Tag Archives: Minimates

#0187: “World of the Psychic” Peter Venkman

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

PETER VENKMAN – WORLD OF THE PSYCHIC

GHOSTBUSTERS MINIMATES

I think most Ghostbusters fans will agree that Ghostbusters 2 isn’t anywhere close to the level of the original, however, it’s not as bad as some will lead you to believe. One of the cool things to see was just what all of the characters had been up to since the end of the first film. Peter Venkman seemed to get the most entertaining of gigs of all the main characters, working as the host of the show World of the Psychic, where we get to see him interacting with two people who believe they know when the world will end. It’s one of the more amusing scenes in the movie, and Diamond Select Toys decided to honor it with the release of Peter from that scene in Minimate form.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Peter was released as part of the third series of Toys R Us Exclusive Ghostbusters Minimates. He was packed with the film’s main villain, Vigo the Carpathian, but my Vigo figure’s gone missing, so it’s just Peter today. Peter is built on the usual Minimate body, which means he has 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall. He has two sculpted add-ons: a hairpiece, and a coat. The hair is the same piece used on the previous versions of Venkman, and the coat was a new piece, I think, but it has seen a fair number of re-uses since then. The paint is fairly basic, with mostly solid blocks of color on each piece, but he does have a decent Bill Murray likeness, this time with a more solemn expression, and he has funky red shoelaces on his shoes. Peter’s one accessory is a hairless cat, which is a great scene specific piece that could have been easily over looked.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up Venkman and Vigo from my local TRU. I believe it was an after school trip with my Dad during my senior year. It’s neat idea for a figure, I suppose, though it’s a bit drab and it will hardly be anyone’s definitive version of Venkman. Still, I suppose it’s not too bad.

#0178: Rogue & Beast

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ROGUE & BEAST

MARVEL MINIMATES

Sometimes two things come together in a way that’s more awesome than you can possibly imagine. Such was the case for me with Marvel Minimates series 34. Obviously, the mere fact that it’s Minimates makes it one of my favorite things, but in addition to that, this particular wave was based on Jim Lee’s early 90s work on X-Men. This means they happen to have the same designs as the versions of the characters present on X-Men: The Animated Series, the cartoon effectively responsible for getting me into superheroes and the toys that accompany.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

As noted in the intro, these two were released in Marvel Minimates series 34, and are based on Rogue and Beast’s appearance in the comics in the early 90s.

ROGUE

This isn’t the first time I’ve looked at a figure of Rogue based on this particular design; I’ve previously looked at Hasbro’s interpretation from their Marvel Universe line. As I said in that figure’s review, I think the costume is a good choice because it’s the one most people remember. She’s built on the standard Minimate body, so she has 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall. She features 6 sculpted add-on pieces: Hair/headband, rolled up sleeves, leather jacket/belt, and boots. The hair and jacket are brand new pieces and the rolled sleeves and boots are re-uses, seen several times in the line. The hair looks pretty much spot on to Rogue’s style of the time. The jacket isn’t bad, though it might be a bit bulky around the shoulders. The paintwork is cleanly applied for the most part. The detail lines are pretty much limited to the front of the torso and head, though she also has the appropriate x-logo on her right shoulder, which is nice to see because it often gets overlooked. Rogue included no accessories.

BEAST

For many people, this is the definitive version of Beast; a hulking, blue, furry guy in blue shorts with an x-logo and sporting some serious Wolverine-hair. I’m more partial to the more reserved George Perez styled Beast from when he was a member of the Avengers, but I certainly appreciate this look. He’s built on the usual Minimate body, like Rogue, so he has the same basic height and articulation. Beast features 9 sculpted pieces: hair, bulked up torso, elongated forearms, clawed hands, belt, and big, furry feet. The hands come from DC’s Cheetah, the forearms come from the sentinel released in the previous wave (more on that in a second), and the torso and belt are standard pieces; the hair and feet are new. The new pieces are great. The feet are just the right size, and while the hair may be a touch too big, it still looks good. The reused pieces are a bit of a mixed bag. The hands work fine, but the torso cover isn’t one of my favorites, mostly due to those shoulders. The forearms are odd, because they were initially used as blast-off hand pieces in the sentinel. They were cool there, but here they look way too long, giving the arms a strange set of proportions. Fortunately, they can be removed, which greatly improves the figure. The paint detailing is pretty good. I especially love the face, as it’s the perfect expression for Hank. The coloration is off on the bulked up torso, which is a bummer, but you can remove it to reveal a full set of details on the under-lying torso, so it’s not too bad. Beast includes a spare set of feet.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was pretty excited when this series was announced, but I will admit this set is just average at best. It’s easily the weakest of the wave, but it does have some redeeming features. The Rogue featured here is easily the definitive version of the character, and Beast is a passable version of a character who is severely lacking in alternative choices. It’s a solid set, and I’m certainly glad I have it.

#0176: Avengers Boxed set

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HULK, GIANT MAN, CAPTAIN AMERICA, & KANG

MARVEL MINIMATES

If there’s one toyline I like more than all others, it’s Minimates, particularly the Marvel Minimates subset. Frequent readers should be well aware of this fact, given the sheer volume of Marvel Minimates reviews present on this site. Anyway, I’ve got another Marvel Minimates review for today. This set is important in that it heralded the first release of long-demanded villain Kang!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This was one of two boxed sets released exclusively through the Disney Store in 2012. The sets were both Avengers related, in an attempt to tie into the movie release. The sets featured three all new figures packaged with five re-releases from Marvel Minimates series 44.

HULK

The Hulk is one of the three re-packs in this set. He’s based on his Professor Hulk incarnation, from Peter David’s run of Hulk. The basic idea was that Banner’s intelligence remained when he turned into the Hulk. It was a pretty big moment in the comics, and it definitely deserves a Minimate. This is actually the second Minimate of Professor Hulk, but the less said about the first one, the better. The figure is built on the standard Minimate body, with sculpted add-ons for bulk. He stands a little over 2 ½ inches tall and has 12 points of articulation. Most of the bulked up pieces are the same ones seen on other large characters, but he does feature a new set of feet, new hair, and it’s the first official release of the basic bulked up hands. All of the pieces look pretty good, and it’s nice to finally get a hairpiece that accurately resembles Hulks occasional bowl cut look. The paint work is good overall. There’s a bit of slop a few places, but all detail work is sharp. Hulk includes two rock slabs.

GIANT MAN

GiAnt Man is yet another of the repacks from this set. He’s based on George Perez’s redesign of the character from his and Kurt Busiek’s run on The Avengers in the 90s. The idea behind this redesign was creating a look that could easily morph between Hank’s Giant Man and Ant Man personas, hence the GiAnt Man title. It’s not a bad look, so its inclusion here is fair. He’s also built on the standard Minimates body, so he’s about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation. The number of add-ons depends on how you set him up, but amongst them are a Giant Man helmet, an Ant Man helmet, a belt, a torso extender, a pair of tall feet and a pair of short feet. The figure seems to be a case of better in concept than in execution, as the Giant Man set-up looks a bit strange, the Ant Man set-up is a bit too large, and neither helmet actually fits his face properly, leading to his mouth being too far down, making him look silly. The figure also includes a spare hairpiece to display him unmasked. It’s a re-use of Renfield’s hair from the Dracula set, and I’m not sure it quite fits Hank. Overall, this figure had some potential, but ends up being a bit of a mess.

 

CAPTAIN AMERICA

Cap is the final repack in this set. He based on Cap’s typical look, though it does take some of the more specific cues from George Perez’s work. The figure is on the standard body, so he’s got the usual stats. He features six sculpted add-ons: mask, glove cuffs, shield strap, and boots. All of these are reuse from previous Captains, but it’s kind of a case of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The paint work is all pretty good. Everything is nice and clean, and he’s even got little details, like the scales on his shirt or the blue shorts he’s sometimes depicted wearing over the pants. One area that is a bit off is the face, which seems a little bit angry looking for Cap. Other than that, he’s a pretty great standard Cap release. He includes his mighty shield (in metallic colors!), and a spare hairpiece, which is a re-use from one of the Back to the Future Marty McFly figures.

KANG

KAAAAANG!!! Yeah, he was a pretty big deal. Kang is the only exclusive figure in this set. For those of you who don’t know Kang, he’s one of the more pivotal Avengers foes. He was a conqueror from the future that came back in time to take over earlier. The Avengers of course would always stop him, as they do. For a quick explanation, I’d recommend checking out the character’s appearances in Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, which is currently available for streaming on Netflix. Kang is built in the standard Minimates body, so he has all the typical stats. He features 7 sculpted add-ons: helmet, gloves, shoulder armor, belt, and upper arms. The upper arms are the same ones seen on Betsy Braddock and the Hydra Elite. They aren’t my favorite piece, but they do work for depicting more billowy shirt material, which Kang does have. I think the rest of the pieces are new, though the gloves mightbe a re-use. The paint work on Kang is pretty good. Nothing spectacular, but it isn’t bad and everything is nice and sharp. Kang includes two guns and a pink teleportation stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was pretty excited about this set. The update on Professor Hulk was much needed, and the release of Kang was super cool! I wish Giant Man had been a bit better, but overall, this is a pretty good set. I got this set from Disney’s online store, as none of the Disney Stores near me carry Minimates. I like the idea of Disney exclusives, if it gets us cool sets like this, but they should definitely work on distribution.

#0162: The Infinity Gauntlet Minimates

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ADAM WARLOCK, MEPHISTO, DRAX THE DESTROYER, & THANOS

MARVEL MINIMATES

Have you guys had enough of a break from Minimates? No? Well, this is a bit awkward… I’ve already got the review written. I guess we’ll just power through!

Today, I’ll once again be pulling a set from the Marvel Minimates line, the line that keeps going and going. It’s like the Energizer Bunny! This is a boxed set from a few years back, and it’s one of the few ventures into the cosmic side of Marvel. I imagine that might change thanks to August’s Guardians of the Galaxy film.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These four were released back in 2009 as part of boxed set based on the classic cross-over series The Infinity Gauntlet. It features Adam Warlock, Mephisto, Drax, and the main man himself Thanos in their looks from the series.

ADAM WARLOCK

Adam Warlock is an interesting character. He was created back in the 90s by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby while they were working on Fantastic Four, but there he was just known as “Him.” It wasn’t until 1972 that he would acquire his name in a story written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Gil Kane. The character really came into some popularity under the helm of Jim Starlin, who would go on to use him as a prominent character in The Infinity Gauntlet. He’s presented in his third costume, which also happened to be the first time he actually had pants. So, yay for pants, I suppose. He uses the standard Minimate body, so that means he has 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall. He has 2 sculpted pieces: his hair and his cape. These were both new pieces to this figure. The hair has only been used with this figure, but the cape was actually shared with pack mate Drax. Both pieces look accurate to the source material, and have lots of very cool finer details. The paint work on the figure is passable, but not great. The detail work, especially the face look great, but some of the basic paint apps are sloppy or fuzzy. The collar of his cape gets hit the worst by this, with some pretty bad over bleed from the red of the rest of the cape. Warlock’s one accessory is his Karmic Staff. It’s appropriately detailed, and looks like a staff should.

MEPHISTO

Mephisto is the Devil. No, seriously, Mephisto is the Marvel universe version of the Biblical Devil. That’s pretty much his whole deal. He serves as an advisor of sorts to Thanos during The Infinity Gauntlet. Mephisto’s had two looks in the comics and they’ve gone with the original, which was a good move. The other design was from the 90s, and no one wants to see that. Mephisto is on the standard body with 5 sculpted add-on pieces: hair, cape, belt, and clawed hands. The clawed hands originally were released on the X-Men Origins: Wolverine version of Sabretooth. The cape, hair, and belt were new pieces, with the cape later being reused on the classic version of Mandarin. The new pieces really have some expertly handled detail work, which is impressive to see on a Minimate. The paint work is clean and well detailed. The face in particular looks spot on to Starlin’s interpretation of the character. Mephisto includes no accessories.

DRAX THE DESTROYER

Drax the Destroyer is the character in this set that will probably be a bit better known once Guardians of the Galaxy is released. Simply put, he’s a guy who was killed by Thanos and placed in robot body without any of his memories. He’s green, and he seems to like the color purple. Drax is on the typical body, and has 7 sculpted add-ons: cowl, cape, bracelets, pelvis add-on, and boots. The cape is shared with Warlock, the bracelets were originally released on Ocean Master, and the pelvis piece and boots have been used on numerous figures. The cowl is a new piece, though it appears it might be a re-tool of the helmet used on one of the Classic Iron Man releases. So, he’s a bit of a mix-and-match of parts, but it works. The paint work on Drax is pretty good. He’s better than Warlock, though there is still a little bit of slop. He has a butt-load of detail lines, though. I do wish his belt detailing continued down just a bit further, so he didn’t have that small green patch there. Otherwise, he’s a great figure. Drax includes no accessories.

THANOS

Thanos is the most important character in the set, being the wielder of the titular item. He’s also likely to be a pretty big character in the coming years, thanks to his recent play as a main antagonist in the recent mini-series Infinity, and his appearance post credits at the end of 2012’s The Avengers. This guy’s going places! Thanos is on the usual body, with 6 sculpted add-ons: helmet, torso cover, gauntlets, and boots. The boots were originally used on several figures from DC Minimates. Everything else was unique to this figure. Everything has some great detail work. Thanos is one of the few Minimates to actually have 10 defined fingers. I’m still uncertain of this move, but DST wanted to get the gems of the Infinity Gauntlet to line up properly, so this is what they went with. I also feel like the “helmet” is far too bulky. Thanos was usually depicted has having a rather small head compared to the rest of him, and this piece makes him look a bit like a bobble head. The paint on this figure is easily the worst in the set. The muscles on his torso are set too far down, and every instance of gold is sloppy and uneven, which really makes the figure look pretty bad. The face actually turned out nicely, but gets lost amongst the missteps of the rest of the figure. Thanos includes no accessories.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like with so many of the Minimates I own, this set was purchased from my local comicbook store upon its release. I really like Drax, and Warlock is still good despite his sloppy paint. Mephisto is great for fans of that character, but I’m not really one of those. Sadly, Thanos, who should have been the star of the set and is worth the big bucks on the aftermarket, is easily the worst in the set. He has some good qualities, but he’s a miss overall. Hopefully his newfound fame with general audiences will get him a re-do sooner rather than later. Overall, this wasn’t a bad set, and I hope Guardians of the Galaxy leads to us getting more sets like it.

#0160: Captain America & Absorbing Man

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CAPTAIN AMERICA & ABSORBING MAN

MARVEL MINIMATES

After another short break, I’m once again going back to my favorite toyline: Minimates.  Once again, I’m pulling a set from the Marvel Minimates line.  This set is one of the earlier sets in the line, and features the first releases of one very prominent character and one moderately well-known character.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This set was released in the 5th series of the Marvel Minimates line.  That was quite a while ago.

CAPTAIN AMERICA

This here is Captain America’s very first Minimate release.  It’s very funny to think that he wasn’t released until 5 waves in, and he was the first Avenger to see a release, but the characters had yet to see their big resurgence at this point.  Cap is of course based on his classic look.  He’s built on the typical Minimate body, though it’s important to note that he sports the original style feet, which were longer and lacked the peg holes in the soles.  Cap features 3 sculpted pieces: mask and a pair of gloves.  These pieces would see quite a few reuses later, but this is the first appearance of them.  They look pretty spot on, and fit great with the more simplistic style of the line at the time.  The paint is quite good.  Minimalistic, of course, but very well handled.  The face has a great look of friendly assurance, which looks perfect for Cap, and I really love how well the eyes match up to the mask.  Cap includes his mighty shield, and a clip to put it on his arm.  Unlike later releases, he doesn’t have a spare non-gloved hand, which makes putting the shield on a pain, but it’s easily remedied with a spare hand.

ABSORBING MAN

I just recently looked at the most recent re-release of Absorbing Man, so it’s cool to get to look at how far the line has come.  Absorbing Man is based on the same basic look as the newer figure, just done a bit more simply.  Like Cap, he’s on the usual body, with the earlier style feet.  He’s a “vanilla ‘mate”, so not add-ons.  The paintwork isn’t bad.  Quite a bit of detailing for the time, but I’m not sure it works.  They’ve given him a screaming face, which doesn’t really suit Absorbing Man, in my opinion.  The details are all pretty well done, but he’s missing some details, such as ears.  Absorbing Man includes one accessory: his ball and chain.  It might be the same piece included with the new one, but I honestly can’t tell.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This was the 5th set of Minimates I ever got.  I acquired it from a nearby comic book store.  I know I had heard that the set was being released, but I didn’t know they were out until I came across them in that store.  I remember being very excited to buy them.  Cap was my default version of the character until about wave 45, and to this day still remains one of my very favorite Minimates.

#0157: Nightwing & Starfire

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NIGHTWING & STARFIRE

DC MINIMATES

Hey, let’s take another look at some Minimates, shall we?

For a fourth time, I’m taking a look at the far too shortly lived DC Minimates.  This time around, it’s a set from closer towards the end of the line.  This set comes from the Teen Titans side of the DCU, which was sadly never completed.  But, let’s not get stuck on what we didn’t get, let’s look at what we did: Nightwing and Starfire.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This two pack was released in the 7th wave of DC Minimates, just one wave before the end of the line.

NIGHTWING

Dick Grayson actually lucked out quite a bit with DC Minimates, receiving a whole two figures.  This one depicts him in his most recent Nightwing costume at the time.  Nightwing is built on the basic Minimate body, which means he has the standard 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall.  He features one sculpted piece: his hair.  It’s a very nice piece, and has been reused a few times in the Marvel line, like on the recent Winter Soldier.  The rest of the figure’s detail is done with paint work.  All of the paint is excellent, with lots of sharp lines, and pretty much no slop of any kind.  Nightwing included two silver fighting sticks, though I misplaced mine at the time I took the photo.

STARFIRE

Starfire was not quite as blessed as Mr. Grayson, but she still was lucky enough to make it into the line, which is better than many prominent DC characters.  Star is based on her original Perez design, which is the look she’s sported for most of her career.  Like Nightwing, she’s built on the typical body, so she has all the usual stats.  She also only features a single sculpted piece: her hair.  It’s a bit more of a substantial piece than Nightwing’s, though also a bit more character specific.  It’s a nice piece, with plenty of nice details, and it’s pretty spot on to what Star’s hair looked like in the comics.  Star’s paint is more impressive than Nightwing’s, with lots of great little details, particularly on her torso an boots, which have some really great texture work.  Star included no accessories, but I can’t think of many they could have given her.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like the rest of the DC Minimates line, I picked up this two pack as soon as it was available at my local comic book store.  I recall being fairly excited for this set, as I was a fan of both characters at the time.  Looking at this set in comparison to the two second series sets I’ve looked at previously is quite neat, as it really shows how far the line advanced in its short run.  This set wouldn’t look the slightest bit out of place with the most recent wave of Marvel Minimates, and that’s quite astonishing.

#0155: Havok & Polaris

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HAVOK & POLARIS

MARVEL MINIMATES

Continuing the X-Men theme from yesterday, and Minimates theme from… all the time, today I’ll be looking at some X-Men Minimates.  Yay!

The two Minimates in question today happen to be two of my favorite X-Men, Havok and Polaris.  Havok is Cyclops’s younger brother who has a similar power set.  Polaris is sometimes Magneto’s daughter, and sometimes not, but she has the same powers regardless.  The two are frequently portrayed as a couple, and have been X-Men from time to time.  They’re biggest break, however, is probably Peter David’s run on X-Factor which featured both of them as prominent characters.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released as a set in Marvel Minimates wave 20.

HAVOK

Havok is shown here in his classic costume from the 60s, designed by the great Neal Adams.  It’s essentially the look that the character sported for about 30 years, and is also the look that most of his subsequent designs were derived from, so it’s a good choice.  Havok is built on the basic Minimate body, so he stands about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  He has two sculpted pieces: his headgear that channels the solar energy to his powers and a specially designed version of the Minimate head to accommodate this.  The rest of the detail work is handled through paint.  The face has a lot of detail, and does look kinda like a Neal Adams drawing, but I’m not really sure how well that works.  He’s permanently screaming, and since the mask is painted on, you can’t even sub in another head, which means he has to be displayed in attack mode.  What really sucks about this is that Diamond actually did a neat thing so that his torso is detailed on both sides, allowing you to depict him fully charged up or more controlled.  However, with the facial expression, it’s a bit difficult to utilize.

POLARIS

Polaris, like Havok, is depicted in her classic 60s costume, designed by Werner Roth.  She went back and forth between costumes depending on the artist, but this was the costume that most people remember.  It’s a really cool look, so no complaints there!  She’s got two separately sculpted add-ons: hair/headband, and cape.  The cape was a reuse from the C3 version of Superman, but the hair is a new piece, and is beautifully done at that.  The hair is sculpted with a bit of a wind flow to it, but not too much to make it quite as pose specific as Havok’s face.  The paint on this figure is rather nice, with a great set of details on her torso and legs.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I said above, these are two of my favorite X-Men, so I was pretty thrilled when they were announced, and I bought them as soon as I could.  While Havok isn’t perfect, he was a pretty good hold over until I got one I was a little happier with more recently.  This is Polaris’s only Minimate, but given the quality of this Minimate, that’s not the worst thing ever.  She really makes this set worth having for sure.

#0153: Tory & Anders

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TORY & ANDERS

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA MINIMATES

So, yeah, today’s gonna be another Minimates review.  I’ll be taking another look at a set from the Battlestar Gallactica line.  I’ve talked about this line before, in my review of D’Anna and Apollo.  Not much more to add there.  Today, I’ll be looking at Tory and Anders.  Tory was President Laura Roslin’s second assistant and Anders was a resistance fighter who ended up marrying hot-shot pilot Kara “Starbuck” Thrace.  Also, (Spoilers from about 5 years ago)….

They’re both Cylons, specifically member of the “Final Five,” who were the last five Cylons revealed amongst other things.  Let’s take a look at the figures.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This set was released in the second TRU wave of BSG Minimates, and was one of the few sets carried over completely unchanged from the cancelled waves 5 & 6 of the main line.

TORY

First up, presidential assistant Tory.  I honestly wish there were more to say about her, but she never went much beyond that.  She’s on the basic Minimate body, so she stands roughly 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  She has a sculpted hair piece and no other add-ons.  The paintwork is fairly clean, and the likeness on the face is pretty food.  For some reason, she’s barefoot.  Not exactly sure why that is, but there it is.  Tory includes no accessories.

ANDERS

Next, the resistance fighter turned Viper pilot who always seemed to end up as the Damsel in distress for Starbuck, Sam Anders.  Anders is depicted in his Viper pilot look from the final season of the show.  It’s probably the most interesting of his looks, so that works.  They’ve put a different spin on the uniform, depicting it with the top half pulled down, as many of the pilots wore their uniforms while not flying a Viper.  Anders features 3 sculpted pieces: hair, belt/jumpsuit, and a holster.  The paint work is pretty good on this guy.  The face looks good, the shirt detail goes all the way around, and they even gave him the tattoo that he and Starbuck both got after getting married.  Anders is accessorized with a standard BSG handgun.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like the first series of TRU BSG Minimates, I got this wave as soon as I could.  I was still pretty excited about the show and was glad to round out the characters.  Looking back, I still think Anders is a pretty cool figure, and is certainly one of the better figures in the line, but Tory is a fairly boring figure of a fairly boring character.

#0151: Scarlet Spider & Hobgoblin

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SCARLET SPIDER & HOBGOBLIN

MARVEL MINIMATES

Well, we took a break to do the usual HT review for the 150th review, but now we’re back to, that’s right, the Minimates.  Once again, it’s an entry from the expansive Marvel Minimates line.  This time around, it pulls two characters from the Spider-Man corner of the Marvel universe: Scarlet Spider and Hobgoblin.  Scarlet Spider is Ben Reilly, clone of Peter Parker.  Hobgoblin’s been a few people, but in general, he’s kind of a successor to the Green Goblin legacy.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released as a FYE & Suncoast exclusive set a few years ago.

SCARLET SPIDER

Scarlet Spider is up first.  He’s based on the original Scarlet Spider, not the more recent one, so he’s in Spider’s early 90s look, which was assembled from pieces from a novelty shop, I believe, on his first adventure.  Dude wore a hoody with the sleeves torn off and his first adversary was Venom.  Can you get much more 90s than that?  Spider is built on the basic Minimate body, so he’s about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  He’s a vanilla ‘mate, so all of his details are painted on.  Everything is pretty clean, though he is a bit basic, which does date the figure a bit.  I also do wish the eyes were a little higher, but that’s more personal preference.  Scarlet Spider included a web-line.

HOBGOBLIN

Up next is Hobgoblin.  He was a pretty big character in the 90s, but his popularity has died down a bit recently.  This figure is based on the character’s more reserved original appearance, instead of some of the more ghoulish looks the character got later on.  Hobgoblin is built on the usual body, so he’s got the standard stats.  He’s got 3 sculpted pieces: Hood, cape, and hand holding a pumpkin bomb.  These pieces were all new to the figure, though the pumpkin bomb has been reused a few times since.  The hood and cape are nice, and look pretty spot on to what the character looked like in his classic incarnation.  The paint is much more detailed here than it was on Scarlet Spider.  He actually holds up pretty well, if you’re really looking for a classically styled version of the character.  Hobgoblin includes no accessories.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up this set at a Suncoast at my local mall.  The Suncoast isn’t there anymore, which is a bit sad.  This was one of the few times in recent years that I can actually remember being surprised to find an item I didn’t know was being made.  I’ve always kind of liked Scarlet Spider, so I was glad to get him, and Hobgoblin’s not bad either.

#0149: Winter Soldier – Agent of SHIELD & Hydra Elite

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WINTER SOLDIER –AGENT OF SHIELD & HYDRA ELITE

MARVEL MINIMATES

Okay, so I may have lied about “new Minimates” reviews being done for a while.  Yeah, I was kinda at Toys R Us, and found the one set of figures from TRU wave 18 that I hadn’t found yet.  So, I’m reviewing those today.  It should be a quick review, as I already reviewed one, and the other is only a slight tweak on a figure I already looked at.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Winter Soldier and the Hydra Elite were released as part of the 18th Toys R Us exclusive wave of Marvel Minimates.

WINTER SOLDIER

So, after being turned into a Russian-Assassin, Bucky got better, and became an Agent of SHIELD.  So, he got a haircut and stuck a new bumper sticker on his robot arm.  Now he’s a hero!  Yay!  He’s pretty much the same figure as the last Winter Soldier I looked at.  The difference is that he’s got a different hairpiece, his uniform is a brighter blue, and instead of having a red star on the robot arm, he’s got a white star in a blue circle.  Everything, including the accessories and the detail lines is the same.  I can’t blame Diamond for taking advantage of the near identical looks.  They’re close enough to share parts, but just different enough to require separate figures, and there was demand for both versions.  I still prefer the other version a bit more, though I may swap the robot arms.

HYRDA ELITE

This figure is exactly the same as the Wave 54 Hydra Elite.  Exactly the same.  No minor differences or anything.  However, it is an army builder, so I doubt anyone will complain about it being more plentiful.  I certainly was glad to get another one.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, this isn’t the most thrilling set if you’ve already got wave 54, but it’s a decent accent.  Plus, I got it for $3.98, so I’m pretty much just buying it to get another Hydra Elite.  Now I have 4!