Tag Archives: Minimates

#0305: Yondu & Sakaar Trooper

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

YONDU & SAKAAR TROOPER

MARVEL MINIMATES

Sakaaran&Yondu1

Guardians of the Galaxy was an awesome movie. Minimates are one of the greatest toylines of all time. These are indisputable facts. Sorry if you disagree, but that’s just how it is. So, the combination of these two things can be nothing if not amazing!

The Guardians of the Galaxy Minimates are a subset of Diamond Select Toys’ flagship Marvel Minimates line. Their just starting to hit stores, starting with the Toys R Us assortment. Today, I’ll be looking at Yondu and the Sakaar Trooper.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Yondu and the Sakaar Trooper are the exclusive set from the TRU assortment of Guardians of the Galaxy Minimates. The Sakaar Trooper will also be packed with Nebula in Marvel Minimates Series 57, making Yondu the only true TRU exclusive.

YONDU

Sakaaran&YonduWilson2Yondu holds the honor of being the only of the original Guardians of the Galaxy to appear in the film. He also ended up being the character that had perhaps the most changes made to him. I guess the world just wasn’t ready for a blue-skined 30th century archer who sports a 2 foot red mohawk and spandex. And that’s a shame. The Minimate is of course based on the film version of the character. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and features 14 points of articulation. He uses the standard Minimate body, with all new pieces for Yondu’s “mohawk” and scavenger jacket. Both pieces are well sculpted and look accurate to the source material. Perhaps the details on the jacket could be a bit sharper, but that feels a bit nit-picky. The painted details on Yondu are top-notch. Even with blue skin and red eyes, that’s definitely Michael Rooker’s face. Yondu’s uniform is also quite impressive. There’s tons of folds, straps, pouches and zippers present, which really helps the figure convey the “scavenger” look. The Mohawk piece is red, which isn’t quite right to the movie, where it was a silver piece that glowed red, but I actually prefer the red. Yondu’s only accessory is a clear display stand. It’s a little disappointing that he didn’t get any of his little console doodads, or at the very least his golden arrow, but I suppose the line has to be drawn somewhere.

SAKAAR TROOPER

Sakaaran&YonduWilson1The Sakaar are yet another alien race elevated to movie-dom thanks to Marvel Studios not having the rights to all the top-notch aliens.  They and the Chitari must just laugh it up every time the Skrulls and the Baddoon stop by! The Sakaar Trooper stands 2 ½ inches tall and features 14 points of articulation. The Sakaar Trooper is built on the base Minimate body, with the addition of a newly sculpted helmet. The helmet is a decent piece. It has the look of a rough sculpt, but that’s pretty accurate to the look of the Sakaar from the movie. The rest of the figure’s details are handled via painted details. They’ve done a pretty great job of boiling down the rather complex Sakaar design into a basic set of painted details. Like Groot, the Sakaar Trooper features some rather extensive texture detailing that wraps around many of the surfaces. The Sakaar Trooper includes a blaster and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I purchased this set at the same time as yesterday’s Drax, Groot & Rocket. This being the exclusive set, it was the one I was actually looking for at TRU. Yondu’s a pretty cool ‘mate of a pretty cool character, so I’m glad to have gotten a hold of him. The Sakaar Trooper isn’t the most exciting Minimate, but he could be worse. Maybe he’ll be cooler when I have two of him…

#0304: Drax, Groot & Rocket Raccoon

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

DRAX, GROOT & ROCKET RACOON

MARVEL MINIMATES

GrootRocketDrax1

Hey, you know how Guardians of the Galaxy was an awesome movie? Were you aware that, being a Marvel movie, it’s guaranteed to get its own assortment of Minimates? Did you know I love Minimates?

Yes, I love Minimates, and I also loved Guardians of the Galaxy. Put those together, and you’ve got a product I just can’t resist. The Minimates for the movie are just starting to hit, and I’ve already begun to pick them up. Today, we’ll be starting off with Drax, Groot & Rocket Raccoon. Wait a second… three minimates? Not two or four? How is this possible? Read and find out…

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Drax, Groot & Rocket are one of the overlap sets from Daimond’s two assortments of Guardians of the Galaxy Minimates. They’re included in both the Toys R Us assortment and Marvel Minimates Series 57, which ships to comicbook stores and specialty shops. My set comes from TRU, as the specialty sets haven’t been released just yet.

DRAX

GrootRocketDrax2Amazingly, this isn’t the first Drax Minimate I’ve reviewed here. Way back in review #0162, I took a look at the classic comic version of the character released in the Infinity Gauntlet set. It’s safe to say that was a fairly different take on the character. This version of Drax is based on the movie version, which is in turn based on the character’s more recent design. Drax is more specifically meant to represent Drax from the middle point of the film, after they escape from the Kyln, but before they get matching uniforms. Drax stands about 2 ½ inches tall and features 14 points of articulation. He’s built on the standard Minimate body, and features 4 sculpted add-ons: a bulked up torso, a waist cover, and a pair of big stompy boots. The torso has previously been used on figures such as the Best-Of version of Venom and the waist piece has been used on more figures than I can count. The waist piece works, as Drax is definitely meant to be a thick guy, but I’m not sure about the chest piece. On its own, it’s alright, but coupled with the really skinny arms, it looks very out of place. As far as I can tell, the big stompy boots are new. They’re well sculpted, so that’s good. Drax’s paint work is good from a technical stand point. Everything is clean and there’s no real slop or bleed over. I do wish that his skin were a brighter green and the tattoos were a bit bolder, just so he wasn’t quite so muddled, but it doesn’t look bad, per say, just a bit drab. I guess he’s a Drab Drax… heh heh. Drax comes armed with twin knives and a clear display stand.

GROOT & ROCKET RACCOON

GrootRocketDrax3If there’s one thing everyone can agree on about Guardians of the Galaxy, it’s that these two stole the whole movie. I think Groot in particular surprised a lot of audiences. So, you’re probably thinking “Why are you reviewing both Groot and Rocket at the same time?” Quite simply, it’s because only one of them’s a Minimate. I’ll start with Groot, because he’s actually the figure here. Groot is a little over 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 pointes of articulation. Like Drax, he uses the basic Minimate body, with unique pieces for his head, hands, and feet, as well as a torso extender add-on that’s seen use a few times. The new pieces are all pretty great. My only complaint is that the head has two tabs on the back to allow for Rocket to be propped on Groot’s shoulder. It’s an okay idea in theory, but it’s difficult to get Rocket to stay in place, and it leaves Groot with two rather noticeable tabs sticking out of his head. The paintwork on Groot is really great, and superbly detailed. His bark detailing even continues around the sides of his torso, which is certainly impressive. Groot comes with a clear display stand and Rocket. Rocket is about 1 ½ inches tall and is unarticulated. He has been sculpted to appear as though he has the same 14 points as the typical Minimate. He is sculpted holding a gun in one hand, with his arm outstretched. He’s well sculpted, and his paint isn’t too sloppy. It’d be nice if he could move, but I guess it’s good to have him at least.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

These three were purchased at a TRU not too far from the hotel I was staying at for a local convention. They capped off a pretty awesome night hanging with a few of my friends and Super Awesome Girlfriend. On our drive to dinner, my buddy Tim and I saw the TRU and insisted on going in. I found this set, as well as the exclusive Yondu & Sakaar Trooper and Star Lord & Ronan. I left Star Lord & Ronan there, as it’s a shared set, but I gave in to my impatience on these three. I just had to have Rocket and Groot! All three figures in this set are pretty impressive, even if there are a few small issues. I can’t wait to see how the rest of the main Guardians turn out!

#0263: Wolverine – Brown Costume, Woverine – Brood-Infected, & the Brood

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

WOLVERINE – BROWN COSTUME, WOLVERINE – BROOD-INFECTED, & THE BROOD

MARVEL MINIMATES

Wolverine&BroodBroodverine&Brood

Okay, it’s time for another review from the wonderful world of Minimates! Once again, the figures in today’s review hail from the flagship Marvel Minimates line, which is a pretty huge line of figures. This time around, it’s two versions of Wolverine and the alien race the Brood from the X-Men side of things. Let’s have a look!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Wolverine, the Brood, and Brood-infected Wolverine were released as part of Marvel Minimates Series 47, which was based around the “Outback” era of the X-Men comics during the 80s. Basic Wolverine was the basic release, with the Brood-Infected Wolverine as the one-per-case variant. One Brood was packed with each of the Wolverines.

WOLVERINE

This was this series’ normal Wolverine. He’s based on Wolverine’s brown costume, which he quite prominently wore for most of the 80s and a short period of the 90s. The figure is built on the standard Minimate body, so he stands about 2 ½ inches tall and features 14 points of articulation. The figure features a sculpted mask, belt, boots, and hands. All of these pieces have been used on previous figures, but given the similarities between this and other Wolverine looks, this is a completely understandable practice. Generally, they are the best available Wolverine pieces, so that works out well. The paint work on Wolverine is okay, but not the greatest. There are a few sloppy lines here and there, and my figure was missing the upper part of his left glove entirely. Obviously, the last one was an isolated incident, but it speaks poorly for the general quality control of this series. Wolverine includes a spare hair piece and a pulled down mask to hang on his shoulders. Both are new, which is impressive for a figure that is otherwise re-use.

WOLVERINE – BROOD INFECTED

The Brood infected wolverine is a tweak on the basic Wolverine in the series. He is meant to depict Wolverine in the midst of being transformed into one of the Brood. He’s in the brown costume, like the normal Wolverine, but this time around it’s a lot more greyed out, to match his different skin tone. Like the regular Wolverine, this one is built on the standard Minimate body and features a sculpted mask, belt, boots, and hands. The belt and hands are the same as those seen on the regular figure, but the mask and boots are different and in fact are brand new to this particular figure. Both pieces represent slightly more exaggerated proportions than the regular versions, which lend themselves more to the Brood-transformation. The paint work is okay, but not great. There aren’t any outstanding issues like with the normal version, but he still suffers from some fuzzy lines, and a few misplaced details. This Wolverine includes a pair of Brood tentacles, which can be put on in place of his normal hands.

THE BROOD

The Brood are one of the more prominent alien races to grace the pages of X-Men. They have quite a few similarities to the Xenomorphs of the Alien franchise, though, interestingly enough, I’m not a huge fan of them. This is meant to be a basic Brood drone, which is the most common design choice, and the one that is best to army build. The figure is sort of based on the base Minimate body, but he does not make use of anything below the waist. The figure makes use of several unique sculpted bits, and sits horizontal, so it measures a little under 2 inches in height and about 3 inches long, with 20 points of articulation, thanks to his six arms. The figure features a sculpted head, torso cover with ball joints for two extra arms on either side, a tendril on each arm, and a tail that plugs into the bottom of his torso. All of these pieces are new to the Brood, though the tendrils are shared with the infected Wolverine. They all work pretty well, though the head is more like a hat piece to the normal head, which makes it look odd when viewed from bellow. The paint work on the figure is mostly just the basic green-brown, with a few details on the head and tail. Everything is pretty clean, though there are a few instances of slop. The Brood includes no accessories.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As with many other Marvel Minimates sets, these two were purchased, along with the rest of their series, from my local comicbook store on the day of release. I was excited for the series overall, but these two sets were probably my least favorite. Initially, I hadn’t even intended to pick up the Brood-Infected Wolverine set at all, but when I saw them at the store, I figured they looked cool enough. I’m still not the biggest fan of the Brood, and that figure in particular pushes the use of the base body almost to its breaking point, but I can’t think of another way to translate the design. These sets gave us a pretty great version of Wolverine’s brown costume, a neat Brood-Infected version, and a decent Brood figure for those who are fans. All in all, I’d say these sets are a pretty decent win for the line.

#0261: Iron Patriot & Extremis Soldier

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

IRON PATRIOT & EXTREMIS SOLDIER

MARVEL MINIMATES

Extremis&Patriot

Minimates represent a large portion of my large collection of action figures, and Marvel Minimates are the backbone of the Minimates brand, so it’s no surprise that Marvel Minimates have a high frequency of review on this site. Add in the fact that the reviews are a little bit easier to write, and also tend to garner a decent sized number of page views, and you’ve got a winning combination.  So, today, I’ll once again being going back to the Minimates well, this time to review Iron Man 3’s Iron Patriot & Extremis Soldier. Let’s jump on in!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Iron Patriot and the Extremis Soldier were released in Marvel Minimates Series 49. The series was a tie-in to Iron Man 3, so it depicted characters from the movie. The set was also released in slightly different packaging in the Toys R Us exclusive Iron Man 3 assortment, making it the easiest to acquire of the movie sets.

IRON PATRIOT

Iron Patriot is the newer, friendlier name for Colonel James Rhodes’s War Machine armor. He’s a pretty pivotal character in the movie, so his inclusion here is a no-brainer. He’s built on the standard Minimate frame, which meads he features 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall. The figure features ten sculpted additions: helmet, chest plate, shoulders, hands, waist, boots, and shoulder cannon. All of these pieces are new to this figure, although they were shared with his Series-mate the War Machine 2.0. It’s a sensible set of parts to share, given that they’re actually the same armor with a different paint job. The sculpt is pretty decent, though all the add-ons do end up making him look just the slightest bit pudgy. The paint work is pretty good overall, but it’s not as great as other Minimate releases. The detail lines are all nice and clean, but the basic color layout is a bit sloppy, especially in the transitions between silver and the other colors. Underneath of the helmet is a fully detailed Rhodes face, which has a pretty decent Don Cheadle likeness and has nice and clean paint apps. Iron Patriot’s sole accessory is a basic clear display stand, but given the large amount of parts that went into his armor, that’s more than acceptable.

EXTREMIS SOLDIER

The Extremis Soldier doesn’t refer to a single character in Iron Man 3, but rather a whole subset of characters who were suped up on Extremis and working for the big bad. They were key to the final battle of the movie, and Diamond has created a hodge-podge of looks to simulate the soldier in a generic way that allows a collector to have a few in a group. The figure is built on the standard frame, just like Iron Patriot, so he has the same height and articulation. The Extremis soldier incudes a sculpted hairpiece, vest, and holster. All three of these pieces are re-use. The hair originally appeared on Series 24’s Shocker, the holster comes from Series 27’s Nick Fury, and the vest comes from the first version of Trench Mauser from the Expendables line. The pieces offer a pretty good approximation of the kind of stuff the soldiers wore. The paintwork on the Extremis soldier is quite good, better than Iron Patriot for sure. All of the line work is nice and clean, and the Extremis details present on the face, torso, and shoulders looks great. The Extremis Soldier includes a pistol, which we’ve seen a few times before, and a spare blonde hairpiece, originally seen on Series 35’s Happy Hogan, which allows for an alternate look.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like most of my Minimates purchases, I picked up Iron Patriot and the Extremis Soldier as soon as they were available, which would have been a week or two after the release of Iron Man 3. Although the paint is a little bit sloppy on Patriot, he’s a nice bold design that really stands out on the shelf, and he’s got some really great sculpted pieces. Add in a pretty sweet looking Extremis Soldier who has several potential looks, and you’ve got a set that’s pretty much a winner!

Extremis&PatriotAlt

#0258: Batgirl & Bane

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

BATGIRL & BANE

DC MINIMATES

Bane&Batgirl

One of the great tragedies for many Minimates collectors was the cancellation of DC Direct’s DC Minimates after only eight series. Not only did the line present us with definitive versions of many of DC’s top characters, it also gave us some wacky side characters like Ambush Bug and Ma Hunkel, and it was the first Minimate line to push the envelope in terms of sculpting. However, the line was met with its fair share of difficulties, most notably hitting shelves when Minimates were at a low point and being gone just before they hit it big. Still, we got a decent 64 figure run, and that’s certainly better than nothing. Today I’ll be looking at two figures from the Batman side of things, Batgirl and Bane.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Batgirl and Bane were released as part of the fourth series of DC Minimates. They’re an odd pair, seing as the two have never actually met. Heck, they didn’t even exist at the same time! Anyway, they’re both Batman characters, I guess.

BATGIRL

Batgirl is built on the basic Minimate body, so she stands about 2 ½ inches tall and features 14 points of articulation. She’s based on the Barbra Gordon version of the character, in her second costume. She features a sculpted mask, cape, belt and gloves. The cape and gloves were previously used on both the series one and series three Batmen, as well as being used before that in the DC C3 line. The mask and belt are new, so as to properly depict her exposed hair and more elaborate belt design. The paint work is pretty clean on Batgirl, with no real slop, and some very sharp line work on all the transitions. This set was released during the period of time when Minimates were using full slip over masks for everyone, even characters that only had half masks, so Batgirl got a full face mask. Some figures took advantage of this and gave the figure a different facial expression on the unmasked head. Sadly, Batgirl didn’t do this, which is a shame, as it would have the unmasked face be Barbra in full librarian mode. Batgirl includes a pair of bat-cuffs and a spare hair piece to display her unmasked.

BANE

Bane demonstrates one of the unique traits of the DC Minimates line: use of the larger Minimate body. The body features the same articulation and relative proportions, but is about a half an inch taller than the basic body. So, DC used it for larger characters such as Bane here. Bane features three sculpted parts: mask, belt, and wrist gauntlet with tube that plugs into the mask. All of these pieces are new to Bane, mostly due to his use of the larger body. All of the pieces accurately capture Bane’s look from the comics, so kudos to them on that. The paint work is pretty good overall, though there a few issues. The shirt features black detailing with gray highlights, but on the edges of the torso, the gray highlights have been missed, leaving their spots flesh-toned. Also, the sides of the shirt don’t quite line up with the front. Finally, the mask, while well detailed, seems to sit a bit too low, which gives him an abnormally large head. Under the mask, there’s a fully detailed face with hair, which Is a nice touch I suppose, though I hardly see anyone displaying him this way.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As with the rest of the DC Minimates line, I purchased these two as soon as they were released. While I think they’re both well done figures, I remember being disappointed in general by the lineup for Series Four, as well as baffled by the choice to pack these two together. It’s a cool set, but it’s hard to tell what audience they were aiming for, as the two figures present appeal to two different sensibilities.

#0238: Gambit & Psylocke

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

PSYLOCKE & GAMBIT

MARVEL MINIMATES

Gambit&Psylock

When in doubt, I always turn to Minimates. I find the reviews to generally be a bit easier to write and I can be a little more enthusiastic about them, so they make for better writing in general (at least I sure hope so…). Today marks another Marvel Minimates review. This time around, I’m pulling from the great big world of X-Men with loveable rogue (who is coincidentally loved by Rogue) Gambit, and psychic fighter Psylocke!

THE FIGURES THMSELVES

Psylocke and Gambit were released in series 28 of Marvel Minimates. Originally, this was meant to be series 26 and it would have served as a loose tie-in to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but it was pushed back to 28 when Diamond picked up the license to do Minimates directly from the movie.

PSYLOCKE

Psylocke is built on the basic Minimate body, which, means she stands about 2 ½ inches tall and she has 14 points of articulation. She’s based on Psylocke’s Jim Lee designed look from the early 90s, right around the time that she became Japanese (just go with it). She features two sculpted add-ons: a hair piece and a sash. The hair was originally sculpted for one of the BSG Starbucks, but it was actually released on Psylocke first. The sash may be a re-use, but I don’t know for sure. The paint work is pretty good overall, no slop or bleed over to speak of. One issue is the face seems a bit too narrow, like the paint mask wasn’t applied properly. Psylocke includes a katana, previously seen with Blade, and a “psy knife” which slips over her hand peg.

GAMBIT

Like Psylocke, Gambit is also built on the basic Minimate body. He’s based on Gambit’s default look through much of the 80s and 90s, which is the look most people associate with the character. The figure features a brand new trench coat piece, an all-new hair/headband piece, and a set of new boots. Lots of new stuff.  I do kind of wish that the bib wasn’t a part of the coat, but it looks pretty good. I do love how well they captured Gambit’s mop of unruly hair. The paint work is passable. There’s a bit of slop on the hands, and his face seems a tad too high on the head, but the torso detailing and the pink squares on the legs look great. Gambit included two spate hands with different charged cards and his fighting staff.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This is another set of Minimates I picked up from Cosmic Comix when it was first released. I had eagerly been awaiting series 28, especially after taking part in and winning several prizes in a contest to guess this and series 25’s lineups. This isn’t my favorite version of Psylocke, but it’s not too bad, and Gambit is a character I’ve had an attachment to ever since the 90s animated series.

#0237: Agent Jasper Sitwell & Batroc

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

AGENT JASPER SITWELL & BATROC

MARVEL MINIMATESJasper&Batroc

Today marks the final entry in my reviews of the Captain America: The Winter Soldier Minimates. It’s okay. We can get through this together. I started off a bit rocky with Classic Cap & Winter Soldier, regained some of my momentum with Black Widow & Falcon, and was more than pleased with Stealth Cap & Rumlow, but the excitement I have for this series has remained with me throughout all of my reviews. I’m a little sad that there aren’t a never ending supply of these figures to review, but I think I’ve saved the best for last here. Today, I’ll be looking at Agent Jasper Sitwell & Batroc. Due to the nature of this set, I’ll be getting into some SPOILERS for the movie, so if you haven’t seen it yet, you’ve been warned.

 

 

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Agent Sitwell and Batroc were released in Marvel Minimates Series 55, which was a tie-in to Captain America: The Winter Soldier. This set was released one per case, so it’s a little harder to come by than the other three.

AGENT JASPER SITWELL

JasperSitwellIn the comics, Jasper Sitwell was the SHIELD agent assigned to Tony Stark, he drove a flying car, and he was meant to be that “normal” guy amongst the crazy. Sound familiar? Yeah, Jasper was the proto-Coulson. When Coulson took his place in the movie-verse, I just assumed he’d be replacing Jasper outright. But, Marvel decided to put Jasper in the mix anyway, and he served as a supporting character in Thor and the first three Marvel One-Shots, before showing up on Agents of SHIELD, and eventually in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which proved to be his end, after he was revealed to be a covert Hydra agent. But, hey maybe he’s actually working for SHIELD…. and he could have totally survived being thrown in front of an oncoming tractor trailer. Yeah, I’m sure he’s fine.  Jasper was built on the standard Minimate body, so he has 14 points of articulation, and he stands about 2 ½ inches tall. He’s a mostly vanilla figure, with just a sculpted coat piece and tie, which have been seen on numerous suited figures before him. They do their job well enough, and look appropriate for a standard issue SHIELD suit. Paint is also pretty basic, with some paint for his tie and belt buckle, which look pretty decent, though there is some slop on the shirt collar from the tie. The best part of the figure is the detailing on the face, which is a spot on likeness of Maximiliano Hernàndez. Truly amazing work. Jasper includes a hand gun, a briefcase, and a clear display stand.

BATROC

BatrocGeorges Batroc, or as he’s known in the comics “Batroc the Leaper” (Batroc ze Leper if you go heavy on the French accent), is a character I never thought I’d see on the big screen. Even when I heard he was in the movie, I assumed he’d just be some generic thug who dressed in black. There was no way he’d actually leap around, right? Or wear even a semblance of his comic book costume, right? Well, I was wrong, and I’ve never been happier to be so. Batroc’s fight with Cap near the beginning is one of my favorite parts of the movie, hands down. Batroc is presented here in his look from that portion of the movie. He’s built on the standard Minimate body, with sculpted vest, belt, and holster add-ons. The holster is a re-use from Series 45’s Maria Hill, but the vest and belt look to be all-new. They look great, and are very accurate to Batroc’s gear from the film. Batroc features some superb paint work, with nearly every surface covered in detail. Most impressive is his head, which features his five-o-clock shadow and his buzz cut, both depicted through some excellent use of pointillism (every once in a while, my former art major kicks in). I also love the fact that the yellow and purple detailing of the uniform continues under the vest, giving you a decent start to a comic styled Batroc if you want one. Batroc includes a hand gun, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Sadly, due to their one per case nature coupled with my being out of town, I was unable to get Jasper and Batroc with the rest of Series 55 from my local comicbook store (It’s okay, I’m fairly certain I know who got the set, and I know it went to a good home.) Fortunately, I was able to get ahold of one from Luke’s Toystore, my favorite Minimates retailer. I’m glad I was able to get this set because it’s the highlight of the series for me. Sure, the others are all solid sets, and I wouldn’t want to have missed any of them, but this set just makes me smile. Diamond could have easily phoned it in on these two, but they really brought their A-game, and this set is total win because of it.

I just wrote over 800 words about a Jasper Sitwell & Batroc the Leaper two-pack. Based on their appearance in a multi-million dollar film, no less! I cannot begin to tell you how much that thrills me.

BatrocVSCap

#0236: Captain America – Stealth Uniform & Brock Rumlow

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA – STEALTH UNIFORM & BROCK RUMLOW

MARVEL MINIMATES

Cap&Rumlow

You’ve read my reviews for the first two sets in the Captain America: The Winter Soldier Minimates line-up. Today’s part three. The excitement from the first two parts still remains, but I think I’ve gotten pretty good at keeping my composure. Hopefully. Anyway, I’m looking at yet another Captain America, plus SHIELD agent Brock Rumlow *SPOILER*

…one of the movie’s villains. Do they keep the excitement going? Let’s find out!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Cap and Rumlow were released as part of Marvel Minimates Series 55, which was done as a tie-in to this summer’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

CAPTAIN AMERICA – STEALTH UNIFORM

CapStealthCap is built on the standard Minimate body, which means he stands about 2 ½ inches tall and features 14 points of articulation. He’s based on Cap’s stealth look from the movie, which has also been referred to as his “STRIKE Team” look. It’s what he wears during the film’s opening mission and during most of his scenes at the SHIELD headquarters, and it’s also the look seen on most of the promotional stuff for the movie. To convey this look, the figure features sculpted helmet, shoulder harness, wrist straps and belt add-ons, in addition to the base Minimate body. The wrist straps appear to be a re-use from Series 34’s 90s Cyclops, but everything else looks to be brand-new to this figure. Everything seems to be accurate to Cap’s look in the film, and there is plenty of sculpted detail work on each piece. The paint work on Cap is pretty good, though there are a few spots of error. The silver detailing of the “A” on his helmet doesn’t quite line up with the sculpted boarders and there are a few instances of underlying colors not lining up with the detail lines. Also, the wings on the sides of his helmet have been left unpainted, but this seems to be consistent across all versions of this figure. Other than that, the paint work is very nice. All the detail lines are nice and crisp, the likeness on the face presents and uncanny resemblance to Chris Evans, and some of the small details on the uniform are nothing short of amazing. Cap is accessorized with a spare hairpiece, an extra hand for holding the shield, a display stand, and, of course, his mighty shield, this time in stealth colors.

BROCK RUMLOW

RumlowRumlow is built on the same base body as Cap, which means he has the same articulation and relative height. For those of you less in the know with Cap stuff, Rumlow is a SHIELD agent destined to become the villain Crossbones, who worked as the Red Skull’s right-hand man and has been a recurring Captain America villain for many years. His figure here is based on his look in the movie, in his “pre-Crossbones” form, and specifically takes Rumlow’s look from the movie’s final act. A lot of the figures in this series take their looks from that portion of the movie, so it’s nice to see Rumlow stick with the theme. Rumlow features sculpted hair, vest, belt, and holster add-ons to aid with the look. The hair is a re-use from Series 17’s Eddie Brock, and the holsters are from Series 45’s Maria Hill. The belt might be a re-use, but it’s a bit too generic for me to tell. The vest appears to be an all-new piece. All of these parts go together well, and result in a pretty much spot on figure of the character. The paint work on Rumlow is good, but not spotless. The paint on his gloves is splotchy and the edges of his boots have very fuzzy lines, but the detail work is superb, just like the rest of the series. The vest can be removed to show the straps that he had under his vest in the movie, which is a nice touch. Rumlow is accessorized with two hand guns, a sub machine gun, his electro-shock thingy, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I’ve mentioned in previous reviews, I was out of town for the release of this series. Thankfully, my dad was nice enough to get a set of them for me, which was very cool of him. I really liked Cap’s stealth suit in the movie, so I’m happy to see that it turned out well, and that it wasn’t plagued by the same paint issues as the Classic Cap. I was also happy to get Rumlow, who has been over looked by other lines based on the movie. He was a fairly important character in the movie, and the Minimate is a great representation of him. All in all, this set is more in line with Widow and Falcon, which is a good thing. I’m happy to see Diamond putting such amazing work into this line.

#0235: Black Widow & Falcon

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

BLACK WIDOW & FALCON

MARVEL MINIMATES

Widow&Falcon

Okay, so I already went through my immense excitement at the existence of Captain America: The Winter Soldier Minimates yesterday. I shan’t subject you to that again. I’m still really excited, but I’m keeping my composure. Promise. Today, I’ll be looking at Cap’s two most trusted allies in the film, and the biggest push for me to get the Minimates: Black Widow and Falcon!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Widow and Falcon were released as part of Marvel Minimates Series 55, which was released as a tie-in series for Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

BLACK WIDOW

Widow

Black Widow is built on the standard Minimate body. This means she features 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall. She’s presented here in her SHIELD jumpsuit look that she sports early in the film and in the final act. I was actually a bit surprised by how little she has this look, but it’s definitely the one to go for if you’re doing an action figure. She features six sculpted add-ons: hair, belt, two holsters, and two widow’s stingers. The holsters where originally used on the Avengers movie version of Widow, but I believe everything else is new to this figure. I was actually a bit surprised to see a new sculpt for the stingers, but I guess they thought they could use an update. The new pieces all look pretty great, with nice detail work and a decent amount of accuracy to the movie. The paint on Widow is pretty great. The detail lines are all really sharp, and the base paint is better here than it was on Cap. I did notice some slight bleed over from the whites of her eyes, but it’s actually not too bad, and it’s hardly noticeable. I also love the fact that they’ve given her a more “battle-ready” facial expression, as opposed to the more vacant expression a lot of female figures get. It really adds some character. Widow includes two hand guns and a clear display stand.

FALCON

FalconLike Widow, Falcon is built on the standard Minimate body, so he has the usual height and articulation. Falcon is based on the character’s look during the final act of the film. It’s the character’s true “Falcon” look, so it’s a good choice. He features eight sculpted add-ons: goggles, gloves, a jetpack/harness, two shoulder pad/upper wing pieces, and two lower wing pieces. With the exception of the gloves, which were previously seen on the Age of Ultron Nick Fury, all the pieces are brand new to Falcon. They all look pretty great, and are very accurate to the source material. I’ve seen a few complaints that the harness is too bulky, but the harness from the movie looks pretty bulky to me, so that seems about right. The paint work on Falcon is overall great, with one exception. While he head has a great likeness to actor Anthony Mackie, my figure has a clump of dried paint right on his forehead. Once the goggles are in place, it’s mostly unnoticeable, but it’s still kind of annoying. The rest of the paint work is really great, especially the camo work on his pants. Falcon includes two handguns (different from Widow’s), a flight stand, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Just like with Cap and Winter Soldier, I was out of town for the release of this series. My dad was nice enough to pick them up for me, which was super awesome of him. I was a little let down by the Cap in the Cap & Winter Soldier set, so I wasn’t sure how the rest of the wave would turn out. I’m happy to say that neither of the figures in this set suffer from the same issues as Cap. That’s very important to me, because having these two particular characters in the same scale is what had me so excited for the Minimates to begin with. These two certainly did not disappoint!

#0234: Captain America – Classic & Winter Soldier

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA – CLASSIC & WINTER SOLDIER

MARVEL MINIMATES

Cap&WinterSoldier

I love Minimates. That’s no secret. I also loved Captain America: The Winter Soldier (I’ve seen it six times). These are things that have been said many times on this site. So why bring them up? BECAUSE I JUST GOT THE MINIMATES FROM CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDER! Whoa, sorry about that. I’m very excited. You see, short of spending an insane amount of money on the Hot Toys figures, the Minimates are the only way to get all of the main characters in a single scale. Plus they’re Minimates! Today, I’ll be kicking off my reviews of the series with the film’s two title characters: Captain America and The Winter Soldier!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This set was released as part of Marvel Minimates Series 55, which was a series based on the Captain America: The Winter Soldier film released this summer.

CAPTAIN AMERICA – CLASSIC

CapClassic

Cap, like just about every other Minimate, is built on the standard Minimate body. As such, he stands about 2 ½ inches tall and features 14 points of articulation. This figure depicts Cap in his “classic” costume from the movie, which is the one he wears during the last act of the film. It’s essentially his uniform from The First Avenger, but it tweaks the stripes on the abdomen, brightens the brown areas, and ditches the holster and side-arm from that film. The figure features sculpted helmet and belt add-ons to help facilitate the look. Both of these pieces appear to be new to this figure, sharply sculpted and look spot on to the movie. The paint work on this figure is a bit mixed. To Diamond’s credit, the detail line work is nothing short of amazing. All the lines are nice and sharp, and the level of detailing is just great! They’ve even succeeded in giving us a pretty great Chris Evans likeness. Unfortunately, the base paint work is not so great. The ends of his gloves are very uneven, the colors routinely go out of detail lines, and you can see that the A on the helmet is pretty far off center. Also, my Cap’s helmet has a smear of silver across the nose, which is incredibly distracting. Cap includes a spare hair piece, his mighty shield, a hand to attach the shield to, and a clear display stand.

WINTER SOLDIER

WinterSoldierUnmaskedWinter Soldier is built on the same basic body as Cap, so he has all the same stats there. He depicts the main Winter Soldier look in the film, the same one shown on all the other WS merchandise. Given its presence in most of the Soldier’s important scenes, I’ve got no complaints there. Bucky features five sculpted add-ons: Mask/Hair, shoulder gear, belt, and a holster for both legs. These pieces all look to be new to this figure, and they all seem to do an admirable job replicating Bucky’s look in the movie. The mask perhaps sits a bit too low, but it’s not so low that it ruins the figure. Bucky seems to have come out a bit better than Cap in the paint department. Like Cap, all of the detail lines are really sharp, and the work on the legs in particular is quite impressive. The Sebastian Stan likeness is much better this time than it was on Diamond’s version of Bucky from the first film. On a side note: Am I the only one that didn’t really notice the eye shadow in the movie? I saw it in one or two scenes, but it was mostly absent. Yet, every single figure has it caked on there. Fortunately, it’s handled pretty well here, nowhere near the monstrosity that was the Hasbro version. The best part of this figure is his accessory selection. He’s armed to the teeth, with a sniper rifle, two sub machine guns, a hand gun, and two knives, plus an alternate hairpiece without the mask and a clear display stand thrown in for good measure! One additional thing I might have liked to have seen is a hair piece without the goggles, to replicate his look from his first fight with Cap, but I wouldn’t want to be too greedy.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This series was originally supposed to be released closer to the film’s opening weekend, but was met with a few delays. They were finally released the first week in June, while I happened to be out of town. Fortunately, my awesome dad picked them up for me the day they came out. He even brought them with him when he came to bring me home!

While I’m not quite as happy with the paint on Cap as I’d have liked, the overall work on these figures is pretty great, and Winter Soldier is at the very least the most accurate version of the character available, if not the best! I’m hopeful that the issues with Cap are more or less limited to my set, as I’d hate to see this be a widespread issue.