Tag Archives: TRU Exclusive

#3775: Hal Jordan vs Thaal Sinestro

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

HAL JORDAN VS THAAL SINESTRO

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)

Hey, hey, hey, it’s another DC Universe Classics review!  I’m enjoying the weekly rhythm on these, so I’m keeping it going for a bit.  I’m also keeping the Hal Jordan theme going, because why not?  Last week, I brought up how there were no Hals in 2009, but there were three of him in 2010.  Well, he’s another one of the 2010 ones, facing down his arch enemy, Thaal Sinestro, in exclusive two-pack form!  Who doesn’t love that?  Well, a few people, for, admittedly, valid reasons.  But let’s not dwell on that here.  Onto the review!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Hal Jordan and Thaal Sinestro were released as a Toys “R” Us-exclusive DC Universe Classics two-pack, which hit towards the later part of 2010.  It was one of six two-packs released in 2010, and one of the two released at TRU.  The pack contains the two figures, accessories for each of them, and a split color yellow and green power battery for them to fight over.

HAL JORDAN

This was Hal’s fifth entry into DCUC, and it was sort of an amalgam of some ideas that had come before.  Structurally, he’s the same as the last two Hals I looked at.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and has 23 points of articulation.  He’s using the medium base body and the standard Hal head sculpt.  They were good the first few times, and they were still good.  In fact, on my figure at least, he’s got even better plastic quality than the prior two.  The main change-up here is the paint work, which is pretty drastic this time.  This one is a glossy, metallic finish, which I actually really like.  It’s very sleek, and an intriguing contrast to the flatter colors.  He also takes some inspiration directly from his Super Friends appearance, with a slightly adjusted logo (something that not even the officially Super Friends based figure got right), and visible pupils.  The eyes got him labeled as “creepy eyes Hal” by a lot of the fanbase, but I’ve never been quite as bugged by them myself.  While prior Hals were without any constructs, this one gave him a few options: a gun attachment (from John Stewart), buzzsaw (from Gold), and a mace (from Iron).  It’s crazy that they went into the John Stewart molds for a construct and didn’t give him the giant fist that always felt tailor made for Hal.  It’s even crazier that they *never* gave that attachment to Hal in the whole of the line.  But, at least he got something.

THAAL SINESTRO

What, didn’t you know Sinestro was his last name?  Yeah, he’s actually Thaal.  I *totally* knew that before this pack came out and didn’t totally discover it when the set was announced.  I’m a proper GL fan.  I couldn’t miss a detail like that, right?  Right.  Last week, I discussed the height issues of the original DCUC Sinestro.  The 5-Pack didn’t really come up with a good solution, but this pack aimed for something a little better.  Generally, it succeeds, but there’s certainly some Frankensteining involved.  He starts with the skinnier base body of Deadman, and adds on the forearms, head, collar, and belt of the Series 3 release.  Honestly, it’s not terrible.  His forearms are perhaps a little short, and the neck joint is rather tight, but otherwise, it goes together alright, and is certainly a better end product than his original diminutive showing or the 5-pack version.  Sinestro’s paint work is basic and clean, and generally a good match for the stuff that came before.  Sinestro gets his own assortment of constructs in yellow, including Gold’s pickaxe, Iron’s wrench, and Hawkman’s mace.  The mace is handheld, which is weird, but it’s just one of the three, at least.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I remember this set’s release, and I remember the frustration around it at the time.  It was kind of pricey for an ultimately unneeded repaint of Hal and the Sinestro we should have gotten in the first place.  I, being a college freshman, with not a ton of money, didn’t go out to get one right away.  I did, however, find a loose pair not too long after the fact, while trying to build back up my GL collection.  Honestly, this set’s not a bad one.  It gets a bad rap, but Sinestro’s the best one Mattel offered, and I do like the Hal a lot more than I’d initially expected.  There were certainly worse offerings from the line.

#3729: Darkseid

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

DARKSEID

JUSTICE LEAGUE (MATTEL)

Oh man, reviewing Justice League figures gives me major flashbacks to the months of pre-prepped reviews I worked on in advance of Aubrey being born.  I sure did write *a lot* of JLU reviews during that time.  And only a single one since.  That being said, the single one since the big batch of them was New Gods-themed, which is a solid theme that I’m jumping back into today.  I’m actually going back to the pre-JLU line, which I’ve not majorly explored here.  No time like the present, I suppose.  So, let’s look at a wacky-colored Darkseid, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Darkseid was released in the “Rise of Apokolips” four-pack from Mattel’s Justice League tie-in line. The set was released exclusively through Toys “R” Us in 2004, and also included metallic-colored variants of Superman, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman.  The figure stands 5 1/4 inches tall and he has 10 points of articulation.  Darkseid uses the same mold as his initial Series 5 “Mission Vision” release from earlier that same year, which was one of Mattel’s internal sculpts, rather than being provided by DCD sculptor Karen Palinko like the core seven.  It’s…well, it’s odd.  It’s a very stiff mold, with articulation not doing much for actually posing it; elbows and knees get less than a 90 degree bend, the shoulders only swivel at an angle, and the hips are greatly restricted by the skirt piece.  The proportions are very strange, and not really all that good a match for the Timm-aesthetic of the show’s design.  He’s broad across the shoulders, but pretty much nowhere else, and his head seems very narrow.  And, while he’s bigger than the other figures, he still feels a bit small for the character.  Just, generally, not one of Mattel’s best.  His color work marks the big change-up for this release.  Rather than his show colors, he’s now sporting a bright metallic blue for most of his outfit, making him a bit more in line with his earlier Kirby and Super Powers depictions.  He also appears to have no pants.  So, there’s that.  His only accessory was a lenticular card, which I no longer have.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Back in 2004, my brother Christian got the Mattel Watchtower playset for his birthday, and had wanted figures to go with it.  We decided to split the “Rise” four-pack, with him taking the three Leaguers, and me taking this guy.  I never did get the standard release version, so this remains to this day, my only JLU Darkseid.  He’s not really great, but that’s true of any release on this mold.  I do think the colors, while off-model and goofy, do give him a little more value than other versions, though, so that’s pretty nifty.

#3381: Nova Flame Human Torch & Annihilus

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NOVA FLAME HUMAN TORCH & ANNIHILUS

MARVEL MINIMATES

The Fantastic Four are an essential team to any Marvel line, really.  They took a break from marketing for a little while in the mid 2010s, but prior to that, they would resurface in just about every line every so often.  Minimates added them in 2005, and then updated them five years later in 2010, and then once again in 2013, getting them in just before stuff really started to slow down for the FF.  There was a dedicated assortment in the main line, as well as some corresponding coverage on the TRU front.  Today, I’m looking at part of the TRU side, with Nova Flame Human Torch and Annihilus.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Nova Flame Human Torch and Annihilus were released in the fifteenth TRU assortment of Marvel Minimates, which was 3/4ths FF-tie-in.  They hit within weeks of the 48th specialty assortment, which was the main FF coverage.

NOVA FLAME HUMAN TORCH

“Believed dead following a battle against Annihilus in the Negative Zone, Johnny Storm was recently revealed to be alive and well, and has resumed his position with the Fantastic Four.”

There was a Human Torch in Series 48, but that one was a half-step partially flamed on version.  This one, on the other hand, is a fully flamed-on version, making him a direct update to the two prior Torches.  He’s built on the standard post-C3 Minimate body, so he’s about 2 1/4 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  He gets an add-on for his flames that slips behind the head and over the shoulders, and also gets a non-standard set of feet with some flame effects (shared with his Series 48 counterpart).  They add flame detailing, while still keeping him very much a core ‘mate, making him more of a proper classic Human Torch.  Aiding in the classic Torch set-up is the paint work, which does the scorch lines look that’s a very early comics look for him.  It’s specifically patterned after the John Byrne version, allowing him to fit in with the similarly Byrne-inspired FF from Series 48.  Some of the details get a little lost on the figure, since he’s transparent and all, but it works well, and it’s certainly the best take on a fully flamed on Johnny the line has gotten.  Human Torch is packed with two flame effects for his hands, as well as a rather elaborate flame stand in the shape of a “4”, and a clear display stand (which debuted as a standard feature in this assortment and in Series 48).

ANNIHILUS

“The ruler of the the Negative Zone, the insectoid tyrant called Annihilus is always seeking to conquer new lands and is endlessly reincarnated through his offspring. He was recently re-elected.”

With Blastaar, another denizen of the Negative Zone, released in Series 48 (packed alongside the other Human Torch, no less), including Annihilus in this set made a lot of sense, especially given that he’d just seen a bit of a resurgence in the comics at the time, and was in fact tied in with Johnny a bit.  He makes use of four add-on pieces for his collar/wings, gloves, and belt.  All of these pieces were new to Annihilus, and they do an alright job of capturing his comics look.  They’re a little restricting, and the collar has some trouble staying in place, but they’re generally not bad.  His paint work is solid.  He’s slightly metallic, which makes him suitably other worldly, and his line work is nice and clean.  Annihilus is packed with a flight stand and a clear display stand, covering all of his standing needs, I suppose.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Series 48 was one of my favorite sets of Minimates (I’m a sucker for John Byrne FF), so I got that whole set as soon as possible when it was released.  I put some effort into tracking these down as well, so that I could round everything out.  This set’s not as essential as, say the Thing/Surfer set, since there was already a Johnny, and Annihilus isn’t exactly a core character, but it’s still a pretty respectable offering.

#3341: Age of Apocalypse Nemesis & Age of Apocalypse Morph

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AGE OF APOCALYPSE NEMESIS & AGE OF APOCALYPSE MORPH

MARVEL MINIMATES

2010 marked the 15th anniversary of the “Age of Apocalypse” storyline, and since 15 is not nearly as cool an anniversary as 25, there wasn’t a *ton* done for it.  There was a little, though, and that included two boxed sets in Diamond’s Marvel Minimates line, which covered eight of the story’s bigger players.  DST followed up on those two sets early the following year with a couple more characters packed in a pair of two-packs.  Some of the story’s real breakout characters got their coverage there, which was the case for today’s focus pair, Nemesis and Morph!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Age of Apocalypse Nemesis and Age of Apocalypse Morph (as they are both decidedly billed on the packaging) were released in the 10th TRU-exclusive assortment of Marvel Minimates.  Though a slightly odd pairing at first glance, they aren’t the weirdest pair, given that Morph does masquerade as Nemesis briefly during the original crossover, and they are part of the same portion of the crossover.  That said, they, more than anyone, are a pair the spares set-up.  I’m not complaining, though.

NEMESIS

“Nemesis was sent to destroy as many of Magneto’s young students as he could while the X-Men where off fighting Apocalypse’s Horsemen. He was defeated in battle by the Scarlet Witch, although he was able to destroy her. He left before the X-Men returned and was embraced by Apocalypse as his newest Horseman.”

As with all toy versions of the character, Apocalypse’s son uses his pre-body destruction moniker of “Nemesis,” due to an overall desire not to trivialize the real world event with which he shares his other name.  It’s kind of a heavy subject matter for a line of little block figures, so I can definitely dig that.  This marked the character’s one and only time in Minimates form, which certainly makes sense.  Counting his original Toy Biz figure and his Hasbro Legends release, that places him at three figures.  Not a bad spread.  This one remains his most recent.  The figure is just shy of 3 inches tall and has 11 actual working points of articulation (his neck and ankle joints being rendered static by the construction of the figure).  He’s still using the core ‘mate body, with add-ons for his helmet/chest, hands, thighs, and boots.  The thighs and boots were shared with the Hulkbuster, while the chest and hands were new.  The chest was re-used down the line for the Mandroid, but the hands would remain unique to this one.  The general look is pretty far removed from the ‘mate aesthetic, but it does at the very least look the part for Nemesis.  His paint work is mostly rather simple, with the vast majority of the figure just being molded in translucent yellow.  His head and torso get his signature red skeleton remains, which looks pretty sweet, and he also gets a little bit of red on his left hand, presumably meant to simulate his energy effect.  Nemesis was packed with no accessories.

MORPH

“Morph joined Rogue’s team of X-Men in Chicago to evacuate as many humans as possible and stop Nemesis. Sneaking into the Inifinite processing plant, Morph and the rest of the X-Men managed to rescue some prisoners and destroy the plant, saving lives.”

Quite possibly my favorite piece of the whole AoA crossover is its distinctive take on Morph, who I actually first encountered because of his old Toy Biz figure.  I’ve had a love for the character’s design since, and he was at the top of my list for the ‘mates.  This guy uses the standard base body, with add-ons for his cape and boots.  The cape is re-used from the AoA Magneto, which makes sense, since they had the same style of cape in the crossover and all.  The boots are the standard Marvel-style flared boots, which I never liked quite as much as the DC ones, but are still more more than serviceable.  The rest of the work is handled via paint, which the figure handles respectably well.  The face showcases the best work, capturing Morph’s more carefree attitude.  The base body also details his costume pretty well.  The yellow on the knees is a little thin, and the edges of the gloves are a little sloppy, but it otherwise works okay.  Like Nemesis, Morph is without accessories.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My interest in AoA is just so-so, but my interest in Morph and Blink from the Exiles time is pretty high, and Morph in particular was a real draw for me.  I snagged this set, plus the Blink and Sabretooth, and the Thor, Captain America, and First Class tie-ins all at the same time, while on a road trip with my family, back when these were all new.  Morph is my favorite of the AoA subset, and just a fun little figure in general.  Nemesis is decent, though I admittedly have less ties to the character.

#3291: Tactical Wolverine & Marvel Now Magneto

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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

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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.

#3211: Iron Man Mark 47 & Happy Hogan

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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.

#3171: Savage Wolverine & Reaper

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

SAVAGE WOLVERINE & SAVAGE LAND REAPER

MARVEL MINIMATES

In 2013, Marvel decided to a soft re-branding of their comics, under the banner “Marvel Now!” which would do new and and innovative things with the line.  Like giving Wolverine another book!  Nobody had done that before!  Okay, so Savage Wolverine may not have been the most unique thing, but it did get some decent buzz, thanks to Frank Cho’s name being attached to it. When DST put together some complimentary assortments of Minimates, Savage Wolverine got not one, but two packs dedicated to it.  I looked at the first, which featured Shanna the She-Devil (Wolverine’s co-star in the book) and a Savage Land Reaper, back in January of 2018.  Today, I’m looking at Wolverine proper…and the Reaper again…

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Savage Wolverine and the Savage Land Reaper were released in the 16th TRU-exclusive series of Marvel Minimates, which was TRU’s equivalent to the 51st specialty assortment.  The Reaper was the only cross-over between the two assortments, and is the same figure between both of its pack-outs.

SAVAGE WOLVERINE

Wolverine has had a lot of Minimates.  This particular one was his 48th.  It’s a derivation of the John Cassady Astonishing X-Men design, which had gotten a number of tweaks from several artists at this point.  This one marked his most current at the time, and it remained his most current until his padded number from the “Payback” story.  The figure is based on the standard ‘mate body, so he’s 2 1/2 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation .  Wolverine uses add-ons for his mask and belt, as well as “unique” pieces for the clawed hands.  The mask was the first actual, proper update to the mask we’d gotten since the Series 26 version, and I quite like it.  It’s got a unique shaping to it, and I dig the sculpted seams running along the head.  The belt, which I believe was new to this figure, but it can be hard to tell, is another nice piece, full of lots of fun details.  The hands are the same hands used initially on the Series 47 Wolverine, and they’re my favorite of the clawed hands we’ve gotten.  The paint is my favorite aspect of this figure, because at the surface, it’s just a basic Wolverine paint job, but there’s so much else going on.  The yellow with black in place of blue makes for a figure that’s quite striking, and while there are still some spots of slop on some of the edges, the small detail work is crisp, and very plentiful.  The face gives us a great, intense, Wolverine-style snarl, the hair on the arms is sharp and well defined, the muscles are subtly handled in a fashion that mimics Cho’s artwork pretty well, and they’ve even included all of the laces on his boots.  There’s a ton of attention to detail, and a lot of details that could have easily been overlooked.  Logan is packed with an extra hair piece and a clear display stand.  It’s a shame they stopped giving Wolverines extra, non-clawed hands, but at least in this one’s case, it won’t be hard to find a pair that matches.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I wasn’t really intending to get this figure when he was shown off, since who really needs the 48th version of Wolverine?  Well, me, apparently.  Once packaged shots surfaced, I found myself really liking the look, and at the time, it was easiest to just order a whole assortment from TRU.com, to make sure you didn’t randomly get the wrong pack in place of what you actually wanted.  Wolverine pairs off well with this same assortment’s version of Captain America.  He’s a variant of an A-lister that no one was necessarily asking for, but DST put in some of their best work here, and the end result is a figure that really rocks.

#3066: Human Torch & The Thing

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

HUMAN TORCH & THE THING

MARVEL MINIMATES


Fun Fact: In both the Specialty and TRU line-ups, Series 8 was devoted to the Fantastic Four.  No idea why, probably just crazy random happenstance, but there it is.  There were four sets in Series 8, and Reed and Sue were both packed with a villain, so you might have thought that was how the whole assortment went: FF/Villain.  Not the case. Since Namor and the Atlantean Soldier got their own pack, FF-members Human Torch and the Thing got packed together. Of course, as antagonistic as these two are known to get, there’s no reason this can’t still be a “versus” pack.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

As noted above, Human Torch and The Thing make up one of four two-packs in the eighth TRU-exclusive series of Marvel Minimates, which was released in the fall of 2010.

HUMAN TORCH

With only two ‘mates prior to this one, poor Johnny was sort of the runt of the family in terms of Minimate coverage.  Well, at least this line didn’t replace him with Herbie, right?  This particular Johnny opted for a fully “Flamed On” look, following the trend of his first ‘mate.  He’s based on the standard post-C3 body, so he’s about 2 1/4 inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  Sculpturally, this Johnny was actually completely identical to his original release (and the Jim Hammond Torch from the Invaders set, for that matter).  He’s got the same hair and fiery shoulder piece.  Hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?  After the completely opaque first figure, this Human Torch followed the example set by the Invaders Torch, going for a fully translucent look.  Apart from being molded in an orangish hue and featuring sculpted flame bits, Johnny is otherwise without flame-related details, instead just depicting Johnny’s FF costume. It’s a more modern way of handling Johnny’s flamed on state, similar to the way artists like Mike Wieringo depicted him in the ‘00s, which generally follows with the general overall aesthetic of this particular set of FF. The detail work is all nice and sharp, and I quite like Johnny’s sly grinning expression; very true to the character.  Johnny was packed with a pair of flame effects for his hands, as well as a blast-off stand.

THE THING

Benjamin J Grimm is by far Minimates’ favorite member of the FF. At the time of this release, he already had twice the number of ‘mates that Johnny had, and he had another two right around the corner in Series 37.  The Thing has had the most looks of all the FF members, so there are options to choose from.  This one continues the Weiringo trend of the other team members, giving us a Thing with pants. Woo.  I feel for the sake of full disclosure, I should begin this section by noting that my figure has been slightly modified (see the unmodified version here). The at-retail version of the figure made use of Ultimate Hulk’s bulked up torso piece and toros extender. From a build perspective, it was fine, but it left Ben with an abnormally long torso that just didn’t seem right for the character. Removing the extender piece alleviates some of the issue, but then his torso cap hangs over his belt. On my figure, I took an x-acto blade to the chest piece and trimmed about 1/8 of an inch off the bottom, thus keeping his torso from being so bafflingly tall.  In addition to the torso extender and chest cap pieces, Ben also features add-ons for his brow, hands, boots, and pelvis. The brow and hands are just the standard pieces that have been in use since the first version of the character; they still work reasonably well here. The boots are re-used from the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, and I’d be lying if I said they didn’t look super goofy. Points for effort, though.  In terms of paint, Ben was decent enough, but not without some issues. The big problem is that the orange of his brow and hands really doesn’t match the rest of him, which looks kind of odd.
Beyond that, he’s reasonable. The blue matches with the rest of the Four, so he’ll fit in well with this set.  Fortunately for those of us who didn’t like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man feet, Ben has the tops of his boots painted on his legs, as well as a pair of standard feet in black. Sure, his feet will be a little bit tiny, but he’ll look better overall. He also includes a pair of standard hands in orange, should you wish to remove the big Thing hands, but I don’t know who would.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up this set brand new when it first hit, alongside the rest of the assortment.  Having missed out on the original FF run, these were my first go at the team in ‘mate form.  Though perhaps not my preferred take on the character, this Human Torch was a definite improvement on his original release, and fit in very well with his wave-mates.  For a multitude of reasons, this version of the Thing very much feels like an afterthought. Though all of the figures in the wave are made with parts re-use, Thing is the one most negatively affected by it. With the Series 37 version released only a few months after this one, it really felt like this one was only included here as a place holder for that one. The modification helps the figure a little bit, but he hardly feels worth the trouble. Ultimately, this ended up being one of the weakest variants of the character in the line, and a slight slip-up in an otherwise very strong wave of figures.