Tag Archives: Spider-Man

#0058: Nova & Alien Symbiote Venom

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

NOVA & ALIEN SYMBIOTE VENOM

MARVEL MINIMATES

Today, it’s another entry from the Marvel Minimates line.  Like the last two reviews, this set comes from the most recent Toys R Us Exclusive series.  This time around, it’s the latest incarnation of the character Marvel really wants to take off Nova, and villainous Spider-Man knock-off Venom.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released as part of the 17th Toys R Us exclusive series of Marvel Minimates.

NOVA

First up, it’s everyone’s favorite Galactic Law enforcer!  No, it’s not Ryan Reynolds, it’s actually Nova, specifically of the All New variety.  It’s Sam Alexander, the most recent incarnation of Nova.  He’s built on the usual Minimate body, so he’s got 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall.  He’s got a sculpted helmet, shoulder pads, and gloves.  The shoulder pads are reused from Wolverine, but the helmet and gloves are new pieces.  They look to be accurate to the source material, which is good.  The paint isn’t terrible, though there is some noticeable slop and a few fuzzy lines.  It’s not terrible, but it keeps the figure from being “great”.   Nova also includes an extra golden helmet to replace his regular one, an extra head w/ hair to make the figure into Sam’s dad, a clear blue blast off base, and the usual clear display stand.

VENOM

Next, it’s everyone’s favorite Topher Grace role!  …okay, not really…look, it’s Venom, okay?  Happy?  Venom is based on the look that Venom’s pretty consistently had since his introduction.  If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, I guess.  The characters size has varied over the years, and this figure’s meant to show him all ‘roided out like he was towards the end of the 90s.  The figure’s built on the basic Minimate body, with some sculpted parts which bring his articulation to 12 points and his height to a little over 2 ½ inches.  Venom’s got a sculpted mask, torso cover, pelvis cover, thigh covers, feet, upper arm covers and clawed hands.  The bulked up pieces have been used on several of the larger Marvel characters before, and the Venom specific parts have been used before in the Venom: Through the Ages set.  Venom is usually depicted in black and white, but for this figure, Diamond’s replaced the usual black with a dark, semi-metallic blue.  It’s not a huge difference, but it makes the figure different from previous releases I guess.  The paint is pretty good overall, with less of the slop that’s present on Nova.  As a cool bonus, if you remove all the added on parts, and give him the included normal hands and feet, you can assemble a black-costume Spider-Man.   Venom also includes a tendril that can be swapped out for one of his hands, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like the rest of this series, I got these two from TRU’s online store, with no real issues for a change.  This set is a perfectly fine addition to my collection, even if it isn’t necessarily.  The ability to use Venom as a Symbiote Spider-Man adds a whole lot to the set, as I think it might be my favorite take on that particular version of the character yet.

#0056: Superior Spider-Man & Ultimate Electro

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

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN & ULTIMATE ELECTRO

MARVEL MINIMATES

Hey look!  More Minimates!  Yes, it’s Ethan’s favorite line to review, up for review once again.  Unsurprisingly these are from the Marvel Minimates line.  I just recently acquired the latest Toys R Us exclusive wave from the ever stubborn Toys R Us website, so I’ll be taking a look at them over the next few days.  First up, it’s the flagship set of the wave:  Spider-Man and Electro.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released as part of the 17th Toys R Us exclusive series of Marvel Minimates.

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN

First up, it’s the man himself:  Spider-Man.  Okay, actually that’s a lie, and I’ll get into that in a second.  Spider-Man is built on the typical Minimate body, so he stands about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  So, why isn’t he the man himself?  Because this figure is based on his most recent look from the current Superior Spider-Man series, where Peter Parker’s mind has been over-written by longtime foe Doctor Octopus.  So, that happened.  Anyway, good or bad, it’s made for some interesting designs, so here we are.  This look in particular is SpOck’s second look, which is somewhat based on Alex Ross’s proposed design for Sam Rami’s first Spider-Man movie.  SpOck’s look is completely conveyed via paint.  All the paint work is pretty good, although some of the red areas are a bit thin, but nothing too bad.  There have been reports of the eyes being misaligned with the web pattern of the mask, but mine doesn’t seem to have that problem.  SpOck also includes an extra unmasked head, a strand of web, and a clear display stand.  The unmasked head conveys the smugness of the new “Peter Parker” well.

ULTIMATE ELECTRO

Second, it’s one of Spidey’s foes, Electro.  Like SpOck, Electro is built on the usual body, so he’s got 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall.  Electro is based on his look from the Ultimate line of comics*.  Like Spider-Man, he’s just the basic minimate body with no additional sculpted details.  He’s got a few details, and a really great evil grin, all on a really neat clear blue body.  I love me some clear plastic.  Electro is packed with two clip on electricity parts for his arms, a power base, 2 electricity “whips”, and a clear display stand.  Everything but the “whips” is reuse, but it all works well for the character, so no complaints here.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, like most of the Toys R Us exclusive Minimates, I got these from the TRU website.  Fortunately everything went smoothly this time, so yay!  As far as the set itself, it’s a really cool set of Minimates, but not of looks that are my favorites.  But well-made toys are always really cool.

*The Ultimate universe was Marvel’s attempt in the early 2000s to create a more realistic, and easily accessible line of comics to lure in new readers.  It was a success for a few years, but has recently gotten incredibly bogged down in continuity and has more recently become Marvel’s place to do more “daring” things that they don’t want to do in their regular universe.