Tag Archives: Minimates

#1699: Howard Stark, Peggy Carter, & Hydra Agent

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

HOWARD STARK, PEGGY CARTER, & HYDRA AGENTS

MARVEL MINIMATES

The civilians in superhero stories are very important to the mythos, but sadly, as rather average looking people, they don’t exactly lend themselves to lots of toys, no matter their prominence in the stories they hail from.  Fortunately, there are lines like Minimates, which are able to take advantage of their slightly different distribution methods to get us characters we might not otherwise see.  Take, for instance, today’s focuses, Howard Stark and Peggy Carter!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Howard, Peggy, and the Hydra Agent made up the specialty-exclusive component of the First Avenger-themed ‘mates, released in Series 40 of the main Marvel Minimates line.  Howard was the heavier packed of the two, with Peggy being his one-per-case “variant.”  In light of the movie and Peggy’s later importance moving forward, this was, and still is, an odd sort of case pack-out, but I guess they really wanted to make sure everyone had a chance at a young Howard.

HOWARD STARK

The young Howard Stark presented in The First Avenger is clearly influenced by another famous Howard, aeronautics pioneer Howard Hughes.  Director Joe Johnson had experience with Hughes, having used him in the film adaptation of The Rocketeer, so I guess he was just going with what he was comfortable with.  The figure is built on the standard ‘mate body, so he’s about 2 1/4 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  Howard has two add-on pieces, for his hair and his suit jacket.  Both are re-used, from the Universal Monsters line, in fact.  The hair is from Creature From the Black Lagoon’s Dr. Reed, and the jacket is from The Wolfman’s Laurence Talbot.  Given the similar time-period of all of the films in question, the re-use is pretty sensible.  Additionally, it’s nice to see the pieces made from slightly higher grade plastic, as it allows the details to show through a lot better.  His paintwork is somewhat on the drab side, being mostly greasy and the like.  The face has a reasonable likeness of Dominic Cooper, though he’s more of a generic Howard sort of look.  I might have liked a more expressive face, but this works well enough.  Howard is packed with a hat (re-used from The Spirit line), which can be swapped out for the hair.

PEGGY CARTER

It seems crazy to me that this is the only Peggy Carter action figure out there.  It’s also true of Howard, of course, but he’s more of a supporting player.  You’d expect Peggy to get a little more respect, wouldn’t you?  Though, I suppose it’s fitting that a character like Peggy wouldn’t be getting the respect she deserved.  At least she got this.  She’s got two add-on pieces, one for her hair, and one for her skirt.  Both are re-used, though the hair was originally meant for Peggy, but ended up going on the First Class Emma Frost first.  It works well enough for the look they’re going for.  The skirt piece is the same one used on Gwen Stacy, and it’s a standard piece that is still in use now.  It all replicates her uniformed look from the movie nicely (though, if we’re being picky, I personally would have preferred her Hydra base-storming gear from the end of the movie; oh well).  Her paintwork is a little more detailed than Howard’s, since she’s not relying on sculpting for the torso detailing.  The detail work is nice and sharp, and her face even has a decent likeness of Haley Atwell, though it’s once again a little void of expression.  Peggy is packed with a Thompson machine gun, first seen with another WW2 hero, Sgt Rock.  It’s a little tricky to hold, but it’s a nice piece.

HYDRA AGENT

Also offered in the army builder singles case, the basic Hydra Agent was easily one of the most sensible MCU army builders to grace the ‘mate line.  There’s a whole ton of these guys running around getting plowed through by Cap and the Howling Commandos, so getting a minimum of two to start with here was great.  The figures are add-on heavy, with pieces for their masks, straps/skirts, and glove cuffs.  Apart from the glove cuffs (which are, appropriately, re-used from Captain America), the other pieces were new to these guys.  Or, at least, they were new to this general assortment, since the parts are shared with the other variations of Hydra agent.  The pieces match up well with the film design, and the detail work is pretty clean.  The paintwork is pretty decent, and features more detailing than you might notice at first glance.  Perhaps the coolest part is what’s under the mask piece; since there were a few different Hydra masks seen in the movie, this one has the bulked up look, as well as a more streamlined design beneath it.  It adds an extra element of customization to them, which makes the army building all the more fun.  The Hydra Agents were both packed with a rifle, which has remained exclusive to the First Avengers offerings.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked both of these sets up new from Cosmic Comix.  These were actually the sets I was most excited for at the time, and while they are perhaps not the most thrilling designs, I still really like them all.  The execution is definitely there.  And where else are you going to get Howard Stark and Peggy Carter action figures?  No where!

#1683: Quake

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

QUAKE

MARVEL MINIMATES

Well, this is quite the occasion, isn’t it?  Today, I’m wrapping up my latest round of Marvel Minimates reviews by taking a look at the very first Minimates Build-A-Figure.  Build-A-Figures aren’t a new concept, of course, but Minimates, a brand defined by their mix-and-match capabilities of the line, are just getting in on the bandwagon.  It’s about time.  So, let’s have a look at Daisy Johnson, aka Quake!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Quake is the Build-A-Figure for Series 75 of Marvel Minimates.  The assortment is themed around the Defenders, a theme that Quake doesn’t quite fit.  That being said, as a star of Agents of SHIElLD, she fits the loose television-based theme of the assortment, as well as going along with the included Robbie Reyes figure.  She’s built on the standard ‘mate body, so she stands 2 1/4 inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  She’s got four add-on pieces, for her hair, her harness, and her gauntlets.  All of them are re-used, with the hair coming from Oswald Cobblepot, the harness coming from Maria Hill, and the gauntlets come from Tekken‘s King.  It’s an eclectic selection of pieces to say the least.  It makes for a pretty good representation of her comics design, though I’m not super crazy about the hair.  Quake’s paint work is pretty solid; the detailing is all pretty sharp, and I like that the palette matches with the SHIELD Agents from Series 43 and 51, so that’s good for inter-mingling.  Quake includes no accessories of her own, but since she’s just an accessory herself, that’s fairly reasonable.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

You’ve read the other four reviews, right?  Good, then you know where this figure came from.  Clever you.  I wasn’t really buying this assortment to assemble her or anything, but Quake was a nice little bonus for getting the whole set.  I like this concept a lot, and I’m interested to see what DST is able to do with it going forward.

#1682: Daredevil & Ghost Rider

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

MARVEL NOW! DAREDEVIL & ROBBIE REYES GHOST RIDER

MARVEL MINIMATES

And we’re back with the odd-ball pairings.  I started the week out with the somewhat strange Punisher/Moon Knight combo, and now I’m wrapping it up with another somewhat odd pairing: Daredevil and Ghost Rider.  It’s not actually completely unprecedented in this line.  There was a Target-exclusive pack that included both of them back in the day (though that was a Johnny Blaze figure).  Here they are again.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Daredevil and Ghost Rider were part of Series 75 of Marvel Minimates.  Though Ghost Rider’s tie to the theme is somewhat dubious, Daredevil is part of the newest version of the Defenders, as well as being the central piece of the Netflix shows.

This set also includes the last piece of the Build-A-Figure Quake, her head.  I’ll be reviewing the whole of her tomorrow!

DAREDEVIL

Daredevil’s spot in this Anniversary-themed assortment is actually quite sensible, as Daredevil was included in two of Series 1’s three sets.  This marks his 14th time as a Minimate.  This one’s a slight departure from some of the others, being based on his current design, a mostly black number that is clearly inspired by his Season 1 garb from his show.  It’s actually a pretty sharp look, though I’m of course still partial to the classic red.  The figure is built on the standard ‘mate body, so he stands 2 1/4 inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  He has add-ons for his mask, wrist wraps, and holsters.  The mask and holsters come from the Series 43 version of DD (though that release only had a single holster, not two), and make sense, since the design elements have remained consistent.  The arm wraps are from Street Fighter VS Tekken’s Heihachi (also re-used on the Best Of Iron Fist), and are pretty basic pieces, which certainly work for his comics look.  The paint on DD is quite good.  The color scheme is bold, and the line work is super crisp.  The grey high lights are a very effective way of creating dimension on the torso, legs, and mask, and make the suit look quite dynamic.  The face under the mask is great for action set-ups, with his teeth gritted and his brow furrowed.  The way they’ve done his pupils is unique from other characters, and helps sell that he’s blind.  DD includes a pair of billy clubs (just two, though, leaving one slot in each holster empty), an extra hair piece (re-used from Terminator 2’s young John Connor), and a clear display stand.

GHOST RIDER

Though Ghost Rider’s no stranger to Minimates, this one is actually a debut, since it’s the latest Rider, Robbie Reyes.  Robbie’s been getting the push from Marvel for a little while, and his appearances on Agents of SHIELD mean he fits in decently enough with the assortment’s TV-inspired theme.  The figure gets one add-on piece, which is his flaming, skull-inspired helmet.  It’s a new piece, and it does a respectable job of replicating the design of the helmet from the comics.  The rest of the detailing is done via paint.  Like Daredevil, there’s a nice contrast to this figure’s look.  The black and white looks really sharp, and I like the visual similarities to Johnny Blaze’s original design.  Under the mask is a fully detailed Robbie Reyes face, which seems to be in keeping with his comics likeness.  Robbie is packed with a pair of chains (because he just has to one-up Johnny, apparently), an extra hair piece, and a clear display stand.  He is, of course, missing his ride, but since Robbie drives a car instead of a bike, its absence feels more excusable.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like the three preceding sets, this pair came from Cosmic Comix.  A new Daredevil wasn’t a necessity, but this one is definitely a fun figure, and there’s a lot of really sharp work going into him.  Robbie isn’t Johnny, so for me he’s not *the* Ghost Rider, but he’s got a cool look, he’s gotten exposure recently, and it’s nice to get a new character.  His ‘mate isn’t the star of this series, but he’s still a solid offering.

#1681: Jessica Jones & Purple Man

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

JESSICA JONES & PURPLE MAN

MARVEL MINIMATES

“Retcons.  I hate these guys.”

-Me, 2018

You know what I don’t like?  Retcons.  I know.  What a shock.  You couldn’t have seen that coming.  Half of today’s review subject is a retcon.  You see, when Brian Michael Bendis wanted to write a series about Jessica Drew, aka Spider-Woman, he wasn’t allowed to use her, so he created his own, somewhat similar character, and then forcibly shoved her into the history of the Avengers.  Ta-da!  It’s Jessica Jones!  Yay?  Yeah, not a huge fan.  But, I am a fan of Minimates, and I don’t hate the other half of this set, Purple Man.  So, let’s see how this goes.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Jessica Jones and Purple Man were released in Series 75 of Marvel Minimates.  Like yesterday’s set, they continue the modern-day Defenders theme, but also work as more of a self-contained pairing.

This set also includes another pair of pieces to the Build-A-Figure Quake ‘mate, specifically her arms and gauntlets.

JESSICA JONES

Oh boy, here she is.  Jessica Jones.  Woooo.  So, this is Jessica’s second time as a Minimate, following her Netflix-based ‘mate from her show.  This one is comic-based, but admittedly, it doesn’t make for an incredibly different look overall, but she’s slightly different aesthetically, of course.  The figure is built on the standard ‘mate body, so she stands 2 1/4 inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  She’s got one add-on piece for her hair.  It’s re-used from Big Bang Theory’s Penny, and it’s actually a really nice piece, as far as detailing and shaping goes.  It’s also a pretty decent match for her usual comics hair.  No jacket piece used for this ‘mate, but I actually think it works a bit better, especially since it would have meant not being able to use the hair piece.  The paintwork on Jessica is pretty decent.  Application is clean, and the lifework is nice and sharp.  The expression on the face could maybe do with a bit more character, but it’s not terrible as it is.  The color scheme is rather dull, but that’s true to the character.  She includes a camera (re-used from the SM3 Peter Parker), a coffee mug with the Avengers logo, a smart phone, and a clear display stand.

PURPLE MAN

Though he’s linked to Jessica Jones now, Purple Man started off as a Daredevil villain.  Interestingly, my first introduction to him was in an episode of X-Men: The Animated Series.  What a weird world we live in, right?  Purple Man started his career wearing a spandex getup, but pretty quickly moved onto wearing suits and the like, in variations of purple.  It’s that later look that this figure goes with, which is a sensible choice.  The figure uses three add-on pieces to complete the look.  He’s got a hair piece (re-used from Thor: Ragnarok’s Grandmaster), jacket (re-used from the “World of the Psychic” Peter Venkman), and a collar piece (re-used from Admiral Kirk).  All re-used, but all very well chosen.  They make for a sharp looking combo.  The rest of the work is paint, and it’s actually quite impressive.  The variations of purple are easily distinguished from each other, and they compliment each other quite nicely.  The facial detailing is particularly nice, and captures Jebadiah’s creepy smirk pretty darn well.  Just makes you feel like you need a shower.  Purple Man’s only extra is a clear display stand, but I can’t really think of what else you’d give him.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set came from the same purchase as the last two.  Jessica’s maybe not my favorite character, but DST definitely put the effort in on this Minimate.  Even divorced from the character, it’s actually a pretty solid ‘mate, and one of the better civilians done in this style.  Purple Man’s the star of the set for me.  He’s a fairly basic design, but the execution’s really top-notch.  Details like the collar, which could have easily been overlooked, weren’t, and so he really benefits from that.

#1680: Luke Cage & Iron Fist

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

MARVEL NOW! LUKE CAGE & MARVEL NOW! IRON FIST

MARVEL MINIMATES

There’s not really a better cut and dry pairing of heroes (at least on the Marvel side; back off Caped Crusaders!) than Luke Cage and Iron Fist.  Amusingly, they’re only paired off because both of their comics were on the verge of cancellation.  It ended up being pretty perfect, though, and the pair’s lasted a good long while.  They’ve been paired off two times prior for Minimates, and this time marks the third.*

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Luke & Danny are the second set in the milestone 75th Series of Marvel Minimates.  Unlike yesterday’s set, they’re both centrally placed in the recent street-hero incarnation of the Defenders, so they really fit the theme.

Like yesterday’s set, this one also includes a piece of the Build-A-Figure Quake, specifically the torso, pelvis, and harness.  It appears to match the Series 51 Maria Hill, which is good for consistency’s sake.

LUKE CAGE

Luke Cage seems to be kind of cursed to the most dated costumes ever.  While I’m partial to his classic poofy-sleeved, tiara-sporting look, it’s fair to say it’s not easily taken seriously in this day and age.  He went through more of a thuggish look a few years back, but now he’s moved up to a more polished vested look.  Less super-hero-y than his original, but a sharp look nonetheless.  The figure stands 2 1/4 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  Luke is built on the standard ‘mate body, and has add-ons for his vest and rolled-up sleeves.  The sleeves are re-used from the Spirit set, and the vest is a new piece.  It’s a little bit bulky, and perhaps a little blocky, but it’s overall a decent piece.  It helps keep Luke from being too shrimpy, like most of his prior figures have been.  The rest of the work has been done via paint.  The application is pretty clean, though it would appear that the white application on my figure’s face has been slightly offset.  It’s not enough to be overly noticeable, but it’s a minor annoyance.  Beyond that, it’s pretty solid.  Luke’s expression is intense, though less so than the Best Of release, so it’s a little more versatile.  Luke’s light on the accessories, with only a clear display stand.  I’m not really sure what else he could be given, though.

IRON FIST

Like his partner, Danny Rand’s had his fair share of dated costume designs.  This one actually seems to play that up a bit, giving him a track-suited design, inspired by Bruce Lee’s yellow and black get-up from Ascension.  I think his David Aja design’s still his best, but this one’s certainly got character, and it’s his most recent look.  Iron Fist has add-ons for his mask and his collar.  Though they both have definite similarities to prior pieces, both are all-new to this figure.  They’re alright, I suppose.  I’ve never been much of a fan of how the collar pieces hide the neck.  The mask looks okay, but doesn’t have any of the shaping that some of the others had.  Iron Fist’s paint work is a little cleaner than Luke’s.  My only minor complaint would be that the eyes on the mask seem a little too high-set, but they don’t look terrible.  The gold detailing works surprisingly well, and I appreciate that the track-lines go all the way up his sides.    Iron Fist makes up for Luke’s lack of extras, with a spare hairpiece, a pair of nunchucks, and “Iron Fist” effect piece, and a clear display stand.  Not a bad little assortment of extras.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set was acquired at the same time as yesterday’s, courtesy of a joint partnership between Cosmic Comix and Tim.  Luke Cage has had some troubles with getting a decent Minimate.  This one is perhaps not as exciting as others, but it’s still probably his best.  Iron Fist’s design isn’t quite as versatile as older versions, but this figure still translates it pretty well to ‘mate form.

*It’s worth noting that they’ve both actually had four comics-based ‘mates.  Each of them got one release without the other.  The less said about those particular releases, the better.

#1679: Moon Knight & Punisher

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

MOON KNIGHT & PUNISHER

MARVEL MINIMATES

2018 marks the fifteenth year of Marvel Minimates, if you can believe it, and DST’s celebrating that with Series 75 (which, of course, all long-term fans know, is actually only the 74th Series in actual count, thanks to Series 15, the only series of Marvel Minimates ever to be outright cancelled).  75 is Marvel Knights/Defenders themed, offering up some of Marvel’s lower level characters.  Today, I’m looking at the one set in the series not to actually feature any of the current Defenders members (but don’t hold that against them), Moon Knight & Punisher!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

As noted above, Moon Knight and Punisher are part of Series 75 of Marvel Minimates, which takes loose inspiration from the Netflix slate of Marvel shows.  Moon Knight’s kind of out of the odd man out in this respect, but maybe he’ll show up in the next slate of them?  Please?

Also included in this set are two pieces of the very first Minimate Build-A-Figure, Quake!  In this set, we get both the legs.  They’re just standard legs, done up in colors to match the SHIELD agents from Series 43 and 51.

MARVEL NOW MOON KNIGHT

This is only Moon Knight’s sophomore figure in the Minimates line.  His last was all the way back in Series 29, 46 series and 9 years ago.  I think that’s a decent enough wait time for a re-do, don’t you?  This one’s not actually a straight re-do; it’s based on his armored look from Warren Ellis’s re-boot of the character.  It wasn’t his main look during Ellis’s run, but it was picked up by others, and has shown up in a few games and one of the cartoons.  I think it’s a solid re-imagining of his usual look.  Of course, as luck would have it, he went back to his all-white look a few months before this guy hit shelves.  Oh, darn, I guess we’ll just need another Moon Knight.  The figure stands 2 1/2 inches tall and has the usual 14 points of articulation.  Moon Knight’s sculpted elements are limited to his signature cloak.  Like his last Minimate, the hood and cape are two separate pieces, in order to help maximize posability.  These have been the source of some contention in the fanbase, with lots of debating over which cloak is the superior one.  While the old one always looked nice, it was never much for posing, and made keeping him standing nearly impossible.  This new one dials things back a bit, and gives us a more simplified design.  It’s still not perfect.  The hood in particular bugs me; something about its shape is slightly off.  Still, it’s an improvement in terms of playabilty, which makes for a better figure. Moon Knight’s paintwork is nice and bold.  It’s coming at the character from an entirely different angle than the last ‘mate, being very sleek and clean.  There’s a little bit of bleed over on some of the black-to-white changes, but for the most part, he looks pretty sharp.  In particular, the wider eyes seen on this version’s mask feel more in tune with the character than the tiny squinting eyes from the last one, and I also really like the grey highlights, which keep the black sections from getting too monotonous. Included with Moon Knight are his staff and a clear display stand.  The staff is re-used from the animated Proxima Midnight, but it a decent match for the staff Moon Knight is usually seen carrying about.

FRONTAL ASSAULT PUNISHER

I’m not sure of how comfortable I am with the “Frontal Assault” descriptor.  Wouldn’t such a name would be more appropriate for one of the trench-coated variants?  To DST’s credit, there are only so many buzzwords you can throw in front of the name “Punisher.”  Just plain “assault” was already taken and yet another character with the “Marvel Now” moniker might tear open a rift in the space time continuum.  But, I digress. Frank Castle is no stranger to Minimates, this being his eighth entry in the line.  This one’s his first comics-based ‘mate since 2013 (barring the 2016 re-release of the Best Of ‘mate), and it’s based on his pre-Secret Wars look from around 2014 or so.  It’s a nice sort of tactical look for the character, and also offers something in keeping with how the character looks in the Netflix shows. Punisher has add-on pieces for his hair and tactical vest.  I believe both of these are new to this particular figure.  The vest definitely is, but the hair is throwing me.  Regardless, both pieces are incredibly well-sculpted, and very nicely suited to the character.  The vest in particular just really encapsulates how I feel the Punisher should look. Punisher’s paint work is really a collection of pleasant surprises.  Let’s start from the weakest point and move upwards: his vest and sleeves show a little bit of slop.  Nothing too terrible, but notable given the quality of the rest of the paint.  The face is pretty classic Frank Castle, all grizzled and angry.  The application’s quite clean, and I like that they’ve even given him his stubble (not that stubble’s exactly a new thing on Minimates).  Under the vest, there’s a skull-emblazened t-shirt, which is a very nice touch.  He’s also got some incredible small detail work on his arms and legs, with the legs in particular standing out with all the stitching and line work associated with the tactical pants.  Really great attention to detail there. Punisher includes an HK94A3 Rifle (first included with the T2 SWAT officer), as well as a skull-faced mask piece (based on a mask he was frequently seen wearing during the 2014 run), and a clear display stand.  I’d have liked to get some additional guns.  Just the rifle seems a little light.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got this set from my LCS, Cosmic Comix (okay, technically I got it from Tim, who bought it from CCX; he was paying me back for grabbing him an Obsidian Fury).  Moon Knight’s been due another Minimate for a while now.  This one takes a decidedly different approach to the character than the last one, so a direct comparison is a bit difficult, but this offering walks the line of look vs playability better than the last one.  I’m hopeful an all-white variant might show up in the near future.  In the mean time, this one’s a solid addition.  In a set where the clear selling point was Moon Knight, Punisher serves as sort of a sleeper figure.  As only a moderate fan of the character, I wasn’t anticipating much from him, but he’s a high quality, truly exceptional ‘mate.

#1678: T-800 & Endoskeleton

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

T-800 & ENDOSKELETON

TERMINATOR 2 MINIMATES

In the summer of 2009, DST was really starting to hit it in stride with Minimates.  Just two years prior, the brand looked to be at death’s door.  The DC brand swept in and reinvigorated things a bit, but its quick exit definitely left some question marks about the future.  Fortunately, DST was quick to add some new things to their plate, as well as partnering up with Toys R Us to give those lines a jumpstart.  One of the new lines they added was Terminator 2.  Interestingly, today’s set isn’t based on the sequel, but instead the first film.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

The T-800 and Endoskeleton were one of the two Series 1 sets available at both specialty and Toys R Us.  When the specialty set was first solicited, the T-800 was supposed to be the three-per-case figure, with Kyle Reese swapping out as his variant, but Kyle was shifted elsewhere, and this set wound up as the heaviest packed.

T-800

This figure depicts the original film’s villainous terminator, specifically in his iconic Police station storming get-up.  It’s the look that would influence all future Terminators, and definitely the more definitive of the two looks from the movie.  The figure is built on the usual body, so he’s about 2 1/2 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  He has three add-on pieces, for his hair/glasses, jacket, and pelvis piece.  The hair piece was new, and remains unique to this figure.  It does a solid job of recreating his singed hair and distinctive Gargoyle shades.  The jacket is a re-used piece, first showing up on the disguised Marty from the second BTTF set, and, though not quite a perfect match, its pretty darn close.  The paintwork on the figure is mostly pretty straightforward, matching up well with the source material.  The Schwarzenegger likeness is pretty spot-on, and they’ve even gone the extra mile and included his exposed endo eye.  He also includes a spair hair piece without the glasses, as well as a SPAS-12 shotgun and an AR-18 rifle.

ENDOSKELETON

This Endo was initially released in the single-packs case of figures that launched this line, before being re-packed here.  He’s largely the same as the previously reviewed scorched Endo, just with a cleaner silver finish.  As I noted in the earlier review, I have mixed opinions on some of the design choices here.  Nevertheless, I do still like the figure overall, and I think the cleaner silver works better for the overall design.  Like the scorched variant, this one includes the plasma rifle, which he still has trouble holding.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION 

I grabbed this set back when it was new.  They hit TRU first, so that’s where I got mine.  Of all the sets in this assortment, this one was the least exciting for me, but I think it’s still a competently put together pair, and this T-800 is definitely worth tracking down.

#1664: Green Lantern & Star Sapphire

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

GREEN LANTERN & STAR SAPPHIRE

DC MINIMATES

It’s been almost two years since I last looked at any proper DC Minimates.  Plenty of other Minimates in the mean time, but not DC.  It’s sort of sad, really.  At the time, they were a beacon of hope, combating fears that the brand might be dying out.  They came in, stepped things up, and then ended up dying out themselves just before Minimates as a brand really took off.  We got eight series, a decent enough run, with most major players covered.  The Green Lanterns did alright, starting from day one, in fact, with a Hal Jordan and Star Sapphire pairing.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Green Lantern and Star Sapphire were part of the first series of DC Minimates.  Initially, they were meant to hit at the same time as the second and third series, to jumpstart the line in a similar fashion to the Marvel line, but delays set in, and the first series ended up hitting on its lonesome.

GREEN LANTERN

Green Lantern was just at the beginning of his upswing in popularity when this line launched, so his place in the first assortment was definitely a sensible one.  They went with Hal to start, which was certainly the smart choice.  He’s got his Bronze Age design, which has always been my personal favorite.  The figure is based on the standard ‘mate body, so he’s 2 1/4 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  His only add-on piece is for his hair.  It was shared with this series’ Superman.  It’s an okay piece, but lacks the higher detailing of more recent offerings.  I myself have never been really big on the s-curl piece for Hal, since it just feels a bit too distinctly Superman, and doesn’t match Hal’s usual style.  I ended up replacing it with another piece, though he’s seen un-altered here.  The rest of the work is paint, which is actually pretty top-notch, apart from one or two small issues.  The detailing on the face is very clean, and very true to the character, and the torso detailing is spot-on.  There’s even a little bit of detailing on his right hand for his ring.  My only minor complaint is the epaulets on his shoulders, which here cover a much larger section of the arm, making them look more like t-shirt sleeves.  Far from terrible, but a minor annoyance.  GL includes his power batter, which is a fantastic piece, and expertly sculpted.

STAR SAPPHIRE

While Batman and Superman both got their primary villains in Series 1, GL’s main bad Sinestro had to wait for Series 8.  Instead, we got Star Sapphire, who’s still a pretty solid choice.  Like GL, she’s the classic incarnation of the character.  By far the best.  Presumably, this is Carol Ferris, but in a pinch there are probably others it could be.  She’s got two sculpted add-ons; one for her hair/mask, and one for her collar.  Neither’s as good as they could be.  The hair/mask combo was perhaps not the best way to handle it; sure, her mask sticks out in the comics, but I feel it would look better as a painted element.  It’s just a bit bulky as is.  The collar’s a good concept, but execution is once again just too bulky.  It ends up removing most of her neck.  I think just the collar, without the flesh bit attached, would have worked better, but this was at the time when a Marvel figure of an equivalent design would be using a whole bulked-up torso, so this was better.  At the very least, the collar is easily removed if you don’t like it.  Her paint’s not quite as good as GL’s; the actual detail lines are fine, but the base colors seem a little sloppy.  Overall, though, not bad.  Star Sapphire had no accessories.  I feel like an energy effect, or an extra hair piece would have been cool.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got this set, like every other DC Minimates set, from Cosmic Comix, as soon as they were released.  Prior to their release, I was hugely excited to get them.  As a big GL fan, this is actually the set that got me back into Minimates after a bit of a break, and kept me in the game for a solid decade.  The ‘mates themselves aren’t anything amazing, but they were rather momentous for me, and I still really like them.

#1657: Professor X

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

PROFESSOR X

MARVEL MINIMATES

“Charles Xavier started with a dream, to locate young mutants and enroll them in a school using his ancestral mansion home as a base to train them to use their powers for humanity’s benefit. Prior to his forming the X-Men, Charles encountered the alien scout Lucifer in the Himalayas. To prevent interference in his race’s planned invasion of Earth, Lucifer dropped a massive stone block on Charles, crippling his legs leaving him confined to a wheelchair.”

Though not necessarily the most toyetic character out there, Professor Charles Xavier has had quite a high number of figures.  And more of them than you might expect are totally true to his comic origins.  Seriously, there’s only three figures out there that come up with some wacky excuse to let him not be in a wheel chair.  Today’s figure isn’t even one of those!  (If you’re curious, I’ve actually reviewed all three, here, here, and here).

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Professor X was part of Series 37 of Marvel Minimates.  He was originally packed with X-Force Warpath, who was an odd ball choice.  Of course, they did actually have a common theme between them; they both helped complete (or mostly complete) a particular team line-up.  In Xavier’s case, it was the ‘90s X-Men, which had been a running team for a little while at this point.   It was the third Xavier in the line, but the first to use his fancy ‘90s hover chair look.  He uses the standard ‘mate body, so he’s *theoretically* got the same height of 2 1/4 inches and 14 points of articulation as others built on the body, but that kind of is affected by the use of the chair.  The big focus here is the chair.  It was an all-new piece, and to date, this is the only time its been used.  It’s a pretty awesome piece, at least on it’s own.  It’s got a ton of detailing, especially on the inner lining, and both the arm rests also flip open to show off various gadgets.  On its own, it’s great.  The issue it faces is when you actually put Xavier into it.  It’s still not awful, but keeping the whole thing properly assembled without his legs popping the hatch open is quite a chore.  But, if you get it just right, it’s pretty nifty.  The actual figure re-uses the suit jacket/vest/tie combo that first cropped up on Justin Hammer.  It’s a little on the bulky side, but it gets the job done, I suppose.  Fortunately, if you’re not a fan of the jacket, you can remove it, and underneath is Xavier’s field jacketed look he frequently sported in the ‘90s.  It’s a fun extra, and adds a nice extra layer to the figure, and gives us a prominent look that hasn’t been done anywhere else.  Xavier includes a Cerebro helmet, which is pretty cool (even if it means he has a peg hole in his head), as well as a blanket to go over the top of his legs, and a stand to connect to his chair.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I grabbed the two pack this guy was included in back when it was new.  At the time, my brother Christian was putting together an X-Force set, so Warpath went to him, and I kept Xavier.  He’s pretty decent, though I have to say, I’ve never found him quite as exciting as I’d hoped.

#1643: Admiral Kirk & Duty Uniform Scotty

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

ADMIRAL KIRK & DUTY UNIFORM SCOTTY

STAR TREK MINIMATES

The first three series of Star Trek Minimates were entirely based on The Original Series’ three season run.  While that was quite alright for the first two, there was no denying that by the time of Series 3, they were starting to run of fumes.  As such, DST expanded the reach of the line, turning it to focus more on the other shows and films.  Today’s set comes from one of the movies, funnily enough, one of the ones starring the original crew.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Admiral Kirk and Duty Uniform Scotty were released in Series 4 of Star Trek Minimates.  This pair were supposed to come from The Wrath of Khan, considered by pretty much everyone to be the best of the Trek films.  Given that these were the only TWOK-based figures in the line, the pairing does seem slightly…odd.  There was a variant version of this set, which featured Scotty in his maroon dress uniform.

ADMIRAL KIRK

This is the second time I’ve looked at a movie Kirk Minimate, but chronologically the first of the two.  His later ‘mate was based on his jacketed away team look from later in the film, while this one is based on his standard uniformed look.  The figure is built on the standard ‘mate body, and as such stands about 2 1/4 inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  He has add-on pieces for his hair and jacket, both of which were new to this particular figure (though the hair has seen subsequent re-use).  The jacket works quite nicely.  The details are pretty sharp, and it matches up well to the movie.  The hair is less impressive.  Admittedly, Shatner’s hair from this period has always been slightly difficult to pin down, but this one just seems to miss it.  Kirk’s paint is reasonable enough.  The uniform in particular captures the scheme seen in the movie, and the application is mostly pretty clean.  The face doesn’t have much Shatner to it, I’m afraid.  I think the later attempt had it down a bit better.  Also, the tampo of the face seems a bit too high on the head block as well.  Kirk was packed with a movie-styled phaser.

DUTY UNIFORM SCOTTY

Scotty’s place in this set is definitely weird.  I mean, the guy’s important in the movie, but producing him over Khan, or even Spock, McCoy, or David Marcus, all of whom are more pivotal to the film, seems sort of strange.  I guess maybe they wanted a variety of uniforms?  But, of course, even then, with the variant set, that excuse was lost.  I’m back to no idea again.  This is the standard release of Scotty, which is in his slightly more exciting Engineering uniform, which is what he spends most of the movie wearing.  Also, since these were one of the few designs to stick around from The Motion Picture, he’ll also fit in with Series 5’s Decker and Illia, so that’s cool.  He’s got sculpted add-ons for his hair and chest piece.  Both of them are definitely well handled pieces.  Scotty’s hair in particular is a much better match for Jimmy Doohan’s style from the movie.  The paintwork on Scotty is pretty solid, apart from one slight issue.  See that slight pink discoloration on his forehead?  Well, that’s *supposed* to be blood from an injury, but it seems the wrong color was used, making it look more like there’s just a slight flaw in the plastic.  Beyond that, it’s actually pretty decent work, though, with the details of his uniform being quite well-defined.  The burn damage to his suit is also pretty awesomely done, and keeps him from looking too boring.  Scotty is packed with a pair of engineering gloves to swap for the standard hands.  Shame we never got Spock to steal them from him.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was always a little behind on collecting this line, so I didn’t get this set new.  Instead, I picked it up a little after the fact from the Record & Tape Traders in the town where my family vacations.  They’d been marked down, so I ended up with a full Series 4 set, this pair included.  They’re both okay Minimates, but neither’s really much to write home about.