Tag Archives: Thor

#0139: Thor & Absorbing Man

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

THOR – MARVEL NOW & ABSORBING MAN

MARVEL MINIMATES

Okay, this should be the last of my “new Minimates” reviews for a little while.  I’m certain some of the older stuff will pop up on the random list of figures, but that’s different.  Anyway, it’s the other half of my review of the latest Toys R Us exclusive Marvel Minimates wave, this time featuring Thor and one of his old foes, the Absorbing Man.  For those of you who don’t know who that is: He’s a man who absorbs things.  There, you’re up to speed.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released as part of the 18th Toys R Us exclusive wave of the Marvel Minimates line.

THOR

First up, it’s Thor, the God of Thunder!  Thor is depicted here in his “Marvel Now!” look from the more recent selection of Marvel comics.  It’s not a big deviation from his usual looks, but it’s different enough to warrant a release.  Thor is built on the basic Minimate body, so he stands about 2 ½ inches tall and features 14 points of articulation.  Thor features 7 sculpted add-ons: helmet/hair, spiky bracelets, cape, belt/skirt, and boots.  The boots and cape are reused from the Marvel Vs Capcom 3 version of Thor and the bracelets come from that line’s version of Chun Li.  The helmet and belt/skirt are new to this figure and they appear to be accurate to Thor’s most recent design.  The belt has some really great texturing, and the helmet has some very cool etched lines.  The paint on Thor is pretty good.  There’s a little bit of slop here and there, particularly on his helmet, but all of the detail lines are nice and clean.  One area that does really bug me is the spikes on the bracelets.  The sliver is just haphazardly applied, and it makes him look rather sloppy.  Thor includes a spare set of arms detailed with chainmail sleves that match his legs, his trust hammer Mjolnir, and a clear display stand.

ABSORBING MAN

Absorbing Man is next up.  Absorbing man is often grouped as a Hulk villain, but he began his life as a Thor villain, so he makes sense here.  Curiously, his last Minimate was packed with Captain America, so I guess the Avengers just pass him around.  Absorbing Man’s been released in the Marvel Minimates line once before, but that was way back in wave 5 of the main line (Which just hit 54!), so the update is much appreciated.  The figure is built on the typical Minimate body, so he has the usual stats, though the sculpted add-ons can potentially bring his height up and his articulation down.  In the bulked up form (which I’m going with as default, since that’s how he’s packaged), he features 11 sculpted add-ons:  torso cover, two different sculpted hands, two different sculpted upper arm covers, a pelvis cover, a torso extender, thigh covers, and bulked up feet.  Let’s start with the reuse: the torso, pelvis, and upper leg covers are generic bulked-up pieces that have been used numerous times before; the feet originally appeared on Wave 44’s Smart Hulk; the right hand and upper arm came from the most recently released version of the Thing.  The left upper-arm is an all new piece, and isn’t a slip over, and the hand has been sculpted to match.  I think the idea is for them to look like tree bark, but I’m not 100% sure.  The paint is overall well applied, though the prison stripes can be a bit fuzzy in a few places, and there is the issue of the right arm still obviously being of a rocky texture even though it’s painted flesh tone.  I feel that a special mention needs to go to the head which really just looks like ol’ Crusher Creel to me.  Absorbing Man includes a spare set of arms, hands and feet to transform him back to normal, plus his old ball and chain, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

These two came from the same TRU trip as the last set, which means that I also scored them for $3.98.  Even at full price, I feel this set is a worthy purchase.  It’s not my favorite Thor, but it does round out the main Avengers in their Marvel Now! looks, and Absorbing Man is an amazing update on the previous figure.  At full price, I would have been content; at $4, these were a steal!

#0096: Thor & Loki

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

THOR & LOKI

MARVEL MINIMATES

Hey look guys!  It’s Minimates!

This time around it’s another peak at the earlier days of Marvel Minimates.  We’ll be jumping all the way back to wave 16 for this review.  I’ll be looking at the very first Minimates of Thor and Loki.  It’s shocking to think that these two didn’t see a release until 16 waves in, but they were hardly the household names they are now.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released as part of the 16th wave of the Marvel Minimates line, which was an Avengers themed wave.

THOR

First up, it’s the God of Thunder, Thor!  Thor is depicted here in his classic costume.  He’s built on the basic Minimate body, so he stands 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  3 of those 14 points are rendered pretty much motionless by the hair and boot sculpts.  Thor’s sculpted pieces include: Hair/helmet, torso cover/cape, wrist bands, boots and belt.  I believe that all of these pieces were new to Thor, but a few of them would see some reuse later down the line.  The sculpts are all reasonable for the time, but they seem a little soft by today’s standards.  They also seem a bit boxy compared to more recent stuff.  Structurally, they all look good, and work really well for the character.  The paint is fairly minimal, with some minor base work on the areas such as the clack on the top of the legs and the silver on the chest and helmet.  These look fine, and don’t seem to have too much slop or any fuzzy lines.  Detail lines are present on the face, torso and boots.  They’re all sharp, and look pretty good, although the face does leave a little to be desired.  In an effort to make it fit without being obscured by the helmet, they kind of squished it, which doesn’t really work for Thor.  It was extremely common to see another face subbed in for this one back when this was the only Thor on the market.  Thor includes his trust hammer Mjolnir, which was a new sculpt.  It’s a bit on the simple side, but it worked well for the time.

LOKI

Next, Thor’s villainous brother, Loki!  Like Thor, Loki is depicted in his classic Kirby costume.  He too is built on the usual body for the line, so he has the usual height and articulation.  Fortunately, unlike Thor, none of Loki’s articulation is impacted by his sculpted pieces.  Speaking of sculpted pieces, Loki has two of them: his helmet and his cape.  The cape was previously used on wave 9’s White Queen Minimate, but the helmet was brand new to Loki.  The cape is a bit questionable, but it looks okay, and it’s easily removed if you don’t like it.  The helmet looks spot on to the one Loki wore in the early comics.  Like with Thor, paint is at a relative minimum with Loki.  He’s mostly molded in the appropriate colors, but he’s got some yellow paint for his gloves, boots and such.  Loki has detail lines denoting his face and the texturing on his torso.  The face looks appropriately sinister, though it does kind have the same squashed look as Thor.  The texturing is nice, and it looks accurate to the look they were going for.  Loki includes a chalice, painted in the same yellow as is present on the figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

These two were part of wave 16 of the Marvel Minimates line, which was not only a turning point for the line itself, but also for my involvement in the line.  Wave 16 represents the first time I eagerly awaited the release of a set of minimates, and the first time I bought an entire set of them, instead of just a random set here or there.  While they seem a bit dated now, Thor and Loki were a big deal at the time, and they helped put the Avengers a lot closer to a formidable presence in the line, an idea that seems absurd nowadays.  This was the wave that showed that this line could go the distance.  And boy, did it…

#0093: Darcy, Selvig & Dark Elves

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

DARCY LEWIS, ERIC SELVIG  & DARK ELVES

MARVEL MINIMATES

Today, I’ll be doing the second half of my Thor: The Dark World Minimates review.  I’ll be looking at the two short packed sets, which feature Darcy Lewis and Eric Selvig, each packed with a Dark Elf.

I mentioned yesterday that I wasn’t as happy as I’d hoped with Thor: The Dark World, and sadly, the Dark Elves had a lot to do with that.  I get that the director was obviously a fan of Star Wars.  Who isn’t?  But, it’d be nice if the Dark Elves weren’t such thinly veiled knock offs of the Stormtroopers.  But perhaps I’m too picky.

Anyway, others seemed to like the Dark Elves, and they don’t have bad designs, so they seem rather toy worthy.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These four were released as part of the 53rd wave of Marvel Minimates.  The wave was released to coincide with The Dark World.

DARCY

First up, Kat Dennings’s love-or-hate character Darcy.  Darcy was in both Thor films, but was absent from the first movie’s merchandise.  It’s nice to see her included this time around.  Darcy is based on her appearance in the film, although, she seems to be missing the coat and hat she wore for most of the movie.  I assume that this was done to save on tooling.  Darcy features two sculpted pieces:  hair and skirt.  Both of these pieces are reused from previous Minimates, and the hair in particular seems to be popular on Marvel movie females.  These pieces were well sculpted initially and still look good now, so the reuse is fine.  Darcy’s paint is alright, I guess.  The detail lines are all applied nicely, and the likeness of the face is fantastic, but the basic paintwork leaves a lot to be desired, with lots of slop and a few mismatched colors.  Darcy includes a mobile phone, a laptop and a clear display stand.

SELVIG

Next up, friendly scientist gone madman, Eric Selvig!  This is Selvig’s second appearance as a Minimate, but the first Selvig suffered from some pretty bad quality control, and a few unfortunate plastic choices, so it’s nice to see him get another shot.  Selvig has a few looks in the movie, but since several of them wouldn’t be fit for a toyline, they’ve opted for his business casual look from the film’s climax.  Selvig has 3 sculpted pieces: hair, and rolled up sleeve cuffs.  These pieces have all been used before, but they all look appropriate to the character, so no complaints.  The paintwork is better here than on Darcy.  The likeness is really good, and the detail work on his plaid shirt is nothing short of phenomenal.  Selvig includes the same mobile phone as Darcy, a spare set of legs, and a clear display stand.  The spare legs are a fun addition, and let you display Selvig sans pants, illustrating his mental instability throughout the film.  They’re not quite as well painted as the rest of him, but they look okay, and are a really cool add-in.

DARK ELF

Lastly, my least favorite part of these sets (yeah, I keep going on about it.  Sorry, I just really was disappointed by them!), the Dark Elves.  They are, of course, based on the look of the big bad’s army in the film.  In all fairness, they aren’t a terrible design.  They feature 6 sculpted pieces:  helmet, torso armor, upper arms, blaster hand, and shield hand.  These pieces are all new to the Dark Elf.  They’re all well done, though I feel they don’t quite live up to, say, the armor on Heimdall.  Some of the details are a bit soft.  The paint, on the other hand, is some of the best in the wave.  All the detail lines are quite sharp, and the basic paint work is clean and without any noticeable slop.  The Dark Elves include unarmed hands and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked these two sets up from my local comicbook store.  While I certainly like Darcy and Selvig, and I understand the necessity of the Dark Elves, even if I personally didn’t care for them, I can’t help but feel these slots could have been put to better use.  Sure, these are all great Minimates, and I’m glad to have them, but would I want them in place of, say, Fandrall and Hogun, or even Frigga?  Not really.  Of course, it’s hardly Diamond’s fault.  Those three were set to be made, in the TRU wave for the movie.  But Toys R Us decided they didn’t want said wave, mucking up Diamond’s plans.  So, in actuality, it’s all the fault of Toys R Us.  Which seems to be the usual state of affairs…

#0092: Loki & Heimdall

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

LOKI & HEIMDALL

MARVEL MINIMATES

So, the sequel to Thor, entitled Thor: The Dark World was released this past November.  I very much enjoyed the first Thor, so I was quite excited for the sequel’s release.  Well, sometimes, things aren’t quite what you hoped they’d be.  I saw The Dark World, and while it wasn’t a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination, it was far from what I’d hoped it would be.  In particular, I found the villains lackluster, which is why my first review of the recently released minimates from the movie is not of Thor & Malekith, the hero and villain of the film.  I didn’t particularly need another Thor, and Malekith wasn’t interesting enough for me to feel the need to buy him.

Regardless, the movie did have its good parts, and two of the best parts are contained in this set here:  Loki & Heimdall!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Loki and Heimdall were released as part of the 53rd wave of Diamond’s Marvel Minimates line, the wave released to coincide with Thor: The Dark World.

LOKI

First up, it’s the guy you love to hate or hate to love, Loki!  Loki is presented here in his more cleaned up look that he sports for most of the movie.  He’s built on the typical Minimate body, so he stands about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  Loki has 4 sculpted add-ons:  Hair, coat, and bracelets.  The coat is brand new to this figure, and it’s quite well done.  All the different layers are defined well, and it looks quite sharp.  The hair and bracelets are reused.  The hair has been used a few times before, and the bracelets were last used on the Avengers version of Loki.  Loki’s main detailing is on his face and legs.  The legs have a nice subtle line work detailing the tops of Loki’s boots.  The face is fairly sharp;y detailed and has a decent resemblance of Tom Hiddleston.  Loki includes a set of Asgardian handcuffs and a clear display stand.  The handcuffs are much appreciated, as Loki spends a good portion of the film in them, and I’m really glad the clear stands have become a standard accessory.

HEIMDALL

Next, it’s the guy cancelling the apocalypse.  Wait, sorry, wrong movie.  It’s Idris Elba’s other big role this year:  Heimdall!  Like Loki, Heimdall is built on the basic Minimate body, so he’s got the usual height and articulation.  Heimdall has 6 sculpted pieces:  helmet, torso cover, bracelets, and boots.  All of these pieces are brand new to Heimdall, and all of them are expertly handled.  The ornate detailing of the armor is impressive.  The basic paint work on the sculpted parts is pretty well done.  Not perfect, but certainly passable.  Detail-wise, he has detailing on his face, arms and legs.  The arms and legs offer some nice texturing, and the face offers a rather good likeness of Idris Elba.  Heimdall includes his sword and a clear display stand.  The sword is as impressively sculpted as the rest of Heimdall, and really fits the figure well.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked this set up from my local comicbook store Cosmic Comix.  I really like this set.  It’s nice to get Heimdall after he was overlooked in the first Thor movie, and Loki is definitely the best version done so far of the movie version of the character.  I almost wonder if Diamond may have done themselves a disservice packing these two together, as they are hands down the two best Minimates in the wave.

#0006: Avengers First Appearance Boxed Set

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

ANT-MAN, WASP, HULK, IRON MAN, THOR, & GIANT-MAN

TOY BIZ AVENGERS FIRST APPEARANCE BOXED SET

Now a days, pretty much every one knows who the avengers are, but back in the mid 90s, they were  kind of obscure outside of the comic collecting community.  So, sets like the one I’m reviewing today were kind of a big deal.  I’ll be taking a different approach to these, and reviewing the whole set all in one shot.

ANT-MAN

THE FIGURE ITSELF

First up is Ant-Man, the first of the two Hank Pym figures included in this set.  He’s a good deal smaller than all of the other figures in the set, but that’s to be expected.  He’s got 7 points of articulation, which is good for the scale.  The most impressive part, I feel is the removable helmet, which is astounding on a figure this size.  And it looks great to boot!

WASP

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Next is Hank’s girlfriend, then wife, then ex-wife, then it got really complicated, Janet Van Dyne, aka The Wasp!  The Wasp is depicted in her original uniform, as is appropriate for an Avengers #1 set.  It’s not my favorite look of hers, but it’s not bad.  The figure shows the look off pretty well.  Wasp is about the same height as Ant-Man and has pretty much the same articulation, though his works better.  It would have been nice to get a regular sized Jan as well, but this one worked fine.

HULK

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Next is the jade giant, the Incredible Hulk.  Hulk is in his shown here wearing his Avenging shorts (I mean, that has to be their purpose, right?  Because we only ever see him wearing them with the Avengers).  Hulk is well sculpted, but the paint leaves a little bit to be desired.  Or more specifically the choice of plastic color.  They went with this sickly looking pale green, which doesn’t befit Dr Banner at all.  He looks like he needs a little sun.  Overall, a fine figure.

IRON MAN

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Onto the armored Avenger, Iron Man.  He’s depicted in his second suit of armor, the same as his original, but gold plated.  To emulate the coloring properly, Toybiz offered two versions of the set.  One came with a Vac Metalized shiny, gold chromey paint job, and the other came with a dull, brozish style of coloring.  My original was the dull version, but when his helmet got stepped on and crushed, I upgraded to the shiny one, found loose at a toy show.  Oh, and that helmet I mentioned?  Yeah, it was removable, which was definitely this figure’s coolest feature! Just look at Tony’s handsome mug!

THOR

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Oh boy.  This Thor.  Man this Thor.  This was not a good Thor.  Though, amazingly, it was the only Thor figure I owned until late into the Marvel Legends line.  But it’s not a very good figure.  The Chrome helmet and chest-circle-thingies (technical term!) are cool, and the basic body’s okay.  But then you look at that face.  Oh, man that face.  It’s bad.  And to top it all off, he has this weird poofy cloth cape, which pretty much never looked right.  I’m fairly certain this figure is the reason why I didn’t like Thor until the movie came out in 2011.

GIANT MAN

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Lastly, we have what I consider to be the best figure in the set:  Giant Man!  He’s the second version of Hank Pym we’re looking at in this set, and he’s actually not quite accurate, what with Hank not being Giant Man until Avengers # 2, but man this is a cool figure, so I’m willing to overlook it.  The coolest thing about this figure, I feel, is the size.  He had some serious scale on his side.  Plus he’s just about a picture perfect representation of Hank in this costume.  The paint is sharp, the sculpt is good.  This figure’s got some serious win on his side!  He once had a set of antenna, but they fell of after a few months of play.  But at least they both fell off, preserving the symmetry.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

These figures are pretty important to me, because they represent a first for me:  waiting for a figure to be released.  In the early days of the internet, I remember seeing the control art for these guys on Raving Toy Maniac.  I was absolutely thrilled.  I printed it out, and made paper figures to hold me over.

I finally saw these figures on an end-of-the-school-year shopping trip with my Nanna.  They were on an end cap and I eagerly picked them up and informed her that I didn’t need to look at anything else.  I was done.  She didn’t really get it.  Who were these characters?  Didn’t I want a Spider-Man, or a Batman instead?  Nope.  I wanted my Avengers and that’s what I got.  And man was it a great day!