Tag Archives: Hawkeye

#0384: Hawkeye – Classic & Ant-Man – Lab Attack

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

HAWKEYE – CLASSIC & ANT-MAN – LAB ATTACK

MARVEL MINIMATES

Marvel Minimates is quite a long-running line. With 60 main series, along with 19 Toys R Us exclusive series and countless boxed sets, spanning over 10 years, getting into the line can be a little bit intimidating for the new collector. Fortunately, Diamond Select Toys has come up with a solution: the Best Of Marvel Minimates. This sub-line offers updates of heavy hitter characters, and they are offered up for re-order on a near regular basis, allowing new collectors the chance to get their collection off to a good start with relative ease. What’s more, they are consistently high-quality, and they offer lots of new parts to entice older collectors. They truly are the Best Of. DST just released the third assortment of the line, and today I’ll be looking at Hawkeye and Ant-Man, two long-time Avengers.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

As noted in the intro, Hawkeye and Ant-Man were released as a two pack in the third series of the Best Of off-shoot of Marvel Minimates.

HAWKEYE – CLASSIC

Hawkeye is one of the quintessential Avengers, having stuck with the team for most of its tenure. Unfortunately, just as the Avengers started showing up in Marvel Minimates, he ended up dead for a little while. Fortunately, he recent Marvel Cinematic Universe has brought the character some new life, and he’s gotten his fair share of Minimates in the last few years. And now it seems he’s popular enough to warrant a Best Of release. Hawkeye is depicted here in his classic costume. It’s shown up twice before in the line, but previous figures were a little off, so another stab at it is nice. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and he has 12 points of articulation. He’s built on the standard body, with some additional pieces for his mask, collar/quiver, loincloth, arm and wrist bands, and boots. They were all previously used on the Disney Store exclusive Hawkeye, and before that the boots first showed up on the Invaders boxed set Captain America, the wrist bands are from DC’s Ocean Master, and the arm bands are from Series 25’s Iron Man. All of these pieces add up to a very nice classic Hawkeye. On the previous Hawkeye, the mask seemed too bulky, but it doesn’t seem so bad here, and all of the other pieces look great. The paint on Hawkeye is pretty solid work over all, aside from one small issue: the blue on the loincloth doesn’t quite match that on the rest of the figure. It’s not too bad, but it is a minor annoyance. Other than that, everything is excellent. In particular, I love the palate on this version. The purple and blue both feel like just the right shades. Hawkeye includes his trusty bow (from the Tomb Raider line), two pointed arrows (first seen way back in the BSG line), two rounded arrows (from the Disney Hawkeye), an alternate hairpiece (from Series 27’s Ultimate Cap), and a clear display stand. Hawkeye doesn’t really have an alternate look like some of the others in this series, but he comes very well armed, and all the sculpted parts that go into his look are really great.

ANT-MAN – LAB ATTACK

Ant-Man is one of the last two founding Avengers to “hit it big.” Hopefully, his upcoming 2015 movie will help to change that. I would imagine the buzz around that movie is what warrants his place in the Best Of line, so I’d say he’s moving up. This is the Hank Pym version of Ant-Man, and he’s had two previous Minimates. I liked the first one a lot, but it looks a bit dated by current standards, and the second one was just based on too specific a look. So, an update was much needed. Like Luke Cage, it’s not a strict update of a previous look, but rather a newer look that is close to the old ones. Hank’s look is taken from the Marvel Adventures line that Marvel was running a few years ago. It’s pretty much just a streamlined version of the classic costume, so that’s not too bad. The figure is roughly 2 ½ inches tall and he features 14 points of articulation. He makes use of the standard Minimate body, with the addition of his trademark helmet. The helmet is a re-use from the very first Ant-Man, which is reasonable. It’s still a good piece, and it’s a great translation of the comic look to three dimensions. The rest of his look is done with paint, and the paint work is really great. Everything is even and clean, and all the detail work is nice and sharp. Under the helmet is Hank giving a friendly smile that is just perfect for the character. About the only thing that could stand to be different is the shade of the blue, which seems a touch too dark. Ant-Man includes a spare hairpiece (first used on the Captain America: Through the Ages Armored Cap), a lab coat (first seen on the Ghostbusters Janosz) and a spare set of arms for a more scientific look, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like Luke and Iron Fist, I got these two from my local comicbook store Cosmic Comix. This is the set I was looking forward to the most form this series. Hawkeye and Ant-Man are two of my favorite Marvel characters, so I’m really happy to see them get updates. Hawkeye is easily the best version of the character to date, and is the version of the character I’ve been wanting since the line started. Ant-Man’s a really solid figure too, and while I still hope for an update to his classic design someday, this one is a great version of the character to have in the meantime.

#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.

#0057: Hawkeye & Black Widow

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

HAWKEYE & BLACK WIDOW

MARVEL MINIMATES

Today, it’s another entry from the Marvel Minimates line.  The two are once again from the recently acquired Toys R Us Exclusive series.  This time around, its Hawkeye and Black Widow, two characters who received a lot of notoriety from last year’s film The Avengers.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released as part of the 17th Toys R Us exclusive series of Marvel Minimates.

HAWKEYE

First up, it’s nobody’s favorite Avenger, Hawkeye (okay, that’s not true.  He’s actually one of my favorites)!  Hawkeye is depicted here in his most recent costume, prominently featured in his current solo series.  I follows the tradition of changing a character’s look to be more in line with their movie look of which Marvel’s grown so fond.  It’s not a terrible look, and it translated well, so no complaints here.  Hawkeye’s built on the basic Minimate body, so he stands about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  He’s got a fair deal of sculpted bits, including:  hair, gloves, utility harness with a quiver, a belt, and leg bands.  The hair, belt, leg bands and harness are reused from previous figures, but they are chosen well, so no issues there.  The quiver and gloves appear to be new.  The quiver looks appropriate to the character, and the gloves are a might in the bulky side, but not too bad.  The paint on the figure is a bit hit and miss, the face looks perfect for the version of the character they’re going for, and the change in finish to designate the boots looks cool, but places like the edges of his sleeves are rather fuzzy.  It’s not enough to ruin the figure, but it’s annoying.  Hawkeye is topped off by a bow, three arrows, and the now standard clear display stand.  These pieces are all reused, but if it works, it works.

BLACK WIDOW

Second, it’s the best former Soviet spy turned kick-ass Avenger Marvel’s got: Black Widow!  Widow’s rocked the black skintight catsuit quite a few times over the years, but this figure is based on the look she has currently in particular.  It’s a look that’s lasted for so many years for a good reason, so its use here sees no complaining from me.  Like Hawkeye, she’s on the typical Minimate body, so she has 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall.  She features sculpted hair, wrist bands, and leg holsters.  The pieces are all reused, but they all work appropriately for the desired look.  The paint on Widow is a bit better than Hawkeye, though there is a tiny bit of slop on her neckline.  Widow includes two silver handguns and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like the rest of this series, these two were gotten off of TRU’s website, with no real issues this time around.  I’m really glad because these two are definitely the set from the series I was looking forward to the most.  These two definitely didn’t disappoint.  Widow is a grate update to her traditional look, and while Hawkeye’s not my favorite of his looks, the Minimate is really well done.