Tag Archives: Minimates

Guest Review #0018: Commander John Shepard

Posted by hodgeppodge42 in Guest Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

COMMANDER JOHN SHEPARD

MASS EFFECT MINIMATES

JohnShep1

Heeeeyoo! It’s me again, the Super Awesome Girlfriend, Jess.

This addition of The Figure in Question is the first in a long line of Mass Effect Minimates reviews done by yours truly. Since last time I haven’t really learned much about action figures, especially Minimates, so some of the information about the figures will be supplied by Ethan, but my opinions and gaming knowledge is my own. So sit back and enjoy the reading!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

JohnShep2This figure is part of the first Series of Mass Effect Minimates released exclusively by GameStop. As the name suggests, this series is comprised of characters from the Mass Effect franchise, created by BioWare. Today, I’ll begin with the main hero Commander John Shepard, also known as Male Shep.

Male Shep is the main playable character from Mass Effect, a role playing game set in space. The Commander is the first human to become a Spectre, an agent appointed by the Citadel Council to work inside and outside of the law to get the job done. The decisions that you make as the Commander will affect how the game unfolds to some degree, more so in the last installment.

The Minimate is about 2 ½ inches tall with 14 points of articulation. According to Ethan, the figure has the standard Minimate body with additional shoulder pads. The figure also has the generic face designed by BioWare. The body is painted like the N7 armor from Mass Effect 3, with amazing detail work, especially on the back of the chest piece. Along with the Minimate is a well replicated standard assault rifle from the game, an omni-blade made of clear orange plastic, and a standard stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This was one of several Mass Effect Minimates that I got from Ethan for Christmas. I remember him showing me pictures of the prototypes from one of the conventions. Of course, I geeked out when I saw the detailing in the pictures and told Ethan he should get them for himself. I geeked out even more when I saw them in person and found them in a present for me; I never thought that he would get them for me and I would be reviewing them. Male Shep was well done and looks amazing in Minimate form. Even when he’s 2 ½ inches he still looks rugged and badass.

Guest Review #0017: Master Chief & Cortana

Posted by hodgeppodge42 in Guest Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

MASTER CHIEF & CORTANA

HALO MINIMATES

Chief&Cortana1

Heeeeeeeyooooo! This is the first guest review done by the mysterious Super Awesome Girlfriend, who is way too supportive, that Ethan keeps talking about. Yes, that’s right folks; I’m a real girl! I honestly don’t know much about minimates, or this particular line of figures. So unfortunately, I won’t be able to give you any of that background information because action figures aren’t really my forte. Instead, I can give you a very brief background on the actual game characters since gaming is my guilty pleasure!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These figures were released in the 4th Toys R Us exclusive series. The series was based on Halo, the popular gaming franchise created by Bungie. The set includes characters from all the games, including some of the main alien characters, the Rookie from ODST, and even the Hayabusa armor from Halo 3 multiplayer (you know, the one that took hours to get because you needed to collect the bloody skulls throughout the game to unlock the individual pieces. And yes, I did get the armor, though it took me forever to get). This particular two pack includes Master Chief and his AI Cortana.

MASTER CHIEF

Chief&Cortana2As most people know, Master Chief is the main character of the Halo franchise, without him and his very recognizable voice the game would not have been as successful. He is the playable character for all of the main games, Combat Evolved, Halo 2-4, and is briefly mentioned in Reach and ODST. He’s the mysterious masked badass that defends humanity with an assault rifle, some grenades, and a witty AI companion, Cortana.

The figure is roughly 2 ½ inches in height and he has 12 point of articulation. This figure is based off of the design from Halo: Combat Evolved, which is personally my favorite. According to my boyfriend, this figure has the standard minimate body with unique arms and add-ons for his helmet, torso, belt, thighs, boots, and hands. The figure successfully captures Chief’s design in CE, which is really refreshing because some of the other figures didn’t transfer very well. Now, the figure isn’t flawless but the flaws are pretty amusing, so it’s okay. Master Chief doesn’t have two left feet (though we never see him dance…) but he does have two left thighs, making one leg taller than the other. His right leg is literally the left one but switched, so he has a butt plate on the front of his leg. But other than that little hiccup, the figure is well painted and very satisfying. The Minimate also comes with a well recreated version of the original assault rifle and a really tiny Cortana on a chip that can clip into his hand!

CORTANA

Chief&Cortana3Since Combat Evolved, Cortana has been a constant companion for gamers as they played the games, guiding you in the right directions and giving you constant and witty dialogue. In the story, she wasn’t made for the Master Chief, but under the circumstances their paths crossed and their relationship grew as they took down the Covenant and the Flood together. Basically, there is no Chief without Cortana. Period.

Minimate Cortana is modeled after what I believe is the Halo 3 design. She is roughly 2 ½ inches with 14 points of articulation. According to Ethan, she has the standard Minimate body, which has a painted female body, with removable hair. The figure doesn’t have any noticeable flawless, like two left thighs, but she doesn’t have anything really unique about her except for her stand. Since Cortana is an AI, she is usually stored in a data chip that is stored in the back of Chief’s helmet. For this figure, her stand is the data chip which actually has pretty good detailing, not a lot but enough to be satisfying.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got these Minimates on our one year anniversary, which was Christmas Eve. I knew that I was getting figures this season, because Ethan wanted me to join the guest reviewing family, but I was really touched that these were my first. If you haven’t noticed already, I am a gamer. I love video games and I have been playing for more than a decade now. Halo: Combat Evolved was the first serious game that I played on the original Xbox when I was six or seven with my older brother. I have been a fan of the series for a long time and I stuck with it, and will probably continue to stick with the story until 343 Industries really piss me off. I’ve told Ethan a few times about how I got started with video games, and Halo, so I wasn’t surprised by what he got me. Instead, I found it poetic that the first figures that I got where the characters from the first game that I played that really got me into gaming. I grew up with Master Chief and Cortana, and I find it sweet and a little surprising about the things that Ethan remembers.

#0434: Garrus

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

GARRUS

MASS EFFECT MINIMATES

Part two of my short venture into the world of video games is today. Ha ha! Okay, so today, I’m looking at another Mass Effect character, Garrus. While I have a pretty decent understanding of Tali, I actually don’t know a whole lot about Garrus. I have been informed by both Tim and Super Awesome Girlfriend that he’s a pretty legit character, so I’m gonna trust them on that. Let’s see how the ‘mate turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Garrus is part of the first series of Mass Effect Minimates, which are blind bagged and exclusive to GameStop. Those are not two of my favorite things, but I’m willing to do a lot for Minimates, my best friend and my girlfriend. The figures is roughly 2 ½ inches in height and he features 12 points of articulation. According to Tim and SAGF, Garrus is based on his appearance in the second and third Mass Effect games, which is apparently denoted by his scar. So there. It’s a pretty good design, and, like Tali, it translates nicely to the Minimate form. He makes use of the standard Minimate body, with non-standard pieces for his head and lower legs, as well as an add-on piece for his torso armor. All of the parts are new to Garrus. They’re well sculpted and look like they’re pretty accurate to the source material. The torso armor is just a tad soft on the details, but nothing too terrible. The head also has an extra little piece glued on for his eye-thingy, which is pretty neat, although it doesn’t quite make it to his eye. Garrus’s paint is somewhat mixed. The detail lines are nice and clean, and the paint for his face is downright fantastic. However, the base paint, especially on his torso armor, is really sloppy and frequently misses its mark, which is rather unfortunate. Garrus includes a sniper rifle (which appears to be a new piece) and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Hey, so remember how I bought ten Mass Effect Minimates and six of them ended up being Tali? Yeah, the next three ended up being ol’ Garrus here. So, that means I got a Garrus to keep for myself. Despite my lack of knowledge about the character, I must admit that Garrus sports a really cool design and he translated very nicely to the Minimate style. The paint could stand to be better, but I think Garrus makes for a really great addition to my Minimate legion. I hadn’t really intended to get my own Mass Effect Minimates, but if I was going to get two, I think Garrus and Tali are those two, so I’m actually pretty happy with how things ended up.

#0433: Tali

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

TALI

MASS EFFECT MINIMATES

Okay, so I don’t generally get into the video game stuff much on this site. Sure, I play the occasional game here and there (though mostly just the LEGO stuff), but when it comes to video game action figures, I usually leave it to Tim and Christian to provide coverage. However, there’s one exception to that rule: Minimates. I will buy practically anything if it’s a Minimate. Heck, I watched the Kill Bill movies as an excuse to buy the Minimates. Recently, DST has picked up the license to do Minimates based on the Mass Effect series of games. I’ve never played the games, but I’ve watched other people play them, and I have to admit they have some pretty cool designs. I’ve gotten two of them so far. Let’s kick things off with Tali, one of the few characters I actually know a little bit about.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Tali was released in the first series of Mass Effect Minimates. They are blind bagged and exclusive to GameStop. If I didn’t have an irrational love of Minimates (and a few other driving forces I’ll get to later), I probably would have gone through the ordeal of getting them.  The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and she sports 12 points of articulation. I’m not an expert on the changes to the characters from game to game, so I don’t know which of the three Tali was based on. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say she’s based on the third one. Tali makes use of the standard Minimate body, with a non-standard set of lower legs, plus add-ons for the belt/skirt, mask/hood, and wrist-energy-thingy (it’s a technical term). All of the pieces are brand new to Tali and they do a great job of translating her look to the Minimate form. They also exhibit some very nice detail work and just mesh very well with the base body in general. Tali’s paint, while not exceptional, is pretty decent. She has a little bit of slop with some of the base paint. However, the colors seem well suited to the character and the detail lines are not only plentiful, but also clean and sharp. Perhaps one of the coolest touches is the eyes that have been placed on the otherwise undetailed clear purple head. The visor of her mask is cast in the same purple plastic, which allows just the faintest hint of her eyes to show through. It’s a really cool effect. Tali includes a small blaster pistol-thingy and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, story time. Both my best friend Tim and my Super Awesome Girlfriend Jessica are pretty big fans of Mass Effect. So, when this line was announced, I knew I’d need to track down a few figures for both of them. GameStop is not a store I typically like to venture into, so I resorted to ordering as many blind bagged figures as I could online. That ended up being ten. There are eight figures in the set, so I figured I’d piece together one set for Jess and give the rest to Tim. When they arrived, I was hopeful that there would be two Talis in the bunch, since Tali is Tim’s favorite character, and I wanted to make sure he and Jess both got one. I opened the first bag and it was Tali. Good start. The second was also Tali. Great, now they both get one. Then the third was Tali. Well, I like Tali enough, so I don’t mind having one. Then, the fourth, fifth, and sixth bags were also Tali. Six of the ten I’d ordered were same character. What are the odds? Ah well, Tali’s a pretty good figure. I actually quite like the design and I think it translates well to Minimates. Plus, who doesn’t want an army of Talis?

#0429: Infinity Minimates

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

SPACE SUIT CAPTAIN AMERICA, ARMORED HULK, INFINITY THANOS, & THANE

MARVEL MINIMATES

Marvel Minimates is really just the line that keeps on giving. I have a pretty substantial back log of figures I already had before the site was started, so they were already going to show up a lot. However, they also provide new releases on a very regular basis. Which makes for even more frequent reviews. Yay.

Marvel Minimates is also one of the few Minimates lines to be fairly consistently supported by Toys R Us. TRU has carried 18 of their own exclusive series of the line. In addition, they’ve offered fans the opportunity to influence the line a bit with Fan’s Choice boxed sets based on certain events. Today, I’ll be looking at the most recent of those sets, based on last year’s Infinity cross-over. Full disclosure: I haven’t read any of Infinity, so I can’t really speak to any story specific stuff. I know the general gist of it, and I know who the one storyline specific figure in this set is.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These four were released as part of a Toys R Us exclusive four-pack. The line-up was chosen via a poll on Toys R Us’s website. There were two other figures, Ronan the Accuser and Space Suit Iron Man, who did not make the cut for this set, but will be appearing in the TRU Series 19.

SPACE SUIT CAPTAIN AMERICA

There have been a fair number of Captain America ‘mates, especially recently, but this is the first time he’s been space worthy. It’s also the third ‘mate based on Cap’s Marvel Now! appearance. Cap’s clearly the “safe” figure in this set, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and he sports 14 points of articulation. He’s based on Cap’s space-faring look from Infinity, which I understand is the look he had for most of the story. It’s basically just a tweak on his regular Now! design and it looks pretty good. The figure makes use of the standard Minimate body, with non-standard upper arms and hands, as well as add-ons for his helmet and space-y web gear. The hands and helmet hail from the previous two Now! Caps, which is a sensible re-use. They’re well-sculpted pieces that are accurate to the source material, so it’s a win-win. The upper arms originally appeared on the Series 49 Mark 42. They aren’t quite as warranted as the hands and helmet, but they’re reasonable enough as a generic set of tech-y arms. The web gear is the only really new piece present. It’s well enough sculpted, and it seems to be pretty accurate to the source material. It’s not the most exciting piece, but it does its job. Cap’s paint work is pretty decent. For the most part, everything is clean, and the details are sharp. However, the paint on the helmet/head is applied in such a way that is impossible for me to get the helmet off his head, which is rather annoying. Cap includes his mighty shield and a hand wield said shield (both reused from the previous Now! figures), as well as a hair piece (also from the Now! Cap), and a clear display stand. The shield is a bit sloppy paint-wise, and the hair is ultimately not very useful due to the issues with the helmet.

ARMORED HULK

Hulk here is a bit less space-ready than the Cap figure. As the name implies, he’s just an armored version of the character. The figure is over 2 ½ inches tall, closer to the 3 inch mark, and he features 12 points of articulation. He’s based on the character’s Now! look. This is the second Minimate based on the look, but the first one was more armor-lite. This is what the character’s looked like for most of the Now! run. The figure is built on the basic Minimate body, with non-standard pieces for the hands and feet, as well as add-ons for the hair, torso, upper arms, waist, torso extender, and upper legs. The hair and upper arms first cropped up on the Series 41 Mega Rage Hulk, the feet first appeared on TRU’s Hulk as Nul, the hands are from the Hulk TTA Maestro, and the torso extender, waist cover, and upper legs are from the TRU 16 Now! Hulk. The chest piece is the only truly new part, however it’s nicely handled. The reused pieces are used a such a way that it wasn’t immediately obvious that the torso was the only new part, which is a sign of good re-use. The shift from sculpted detail lines on the armor on the torso and upper legs to painted on the feet is a little bit jarring at first, but it’s not too bad. Hulk’s paint alright, but it could be better. There’s some bleed over on the transitions from armor to skin, and there’s some pretty bad slop on the back of the figure’s head and torso. The figure also suffers from the same stuck pieces that plagued Cap, something that is a common theme in this set. Hulk includes a clear display stand.

INFINITY THANOS

Thanos here is probably the biggest draw of this set. This is the third version of Thanos in the Marvel Minimates line, but it’s been five years since his last figure. If you’re a faithful follower of my reviews, you’ll recall I didn’t think the last one was very good. Plus, he’s set to be a major player in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the next few years, so it’s really good timing. Thanos is the largest ‘mate in the set, coming in at just shy of 3 inches tall, and he has 12 points of articulation. He’s based on Thanos’s recent redesign from Infinity. It’s not far off from his original design, but there are a few differences in the execution of some of the details. Thanos uses the basic Minimate body as a starting point, with non-standard hands and feet, as well as add-ons for his helmet, torso, upper arms, waist, torso extender, and upper legs. The upper arms and legs are from the Series 41 Hulk, the extender is from the TRU 16 Hulk, and the waist cover is from a whole bunch of Minimates (I’m not sure who used it first). The helmet, torso cover, hands, and feet are new to Thanos, and they’re pretty good overall. The torso is probably the best piece. It has a lot of ornate detail work that looks really good. The hands and feet are decent, though they seem a little too rounded. The helmet is good in theory, but not quite in practice. It’s well sculpted, but it sits too low on the head, which obscures a lot of the details on the face. Thanos’s paintwork is pretty clean overall. There are a few spots with some bleed over, but most of it’s pretty sharp. The face in particular looks really good, and it definitely improves on the last one. Unfortunately, Thanos was not exempt from the stuck paint issues. His helmet was practically glued on when I got him and took quite a bit of effort to remove. Thanos includes a clear display stand. It would have been nice to get an Infinity Gauntlet that matched this figure, but since it wasn’t in the story, I can understand its absence here.

THANE

Hooo boy, Thane. This guy. So, Thane is the one new character in the set. He’s also new to the storyline, and he has a sort of important role, so I guess his inclusion makes sense. In case you were unaware, Thane is Thanos’s son and he’s half Inhuman, which sort of makes him a bit of a mess. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation. Thane is based on the character’s appearance post-Terrigen Mist exposure, which is notably Thanos-inspired. It’s an okay design, though not particularly thrilling. The figure is mostly a “vanilla ‘mate” with his only unique piece being his left hand. This piece is re-used from the DC Minimates Series 6 Cheetah figure. It’s a pretty standard clawed-hand, so that’s good. The rest of Thane’s detail is done with paint. For better or worse, Thane exhibits the best paintwork of the lot. The base colors are clean and even, the colors are pretty bold, and the detail lines are nice and sharp. Thane didn’t have any issues with stuck pieced due to paint, although that’s likely due to his lack of add-ons. The figure includes a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I found this set while killing some time during one of my brother’s rehearsals. Obviously, I got it from Toys R Us, it being an exclusive and all. I did participate in the vote on this one, and three of the four I voted for are in the final set, so I guess that’s cool. Unfortunately, Ronan, the one I wanted the most, lost out to Thane, which is a bummer. Guess I’ll have to wait for TRU 19. All in all it’s a pretty good set. Cap and Hulk are fun variants and Thanos offers some nice improvements to the last one. Thane is good on a technical level, but sadly neither the character nor his design is particularly exciting.  But hey, three out of four ain’t bad!

#0427: DOFP Wolverine & Colossus

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

DAYS OF FUTURE PAST WOLVERINE & COLOSSUS

MARVEL MINIMATES

Marvel Minimates has pretty consistently been the flagship of the Minimates brand, but it hasn’t been without its dark periods. Every fan has their own personal preferences, which means that where exactly the low points of the line lie can vary from person to person, but pretty much everyone agrees that Series 12 and 13 are probably the worst the line ever got. It’s no coincidence that immediately after those two series, the line started taking quick strides in innovation. The line looked like it was on its last legs (Series 15, set to be released not long after, is the only specialty assortment in the history of the line to be cancelled), and something had to change. Fortunately, the line did change, and it has continued for almost another 50 series, but man, somewhere there’s an alternate universe where these were the last Minimates we ever saw.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released as part of Series 13 of Marvel Minimates. The series was based around the then current Astonishing X-Men. This is the variant set, which swapped out a “Days of Future Past” styled Wolverine in place of the regular Astonishing one.

DAYS OF FUTURE PAST WOLVERINE

Or, as he’s known on the box “DOFP Wolverine.” I mean, I know what that stands for, but you’ve got to imagine that somebody stood there looking at the box wondering what the heck a “Dofp” was. I just recently looked at the new and improved take on this design from earlier this year, which I quite liked. This one is….different. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and he features 14 points of articulation. He made use of the standard Minimate body, with the then standard Wolverine claws in place of the normal hands, as well as an add-on piece for the hair. The piece, like every piece in this series, is a re-use, in this case from the Series 6 New Wolverine. What’s interesting is that the box actually shows the figure with the hair from the Series 3 Logan figure, which is a superior piece. Not sure why they made the change. Paint-wise, this is a pretty drab figure. I know the design isn’t the most vibrant to begin with, but there’s just no pop with this figure. The choice to make the jacket painted on robs the figure of a lot of dimension, and the jacket’s detailing is sub-par at best. I’m not exactly sure what the deal is with the face, either. He looks like he’s been… smooshed or something. And that’s not even starting on the whole double chin thing he’s got going. DOFP Wolverine had no accessories.

COLOSSUS

Colossus’s return to life was an important part of the early Astonishing X-Men, so his place in this series isn’t too surprising. Plus, his history with Wolverine and his decent sized role in the original “Days of Future Past” make this pairing a pretty great one too. Colossus is roughly 2 ½ inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation. He’s based on Colossus’s look in Astonishing, which is just a slight tweak on his classic design, so it’s a reasonable look. The figure uses the basic body, with an add-on for the hair. The hair is a re-use from the Giant-Size X-Men boxed Set Colossus. It’s a pretty cut and dry case of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” so it works nicely for the character. The lack of any other add-ons means that he’s a rather scrawny looking version of the character, which other versions have avoided. Colossus’s paint is at least a bit better than Wolverine. His colors are pretty good, though the red might be a touch too bright for this look. The detail lines are pretty nice, though not as sharp as they could be in a few areas. The choice to put the belt on the torso makes the waist seem too long, but at least it’s nicely rendered. Colossus included no accessories.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up this set from a friend’s local comicbook store during a black Friday sale. I’m pretty sure I got it for slightly less than retail, which is probably a good thing. It was actually the first variant set I was able to track down, which is unfortunate to say the least. All in all, it’s not the worst set ever, but it’s one that’s seriously lacking. It’s fortunate that the line was able to move past this series and become better and more successful.

#0426: Jonathan Barnet & Nukpana

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

JONATHAN BARNET & NUKPANA

CALICO JACK MINIMATES

A few years ago, when Diamond was first starting to push Minimates as a brand with some serious legs, they decided to move beyond just releasing licensed product. They had some pretty significant success with their MAX Elite Heroes line, which offered generic police officers, firefighters, and divers, so they moved on to some more experimental lines, such as Calico Jack, a line of pirates. The line was a lot of fun, but it never really took off, sadly. Today, I’ll be looking at the two of the line’s figures, Jonathan Barnet & Nukpana.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released as a two-pack in the first (and only) series of Calico Jack Minimates, which were carried exclusively at Toys R Us.

JONATHAN BARNET

“Captain Jonathan Barnet, commander of the British Navy’s Man-O-War Albion, is a very formidable seaman and pirate hunter. Coming from a very well to do family, Captain Barnet holds tradition and the Crown in very high regard. He finds his time with Jack to be very distasteful.” Barnet is a take on the straight-laced Navy men that crop up a lot in Pirate stories (like a certain Admiral Norrington from a certain Disney movie). The figure is about 2 ½ inches in height and he features 12 points of articulation. He’s built on the standard Minimate body, with a special set of feet, as well as add-ons for his hat, coat/cape, and gloves. The boots first saw use on the Marvel Minimates Dark Avengers Ares figure, and the gloves showed up in the Captain America Through the Ages Set. The other pieces are new to this figure, and they are really impressive. There’s some very nice, ornate work, and it looks great. The figure’s paintwork is pretty good. The only detail line work is on the face, which has pretty much the perfect look for the uptight naval officer. The rest of the paint is basic color work, which is all pretty good. There’s some slop and a few fuzzy lines, but nothing too distracting. The figure was accessorized with a sword and a pistol, which are both very nicely sculpted.

NUKPANA

“Nukpana is one of Captain Jonathan Barnet’s crew. The struggle against the pirate plague has been a long and deadly affair and one that at times requires a special skill set. Nakpana came to Britain via the new Colonies…” Nukpana is a cool looking character, who seems to be based on characters like Ishmael and the like (though he’s technically Native American). He’s roughly 2 ½ inches tall and he has 12 points of articulation. The figure uses the standard body, with a unique set of feet and a blade in place of his right hand, as well as add-ons for his loincloth, hair, and left wrist guard. All of these pieces are new to this figure and they’re all very well sculpted. They feature even more detail than the pieces on Barnet, and they look really great. Nukpana features some rather impressive paintwork as well. He’s got some pretty decent base paint work, though there’s a little slop here and there. The detail lines are really well done, and his face just exudes character. This guy is pissed off. To top it all off, he’s got some pretty awesome tattoos on his face, arms and torso that really make this figure stand out. Nukpana includes an extra gun attachment which can be traded out for the blade, which is the same great quality and offers some nice variety.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up these two from TRU when the series was first released. I remember being pretty excited for the line and all the cool possibilities it offered. This set is a great example of just how great these figures were. The quality was there, the value was there, and the fun was there, but sadly, the fanbase wasn’t there.

#0425: Unmasked Spider-Man

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

UNMASKED SPIDER-MAN

MARVEL MINIMATES

Hey, look, more Minimates! So, yeah, the next few days are going to be Minimates reviews. Not anything new, but the randomized list sometimes spits out a few of them in a row. Hope you guys don’t mind me rambling on some more about them….

So, for this review, I’m going was back into the early days of Marvel Minimates, back when the concept of what constituted a unique figure was rather different than what it is today. So, without further ado, I present Unmasked Spider-Man.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Unmasked Spider-Man was released in a two-pack with Doctor Octopus in Series 4 of Marvel Minimates. Ock is MIA, so it’ll just have to be Spidey this time. This figure’s shtick is exactly what it says on the tin: he’s a Spider-Man without the mask. Of course, nowadays the unmasked head is just an extra piece included with just about every Spider-Man, but back then figures had a lot fewer extras. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall, and he features 14 points of articulation. He uses the standard body of the first 7 series, which it should be noted featured feet that were longer and had no peg holes for stands. It was a darker time. Anyway, the figure also features an add-on piece for the hair, which was sculpted specifically for this figure and never turned up anywhere else. It’s an okay piece, but it seems like it shrunk a bit compared to the prototype. It has a little trouble staying on, and it looks like he’s got a receding hairline. The figure’s paint is actually pretty great. From the neck down, he’s the same as the Series 2 Spider-Man, which set the standard for what the line could do. While the figure’s lack of any musculature dates him a bit, the weblines are nice and clean, and the go all the way around, which the current Spider-Men don’t tend to have. The face isn’t terrible, though he certainly looks angry about something. Unmasked Spider-Man included a backpack made out of webs, which is actually a pretty neat accessory.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Unmasked Spider-Man was one of my earlier Minimate purchases. I remember I hadn’t actually gotten a regular Spider-Man yet, so this one served as my basic Spider-Man for a while. In retrospect, it’s not the most exciting Minimate, but at the time I was particularly fond of this one. Truth be told, all of the early Spider-Men were pretty outstanding examples of what the line had the potential to be.

#0418: Back to the Future Part II Minimates

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

MARTY MCFLY, DOC BROWN, BIFF TANNEN & DISGUISED MARTY

BACK TO THE FUTURE MINIMATES

Minimates are really great, just based on how many properties you can get in one style thanks to them. In many cases, they’re the only way of getting toys from popular movies, as was the case for the longest time with Back to the Future. The first Back to the Future set was something of an experiment for Diamond, to see how boxed sets based on popular movies would do. It was a break away hit, ending up selling out pretty much everywhere. So, naturally Diamond continued on to the next two films in the trilogy. They weren’t quite the success of the first set, but they did alright. Today, I’ll be looking at set number two.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These four figures were released as a boxed set, the second in the line. All of the figures are based on the looks seen in Back to the Future Part II.

MARTY MCFLY – FUTURE

Marty is the star of the movies, and he has a fair number of looks over the course of the three films, so he was a natural fit for multiple figures. His first figure in this set is based on his appearance while he’s exploring the 2015 timeline. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and he’s got 14 points of articulation. He’s built on the standard Minimate body, with a unique set of feet to represent Marty’s self-lacing shoes, as well as add-ons for his jacket and hair. All of these pieces were new to this figure, though the feet and hair would see a few re-uses down the line. All of the pieces are well sculpted, thought the hair seems a little bit off for Michael J Fox. The paint is okay, but not amazing. Everything is clean, and there’s some great detail work on the clothing. Unfortunately, the face looks nothing like Fox, and it’s only compounded when added to the hair. I don’t really know what happened, but that’s just not him. Marty included a hoverboard that, aside from the forgivable omission of the Mattel logo, is a spot on recreation of the one from the movie.

DOC BROWN

Doc was a very close second to Marty in terms of role in the films, so it’s no surprise that he made his way into each of the boxed sets. Like the previous Marty, this figure is based on Doc’s appearance in the scenes set in 2015 (and also the end of the first movie). Doc is roughly 2 ½ inches tall and he has the typical 14 points of articulation. He uses the standard body, but he has his own unique head, as well as an add-on for his jacket/shit/tie. Both pieces were new to this figure, and only the head has seen re-use. The both are well sculpted, although the holes in the temples are a little distracting. The paint work on Doc is quite nice. Everything is nice and clean. The slightly iridescent yellow used for the coat looks fantastic. The detail lines are all nice and sharp, and the likeness on this figure is much better than the one on Marty. Doc includes a pair of sunglasses that hook into the holes on the head. They look fine, but they sit a little too low, and it would be nice if there were a way to have them at the top of his head like they are for most of the movie.

BIFF TANNEN

Biff starts out the series as a rather despicable character, but he goes practically into supervillain mode in Part II. This particular figure represents Biff in the alternate 1985, after old Biff has altered the time line. He represents Biff at his worst, so he’s a pretty good choice for a figure. The figure is about 2 ½ inches in height and sports 14 points of articulation. The figure makes use of the standard body, along with add-ons for the jacket/shirt and the hair. Both pieces are new to this figure, and they are very well sculpted. The only thing that’s a little off is that the hair is perhaps a little too full in the back. 1985 Biff had a very definite bald spot. Biff’s paint is good, if a little drab. That’s true to the movie, so I suppose there’s no room for complaint. At the very least, the face looks a fair bit like Thomas Wilson’s Biff, so that’s good. Biff included no accessories. It would have been nice to at least get the Almanac or even the revolver he tries to shoot Marty with. Oh well.

MARTY MCFLY – DISGUISED

The second Marty in this set is based on Marty’s look in the second half of the film, after he’s travelled back to the 50s again. In order to avoid his past self, who’s already there, he has to wear a disguise. The figure is a little over 2 ½ inches tall with the hat, and he has 14 points of articulation. He’s built on the standard Minimate body, with add-ons for his hat/hair and his jacket. Both pieces are new to this figure, and they both look pretty good overall. The hat might sit just a tad bit too high, but it’s not terrible. The jacket is a nice, basic leather jacket, and it ended up being re-used a few times. Marty’s paintwork is decent. His torso, waist, and legs are identical to Future Marty, which makes sense, I suppose. He’s got some decently detailed shoes, which is cool, but he’s got the same likeness issue with the face that the other Marty had. Disguised Marty included no accessories, which is a shame. An extra, sunglass wearing head or a walkie talkie would have been cool.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After missing out on the first set, I was a little discouraged about getting the rest of the figures. Fortunately, not long after the release of the third set, I was able to find the later two boxed sets, as well as two of the supplementary two-packs, at Baltimore Comicon. While the Marty likenesses are disappointing, and there could definitely be a few more accessories, this is a pretty decent set.

#0411: Mutagen Michelangelo

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

MICHELANGELO – MUTAGEN

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES MINIMATES

Okay, here we are. Last Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Minimates review! Coincidentally, I’m wrapping things up with Michelangelo again. But, didn’t I already review Michelangelo? Yes, but something that is quite common with toylines, especially those based on the TMNT, is the tendency to release the main characters in wacky variant form. So, without further ado, he’s Mutagen Michelangelo!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mutagen Mikey is the other of the two figures exclusively available in the K-Mart assortment of Series 1 of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Minimates. Originally, this figure was slated to be the exclusive in the specialty assortment, but a mix up led to him and Mutagen Raph swapping places. Mikey is roughly 2 ½ inches tall and has 12 points of articulation. He’s sort of based on the current cartoon look, but I don’t think that Mikey’s ever been transparent green on the show, so I’d say some liberties were taken. Sculpturally, he’s exactly the same as the regular Mikey. For a breakdown of that, head over to that review. It’s interesting to see what different coloring and a lack of paint can do for a sculpt. Looking at this figure, especially the shell, it seems that any issues with “soft” details on the regular Turtles have to do with thick paint, not actual sculpt problems. Paint on this figure is much more simplified compared to the others. He’s molded in clear green, with paint on his mask, as well as detail lines for the eyes mouth, and freckles. The detail lines are quite clean, which is pretty much business as usual for Minimates. While the figure has less paint overall, it results in an overall cleaner look, which really helps the figure. Mikey includes a pair of nunchucks in clear green, a keychain attachment, and a manhole cover display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Mutagen Mikey is the last of the 11 blind bagged figures I got from K-Mart. I have to admit, I’m a sucker for clear green plastic, so this guy just really appeals to me. It’s also really great to see the turtle sculpt without the iffy paint apps. All in all, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Minimates are a fun addition to the Minimates brand. There’s definitely some room for improvement, and I wouldn’t mind a move to something other than blind bags (there’s already some good news there; seems TRU will be getting two-packs), but these Minimates have been a lot of fun.