.  The figure includes a six shooter which can be placed in the holster on his jacket.

TUCO

Next up is “The Ugly.”  Apparently, he’s a guy named Tuco.  Okay.  Tuco’s built on the usual Minimate body, so he’s got the standard 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall.  Tuco’s got 4 sculpted pieces: hair, coat, and boots.  They’re all well done, and all of these pieces appear to be new to the figure, even the boots, which lack the spurs present on the others.  The paint is better here than on TMWNN, and he’s got some more detail work on his torso, which looks good, plus he’s even got a ring on his right hand!  Tuco also includes a single six-shooter, though it is different that TMWNN’s.

ANGEL EYES

Lastly, but not really, is “The Bad.”  Who is a guy called Angel Eyes.  This guy seems keen on nick-names.  He too is built on the standard Minimate body and has all the usual stats.  Angel Eyes has 5 sculpted add-ons: hat/hair, coat/vest, gun belt, and boots.  The boots are the same ones seen on TMWNN, but all the other stuff is new.  The hat is cool, because it’s tipped forward to hide his eyes.  My favorite part of the figure is the gun belt, which has a front holster, which is just really cool!  The paint on this figure is really confined to the face, but that looks really good.  As with the rest of the set, Angel Eyes includes a six-shooter.

SHOWDOWN BLONDIE

Lastly, for real this time, it’s “The Good” again.  Apparently, the Man with No Name gets a name and it’s Blondie.  This is Blondie in his “showdown” look, which I assume is from the final duel with Angel Eyes (EDIT: my friend Tim informs me that the Showdown actually occurs between Blondie, Angel Eyes and Tuco.  My mistake).  But I don’t know for sure.  Anyway, this depicts Eastwood’s more distinctive look from the movies, as this is the look he has once per film.  The figure includes 5 sculpted add-ons: hat, poncho/vest, gun belt, and boots.  All of these pieces are reused, with the hat coming from the Eastwood figure in the first set and the vest/poncho and gun belt coming from the second.  The reuse is sensible, however, as these are meant to be the same pieces in the movie too.  The paint work is pretty good, and he’s got the most detailing with a full set of shirt details under the vest, which is cool.  My one complaint would be that the face detail seems to be up a bit too high, causing the five-o’clock shadow to just stop abruptly.  Like the rest of the set, Blondie includes a six-shooter.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set was purchased at a store in Rehobeth Beach called Music For A Song.  They had a decent selection of non-Marvel Minimates, all of which were being clearanced for really low prices.  I ended up buying them mostly for the extra pieces, as I was an avid Minimate customizer at the time, but I did end up keeping a few of the sets that I though looked cool.  This set was among them.  One of these days I’ll see the movie…

#0145: Armored Thor & Beta Ray Bill

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ARMORED THOR & BETA RAY BILL

MARVEL MINIMATES

See, I told you guys we wouldn’t be away from Minimates for long!

Yep, it’s another Marvel Minimates review, this time looking at two characters from the Thor-niverse(I’m making that a thing!).  The two figures in this set are Armored Thor and Beta Ray Bill, both of whom hail from Walt Simonson’s run on Thor in the ‘80s.  Armored Thor is from the time when Thor’s bones became super brittle, so he had to start wearing…. Oh my God, that Captain America I reviewed recently was totally from a rip-off of this Thor story!  That’s weird.  Moving on.  Beta Ray Bill was on original character Simonson created in during his run who was another being that briefly wielded the power of Thor and eventually was granted his own hammer called Stormbreaker.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released in the 42nd wave of the Marvel Minimates line.  This wave was released to coincide with both the Cap and Thor movies, though it definitely leaned more heavily to the Thor side.

THOR

Like I said above, this is Thor as he appeared during one of the ongoing stories during Simonson’s run on the series.  It’s a pretty good design, and it translated well to the Minimate aesthetic, so it works for me.  Armored Thor features 6 sculpted add-ons: helmet, cape, arm-brace, skirt, and boots.  Everything was brand new and I don’t believe we’ve seen any of it used again, making this a very unique figure.   Everything is very cleanly sculpted and looks pretty good.  With all that sculpting, it would have been easy for Diamond to phone it in on the paint, but they really didn’t.  The basic paint apps are all very clean, plus he’s got some great detail work on his arms, legs, torso, and head.  The torso has a nice chainmail texture, and the head has really cool grimacing face with a very finely detailed beard.  Armored Thor included two accessories: a spare hairpiece and his hammer Mjolnir.  Near as I can tell, both of these pieces were new too, but they’ve seen a fair bit of reuse.

BETA RAY BILL

Beta Ray Bill is an interesting entry in the world of Minimates.  It’s not a surprise to see him here; he’s a fairly popular character amongst Thor fans.  What’s a bit surprising is that he got two almost identical Minimate releases at around the same time and hasn’t seen a release since.  Anyway, here’s one of the two releases.  This one seems to be more based on what the colors of the character would be if he existed in real life, with more metallic and such.  This is the color scheme that practically every other release of the character has used, so it’s tried and true.  The figure features 9 sculpted pieces: head, torso/cape, gloves, belt, upper legs, and boots.  That’s quite a few pieces, and they’re all new to the figure, though most of them were shared with the other Bill released.  The pieces are all pretty good, though the hands aren’t my favorite.  The paint is pretty good on Bill, though nowhere nearly as detailed as that of Thor.  Bill’s got one accessory: his trusty hammer Stormbreaker!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Wave 42 was one of my earliest purchases from my favorite Minimate retailer Luke’s Toy Store.  I purchased the whole set, which was odd because I’ve never been a really big Thor fan.  But, this wave looked pretty cool, so I picked them all up.  I’m really glad I did, because it’s one of my favorite waves of Minimates, and these two are a very big part of that.

#0143: Spider-Man & Nova

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SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN & ALL-NEW NOVA

MARVEL MINIMATES

Today’s gonna be another Minimates review, guys.  There’s actually quite a few more coming up.  I swear this isn’t on purpose; the random list I generated is just giving them all to me in a bundle.  Sure, I could mix up the list, but if I’m honest, Minimates reviews are much more formulaic, and are therefore a little quicker to write.  So, there!

I’m going back to the flagship line, Marvel Minimates, for today’s review of Superior Spider-Man and Nova!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released as part of the 51st wave of Marvel Minimates, which was a wave centered around the launch of Marvel Now!  If you don’t know what “Marvel Now!” is, it’s a movement by marvel to keep their books “fresh” by changing up a few creative teams and resetting a whole bunch of books back to issue 1.

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN

I’ve discussed the “Superior” incarnation of Spider-Man previously, when I reviewed the character’s second look.  The basic gist is that Peter Parker’s mind was replaced with Doctor Octopus’s, resulting in a very different Spider-Man.  In a shocking move predicted by no one (read: sarcasm), Marvel just announced that come April, Peter will be back in control and Spider-Man will once again be Amazing.  Anyway, this figure is based on the initial design of Superior Spider-Man, which was a bit more of a minor change than the one that followed.  The figure is built on the standard Minimate body, so he’s got 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall.  Spidey is a “vanilla mate”, meaning he’s got no sculpted add-ons, just paint on the basic body.  The paintwork is actually really nice.  All of the detail lines are nice and clean, and the web pattern even continues all the way around the wrists, which is a detail that’s been missing from a fair share of Spider-Men.  Spider-Man includes a webline, a clear display stand, and a jump stand that allows you to display him mid-swing.  The stand is a cool idea, and I hope to see it more often.

NOVA

If you’re a faithful reader of the site, this figure probably looks familiar to you.  That’s because I’ve pretty much already reviewed it.  For the most part, this figure is the same as TRU wave 17’s version of Nova.  The biggest change is that this figure sports a unique set of shoulder pads.  They look fine, but they’re really loose, and you can even see one of them has slipped out of place in the photo in this review.  For this reason, I prefer the piece used on the wave 17 version a bit more.  Paint wise, Nova is identical to the other version, fuzzy lines and all.  Nova’s accessories are another marked difference between releases.  This version doesn’t have the large complement the other featured, instead only getting the spare Sam hair, a basic flight stand, and a display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I actually bought an entire case of wave 51 in order to get more of the SHIELD Agent army builder, so I have three of this set.  So, if anyone reads this review and really wants a set, I have two spares for sale.  Anyway, I like this set, but with the release of superior (heh) versions of both characters in TRU wave 17, I can’t help but feel this set is a bit redundant.  They’re quality minimates to be sure, and the Spider-Men are different enough I suppose, but poor Nova really gets the short end of the stick.

#0142: D’Anna & Apollo

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D’ANNA & APOLLO

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA MINIMATES

We’re continuing with my old faithful of lines to review, Minimates.  This time around, I’m taking a look at a set from the BSG series of Minimates.  BSG Minimates were a line that Diamond really wanted to see succeed in spite of a just mild reception from the fan base.  Pretty much every major character from the series was released at some point, which is a pretty decent feat, but the first 4 waves of the line can still pretty much be found for exceptionally low prices.  Two additional waves were originally announced to continue the line and pretty much wrap up any missing characters, but orders proved too low.  Then, for some reason, TRU came to the rescue, and granted the line two more waves, a reboot of sorts.  The Toys R Us waves are generally seen as being far superior to the preceding waves, and can still command some decent prices.  Today, I’ll be taking a look at one of the TRU sets.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released as part of first TRU wave of BSG Minimates.

D’ANNA

First up is one of the series 12 human Cylon models, D’Anna Biers aka Three.  Three had quite a following, due to being played by fan favorite Lucy Lawless.  She’s presented here in her all white get-up, which I believe is what she wore following her model being reactivated later in the series.  She’s built on the standard Minimate body, so she has 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall.  She features 3 sculpted add-ons: hair, coat, and skirt.  The skirt is a generic piece that’s been seen on a number of female ‘mates, but the hair and coat appear to be new.  I’m not a big fan of the coat, as I feel it’s needlessly bulky, but the hair looks pretty spot on for the character’s appearance on the show.  The paint is minimal on this figure.  She’s got face and torso detailing and that’s about it.  The face is nice, and looks pretty close to Lawless, certainly much better than Diamond’s first attempt. The torso detailing is nice, and allows you to display D’Anna without the coat.  D’Anna included no accessories.

APOLLO

Next up  is one of the central characters of the series, Lee “Apollo” Adama.  This was Lee’s 3rd Minimate, and his 2nd in his flight suit.  The figure appears to be based on his look in the final season of the show after he quit being a pilot for a while and had lost his more close cropped military hair.  Originally, the head was meant to go on a suited body to represent him from earlier in the season, but he’s been put in a flight suit, giving him an appearance close to what he had in the series finale.  He features 4 sculpted add-ons: hair, flight vest, belt, and holster.  All the flight suit stuff is reused from the previous flight suit characters, which makes sense.  The hair is a new piece, and it looks pretty good and has a lot of potential reuse.  The paint is fine, though, all the lines and such are clean.  The metallic green of the flight suit is also of a higher quality than previous pilots, so it’s less prone to chipping.  I think that this ‘mate has a closer resemblance to actor Jamie Bamber than the previous two, which is cool I guess.  Apollo includes a flight helmet and a hand gun.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up this set at my local Toys R Us (which is no longer there.  They just moved it across the street, but they had this big “store closing” sale, and deeply clearance everything.  It was weird.)  when they were released.  I know the series had ended not long before and I was fairly excited to get these guys at the time.  They’re still very good Minimates, but I’ve lost a lot of my interest in BSG, so they mostly all sit in a box these days.

#0139: Thor & Absorbing Man

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

THOR – MARVEL NOW & ABSORBING MAN

MARVEL MINIMATES

Okay, this should be the last of my “new Minimates” reviews for a little while.  I’m certain some of the older stuff will pop up on the random list of figures, but that’s different.  Anyway, it’s the other half of my review of the latest Toys R Us exclusive Marvel Minimates wave, this time featuring Thor and one of his old foes, the Absorbing Man.  For those of you who don’t know who that is: He’s a man who absorbs things.  There, you’re up to speed.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released as part of the 18th Toys R Us exclusive wave of the Marvel Minimates line.

THOR

First up, it’s Thor, the God of Thunder!  Thor is depicted here in his “Marvel Now!” look from the more recent selection of Marvel comics.  It’s not a big deviation from his usual looks, but it’s different enough to warrant a release.  Thor is built on the basic Minimate body, so he stands about 2 ½ inches tall and features 14 points of articulation.  Thor features 7 sculpted add-ons: helmet/hair, spiky bracelets, cape, belt/skirt, and boots.  The boots and cape are reused from the Marvel Vs Capcom 3 version of Thor and the bracelets come from that line’s version of Chun Li.  The helmet and belt/skirt are new to this figure and they appear to be accurate to Thor’s most recent design.  The belt has some really great texturing, and the helmet has some very cool etched lines.  The paint on Thor is pretty good.  There’s a little bit of slop here and there, particularly on his helmet, but all of the detail lines are nice and clean.  One area that does really bug me is the spikes on the bracelets.  The sliver is just haphazardly applied, and it makes him look rather sloppy.  Thor includes a spare set of arms detailed with chainmail sleves that match his legs, his trust hammer Mjolnir, and a clear display stand.

ABSORBING MAN

Absorbing Man is next up.  Absorbing man is often grouped as a Hulk villain, but he began his life as a Thor villain, so he makes sense here.  Curiously, his last Minimate was packed with Captain America, so I guess the Avengers just pass him around.  Absorbing Man’s been released in the Marvel Minimates line once before, but that was way back in wave 5 of the main line (Which just hit 54!), so the update is much appreciated.  The figure is built on the typical Minimate body, so he has the usual stats, though the sculpted add-ons can potentially bring his height up and his articulation down.  In the bulked up form (which I’m going with as default, since that’s how he’s packaged), he features 11 sculpted add-ons:  torso cover, two different sculpted hands, two different sculpted upper arm covers, a pelvis cover, a torso extender, thigh covers, and bulked up feet.  Let’s start with the reuse: the torso, pelvis, and upper leg covers are generic bulked-up pieces that have been used numerous times before; the feet originally appeared on Wave 44’s Smart Hulk; the right hand and upper arm came from the most recently released version of the Thing.  The left upper-arm is an all new piece, and isn’t a slip over, and the hand has been sculpted to match.  I think the idea is for them to look like tree bark, but I’m not 100% sure.  The paint is overall well applied, though the prison stripes can be a bit fuzzy in a few places, and there is the issue of the right arm still obviously being of a rocky texture even though it’s painted flesh tone.  I feel that a special mention needs to go to the head which really just looks like ol’ Crusher Creel to me.  Absorbing Man includes a spare set of arms, hands and feet to transform him back to normal, plus his old ball and chain, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

These two came from the same TRU trip as the last set, which means that I also scored them for $3.98.  Even at full price, I feel this set is a worthy purchase.  It’s not my favorite Thor, but it does round out the main Avengers in their Marvel Now! looks, and Absorbing Man is an amazing update on the previous figure.  At full price, I would have been content; at $4, these were a steal!

#0138: Wolverine & Ultron Drone

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WOLVERINE – AGE OF ULTRON & ULTRON DRONE

MARVEL MINIMATES

After a brief break, I’m jumping back into the Minimates reviews.  The Toys R Us trip mentioned in yesterday’s review of Tyreese was not made to track down Tyreese, but rather to track down the latest Toys R Us exclusive wave of Marvel Minimates.  This wave was a bit of a mixed bag as far as character choices, and today I’ll be looking at the set released to compliment the Age of Ultron Set I reviewed last week.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two figures were released as part of the 18th Toys R Us exclusive wave of the Marvel Minimates line.

WOLVERINE

First, it’s everyone’s favorite mutant who has claws and is the best there is at what he does, Wolverine!  Wolverine was effectively the main character of the Age of Ultron crossover, and I’m going to avoid making a comment on that so as to not bring out the nerd rage.  Wolverine is based on his look from the series, which is kind of an inverse of his usual costume, and bears a little bit of resemblance to his Ultimate X-Men incarnation.  There’s a lot of black.  He’s built on the basic Minimate body, so he stands about 2 ½ inches tall and he has the standard 14 points of articulation.  He’s got 4 sculpted pieces: hair, hood, and clawed hands.  The hair and hands appear to be the same ones used on the Marvel Now! Wolverine released in TRU wave 16.  The hood is a new piece, and it’s alright.  It’s just a basic hood, so I can see it getting some more use down the line, especially if Diamond wants to do a 90s Scarlet Spider or something.  Wolverine has a decent amount of painted details, all of which are applied cleanly.  The work on the musculature using gray is actually pretty cool.  The face is definitely not one of my favorites, though.  It just looks a bit strange and the lack of eyebrows weirds me out.  Wolverine’s only accessory is a clear display stand.

ULTRON DRONE

Next, it’s the Ultron Drone, hero of the… yeah, it’s just a generic Ultron Drone, which there were a bunch of in the Age of Ultron series.  There you have it.  He’s based on the drones that appeared in the early issues of the cross over.  It’s not a bad design, I suppose, plus it’s Ultron, who is always cool.  The figure is built on the standard body and has all the basics.  He features two sculpted add-ons: head and belt-thingy.  The head piece is the same one seen on the Conqueror Ultron in the main boxed set, while the belt/torso extender is a new piece.  The paint detailing a very nice on this figure, with a nice gold coating covered with some pretty cool detail work.  The face is different on the drone than on Conqueror Ultron, but I actually think I like the drone a little bit more.  Like Conqueror Ultron, the Drone features a face detailing under the helmet.  It’s the same as the one on the helmet, but it’s presented on a clear orange head.  The Ultron drone includes an orange flight base and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like I mentioned in the intro, I got these guys from Toys R Us on the same trip in which I acquired Tyreese.  I actually didn’t see this set at first and was a little bummed I had missed it, but found it hidden in another aisle.  And, thanks to Toys R Us’s zany clearance system, the set was only $3.98.  And that’s really cool because it means I only paid for one of the figures, which is great because I really like Ultron but have no need for “stealthy Wolverine.”

#0134: Doctor Smith & B-9 Robot

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

DOCTOR SMITH & B-9 ROBOT

LOST IN SPACE MINIMATES

The Marvel Minimates reviews wrapped up yesterday (well… sort of.  For a few days anyway.), but I’m not quite done with my new Minimates reviews!  Last year, Diamond picked up the license to sci-fi classic Lost in Space.  I was really excited!  Finally, a Joey Tribbiani Minimate!  I kid, I kid.  Anyway, they seem to be a bit apprehensive of diving into the line, so for the time being, we’ve only gotten Dr. Smith and the Robot.  This amuses me because they were the only two of the main characters completely absent from the original pilot for the series, and now it looks like they’ll probably be the only characters we receive from the show.  Kinda funny.  Anyway, the duo was initially released in black and white for SDCC, but they’ve just now released them in color, which is what I’ll be looking at today.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released as a single set in the Lost in Space Minimates line, with no corresponding series.  So, there.

DOCTOR SMITH

Have no fear, Smith is here!  Yes, first up, it’s the villain turned loveable coward, Doctor Zachary Smith.  Smith is based on his look a little ways into the series, after he had unofficially been added to the crew, and had received his own colorful uniform.  Well, maybe not as colorful as the rest, but still pretty out there.  He’s built on the basic Minimate body, so he features 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall.  He features two sculpted add-on: his hairpiece, and a collar piece.  The collar is reused from the Captain Pike figure included with the Enterprise.  The hair looks to be a newly sculpted part, and looks about right for the hairstyle that Jonathan Harris sported, though it may be a little full in the front.  The majority of the details rely on the paint, which is handled quite well.  All of the detail lines are sharp, and the basic paintwork is also pretty clean, with no slop.  The face has captured Smith pretty darn well, with a perfectly in character smug smirk.  Smith includes a laser gun, a clear display stand, and coolest of all: heads with alternate expressions!  There’s angry Smith and scared Smith, both important and frequent looks for the character, and both just as good as the standard head.

B-9 ROBOT

Okay, the package and all other material refers to this guy as the “B-9 Robot,” but let’s be honest: he’s THE ROBOT.  Plain and simple.  In a pinch, he might be “The Lost in Space Robot,” or “Robut,” depending on how you interpret Billy Mumy’s pronunciation of the word.  But I’m just calling him “The Robot.”  So, the Robot is based on his standard look from the show.  He never really changed like some of the other characters, but there were a few one-off looks he sported in a few episodes, so it’s an importand distinction.  The Robot is also built on the basic body, though the sculpted parts bring the articulation closer to 10.  The Robot’s kinda the anti-Smith in the sculpting department.  It’s easier to list what isn’t a new sculpted piece.  Seriously, he uses the standard arms and legs.  That’s it.  All the sculpted pieces look great, and are appropriately on model for the character.  This figure is an interesting case for Minimates, as it’s one of the few times a character’s design just won’t translate to the format without some serious use of unique parts.  I think they made the right call, but I can see how some people might think he takes away from the basic aesthetic of a Minimate.  The paint isn’t quite as good as the sculpt, with a few areas of slop here and there.  Nothing that ruins the figure, but it does pull him back a bit.  The Robot features no accessories, but that’s okay, given how many sculpted pieces he features.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I really love this set.  It makes me kind of sad that we likely won’t see anymore, because having the whole crew would be super awesome.  I’m a lifelong Lost in Space fan (it’s all my father’s fault), and I have always been on the lookout for cool toys from the series.  I can only hope that the sales on this set might encourage Diamond to release some of the others.

#0133: Baron Strucker, Viper, & Hydra Elite

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

BARON STRUCKER, MADAME HYDRA & HYDRA ELITE

MARVEL MINIMATES

 

I’ll be wrapping up my reviews of the most recent wave of Marvel Minimates today.  This wave is based around Captain America.  I’ll be looking at a few of his recurring foes today, all of whom are members of the deadly Hydra organization.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These figures were released as part of the 54th wave of the Marvel Minimates line.  Baron Strucker was the more widely packed figure, with Madame Hydra as the one per case variant and both of them packed with one of the Hydra Elite.

BARON STRUCKER

First up, it’s the leader of the organization, Baron Strucker.  Not to be confused with Baron Smucker, the tyrannical leader of that company that makes jam.  Though I’m sure Strucker does love him some jam…  Anyway, Strucker is depicted in his Hydra uniform(s).  He’s built on the basic Minimate body, so he features 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall.  He’s fairly light on the sculpting, featuring only a set of shoulder pads, which were reused from Rictor.  The paint detailing is quite nice, especially Strucker’s face, which is appropriately old and surly.  I also like the simulated transparency of the monocle.  Stucker is well accessorized with a coat that can be swapped out with the shoulder pads, his trusty demon’s claw, a sword, a pistol of some sort, and a clear display stand.  I quite like the coat and the demon’s claw, as they allow me to set up the Strucker that I’m more familiar with.

MADAME HYDRA

Next, it’s Strucker’s second in command, Viper…er Madame Hydra…no wait, um…hmmm.  Yeah, I can’t make up my mind.  That’s okay, though, neither could Diamond, since she’s listed as Madame Hydra on some of the boxes and as Viper on the others.  I prefer Madame Hydra because it avoids any connotations to the lackluster interpretation of the character in the recent Wolverine movie.  Madame Hydra has only really had one look, and that’s the one they went with here, so that works out.  She’s on the standard body, and has all the usual stuff associated.  She features 4 sculpted add-ons: hair, belt, and dual leg holsters.  The belt is a new piece I believe. The hair is a reuse from one of the figures in the Femme Fatales set, Dawn I think.  The holsters are from the Avengers movie line, and were most recently used on the comic version of Maria Hill, second in command of SHIELD, which is kind of a neat touch, I think.  The paint is a bit of a mixed bag on this figure.  All of the detail lines are nice and sharp, and I particularly like the face, which even features a scarred eye behind the peek-a-boo hair, but the transitions on the gloves and boots are incredibly sloppy.  Not enough to ruin the figure, but enough to be very annoying.  Madame Hydra includes two handguns, a bullwhip, and a clear display stand.

HYDRA ELITE(S?)

Lastly, this wave’s army builders, the Hydra Elite!  Or they could just be basic Hydra dudes.  That works too.  This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a Hydra army builder, but it’s been a while since the last one, and that one wasn’t as good as it could be, even then.  So, I’m glad to see Diamond revisiting these guys.  They’re built on the standard body, so they’ve got the usual articulation and height and such.  They feature 5 sculpted pieces: mask, ruffled shirt arms, a cape, and a belt/skirt combo.  I believe the belt and the Mask are new pieces, and the cape and upper arms are pieces that have been used lots of times before.  The paint on these is quite nice, and what is really cool is the completely different Hydra mask underneath of the sculpted one.  The first Hydra Agent had this piece, but it didn’t work quite as well.  The colors are also brighter and bolder than the previous Hydra Agent, which looks much better.  One thing that does bug me is that the gloves and boots aren’t all the same length from piece to piece, which can look a bit odd.  The Hydra Elite include a small handgun, a sword, a larger gun, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

These are probably my two favorite sets in this wave.  I’ve been hoping for a redo of the Hydra agents for a while now, and these guys really do that nicely.  I’ll need to track down a few more of them because I want a serious squad of these guys.  Strucker and Madame Hydra are nice additions too, and really allow for a proper parallel set up with SHIELD and HYDRA, which is super cool!

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