Tag Archives: The End of TRU

#3291: Tactical Wolverine & Marvel Now Magneto

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

TACTICAL WOLVERINE & MARVEL NOW MAGNETO

MARVEL MINIMATES

For the last few years of Fox’s hold on the X-Men film rights, Disney actively discouraged licensees from doing any direct tie-ins with Fox’s movie releases.  So, while we got tie-in assortments for both X-Men Origins: Wolverine and The Wolverine from Minimates, the last of the solo Wolverine films, Logan, went without.  To tie-in with the general themes, however, there was still a comics-based Wolverine assortment in the main line, as well as a corresponding TRU-exclusive.  Today, I’m looking at the TRU-exclusive.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Tactical Wolverine and Marvel Now Magneto were released in the 23rd TRU-exclusive assortment of Marvel Minimates, alongside two shared sets from Series 72 of the main specialty line.

TACTICAL WOLVERINE

“A verteran of many wars, the slow-aging Logan has acquired a great many human combat skills to complement his natural animal instincts.”

As the 65th version of Wolverine to grace the line, Tactical Wolverine definitely comes from a place of “what more can we do to make different versions of this one guy?”  The answer, as it turns out, is add a headband and a vest.  Very exciting stuff, really.  The figure is based on the standard post-c3 ‘mate body, so he’s about 2 1/4 inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  He’s got add-ons for his hair and vest, plus the adjusted hands and feet with the claws and signature boots.  The hair is the same piece unmasked hair piece that had been in use for a few years at this point, and the hands and feet were the same set-up.  The vest appears to be a unique part.  It’s alright.  Kinda soft on the details, but not the worst.  The paint work on this guy gives him his brown costume, and it’s actually pretty crisp and clean.  I definitely dig the extra stubble on his face; it looks really cool.  For accessories, he’s packed with a mask piece, so that you can convert him to a proper Brown Costume Wolverine, as well as a clear display stand.

MARVEL NOW MAGNETO

“Max Eisenhardt has been both friend and foe to the X-Men over the years. His magnetic powers make him one of the most powerful mutants on Earth.”

Ah, yes, Marvel Now.  Or, I guess Marvel Then at this point, since none of it stuck.  Well, except for Magneto going monochromatic, I guess.  Yay.  Glad that stuck.  Big fan of that.  There were a few different versions of his costume in play.  This one’s sleeveless and black.  He’s got add-ons for his helmet, cape, belt and wrist cuffs.  The belt and cuffs appear to be new, while the cape is a re-use from the Avengers Vs X-Men Scarlet Witch and the helmet is from the Series 50 Onslaught.  The parts are all pretty respectable matches for the source material, so that’s cool.  His paint, monochromatic though it may be, is pretty crisp and clean, and just quite nice looking.  His head gets full face detailing, as well as ears, since Magneto was bald at the time he had this look.  He’s still got the hole in his head, of course, but, you know, there it is.  Magneto’s packed with both a flight stand and a clear display stand.  The flight stand is a bit too small, so his foot doesn’t actually securely stay put, which makes balancing him a real…well, balancing act, I suppose.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

None of these sets really appealed to me at the time of their release, largely due to me not having a whole lot of money to throw at Minimates.  I got these for the same reason I got most of the Minimates of the same era: TRU was going out of business and they were cheap.  Both figures are pretty nice, all things considered, but they’re also both non-essential looks, which makes this set as a whole kind of extraneous.  Still, they’re not bad.

#3286: Nebula & Drax

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

NEBULA & DRAX

MARVEL MINIMATES

“Set to the all-new sonic backdrop of Awesome Mixtape #2, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 continues the team’s adventures as they traverse the outer reaches of the cosmos! The Guardians must fight to keep their newfound family together as they unravel the mystery of Peter Quill’s true parentage. Old foes become new allies and fan-favorite characters from the classic comics will come to our heroes’ aid as the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to expand.”

On December 20 of 2017, I noted in the intro to my Minimates Taserface and Mantis review that I hadn’t picked up the Toys R Us-exclusive Nebula and Drax two-pack. Well, the times they are a-changin…in the spring of 2018…when I actually bought this set.  And…then I took quite a few years to actually review it.  And I’m probably making it worse by drawing attention to it here.  But, you know what, I’m just going for it.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Nebula and Drax were the TRU-exclusive pack in the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 tie-in assortment of Marvel Minimates, hitting about two months before the film’s release in 2017.  This pair rounded out the titular team from the film.

NEBULA

For the first movie, Nebula was exclusive to the specialty assortment, while this time around flipped the script and moved her over to TRU.  Still exclusive, but differently so, I suppose.  This release places her in her updated outfit she gets from the Ravagers mid-way through the film.  It’s not crazy different, but it’s got sleeves, and it’s a little redder.  The figure is based on the standard post-C3 Minimate body, so she’s about 2 1/4 inches tall and she has 14 points of articulation.  Like her first release, Nebula is a vanilla ‘mate with no add-ons.  It makes sense, since she’s pretty svelte, and has no notable things that would require anything extra on the standard body.  Nebula’s paint is where the main work is going on.  The detail work is pretty solid; she gets things toned down a bit compared to the previous version, but it’s still impressive, as is the base color work.  Nebula is packed with a blaster pistol and a clear display stand.

DRAX

Drax’s look is the least changed of the main characters in the second Guardians, which makes this release seem pretty unneeded at first glance.  However, this one was largely used to correct an issue with the last release, which bulked him up with a bulky chest piece, generally seen as not the greatest choice for the character.  This one’s only sculpted add-on is a generic pelvis cap piece, which gives him a little more bulk without going too overboard.  Beyond the change of sculpt there are also some changes in terms of paint.  The upper half of the figure is fairly similar to the first movie version, but just a touch crisper on the details.  He also gets the blue Nova uniform pants, rather than the all-black ones, which feature a fair bit more detailing than the all-black ones from the first film.  Drax is packed with his two knives and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While I got the whole Specialty assortment for this movie within a few months after their release, I held off on this one, for a few reasons.  Firstly, I hadn’t gone out and actually tried to find them, and moreover, I was content with the prior versions.  But, with TRU going out of business in 2018, I had another chance at them, for a much better deal.  Nebula I can take or leave; the first one is still a favorite of mine, so this one’s just different to be different.  Drax is actually an improvement, and I quite like the changes they’ve made here.

#3256: Sakaar Loki & Heimdall

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

SAKAAR LOKI & HEIMDALL

MARVEL MINIMATES

“In Marvel Studios’ Thor: Ragnarok, Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe without his mighty hammer and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok – the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization – at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela. But first he must survive a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against his former ally and fellow Avenger – the Incredible Hulk!”

For movies prior to Thor: Ragnarok, Diamond Select’s Minimates line-ups typically relied on a mix of a couple of different retailers carrying two-pack assortments, but beginning with Ragnarok, the specialty assortment was replaced by a boxed set, augmented by exclusive two-packs at both TRU and Walgreens.  For Ragnarok, Walgreens took two exclusive packs, while TRU took one, which is the one I’ll be looking at today.  Let’s have a look at Sakaar Loki and Heimdall!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Sakaar Loki and Heimdall are, as noted in the intro, the one proper TRU-exclusive set for the Marvel Minimates tie-ins for Ragnarok.  Interestingly enough, this was the second time the two characters had been packed together in the line, as they were also paired for the Dark World tie-in assortment as well.

SAKAAR LOKI

Surprisingly enough, Loki was actually the character with the most ‘mates for Ragnarok, edging out even his brother Thor, and netting one variant for each of the three release venues for the movie’s tie-ins.  This one is based on what he wears for the bulk of the movie, while running around on Sakaar.  It’s not quite as true to the character as his final battle attire, but it’s still pretty decent.  The figure is built on the standard post-C3 minimate body, so he stands about 2 1/4 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  Loki’s got three sculpted add-on pieces, for his hair, belt, and cape.  The belt and cape were shared with the boxed set Loki, while the hair was a new piece shared with the civilian Loki released on the Walgreens side of this assortment.  I find the hair to be a little bit bulky for Loki in Ragnarok, but it’s generally not bad, and the cape is still one of my favorites.  Loki’s paint work is a little cleaner than his boxed set equivalent, with no major issues with slop or bleed over.  He’s also a little more colorful, which is true to the Sakaar design.  I’m not as big on the facial expression for this one, which is rather bland, and feels like it has too many lines for Hiddleston.  Loki’s only accessory is a clear display stand, which is rather on the light side.

HEIMDALL

Heimdall’s only prior coverage in the line was his Dark World release, which actually wasn’t bad, and is also his fully armored attire, which was distinctly different from his on the run look from Ragnarok.  Heimdall gets two sculpted add-ons, for his hair and for his cloak/coat.  The hair is an alright piece, though it certainly feels rather too kempt for Heimdall’s look in Ragnarok.  Where Loki’s piece seemed too bulky and long, this one feels too tame and short.  The chest piece is also…it’s just not great.  Making the whole thing one piece means that the right arm is effectively trapped in place, and the legs and waist are also pretty restricted, and on top of that, the neck can’t really do much either, so he’s just generally not really posable.  And, to add insult to injury, the piece is just flat out not accurate to the character’s look, like at all.  It’s got him wearing some sort of heavy coat and multiple layers, when in the movie he’s got a sleeveless shirt and a simple pair of pants on under the cloak.  I’m not sure if this was based on early concept art or what, but it’s just not really right, and the figure would have really been better off if this piece had just been the cloak, rather than the whole thing.  The paint work doubles down on the inaccuracy of the sculpted pieces, resulting in a kind of dull look for the figure.  Heimdall is packed with his sword, as well as a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

There was a whole slew of 2017 releases for Minimates that I had to skip on when they dropped, and almost the entirety of the Ragnarok line-up was on that list, this set included.  This one was snagged from TRU during the beginnings of their clearing out of their products in 2018.  Loki’s okay, but not as definitive as the boxed set version.  Heimdall is rough, I’m not gonna lie.  He’s not accurate, and he’s not a particularly fun figure either.  This set’s generally kind of weak.

#3251: Gladiator Hulk & Valkyrie

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

GLADIATOR HULK & VALKYRIE

MARVEL MINIMATES

“In Marvel Studios’ Thor: Ragnarok, Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe without his mighty hammer and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok – the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization – at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela. But first he must survive a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against his former ally and fellow Avenger – the Incredible Hulk!”

In order to really maximize the depth of characters covered, Thor: Ragnarok‘s Minimates line-up split itself amongst a number of venues.  There was a core boxed set at specialty, and then the rest went to TRU and Walgreens.  In order to properly spread the heavy hitters around, Valkyrie and Hulk, who were both absent from the main boxed set, found themselves distributed in two-pack form.  I’m taking a look at that particular two-pack today!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Gladiator Hulk and Valkyrie were one of the two carry-over packs for the Thor: Ragnarok tie-in line up of Marvel Minimates.  While the other carry-over pack, Thor and Hela, was also available as part of the boxed set, Hulk and Valkyrie were available only in the store-exclusive line-ups.

GLADIATOR HULK

Ragnarok‘s role for Hulk partially adapts his “Planet Hulk” storyline from the comics, which includes his time as a gladiator on Sakaar, a rather distinctive look for the character.  That was, of course, the look that served as the basis for all the tie-in merch, which certainly made a lot of sense.  The figure is using the standard ‘mate body, so he’s technically starting out at 2 1/4 inches tall with 14 points of articulation.  That being said, the extra parts on this guy wind up removing the ankle movement, while also granting him an extra half inch of height.  Hulk has 11 sculpted add-on pieces, for his helmet, chest cap, upper arms, hands, thighs, feet, and torso extender.  The upper arms, thighs, and torso extender are all re-used from previous bulked up releases, while the rest of the parts are all-new to this particular figure.  The sculpting is generally pretty good, and certainly consistent with other bulked up figures.  He’s definitely falling more into that realm of a little bit over sculpted and busy for my personal taste on Minimates, but he’s not awful.  The paint work on the figure is about what you’d expect.  With as much sculpting as there is, most of the paint is base coverage, with limited detail line work.  What detail line work is there, however, is pretty sharp, and I especially like the white markings on the skin.  Gladiator Hulk is packed with an alternate hairpiece (a re-use of the Zombie Hulk piece), his hammer an axe from the arena fight, and a clear display stand.

VALKYRIE

Making her debut in the MCU side of the line, and getting her first Minimate since 2007’s Defenders boxed set, Valkyrie was certainly a welcome addition in this set.  She’s based on her early in the film look, which is consistent with the design choices for most of the others from the line, barring only the alternate Loki from the boxed set.  Valkyrie makes use of three add-on pieces for her hair, cape, and belt/skirt.  All three pieces were new for this release, and they do a respectable job of capturing the design of the character from the movie, and translating that into ‘mate form.  The paint work on the figure does most of the heavy lifting here.  There’s a fair bit of small detail work, especially on the costume’s darker sections, which get a lot of highlights detailing.  The face does seem a tad generic for Tessa Thompson, especially the expression, but it’s not terrible, I suppose.  Valkyrie is packed with her sword Dragonfang (a new sculpt for this release) as well as two knives, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I slept on a lot of the 2017 minimates, so I didn’t actually wind up getting this one until TRU started clearing stuff out in 2018.  I picked up a lot of Minimates that way.  I may have been part of the problem, I suppose.  Gladiator Hulk is a strong take on a unique design.  Even removed from the movie, he’s still got some validity to him.  Valkyrie is a character that’s far too scarce in Minimates, so it’s nice that the movie at least got her one more.  She’s a little more basic, but there’s nothing wrong with that.

#3211: Iron Man Mark 47 & Happy Hogan

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

IRON MAN MARK 47 & HAPPY HOGAN

MARVEL MINIMATES

Tying the movie more closely into the universe that spawned it, Spider-Man: Homecoming leans a fair bit on Iron Man and one notable member of his supporting cast.  Not only does Peter work directly with Tony Stark on a number of occasions, but long-term Iron Man supporting cast member Harold “Happy” Hogan also gets his largest roles in the MCU as part of its Spider-Man trilogy.  As a Happy Hogan fan since way back when nobody knew who Happy Hogan was, I’m all about that.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Iron Man Mark 47 and Happy Hogan were the TRU-exclusive set for the Spider-Man: Homecoming tie-in assortment of Marvel Minimates.  Due to weird licensing, the Spidey and non-Spidey characters supposedly couldn’t actually cross over in the tie-ins, so these two are isolated off on their own.  It’s not the worst thing, though, since, you know, the two of them do kind of tie together…even if Happy and Tony don’t actually interact while Tony’s in Iron Man mode.  Still, it’s really not that weird.  I’m making it weird.  I’ll stop.

IRON MAN MARK 47

Iron Man’s no stranger to Minimates, especially not when it comes to the MCU.  This was his 72nd Minimate overall and his 31st MCU-based released.  This one’s based on his briefly used suit from Homecoming, which was itself inspired, at least in terms of coloring, by the Ultimate version of the character from the comics.  The figure is based on the standard post-c3 base body, and as such is about 2 1/4 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  He features an add-on for his chest plate, as well as unique pieces for his upper arms and hands.  All of the non-standard pieces were new to this figure, which is mostly surprising because this armor was really just a quick recolor of the Mark 46 in the movie, and the Mark 46 minimates all just used the Mark 42 tooling again.  These parts are a lot less clunky, though, and generally follow the sleeker design of the armor, so I generally appreciate them.  Additionally, this figure has the interesting change of not getting a helmet piece, and instead just using the standard head.  I’m not entirely sure why that was the way they went, but it’s not a terrible look.  The paint work on this guy is pretty decent.  The metallic red is super slick, and all of the line-work is nice and sharp.  The figure is packed with a flight stand and a clear display stand.

HAPPY HOGAN

Believe it or not, this isn’t the first Happy Hogan Minimate.  Heck, it’s not even the first one I’ve reviewed on the site.  In fact, with this release, I’ll have a review of every Happy Hogan figure there is.  That’s commitment.  Or crazy.  Or there’s only three of them, and it’s ultimately nothing.  Happy has add-on pieces for his hair, jacket, and tie.  The hair piece is re-used I’m pretty sure, but it’s a solid match for Favreau’s hair style in the movie.  The jacket and tie are the World of the Psychic Venkman jacket and Spirit tie combo that they rocked for a while there, which is a pretty good set-up.  The paint work includes an improved likeness from the IM2 release, as well as actual detailing for the belt, which is pretty nifty.  Happy is packed with a clear display stand, which isn’t a lot, but it’s something.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had to get kind of picky with what I was buying when these were first released, so I had to skip them, on the basis that I didn’t really need another Iron Man variant, and I already had one Happy Hogan.  But, then TRU was going under, and things were marked down, and I didn’t have this specific Happy Hogan, so, you know, I went for it.  Mark 47 is an improvement on the over designed nature of MCU Iron Men at the time, and I do really like that.  Happy is an improvement on the prior version, and I can definitely dig it.

#3201: Homemade Suit Spider-Man & Vulture

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

HOMEMADE SUIT SPIDER-MAN & VULTURE

MARVEL MINIMATES

Through all of the iterations of cinematic Spider-Man, we’ve gotten a respectable coverage of his rogue’s gallery.  To the credit of, pretty much all of them, really, they do a good job of avoiding doubling down on anyone of them too much.  For the MCU’s first outing with the character, they chose to highlight one of the character’s oldest foes, and in fact his oldest foe to be adapted into live action, the Vulture.  I’m taking a look at the Vulture, as well as a variant of Spidey from the movie today!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Homemade Suit Spider-Man and Vulture were one of the shared sets between specialty Series 73 and the TRU-exclusive Homecoming tie-in series of Marvel Minimates.

HOMEMADE SUIT SPIDER-MAN

Despite not being all snazzy, and not being the main focus of all of the marketing, Peter Parker’s homemade Spidey suit (seen very briefly in Civil War before getting its full focus in Homecoming) becomes his primary suit during the film’s final act, making it the natural pairing to go with the film’s main villain.  The figure is based on the standard post-C3 base body, so he’s about 2 1/4 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  He makes use of three add-on pieces, for the hood and the two gloves. The hood is re-used from TRU Series 21’s Spider-Gwen, and is a decent enough match for what he’s got in the movie.  It’s also easily removed if you don’t want the hood pulled up look.  The gloves appear to have been new pieces.  They’re pretty cool looking fingerless gloves.  It’s hard to go wrong with fingerless gloves.  The pant work on this Spidey is pretty decent.  The base work is nice and clean, and the line work hits all of the important notes. The figure is packed with a webline and a clear display stand.  Same as it ever was.

VULTURE

Michael Keaton’s Vulture is the best part of Homecoming, which is an awesome thing to say, considering that it’s generally just a really solid movie.  But Keaton really stands out.  His figure makes use of 7 add-on pieces, for his helmet, jacket, wings, gauntlets, and leg gear.  All of the add-ons were all-new to this release.  They’re generally pretty decent.  Perhaps a little bit on the rudimentary side in terms of detailing, and the wings might be more fun if they were separately articulated.  But, the look is definitely covered, and he at least looks unique.  His paint work is reasonable enough.  Like the sculpt, he’s a little soft in terms of the detailing, but the face under the helmet’s at least got a pretty solid likeness of Keaton.  In order to facilitate seeing the face, he’s got an alternate hair piece, as well as both a flight stand and a standard display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was in a trickier financial spot in 2017, so I didn’t get much in the way of new stuff, especially in terms of Minimates.  So, instead of buying these new, I wound up getting them a year later, during TRU’s going out of business clear out.  Homemade Spidey is a respectable variant, and he’s decently rendered for the style.  Vulture’s not the line at its greatest, and perhaps suffers a bit from over sculpting, but he’s also not bad.  Just sort of average.

#3196: Spider-Man & Shocker

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

SPIDER-MAN & SHOCKER

MARVEL MINIMATES

After making his MCU debut in Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man was granted a solo-outing in short fashion with 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming.  As a Spider-Man movie, it was, predictably, pretty well covered on the merchandising front.  That included an assortment of Marvel Minimates which had, up to that point, not missed an MCU showing (they lost that run when Far From Home was the first MCU film they skipped two years later).  Today, I’m looking at one of those sets in the form of Spider-Man and Shocker!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Spider-Man and Shocker were one of the two shared sets between specialty Series 73 and the TRU-exclusive Homecoming tie-in series of Marvel Minimates.  Seeing as it was the set that included the standard version of Spidey, it made a lot of sense for it to be a heavier packed one, so that tracked.

SPIDER-MAN

The first of the four Spidey variants for the movie tie-ins was the standard Stark-tech Spidey suit.  It’s a solid updating of the classic Spidey costume, with just a little bit of MCU-flair, and I’ve always found it to be a strong design.  The figure is built on the standard post-C3 Minimates body, so he’s about 2 1/4 inches tall and he’s got 14 points of articulation.  While most standard Spider-Men are just vanilla ‘mates, this one gets two add-ons for each of his wrist-mounted web shooters.  They were new pieces, which are fairly nicely handled.  The paint work is where this figure really shines….well mostly.  The entire figure is painted, which gives him a nice consistent finish.  The line work is nice and sharp, and captures all of the important details of the costume, adapting them quite nicely into ‘mate form.  The one notable downside on the paint is the upper arms, which get all of the proper line-work, but don’t have any blue detailing on the inner side of the arm.  It just abruptly changes color at the elbow, which looks super weird.  Kind of glaring, given the quality of the rest of the detailing.  Spider-Man is packed with a webline and a clear display stand, which is pretty standard fare for a Minimate Spider-Man.

SHOCKER

Though not the primary antagonist of the film, Herman Schultz’s Shocker makes his live-action debut as one of the Vulture’s crew in Homecoming.  He also got his second, and more than likely final given the shape of things at the moment, Minimate out of it, after a 9 year gap between releases.  Shocker gets three add-on pieces on the main base body.  He’s got a jacket piece with a sculpted hoodie hood beneath it, re-used from the Big Bang Theory Leonard, as well as a gauntlet piece, re-used from Crossbones.  Given that the gauntlet used by Herman in the movie is actually re-purposed tech, presumably from the same source as Crossbones, it’s a sensible choice of re-use.  Finishing up on the sculpted add-ons, he also gets the basic torso cap piece to extend the hoodie a bit.  The paint work on Shocker is generally pretty solid.  The likeness on the face is an okay match for Bokeem Woodbine, but perhaps not as strong as others from the same time period.  I do really like the quilting pattern on the arms, though; it’s very Shocker-y.  Shocker is packed with a clear display stand.  Not thrilling, but it’s at least something.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

2017 was not a year for me to be buying excessively, so I wound up passing on all of the Homecoming ‘mates at the time of their release.  Instead, I wound up getting this particular set during TRU’s shut down, when they were clearing everything out.  I was pretty glad to get the second chance on them.  Spidey’s largely pretty good, apart from the weirdness with the arms.  Shocker’s a little blander than Spidey, but he’s better than average.

#2331: Captain Phasma – Quicksilver Baton

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

CAPTAIN PHASMA — QUICKSILVER BATON

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Captain Phasma and a squad of elite First Order troopers capture Resistance heroes Finn and Rose, who have infiltrated Snoke’s flagship, the Supremacy. Before Phasma can eliminate them, a series of unforeseen events leads to a dramatic battle between Phasma and Finn.”

Poor Captain Phasma.  She had everybody on her side in the hype for the new movies and then it all just sort of fell by the wayside.  She’s not that bad a character, but I guess it’s hard to live up to those lofty fan expectations.  Lessened fan interest in the character, coupled with keeping more or less the same design from one film to the next meant that Phasma’s toy presence for The Last Jedi was seriously reduced.  She got one Black Series offering, offering a more scene specific look, which I’ll be taking a look at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Quicksilver Baton Captain Phasma was originally intended as a Toys R Us-exclusive Black Series offering, set for release in mid-2018.  Guess what happened in mid-2018.  Yeah, there was a distinct lack of TRU to give the exclusive to (in the US at least; Canadian TRUs still carried this figure as their exclusive), so like the Zuckuss figure, Phasma was salvaged by Disney Stores for her US release.  The figure stands 7 1/4 inches tall and she has 24 points of articulation.  Given how her design didn’t actually change between the films, it not a huge surprise that this figure is largely a re-use of the previous figure.  She gets a new head, and swaps out the plastic cape for a cloth one.  I also got a slightly better range of motion out of the hips and shoulders on this figure, but that might be a figure to figure sort of thing.  The new head is designed to replicate the damage Phasma takes to her helmet at the end of her battle with Finn, so we get to see just a little bit of Gwedolyn Christie’s eye peering through.  It’s a pretty cool effect, as is the sculpted damage.  I also really like that they sculpted her head and helmet as separate pieces, further adding to the effect.  The cloth cape doesn’t quite have the same impressive appearance of the sculpted one, but it does make the figure a bit less of a statue.  Phasma’s paint remains similar to the last release, but she of course gets the added detailing on the eye (which is printed), as well as the scorch damage on her helmet and torso.  In addition to the gold blaster rifle included with the last figure, this one also includes the Quicksilver baton in both long and short forms.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I looked at this figure when it was new, but given the choice between Phasma and Zuckuss, there was really no contest, given the scene-specific nature of this particular figure.  I was evidently far from the only fan to make such a choice, and Phasma ended up getting clearanced, at which point she was cheap enough to get me interested.  She’s a nice figure, and honestly a better figure than the standard.  It’s a shame they didn’t do more with the character, but at least we got her from her best sequence.

#2008: Carrion & Scarlet Spider

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

CARRION & SCARLET SPIDER

MARVEL MINIMATES

Something new and something old.  Not an uncommon theme when it comes to Minimates, especially Marvel, where there’s a definite need to refresh some looks every so often, so as to both make them available for a newer audience and update some things to fit in a little better with more recent releases.  And hey, if a new character comes along for the ride, that’s not so bad either, is it?  So, with that in mind, let’s look at Carrion (the new) and Scarlet Spider (the old).

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Carrion and Scarlet Spider were part of the second to last TRU assortment of Marvel Minimates, Series 24.  The assortment was a sort of a mixed bag, with each set being a somewhat contained theme.

CARRION

He’s not the most well-known of Spider-Man’s foes, but Malcolm McBride, the second incarnation of Carrion, is a sensible choice for a Minimate, especially given his pack-mate.  The original Carrion (who had more or less the same appearance as this figure) was a defective clone of Miles Warren, better known as the Jackal, the mastermind behind the infamous “Clone Saga.”  Malcolm was also a prominent player in “Maximum Carnage,” meaning this figure fits right in with the Maximum Carnage-themed Series 76, so he’s just all around a pretty sensible choice.  Carrion is built using seven sculpted add-on pieces for his hood, pouch, loincloth, and two pieces each for the wraps on his arms.  The upper and lower arm wraps are re-used from Heihachi and and Jack Skellington, respectively, and the pouch is Kim Bauer’s purse from 24, because Carrion is super down for taking fashion advice from the similarly accessorized Green Goblin.  The hood and loincloth both appear to be new pieces, and they work well enough, though the hood is a little restricting to the head movement.  Carrion’s paintwork is clean and sharp, though perhaps not the most eye-catching look.  Pale yellow and purple isn’t a particularly appealing palette, but it’s accurate to the character’s comic appearance, so one can hardly fault DST for that.  The linework is actually quite nice on this figure, and does a solid job of capturing that early ’90s style of illustration.  For accessories, Carrion is somewhat on the light side, with only a flight stand and a basic display stand.

SCARLET SPIDER

Carrion’s great and all, but the main reason for most people to buy this set is Ben Reilly, aka the Scarlet Spider.  He wasn’t a stranger to Minimates, with his Spider-Man costume cropping up first back in Series 10.  A proper Scarlet Spider followed in 2007, as an FYE exclusive of all things.  A decade later, he finally got an update.  Despite his predecessor making use of no add-ons, this Ben Reilly has six of them, for his hood, belt, webshooters, and ankle pouches.  All of the pieces are re-used from elsewhere, and they for the most part do their job pretty much perfectly.  The only slightly off parts are the ankle pouches, which are actually knife sheaths with nothing in them.  There exist non-sheath ankle straps, so why these parts were used is anyone’s guess.  Ultimately, though, they sell the look well enough, so I can’t complain too much about their use.  Scarlet Spider’s paintwork is actually quite impressive.  In the comics, he was frequently shaded in a very dynamic fashion, and that’s the look this particular figure tries to capture, at least on the figure’s mask.  It’s a cool looking effect, and the sort of thing that really only works on a Minimate.  Scarlet Spider is packed with an alternate head and hair for an unmasked Ben Reilly (the first proper Ben Reilly head we’ve ever gotten), a webline, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After a bit of a hiatus from Minimates, I picked this set up last year, at the very beginning of Toys R Us’s shut-down process.  It was actually a set I was looking for, which I was only able to find once TRU started pushing things out from their warehouses.  Carrion wasn’t really going to be at the top of anyone’s list, but it’s always nice to get a new character, and DST did a respectable job of translating him to ‘mate form.  Scarlet Spider was in desperate need of an update, and this figure really delivered well on that.  He takes every aspect of the old figure and makes it better, and results in a generally far more enjoyable figure.

#1793: Lucas

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

LUCAS

STRANGER THINGS (MCFARLANE)

Things have died down ever so slightly for Stranger Things in the hiatus between seasons 2 and 3.  I mean, I guess that’s pretty normal for such a show, but man was the merchandizing crazy during the Season 2 launch.  Anyway, while we all wait for Season 3’s arrival, there are still a number of figures out there just ripe for reviewing, including today’s offering, Lucas Sinclair!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Lucas, alongside Dustin, makes up one half of the second series of McFarlane’s Stranger Things line.  Admittedly, it seems a little odd to me that Lucas and Dustin jumped ahead of Mike and Will for the Series 2 line-up.  Mike and Will are both far more plot-important, and I do slightly worry with McFarlane’s track record that they may not get made.  Time will tell, I suppose.  In the mean time, let’s focus on the positive:  Lucas figure!  Lucas is sporting his Season 1 appearance, camo-headband and all,  meaning he matches up with the rest of the figures so far.  This figure stands 5 3/4 inches tall and he has 24 points of articulation.  Lucas’ articulation style is essentially the same as Series 1’s Hopper, but he doesn’t quite suffer from the wonky-looking integration of articulation that Hopper did; it’s much more naturally placed for Lucas.  Lucas’s sculpt is definitely a strong one, perhaps the strongest of three figures I have from the line so far.  While the likeness on the face isn’t quite as spot-on as I felt Hopper’s was, there’s still definitely a lot of Caleb McLaughlin in there, and I think it’s enough to help clearly identify him.  The work on his clothing is definitely very strong, from the corduroy texturing on the pants, to the sharp detailing on the seems of his jacket, as well as the rather natural way the clothes have been sculpted to hang.  Lucas’ paintwork is definitely the best I’ve see so far from the line.  It’s clean, accurate to the source, and downright eye-catching, which is certainly a nice change of pace after the last two.  Lucas is quite nicely accessorized, including his backpack, a flashlight, his slingshot, a radio (with an extra hand for holding it), and a display stand.  The backpack is definitely the coolest of the bunch; I really dig the weathering on it.  On the opposite end is the slingshot, which is hard for him to hold, unpainted, and nondescript enough that I didn’t know what it was at first.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After picking up Eleven and Hopper back in February, I was definitely interested in getting more of these figures, but other lines took precedence, so I kind of fell behind.  Lucas was grabbed during TRU’s liquidation process, because why not?  And then, like so many of the figures bought during the summer, he just sat unopened for a good few months.  He’s actually been on the review schedule three times, and I just kept having to bump him because he hadn’t even been opened yet.  I’m actually a little annoyed with myself about that, because he’s a pretty solid figure, and I wish I’d figured that out a bit sooner.  Guess I’ll need to be tracking down Dustin now.