Tag Archives: Diamond Select Toys

#0015: Dracula Minimates

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

DRACULA BOXED SET

UNIVERSAL MONSTERS MINIMATES

Happy Halloween everybody!  The Fantastic Four reviews will continue tomorrow, but I thought I’d do something a bit more festive today.  So, I’ll be looking at the Dracula boxed set from Daimond Select Toys’s expansive Minimates line.  This is the first of many, many, many, many, many Minimates reviews, because I have quite a few of these little guys.

For those of you that don’t know Minimates:  What is wrong with you?  Get on that!  In all seriousness, Minimates are a line of two and a half inch block figures produced by Diamond Select Toys.  This set comes from their Universal Monsters line.  Marvel is their flagship license (Waves 50 & 51 were just released last month!), but they’ve also done Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, Both Modern and Classic Battlestar Galactica, DC Comics,  Playstation, Street Fighter, Tekken, Marvel vs Capcom, Tomb Rader, Terminator 2, Lost in Space, the Walking Dead, the Expendables,  The Dollars Trillogy, Back to the Future, Knight Rider, Rocky, Platoon, Silence of the Lambs, Clerks, and even Ace of Cakes and Desperately Seeking Susan.  It’s a pretty big line!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

The set is based on the 1931 Dracula starring Bela Lugosi.  The set was released in the second wave of Universal Monsters Minimates, along with an accompanying Frankenstein set.

DRACULA

First up is the movie’s title character, Count Dracula himself.  Drac is based on his look from the film.  He’s built on the standard minimate body, which means he stands about 2-2.5 inches tall and has the standard minimate articulation of 14 points.  Most of the detailing on a minimate is conveyed via painted detail, but Drac has a few sculpted pieces as well.  Drac features a sculpted hair-piece and a cape/vest/jacket slip over piece for the torso.  They’re done well, with some nice small details.  As I said above, minimates rely mostly on paint, and Drac is no exception.  His primary paint is the details depicting his face.  They’re nice and sharp, though I’m not sure how much Lugosi I see in the face.  Still, it’s a very nice Dracula face, which is what counts.  Unfortunately, the paint is not as sharp everywhere, especially on Drac’s vest, which has some pretty bad bleed over.  Drac is obviously the draw of the set, and slight paint issues aside, he lives up to that.

DR VAN HELSING

Next is Dracula’s old foe, Dr. Van Helsing!  Van Helsing is also built on the basic minimate body, so he stands the same height and has the same articulation.  Van Helsing features two sculpted pieces:  his hair, and a jacket/vest torso cover.  They do the job suitably, and look pretty good.  His only real paint work is his face detailing.  The face is nice and sharp, and there’s some well-done silver detailing for his glasses.  He’s well-constructed, if a bit boring.

MINA HARKER

Next is the heroine of the piece, Mina Harker.  Like the other two, Mina is built on the basic body.  Mina technically has the same 14 points of articulation, but her leg articulation is rendered virtually non-existent by her sculpted dress piece.  In addition to the dress, Mina also features sculpted hair and a sculpted collar.  The detail work is done well, though she is noticeably more simplistic than the other figures in the set.  Like Van Helsing, Mina is a solid figure, but a bit on the boring side.

RENFIELD

Last up is Dracula’s faithful servant, Renfield!  Like the rest of the set, Ren is built on the same minimate body and has the typical articulation.  Ren only features one sculpted piece, his hair.  It looks appropriate, and represents the character’s look fairly well.  The paint detailing on the figure is really where it shines.  He’s got a great set of suspenders, and his shirt has lots of folds and wrinkles, which give him a lot of dimension.  His face detailing is nice and sharp, and depicts actor Dwight Frye very well, giving him a crazed grin as though he’s about to let out that distinctive cackle.  Renfield is a great example of a figure that could have been quite drab, but was saved by the small details.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I really like this set.  I’m a big fan of the universal monsters movies, and this one covers one of the most memorable.  Mina and Van Helsing are kind of boring, but the set is made worth it by the inclusion of a really solid Dracula and an awesomely handled Renfield!

#0010: Keyop

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

KEYOP

BATTLE OF THE PLANETS

Today, I look at the final figure from Wave 1 of Diamond’s Battle of the Planets line, Keyop.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The figure is the regular release version of Keyop.   As with the other two, there was also an un-helmeted one which I never acquired.  Keyop is about 5 ½ inches tall and has 7 points of articulation.  His articulation is about the same ad Mark’s.  Like Princess, my figure broke fairly easily.  In his case, his arm fell off coming out of the package.  A quick dot of super glue later, he was good to go, but of course, the joint was frozen in place.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like the other two, I bought Keyop after reading Dynamite’s Battle of the Planets comic, and because I found a set of the first wave for about $20.  Like with Princess, the breakage makes it difficult to fully enjoy the figure.

#0009: Princess

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

PRINCESS

BATTLE OF THE PLANETS

Today, I’m looking at another of Diamond’s Battle of the Planets figures.  This time it’s the token female of the team Princess

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The figure is the regular release version of Princess.   Like Mark, there was also an un-helmeted one which I never acquired.  She stands just under 7 inches and has roughly 7 points of articulation.  Her articulation works better than Mark’s, especially her hips, which use a hinge style of joint, which creates a better state of movement.  However, my figure suffers from an issue that seems to have plagued the line: brittle joints.  My figure’s left hip joint snapped on its own, sitting on the shelf, which is not a pleasant thing.  My opinion of the figure would be higher, were it not for this issue.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like Mark, I got Princess after reading Dynamite’s Battle of the Planets, and because I found a set of the first series for about $20.  Its issues make it difficult to fully enjoy the figure.

#0008: Mark

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

MARK

BATTLE OF THE PLANETS

So, I’m jumping forward a bit with the next few reviews.  Today, I’ll be looking at Mark from Diamond Select Toys’ Battle of the Planets line, based on the sixties anime of the same name.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The figure is the regular release version of Mark, the leader of G-Force.  This version is the helmeted one.   There was also an un-helmeted one, but I never got that one.  Mark stands about 7 inches tall and has 7 points of articulation.  Two of these points are virtually useless, however, as the v-cults at his hips do no good without any articulation below them.  The helmet is done well, especially the visor, which is really cool.  The sculpt and paint are pretty solid, though I do think that some of the airbushing on the white parts might be too heavy.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I bought this figure mostly because I had just finished the first volume of Dynamite’s Battle of the Planets, and because I found a set of the first series for about $20.  It’s a decent figure, but I don’t have any large lasting attachment to it.