JULES & VINCENT

PULP FICTION MINIMATES

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

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

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

JULES

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

VINCENT

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

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

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

CASUAL JULES

PULP FICTION

I’ve mentioned that I didn’t get around to seeing the Kill Bill films until rather recently. In part, this had to do with the fact that, when Volume 2 was released in 2004, I was only 12 years old. However, a major player in why I didn’t seek them out in the years after the release is that when I was about 17, I had seen Tarantino’s other big film Pulp Fiction. Or at least the first hour or so of it, before I was so turned off by what was happening that I had to turn it off. A lot of people really like Pulp Fiction, but I just couldn’t get into it. So, when it was announced that Diamond Select Toys had picked up the license to do Minimates from the movie, I figured they would be one of those rare Minimate properties that I would just skip. But, as has clearly been established on this site, I am weak. Also, no matter what my opinion of the film, Samuel L Jackson is a bad-a ss M*****-F*****, so passing completely on the all of the Minimates of his character, Jules, seems unrealistic. So, let’s have a look at one of those.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Jules was released as part of a four-pack of figures titled “Diner Showdown.” The set is based on the Diner scenes that bookend the film, and it’s exclusive to Hastings, a store which doesn’t actually have any locations near me. The figure is roughly 2 ½ inches tall, with 14 points of articulation. He’s based on Jules’s appearance in the diner scenes, where he’s wearing the clothes he received from Jimmy Dimmick, after his got a little messy. It’s certainly not the look every one associates with the character, but it’s a fun little variant, and it’s certainly goofy. Jules is built on the standard Minimate body, with add-ons for his hair and the bottom of his shirt. Both pieces are re-use. The hair was previously used on the last Jules. It’s a very good replication of the hair he has in the movie, and it’s well-sculpted and nicely detailed. The lower portion of the shirt is done with a rather standard belt piece that we’ve seen a number of times before. Essentially, it just lengthens the torso block, which is the effect they were going for. The figure’s real shining point is his paint work, which is excellent, aside from one small nit. The issue is that Jules’s t-shirt should actually have a design on it, but it doesn’t. Presumably, the design on the shirt is a pre-existing design, which would require a separate license, which seems a bit excessive for a one-off figure. Aside from that, the figure features some very clean base paint work, as well as some truly great detail line work. The SLJ likeness is truly spot-on, not just for the actor, but also for the character. The design on his shorts is also really well done, and certainly helps to make the figure a particularly unique one. Jules includes a handgun and a briefcase. He also had a coffee mug, but I got mine loose, so he didn’t have that piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I fully intended not to get into the Pulp Fiction line. I really did. But, then I totally had to go and try to do something nice. See, the Kraang, from the recently launched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Minimates line is something of a rarity, especially for people without a K-Mart nearby. So, when I came across a Kraang in a somewhat remote K-Mart nearly a month after most sources dried up, I picked it up, with the intent of helping someone on the Minimate Multiverse out. The guy I ended up trading with was quite eager to get a hold of the Kraang, but after a few back-and-forths via PM, we were having difficulty finding something he could trade to me in return. Finally, I just asked what he had extras of, and he said that he’d bought a bunch of Diner sets for the coffee mug pieces. So, I figured, what the heck and traded the Kraang for a Jules, sans coffee mug. Even though I hadn’t intended to get the figure, he’s actually a pretty well done ‘mate. Sure, he’s not the best ever made, but he’s of solid quality, and I got to help someone else get something they’d been looking for. And that’s what really makes it worth it.