Tag Archives: Minimates

#0715: Kill Bill Deadly Assassins

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

BEATRIX KIDDI, VERNITA GREEN, BUDD, & ELLE DRIVER

KILL BILL MINIMATES

KillBill4a

“That woman deserves her revenge and we deserve to die. But then again, so does she. So, I guess we’ll just see. Won’t we?”

–Budd

One can hardly argue that DST isn’t diverse when it comes to what licenses are picked for Minimates. Who would have though you could have Spider-Man, Batman, Captain Kirk, Madonna, Clint Eastwood, and the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad all in the same scale and style? Today’s review pertains specifically to that last thing, the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, who hail from Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill. We got the Bride and O-Ren in the first Kill Bill boxed set, but it took us another three sets to get the remaining three members of the Squad, along with another version of the film’s main character, Beatrix Kiddo.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These figures make up the fourth, and seemingly final, set in the Kill Bill Minimates line, titled the Deadly Assassins Set.

BEATRIX KIDDO

KillBill4fBeatrix Kiddo, aka the Black Mamba, aka The Bride (spoilers, I guess), makes her third appearance as a Minimate. That’s not a huge shock, given that she’s the central character of the two films. This figure presents her in her look from the first half of Vol. 2, after she digs her way out of the coffin in which Budd buries her. She stands about 2 ½ inches tall and has the usual 14 points of articulation. Beatrix’s only add-on piece is her hair, which is re-used from the “House of the Blue Leaves” version of the Bride. It works well for both looks, and it does a nice job of translating Uma Thurman’s hair from the movie. The paint on Beatrix is very nicely handled, and is perhaps some of the best paintwork I’ve seen on a ‘mate in a while. The likeness on the face appears to be the same as the one on The Bride. It was a good likeness there and it’s a good likeness here. She’s has some very nice work on the detail lines of her torso and waist, outlining her shirt and belt very well. What takes the paint on this figure to the next level is the dirt and blood stains, which caver just about every surface of the figure. That’s attention to detail! Beatrix is armed with her Hattori Hanzo sword and matching scabbard, which are the same as those included with the last two Beatrixes, right down to the scabbard being upside down. She also includes the pine box that Budd buries her in, which a fun piece, that’s kind of key to this look, as well as a flashlight, which goes with the box, and the requisite clear display stand.

VERNITA GREEN

KillBill4dVernita Green, aka Copperhead, is the first of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad we meet (after Beatrix, of course). She ends up being the most minor of the group, but she’s still important, serving as a counterpoint for Beatrix. She’s presented here in her “housewife” clothes from her fight scene with Beatrix in Vol. 1. Like Beatrix, Vernita only has one sculpted add-on piece: her hair. The piece is re-used from Marvel Minimates Series 46’s Aunt May. It’s not a perfect match for Vernita’s hair, but it works alright. Vernita’s paint is quite nicely handled. The face looks a fair bit like Vivica Fox, so you can tell who it’s supposed to be. The hoodie is the best part. It’s nice and bright, and there’s a full array of detail on both sides of the torso block. She’s also got some blood splatters on her chest and face, which line up correctly with her injuries from the film and add a little bit of extra “pop” to the figure. Vernita is packed with a kitchen knife and a clear display stand. The knife is certainly appropriate, considering she’s the “Deadliest woman on the planet with a knife” and all, but it’s a shame that she didn’t get the planned gun in the cereal box accessory. That would have been unique.

BUDD

KillBill4cBudd, aka Sidewinder, is the lone male member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. He’s also the younger brother of Bill, the guy Beatrix wants to…uhh…kill. He doesn’t really show up until Vol. 2, but he makes a pretty big impact. Budd’s figure represents him in his look from the scenes at his day job, working as a bouncer. Technically he doesn’t run into Beatrix while dressed like this, but it’s a decent enough summation of his various looks from Vol. 2 that it’s not really a big deal. He features add-on parts for his hat/hair and the bottom portion of his shirt, as well as non-standard feet. The bottom of the shirt is a piece we’ve seen many times before, and it works for what it is. The boots originally showed up on The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly’s Tuco. They’re just basic cowboy boots, and they match up with what Budd wears in the film. Budd’s hat is a new piece, and it does a nice job of translating his hat from the film into the ‘mate style. The hair seems a bit too flared at the bottom, but other than that it’s a nice KillBill4bpiece. The paint is pretty decent, if perhaps not as clean as the last two figures. The colors are nice and bold, and the lines are all pretty crisp. The face is a good likeness of Michael Madsen, which I’m sure will come in handy for people hoping to QC some of his other film roles. The real issue with the paint is slop. There’s a bit of it around the edges of the hat, and the figure’s neck is mostly blue, when it should be flesh-toned. Budd is armed with a shotgun and a shovel, and also comes packed with a clear display stand. The shotgun isn’t a perfect match for the one in the movie, but it’s close enough, and it’s always great to get that shovel again.

ELLE DRIVER

KillBill4eElle, aka California Mountain Snake, is one of the few characters to actually have a decent sized role in both films, which does make her somewhat memorable. However, most of her important scenes happen in Vol. 2, so it’s not a huge surprise that this figure is based on her look from that movie. She has four sculpted add-on pieces: hair, cuffs, and the bottom of her jacket. The hair first showed up on Marvel Minimates Series 50’s Songbird and the cuffs are from the first Marty McFly. Both are well chosen and fit the character well. The bottom of the jacket looks familiar, but I can’t for the life of me figure out who else it may have been used on. Her paint is back in line with the excellent work we saw on Beatrix and Vernita. Obviously, she’s not as colorful as the others, but the contrast of the black and white is good and all of the various detail lines are nice and clean. The face is well handled and it captures Daryl Hannah’s likeness pretty well. Elle includes the usual display stand and a Hattori Hanzo sword, which is presumably meant to be Budd’s. It might have been nice to get her little notepad of information, or maybe even an extra head missing her other eye, similar to the bleeding head included with Go-Go. As is, she seems a bit light.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked this set up from my favorite Minimate retailer, Luke’s Toy Store. Beatrix gets another key look, and it’s handled with an obvious dedication to the source material, resulting in a rather fun figure, and perhaps the best version of the Bride so far; Vernita’s a solid addition; Budd is an important character in the movie, and he’s pretty decent overall, as long as you can overlook a few minor paint issues; Elle is another really pivotal character, but there’s not a whole lot of “new” to her, which does make her just a bit less exciting than the others. All-in-all, this is a great send-off to the Kill Bill Minimates line, though I certainly wouldn’t mind getting a few more figures, especially the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad in their all black numbers from the chapel scene. That’d be cool!

KillBill4h

#0712: Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver

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

SCARLET WITCH & QUICKSILVER

MARVEL MINIMATES

SW&QSMM1

Oh wow, more Minimates! What a shocker, right? So, yeah, today I’m jumping a little ways back into Marvel Minimates (which just released its 63rd Series not too long ago) and looking at two characters that are certainly a lot more prominent now than they were when this particular set was released: Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This pair was released in Series 16 of the Marvel Minimates line. Series 16 was an Avengers-themed series (not the first, but a close second), and was notable for being entirely made up characters that were new to the Minimate form, these two included. It was also the first comic-based series to feature new tooling, following the complete reliance on re-used parts by Series 10-13.

SCARLET WITCH

SW&QS2Wanda was arguably the second most important Avenger to debut in this series (after Thor). She’s presented here in her classic costume. She stands about 2 ½ inches tall and has the usual 14 points of articulation, though the neck movement is definitely limited by the combination of the hair and the cape. Speaking of the hair and cape, both of these were new to this figure. While they don’t have the level of detail that the more modern sculpts do, they’re both good for the time, and they fit in pretty well with other ‘mates from before this series. The details are a little softer than I’d like, but it’s mostly forgivable. The rest of the figure’s look relies on paint, which is handled decently enough, but not amazingly. Mostly it’s just basic color work, which looks fine. There’s some nicer line work on the torso, which sets her apart from some of the preceding Minimates. The weakest part is definitely the face, which just doesn’t look like Scarlet Witch. I can’t say exactly why, but it doesn’t feel like the character at all. Scarlet Witch was packed with a little spellcasting piece, which is the same as the “Chi energy” piece from Iron Fist. It’s not a lot, but it’s on par with other sets from the time.

QUICKSILVER

SW&QS3So, he’s not as important to the Avengers, but Pietro’s still a character with quite a history at Marvel, meaning his inclusion here was nice to see. Like Wanda, he was presented in his classic look, which is actually his second costume (his first was green). He too is built on the standard Minimate body, but his articulation is left totally un-hindered. Quicksilver’s lone add-on piece is his hair, which is actually a re-use from the Series 3 Ultimate Wolverine. It’s certainly not a perfect match for Pietro’s distinctive ‘do, but, like the more recent Quicksilver ‘mate, this piece works in a pinch. It would be nice for a future ‘mate to give the poor guy his own hairpiece, though. The paint work on Quicksilver is pretty decent, if a bit basic. The blue used here is just a bit too turquoise for my taste, but it’s not too far off. He’s also missing the black shorts that this costume was usually depicted with, but they weren’t always there in the comics, so I guess it’s alright. If there’s one leg up this guy has on his successor, it’s his face. It’s still not perfect (those eyes are a little big), but it looks pretty good overall. Quicksilver included no accessories.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Series 16 holds the notoriety of being the first series of Marvel Minimates of which I was actively awaiting the arrival. I really like me some classic Avengers, and they were originally supposed to be released on my birthday of that year. Unfortunately, the series got pushed back a month, but my Dad was still nice enough to buy them for me when they were finally released. These two may not have aged the best, but they were my only versions of the characters for a while, which gives them a special place in my collection.

#0706: Unmasked Black Costume Spider-Man & Gwen Stacy

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

UNMASKED BLACK COSTUME SPIDER-MAN & GWEN STACY

MARVEL MINIMATES

Spidey&Gwen1

Hey, you guys like Minimates, right? Well, if you’re still following this site at this point, you kind of have to, don’t you? Though Marvel Minimates based on the latest Marvel movie are more or less a certainty these days (unless you’re Fant4stic…), they weren’t always such. X-Men, Spider-Man, Daredevil, Hulk, and Fantastic Four all had to make due with loose, comic-based tie-ins. It wasn’t until Series 14’s X-Men 3 Minimates that we would see any direct representation, though that series sure did open the floodgates. It was followed shortly thereafter by a whole two series based on Spider-Man3, which included the pair I’ll be focusing on today, Unmasked Black Costume Spider-Man and Gwen Stacy.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released as a two-pack in Series 18 of Marvel Minimates. Gwen was the regular release figure, who was swapped out for Mary Jane in the variant set. But, I don’t have Mary Jane, so…

UNMASKED BLACK COSTUME SPIDER-MAN

Spidey&Gwen2Wow, that’s a long name isn’t it? Need a few more adjectives there Pete? Trying to compensate for something? Every single pack in these two series featured a Spider-Man variant and he’s the one for this set. Yay. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and has the standard 14 points of articulation. He is, of course, based on the symbiote version of the Spider-Man costume, as seen in the third movie. He’s got a specially sculpted mask piece, with his mask part of the way rolled up. I’m not a fan of this piece; it’s awkwardly shaped, and, for some reason, the bottom, unmasked portion of his face is a part of the piece, making his head look really bloated. Also, given that this figure is packed with Gwen, one would presume the rolled up mask is meant to replicate their kissing scene from the movie. Except for one thing: Peter’s still wearing his normal costume at that point in the movie. So, I’m not really sure what this is meant to be. Overlooking the whole bit with the wrong costume, the paint on this figure’s not bad. The weblines are nice and clean, and the texturing on the unlined portions looks great. Under the mask is a Peter Parker face, with more or less the same expression as what’s on the bottom of the mask piece. It doesn’t really look much like Tobey Maguire, but it’s a decent enough Peter. The expression’s totally wrong for this costume, but oh well. The figure included a spare hairpiece, allowing him to actually live up to his name.

GWEN STACY

Spidey&Gwen3This was actually only the second time Gwen made into the Minimates line. This one’s based on her movie appearance, of course. Her inclusion as the heavier packed figure between her and Mary Jane was somewhat odd, seeing as she has a rather minor role in the film. That said, she was played up pretty heavily before the film’s release, so that probably influenced DST’s decision. She was based on her appearance from the previously mentioned “kissing scene” (which only further emphasizes Spidey being in the wrong costume). She’s built on the standard Minimate body, with add-ons for her hair, jacket, and skirt. All of these were new to this figure; they’re well sculpted, and they capture her look from the movie very nicely. The skirt would go on to become a standard piece, which is still in fairly current use, but the other parts remained unique to Gwen. The level of detailing on her hair and jacket is actually very nice, and marked the some of the Marvel Minimates line’s earliest transitioning into the more modern style of Minimates. Gwen’s paint work is fairly basic, but it does a pretty good job of translating her look from the movie into the ‘mate style. Her jacket could probably stand to be a few more shades removed from the flesh-toned plastic, but that’s a minor issue. The face has a rather good likeness of actress Bryce Dallas-Howard, which is good. Gwen included no accessories.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got this pair, as well as all of the other regular release Spider-Man 3 Minimates, as a Chritmas gift from my parents, the year they were released. Purely looking at the quality of the ‘mates, they’re pretty well done. The mask on Spider-Man is weird, but it’s easily swapped out for the much better looking hair piece that was included. Gwen is actually a pretty top-notch ‘mate, with some fantastic sculpted pieces, a good likeness, and pretty decent paint work. As a whole, though, neither of these two is particularly exciting. Maybe they would have fared better if they’d been packed with other figures.

#0703: Death Archangel, Apocalypse, & Archangel

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

DEATH ARCHANGEL, APOCALYPSE, & ARCHANGEL

MARVEL MINIMATES

Archangel&Apocalypse1

Jeez, didn’t I just review a set of Minimates a few days ago? Is it already time for another one? <looks at randomized list from which I may not break> Yep, guess I’m reviewing Minimates again. Worse things have happened. Next year will see the release of the next installment in the X-Men movie franchise, X-Men: Apocalypse, which will feature, you guessed it, X-Men villain Apocalypse. It’s also set to feature Warren Worthington III as Archangel. And, would you look at that, they’re both in today’s review. How about that?

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This trio was released in the 19th Series of Marvel Minimates, way back in 2008. Death Archangel and Apocalypse were the standard, heavier packed set, and Archangel was the one-per case variant, also packed with Apocalypse.

DEATH ARCHANGEL

Archangel&Apocalypse2Following losing his natural, feather-y wings in a battle, Warren got a replacement pair of metal wings, courtesy of Apocalypse. Of course, he didn’t read the fine print and ended up becoming one of Apocalypse’s Four Horsemen, Death. And he got saddled with a hideous costume to boot. Rotten luck, right? This figure depicts him in said look, which was Warren’s primary look for a few years. He stands roughly 2 ½ inches tall and has a whole 16 points of articulation, thanks to the wings. The figure is constructed on the basic Minimate body, with add-on pieces for his wristbands, and, of course, his wings. The wing harness is the same piece we saw on the Avengers #1 Wasp ‘mate, though they did actually show up here first. The wings themselves are all-new pieces, shared between the two Archangels (and a third that came a few years later). They’re bigger than the figure himself, and give him quite an impressive presence on the shelf. They’re also quite accurate to the source material and sport some very nice, clean detail work. They do have an unfortunate habit of getting a bit warped over time, but they regain their shape pretty easily. A lot of Archangel’s design is dependent on paint, which is quite nicely handled, even if it is a hideous costume. The pink lines are nice and sharp, and I quite like his stern expression. It’s very in-character. The only drawback is the faint gold lines on his face, which are transfer lines from his death mask, which happens to be his one accessory. It’s an okay sculpt, but the paint really hasn’t stood the test of time.

APOCALYPSE

Archangel&Apocalypse4So, uh, this is the guy that turned Warren into Archangel. And gave him that hideous costume. Also, he’s tied to Kang the Conqueror, a guy from the future, but the two met in the past, and then Apocalypse turned out to be immortal and may or may not have been from the future, some of the time. It’s a little confusing, and, if I’m totally honest, I don’t care enough about the guy to sort it all out. Apocalypse is presented here in his original look, which has been his main design on and off for quite some time. The figure stands 2 ½ inches tall (thanks to some added height from the boots) and he has 12 points of articulation (also thanks to the boots). The movement is rather limited on this guy, due to the various sculpted parts interfering. The worst offenders are the tubes connecting his arms to his torso, which are just solid plastic, rather than something more flexible. Apocalypse has six sculpted add-ons, for his chest piece, gloves, belt, and boots. The pieces are all pretty well sculpted, with plenty of great detail work. It’s worth noting that this guy predates the move to bulk up larger characters, but he’s actually not too badly held back by it. Apocalypse does a bit of size-changing anyway. The paint on this figure is pretty decent. The leg muscles are somewhat ridiculously defined, but it works for the character. The head exhibits some excellent work, with tons of great detail. Apocalypse included no accessories.

ARCHANGEL

Archangel&Apocalypse3After getting past that whole being a henchman to ultimate evil bit, Archangel was still stuck with the blue skin and the metal wings. However, he had a choice in the whole costume manner, so he moved to get rid of that hideous thing that Apocalypse stuck him in. Truly a sign that he had returned to good. So, he started wearing a variant of one of his older costumes, which is what this figure is wearing. Structurally, he’s not far off from the Death Archangel. The wings and harness are the same setup, and they’re just as cool here as they were on the other figure. He ditches the wristbands and gains a hairpiece, which was all-new to this figure. It’s a pretty good piece, which does a decent enough job of capturing Warren’s hair of the mid-90s. The rest of Archangel’s detailing is done via paint. It’s, admittedly, not as good as the other two. The blue doesn’t continue onto the harness, which is quite distracting. Also, he’s got some serious muscle detailing on his torso, but nowhere else. To top it off, the face is oddly angled and set too high, which just makes it look really odd. Archangel included no accessories.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Death Archangel and Apocalypse on their day of release, courtesy of my local comicbook store Cosmic Comix. I ended up picking up Archangel from a vendor at Comic Con a few years later, and gave the spare Apocalypse to my younger brother. These guys are a little dated (mostly just the basic Archangel), but they’re still pretty good, and they mark one of the earliest instances of what most would consider “modern” Minimates.

#0699: Jules & Vincent

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

JULES & VINCENT

PULP FICTION MINIMATES

JulesVince1

I’ve previously mentioned here how I am not much of a fan of Pulp Fiction. In the last couple of years, I’ve familiarized myself with most of Quentin Tarantino’s film catalogue, and I’ve enjoyed a few of them quite a bit. However, I just can’t bring myself to Pulp Fiction enough to even make it all the way through the movie. I’ve tried several times, but I just can’t do it. That said, it got Minimates, so I couldn’t completely ignore it, right? Today, I’ll be looking at two of the film’s most definitive characters, Jules & Vincent.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Jules & Vincent were released as a two-pack in the Pulp Fiction Minimates line. In fact, they’re the only two-pack in the line so far, as the rest have all been four-packs. Given that these two are such a distinctive pair, however, it makes perfect sense to offer their main looks by themselves.

JULES

JulesVince3Jules is one of the legendary Samuel L Jackson’s earlier film roles, and it helped to make him as well-known as he is today. He’s also one of the few parts of the movie I could actually stand, so that’s definitely a plus. He’s shown here in his distinctive black suit/black tie look that he sports for the majority of his time in the film. The figure is roughly 2 ½ inches tall and he has the standard 14 points of articulation. He’s built on the standard Minimate body, with add-on pieces for his hair, jacket, and tie, as well as unique hand pieces. The hair is the same piece we saw on the Casual Jules ‘mate I reviewed earlier, though it first appeared here. It’s a good sculpt and it captures the character’s look pretty well. The jacket and tie are both pieces we’ve seen lots of times before; they’re good pieces, so there’s no need to change things up now. The hands are new, and they’re by far the coolest part of the figure (but also slightly annoying. We’ll get to that in a sec.) They’re sculpted holding his “refreshing beverage” and “tasty burger” from the movie. The pieces are stylized just a bit to fit the ‘mate aesthetic, but it’s clear what they’re supposed to be. They’re exceptionally fun pieces, and I hope we see them again. Paint on Jules is pretty decent, though not super intricate or anything. The face is slightly different from the Casual Jules, but still has a great SLJ likeness. The paint on the drink and burger is just a touch sloppy, but pretty good overall. Jules is packed with a handgun, a wallet, and a clear display stand. Remember when I said the hands were slightly annoying? Here’s where that comes in. Even though he’s got accessories he’s clearly meant to be able to hold, he doesn’t actually include a set of normal hands. To DST’s credit, a set of hands for him was included in the following boxed set and you could also have them sent to you by contacting CS, I just haven’t done either of those things.

VINCENT

JulesVince2Vincent Vega is one of the film’s main characters, played by John Travolta, whose career was re-ignited courtesy of Pulp Fiction. Here’s the thing: I don’t really care for John Travolta. Guy rubs me the wrong way. That’s probably a big piece of my dislike of the movie, to be honest. Anyway, here he is. Like Jules, he’s in his definitive suit and tie look. From the neck down, he’s essentially the same as Jules, apart from having normal hands. He makes use of the basic jacket and tie, which are still good pieces. He’s got his own hairpiece, which does a pretty good job of capturing Vince’s slicked back look from the film.  Vince’s paint is pretty straight forward, with the body being pretty simple black and white. The details on the face are nicely handled, and they present an excellent likeness of Travolta, so there’s no mistaking who this is supposed to be. Vince includes a handgun (Same as Jules’), a briefcase, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, if I don’t like Pulp Fiction, why do I keep getting Pulp Fiction Minimates? Well, this one wasn’t really a conscious effort. For their 6th anniversary, Luke’s Toy Store had a special sale, which included grab bags. I picked up a few of them, and this pair was in one (I also got a second, loose Vince in another). Not exactly something I would have picked up on my own, but it’s not a bad set, and I did end up getting them for less than retail. Jules is legitimately a pretty cool ‘mate, and Vince is at the very least well made.

JulesVince4

#0697: Green Goblin & Peter Parker/Spider-Man

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

GREEN GOBLIN & PETER PARKER/SPIDER-MAN

MARVEL MINIMATES

Goblin&Parker1

The line may have made it well past 60 series, but Marvel Minimates had rather humble beginnings. It started with three series, each centered on one of Marvel’s hottest properties of the time. Since there was no guarantee of anything past those three series, quite a few heavy hitters made appearances. The figures were also a lot more simplistic than they are now, making for a very different product. Let’s jump back into the old days of the line with Green Goblin and Peter Parker/Spider-Man.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This pair was released in the second series of Marvel Minimates, which was also the first series to be Spider-Man themed. It was far from the last.

GREEN GOBLIN

Goblin&Parker2You certainly couldn’t bring Spider-Man into Minimates without his greatest foe (aside from Aunt May’s health), Green Goblin! Goblin is presented here in his classic incarnation, pointy shoes, man-purse, and all. The figure is roughly 2 ½ inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation. He’s built on the older Minimate body, which is more or less the same as the current body, with the exception of the longer feet, which are just downright odd to see nowadays. The longer feet are actually hidden by a set of larger boot pieces, which were done in a slip on fashion here, rather than just being a unique sculpt as they would be now. The figure also features add-on parts for his hood/hat thing, a hand holding a pumpkin bomb, and the previously mention man-purse. All of these parts are pretty well handled, and they add up to a pretty decent version of the character. Paint-wise, Goblin is fairly simple, with mostly flat color work. There’s a bit of slop here and there, but nothing too terrible. He has detail lines for his face and belt buckle, which are nice and sharp. The face is definitely more on the cartoony side, but it fits with the style of the time. Green Goblin was packed with no accessories, since DST had yet to brave the goblin glider. Still, with the amount of sculpted pieces here, the lack of any extras seems reasonable.

PETER PARKER/SPIDER-MAN

Goblin&Parker3Given it was a Spider-Man series, it’s not really a shock that a Spidey variant found his way into this set. (In fact, Spidey was in every set in this series). This is probably one of the more unique figures from the series. It depicts Peter as he was sometimes seen, when his spider-sense would kick in while he was out of costume. Typically, it only showed up on his face, but I’m sure it manifested this way at least once. His lone unique piece is the hair for the Parker half of the head, which is actually glued in place, being that pegs had yet to be added on the hair pieces. It’s a perfectly fine sculpt, though it is, unsurprisingly, much more sparse on detail than the more current stuff. It ends up looking a little weird from any angle over than head on, but I don’t know that there’s a way to avoid that. The rest of the detail is handled via paint. For the most part, it’s pretty well handled. The biggest issue the figure faced was slop between the two halves, which gets pretty bad in a few areas. Some people weren’t fans of Peter’s goofy smile, but I kinda like it. Oddly enough, the Spider-Man half is painted in a different manner than the regular Spidey, so no parts were straight re-uses. The figure included no accessories.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set was one of my earliest sets of Minimates. After getting the Yellow Daredevil & Elektra set, and thoroughly loving them, I went back for more, and this and Series 3’s Cyclops & Jean Grey jointly became my second venture into the line. This isn’t the best the first three series had to offer, but I’m pretty sentimental about these guys, even if they’ve become outdated next to newer releases.

#0678: Avengers #1 Boxed Set

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

HANK PYM, GOLDEN ARMOR IRON MAN, INCREDIBLE HULK, & WASP

MARVEL MINIMATES

AvengersFA1

The Avengers may be a hot commodity now, but about ten years ago, they were mostly unknown to the public at large. This meant that they were somewhat absent from the whole merchandising thing. When Marvel Minimates was launched, the Avengers were few and far between, with only a few of the mainstays showing up here and there. Fortunately, things started turning around, right around the release of the first Iron Man. With the announcement of the Avengers Initiative in that film’s stinger, people seemed to be on board for merchandise based around Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. DST met demand by offering a boxed set based on the team’s first appearance in Avengers #1.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Hank Pym, Iron Man, Hulk, and Wasp were released as a boxed set in the fall of 2008, based around the first appearance of the team. Thor, the other founding member, was noticeably absent from the pack. He wouldn’t see another Minimate for another year, and his classic design wouldn’t be seen again for another year after that, which proved a bit frustrating for fans just getting into things with this set. This set also has the notoriety of being the final boxed set to be packed in a window-less box.

HANK PYM

AvengersFA3Henry Pym, man of many names, made his Minimate debut with this set. He had the option of being displayed as Ant-Man or Giant-Man, giving fans two of his identities in one fell swoop. Since this was an Avengers #1 boxed set, let’s consider Ant-Man the main look. The figure stands about 2 ½ inches tall and has the usual 14 points of articulation. He used the basic Minimate body, with an add-on for his helmet. The helmet was new to this figure, and was also used on the recent Best of Series 3 Ant-Man. It’s a very well sculpted piece, and it manages to capture the comic design of the helmet without looking too goofy. The paint on Hank is nice and bold; the colors are bright, and the line work is pretty clean. The face AvengersFA6under the helmet looks maybe a bit too chiseled for Hank, but it’s not bad. Hank included a separate mask, torso cover, and waist cover to transform him into Giant-Man, as well as a spare hairpiece to allow him to be unmasked. The Giant-Man parts are alright, but not great. They bulk him up a lot, but don’t add any height, so he looks rather off. It’s clear they were trying their best, but he just doesn’t quite work right. The hair is perfectly fine; it’s a re-use from the classic Battlestar Galactica Starbuck, which seems odd for Hank stylistically, but it doesn’t look too bad once it’s in place.

GOLDEN ARMOR IRON MAN

AvengersFA7Iron Man was at the top of his game in 2008, so seeing him turn up in this set was pretty much a guarantee. This was his eighth Minimate that year alone! He presented here in his second armor, which was really just a repainted version of the Mark 1. It’s the armor he was wearing for the first two issues of Avengers, and it’s also a pretty memorable look for the guy. He was built on the usual body, with 5 add-ons: helmet, torso, skirt, and bracelets. The helmet and bracelets were both generic pieces, used on numerous figures around the same time. The torso and skirt pieces were re-used from the AFX exclusive First Appearance IM, released a few years before. That’s a pretty sensible re-use, since they were supposed to be the same armor in-universe. The IM-specific parts are nicely crafted. They don’t have tons of sculpted detail, but the look from the comics is captured well. Paint on this figure is kind of a mixed bag, mostly due to the fact that, in its current state, it really doesn’t represent how it AvengersFA2looked out of the box. The gold paint seems to have not adhered very well to the plastic, resulting in a rather chipped and tarnished looking figure, which is a bit of a disappointment. Subsequent gold-based figures have remedied the issue, but this one is left looking somewhat lackluster. On the plus side, the detail lines are all very well handled, especially on the underlying torso and face, which you don’t even see in the main set-up. Iron Man is packed with a spare hairpiece, for unmasked display, a hammer attachment for his hand, and a spare set of flesh-toned arms so that you can display Tony in re-charge mode.

INCREDIBLE HULK

AvengersFA5He may not have been quite as successful as Iron Man, but Hulk was pretty big in 2008 as well, making him another heavy hitter in this particular set. Hulk is presented here in his purple shorted look, which was rather short(heh!)-lived in the comics, but was the look Hulk had in the two issues this set is based upon. So, it’s an interesting enough variant of the character. The figure has a unique head sculpt, as well as add-ons for the torso, waist, and the infamous “duck feet.” The torso and waist pieces were both re-used from Series 20’s Abomination, and are both rather basic pieces. The head was only ever used on this figure, most likely due to the negative reaction it garnered from fans. It seems to try to capture the more Frankenstein’s Monster-inspired head of the early Kirby Hulk, but it comes out looking a bit lumpy. And then there’s the “duck feet.” They were one of Diamond’s first attempts at adding extra height to figures, and they built up a rather infamous reputation in the Minimate community, due to their general goofiness and lack of adherence to the usual Minimate style. Fortunately, Hulk included a spare set of regular feet, so no one was stuck with the weird ones. Hulk’s paint is decent enough. I think this might actually be my favorite shade of green for Hulk, and I do really like the Kirby inspired line work.

WASP

AvengersFA4Wasp was another character that debuted in this set, though, unlike Hank Pym, she’s yet to actually get a follow up. Which is kind of a shame, since she’s had a boat-load of different costumes over the years. She’s presented here in her original costume, which has gotten a fair number of figures over the years. The figure makes use of 7 add-on pieces, used for her headgear, vest, gloves, skirt, and wings. The parts are a little on the bulky side, especially for Wasp, but they balance each other out pretty well, I guess. The skirt is a lot boxier than later pieces would be, which makes the whole figure look rather stiff. The wings are probably the best part of the sculpt, and they actually do a decent job of replicating the comic look. The paint on Wasp was pretty decent from a design standpoint. The line work is all pretty well laid out,AvengersFA8 and everything. The real issue is in assembly. The figure was clearly assembled before fully drying, so several pieces, the wings in particular, were stuck, almost to the point of breaking. Wasp made out pretty well on the accessories front, including a spare hairpiece, a set of normal hands, an alternate mask, and an extra wing mount so that she can be displayed without the bulky vest piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, I actually ended getting a couple of this set when it was released, without even trying. I got one from my friend Lance, and then won another in a contest, and then eventually picked up a few more from Record and Tape Traders at super marked down prices. The set itself is pretty decent, if maybe a bit out of date when compared to more current stuff. Ant-Man and Wasp were definitely the stars here, and they both still hold up pretty decently.

#0667: Captain America TTA Part B

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

WORLD WAR II CAPTAIN AMERICA & ARMORED CAPTAIN AMERICA

MARVEL MINIMATES

CapTTA1

“One of these days, I’ll get the other half of the set. I mean, everybody’s gotta have a crazy 90s armored Captain America in their collection, right? How could you not? “
–Ethan Wilson
The Figure In Question #0020: Captain America Through The Ages Part A

Hey guys! Guess what! I got the other half of that set! It totally happened! Aren’t you so excited? I sure am! Without further delay, let’s have a look at the second half of the Captain America Through the Ages boxed set!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

World War II Cap and Armored Cap make up the second half of the Toys R Us exclusive Marvel Minimates Captain America Through the Ages boxed set, which was released to coincide with Cap’s return to life a few years back. The other two figures in the set were Reborn Cap and Suspended Animation Cap, who I reviewed here.

WORLD WAR II CAPTAIN AMERICA

CapTTA2This set took a few cues from the Captain America: Reborn series that returned Cap to the land of the living. The default Cap was based on his appearance at the end of the series, and this Cap is based on his appearance early on in the series when he’s reliving his WWII days. It’s not incredibly far removed from his earliest comics appearances, but it has been given a few updates to make it just a touch more “real-world.” The figure is roughly 2 ½ inches tall and has 12 points of articulation (due to the sculpt of the boots). Cap has sculpted add-ons for his helmet, upper torso, glove cuffs, belt, and boots. He shares the boots and glove cuffs with the Reborn Cap in this same set, but other than that all of his pieces are new to him, and as far as I can tell they’ve remained unique. The helmet is a nice update on his original mask design, merged with just a touch of Ultimates styling. It ended up being the inspiration for the film take CapTTA4on the costume, so it looks pretty familiar nowadays. The upper torso is an interesting piece; it applies the more recent change of giving Cap three-dimensional scales on his upper torso and also serves to bulk him up a bit. I’m not typically a fan of the really obvious scales, but in this case it doesn’t look too bad; in fact, it kind of makes him stand out nicely from the crowd. Cap’s paintwork is noticeably more subdued here than on most versions of the character, but it’s definitely true to the design DST’s aiming to capture. It actually looks pretty cool, almost like a faded photo from the 40s. The paint is pretty great overall, with no issues of slop or bleed over to speak of. The underlying face has a nice Jack Kirby feel to it, which is perfect for a WWII era Cap. This version of Cap is packed with his original mighty shield, a spare, more classically inspired mask, and a spare hairpiece to display him unmasked.

ARMORED CAPTAIN AMERICA

CapTTA3From one extreme to the other. Behold, the 90s. Oh joy. In the 90s, Cap’s powers stopped working correctly, leaving him with brittle bones and stuff. So, like all good 90s heroes, he got powered armor. Yay. Here it is, in all its glory. He’s got 6 all new sculpted pieces, which, to date, still remain unique to him. Because no one else would ever touch something this ugly. To their credit, the pieces all do a pretty good job of capturing the design from the comics and translating it to fit on a Minimate body. Truth be told, the blocky nature of the line actually does the design some favors, and he manages to get some pretty great mobility, in spite of the bulky armor. The paintwork on this figure isn’t quite as great as WWII Cap, but it’s not bad. The metallic red works pretty well, and the stretched out A on the head captures the 90s styling pretty decently. And he’s even got a proper grimace under the helmet! There’s a bit of slop around the edges of the torso stripes and the head wings, but neither is horribly distracting. Armored Cap includes his trusty shield, done up to match the armor, as well as a hair piece (which has some pretty bad flashing on the sides. Yikes!)

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

In case you’re wondering, no, I didn’t break down and buy these two for their inflated eBay prices. I actually had some restraint. I did, however, end up finding a sealed Cap TTA set while at Yesterday’s Fun. And the best part is that it wasn’t much more than retail! So, I got these two guys, along with spares of the other two, which is pretty awesome. This pair is an interesting combination. I fully admit to way underestimating WWII Cap. He might well be the best figure in the set. Armored Cap, though? Well, he’s better than I expected, but he’s still my least favorite. Honestly, I’m just glad to finally have the whole set!

#0665: Casey Jones

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

CASEY JONES

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES MINMATES

CaseyJ1

So, my love of almost all things Minimates and my moderate interest in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles insured that I found myself a full set of the line’s first series. After the first series, my interest kind of waned a bit. Not the fault of the line or anything, I just got distracted by other stuff. I did manage to track down one of the Series 2’s figures, Karai, which I liked well enough. One of the more glaring omissions from Series 1 was long-time Turtle ally Casey Jones, who found his way into the second set.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

CaseyJ2Casey Jones was released blind-bagged, as a part of the specialty assortment of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Series 2. He’s also available packed with Michelangelo in the Toys R Us assortment, for those wanting to go the non-blind-bagged option. The figure stands about 2 ½ inches in height and has the usual 14 points of articulation. Like all the others in this line, he’s based on Casey’s appearance in the current cartoon. Casey features a fair number of sculpted add-ons for his mask/hood, straps/shoulder pad, elbow pads, belt, and his padded gloves. The elbow pads are re-used from the Ghostbusters Minimates line, but aside from that everything’s all-new to Casey. Everything is exquisitely sculpted, with tons of detail work, but not so much as to make him look out of place amongst the other Turtles Minimates. The padded gloves in particular look pretty amazing, with some great texture work on the stitching and padding. Paintwork is the downfall of most of the Turtles Minimates, but it seems to have turned out a fair bit better for good ol’ Casey here. For the most part, the base color work is pretty cleanly handled. There’s a little bit of bleed over here and there, but nothing too bad. There CaseyJ7are even a few areas with purposeful slop, which are very nicely handled and add a nice extra bit of character to the figure. The detail lines are all carefully placed, so as to capture the animated style in as few lines as possible. Under the mask, there’s a full Casey face, which is a little bit goofy looking for my taste, but captures the show look pretty well. Casey, like a lot of the Turtles Minimates, is no slouch in the accessories department, featuring an extra head, hairpiece, hands, a pulled down hood, two different hockey sticks, a baseball bat, and a clear display stand. The hair and hood allow for unmasked displays of the character, and the extra head gives us the skull-ish face paint he’s sported on the show. The various sports equipment is kinda key to the character, so it’s cool to see here, and well-sculpted to boot.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After playing the blind-bag game with Series 1 and then trying again with Series 2 and getting Karai, I decided to give up and just get an opened Casey from my favorite Minimates retailer, Luke’s Toy Store. Casey’s long been one of my favorite parts of the Turtles mythos, so I was happy to see him turn up in the Minimates line. The final figure is a little different from my preferred interpretation of the character, but he’s one of the better figures this line’s had to offer.

CaseyJ3

#0662: Jubilee & Destiny

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

JUBILEE – STRIKE FORCE & DESTINY

MARVEL MINIMATES

Jubilee&Dest1

Can’t stray from the Minimates reviews for too long, that would just be unorthodox, right? Right. I’ve actually fallen a bit behind on the ‘mate reviews as of late. I totally meant to have the Marvel Minimates Series 60 reviews done quite a while ago. Like, in June. But then I had other stuff going on and they just got away from me. Ooops…. So, let’s wrap this Series up by looking at the last set, Jubilee and Destiny.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This pair was released as part of the 60th Series of Marvel Minimates, and follows the series’ general X-Men vs Brotherhood theme. This set was this particular series’ resident shortpack, and it’s also the only set in the series not to offer a second X-Man.

JUBILEE – STRIKE FORCE

Jubilee&Dest2This figure marks Jubilee’s third entry in the Marvel Minimates line, which is a surprising number for a character who was only in the public eye for a single decade. But hey, 90s X-Men, what are you gonna do? Jubilee, like the rest of this series’ X-Men, is presented here in her Strike Force uniform. It’s not really one of her standard looks, but she fits with the rest of the team. The figure stands 2 ½ inches tall and sports 14 points of articulation. She has sculpted parts for her hair/sunglasses, gloves, and leg straps. The uniform parts are the same as the rest of the X-Men; they’re good matches for the source material and are very nicely sculpted parts. At first glance, I thought the hairpiece might be re-used from X-Force’s Boom-Boom, but it’s all new. There are two pieces: one with the glasses down and one with them up. Jubilee wore them both ways pretty consistently, so the option is definitely appreciated. Both pieces are quite nicely sculpted. The glasses are straight and symmetrical and the hair has a nice dynamic flow to it. Jubilee’s paint is a bit on the spotty side. The detail lines are all clean, especially on the face, so that’s alright. The real issue is on the breaks between the yellow and blue portions of the costume, which are really sloppy. She also has the same belt buckle issue as the rest of this series’ X-Men, but at least their consistent. In addition to the spare hairpiece, Jubilee includes a pair of energy pieces to clip on her hands and a clear display stand.

DESTINY

Jubilee&Dest3Destiny was a longtime member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, but she’s been entirely absent from the world of toys. So, this is not only her first ever Minimate, but also her first ever action figure, period. That’s pretty nifty. She’s built on the standard Minimate body, so she has the same height and articulation as Jubilee. Destiny features two additional sculpted parts: her mask and her cape. The mask s the same simple mask piece we’ve seen so many times before. It does the job alright, but I wouldn’t have minded getting a mask that replicated Destiny’s more distinctive head shape. The cape is the same as that seen on the AvX boxed set’s Scarlet Witch. It’s a nice piece with a simple but elegant flow to it. Destiny’s paint is much nicer than Jubilee’s. The colors are great, and everything stays where it’s supposed to. Under the mask, there’s a fully detailed face, which features a ton of line work, effectively conveying the elderly Destiny. Destiny is packed with a spare hairpiece (re-used from Series 45’s Maria Hill) and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

These two are the last piece of the full set of Series 60 I purchased via Big Bad Toy Store. This set is pretty well handled. Jubilee has a few issues with paint, but otherwise she’s a pretty decent version of a fairly essential member of the 90s X-Men. Destiny steps things up in terms of quality, which is nice. She’s not the most exciting figure ever made, but it’s cool to finally have her.

90sXMenMates