Tag Archives: TRU Exclusive

#0652: Vasquez & Battle-Damaged Alien

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

PVT VASQUEZ & BATTLE-DAMAGED ALIEN

ALIENS MINIMATES

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The first wave of Toys R Us exclusive Aliens Minimates have the notoriety of being one of the few  series in recent years not to get any purely exclusive sets. Instead, the series is a “Best of” series of sorts, being used to bridge the gap between Series 1 and 2 of the main line. It also gives us our first look at two of the Marines who will be showing up in Series 2. One of the two is Smartgunner Vasquez, packed facing off against another pesky Xenomorph.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This pair was released as a Toys R Us exclusive set, though, as with Hudson, Vasquez will be appearing in Series 2 as well.

PVT VASQUEZ
VasquezXeno2Vasquez is one of the movie’s two Smartgunners. We got the other half of the pair, Drake, in Series 1. However, Vasquez is definitely the more central of the two, so she was the one everyone was waiting for. Like Hudson, this same figure (more-or-less) should be turning up in Series 2 of the specialty assortments. Pvt. Vasquez features additional sculpted parts for her hair/headpiece, and her chest piece. The chest piece is the same as the one used for Drake, which is sensible re-use, since they had the same armor in the film. She still has the standard issue shoulder lamp, though it has some difficulty staying put, which is rather annoying. The hair/headpiece is new to Vasquez and…well, it’s not quite as good as I’d hoped. The hair seems to be too bulky and to sit too high to accurately depict the close-cropped hair the character sports in the film. If it were just a smidge on the smaller side, I think it would look a lot better. I’m also disappointed to lose the articulated eye-piece, as that was one of my favorite things on Drake. The thing about the sculpt is that it’s really hard to get an accurate read on the quality, mostly due to…the paint. The paint on this figure annoys me. It’s not sloppy. In fact, it’s quite clean and sharp. Her fatigues are nicely detailed, and her armor has most of the appropriate graffiti. I’m also glad to see they got her skin tone correct. I like having a diverse VasquezXeno7selection of skin tones. So, what’s wrong? Well, for starters, her hair is just the wrong color. Yes, Jennete Goldstien has red hair. However, she very definitely didn’t have it while playing Vasquez. The hair here is far too light to be accurate. Also, her face, while well-rendered, is too low-set, making the hairpiece look even higher up than it already is. Also, she’s got lipstick, which isn’t accurate, and her expression is far too friendly to ever be Vasquez. As far as accessories go, Vasquez makes out alright. She includes the smartgun, which is the same as Drake’s, and works just as well here as it did there. She also has a spare hairpiece, without the headset, but it has the same issues as the main piece. Lastly, she has the now standard clear display stand.

BATTLE-DAMAGED ALIEN

VasquezXeno10Oh boy, another Alien! Yeah, it’s cool that they keep making them available, but there’s really only so much you can say about what’s essentially the same figure over and over. So, like all its alien brethren before it, the Battle-Damaged Alien has sculpted parts for its head, torso, tail, hands, and feet. This one’s a little different from the last two versions of the Battle-Damaged Alien; he’s been given the closed-mouth head. That’s different enough. Aside from that, the rest of the pieces are all the same Xeno parts we’ve seen before, though that’s certainly not a bad thing. Have you seen the other Battle-Damaged Aliens? Good, then you’ve seen the paint on this one too. It’s Identical. I still wish that DST would mix up the blood splatters a little bit, but I guess that won’t be happening. This Alien includes a clear display stand AND a newborn Alien. Well, the newborn could really go with either of the figures in the set, but I figured, since Vasquez had other stuff, it made sense to put it here. It’s a fun little piece, with a surprising amount of detail. It’s a cool pack-in!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, yeah, I was gonna wait on Hudson and Vasquez, but…I didn’t. That worked out okay for the last set. This set? I’m not gonna lie, it was disappointing. Vasquez is supposed to be the draw here, but she’s rather weak. After the slam dunk that was Drake, it seemed like this one should be no trouble for DST, but that didn’t prove true. Perhaps the Series 2 release could fix the hair color, at the very least, but it’s nigh-impossible that we’ll see the sculpt of the hair fixed. It’s a shame because, from the neck down, this is a tremendous figure, but that head really drags the whole thing down.

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#0645: Hudson & Screaming Alien

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

“CPL” HUDSON & SCREAMING ALIEN

ALIENS MINIMATES

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The first series of Aliens Minimates covered a lot of bases in terms of major characters, but there were definitely a few key characters missing. Fortunately, the Toys R Us assortment and Series 2 are doing their part to fill some of those holes. The TRU series has added two new marines, including today’s focus, the shell-shocked Marine Hudson, who is packed with another Alien Warrior variation.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released as part of the TRU assortment of Series 1 of Aliens Minimates. As of now, both figures are exclusive, but Hudson is already slated to appear in Series 2 at specialty stores.

“CPL” HUDSON

HudsonXeno2So, let’s get something out of the way right now: Hudson isn’t a Corporal, he’s a Private. The package totally gave him the wrong rank. But, I’m probably one of the few people to actually notice such a thing, so, whatever. Hudson is probably one of the film’s more memorable Marines. He’s got a fair bit of screen time, and, whether you like it or not, his panicky personality sets him apart from the rest of the crew. Anyway, he’s pretty important to the film and the line would feel very incomplete without him, so it’s good to see him turn up here. The figure stands about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation. Hudson features additional sculpted parts for his helmet, chest armor, and boots. These parts are all the same as those used on the Series 1 Marines and Weirzbowski. This is sensible, given that the armor was standard issue in the film. Hudson continues the trend of the removable shoulder lamp, which is a nice option to have. His is a little looser than previous versions, but it stays in place alright. The armor is all stuff we’ve HudsonXeno3seen a few times before, but it’s no less impressive than it was before, and it still does a great job of translating the real deal into ‘mate form. Hudson’s paintwork is pretty decent, but it does have a few nits here and there. The basic armor detailing and underlying fatigues match up with the rest of the Marines, which is good. The chest armor has most of Hudson’s distinctive graffiti; it’s cleanly applied for the most part and helps set him aside from the others. Hudson wore a cover on his helmet in the movie, which featured a slightly different camo pattern and an 8-ball on the back. However, the figure just has the standard issue helmet. It’s not the worst thing ever, but it is just a little disappointing. The likeness on the face isn’t spot-on to Bill Paxton, but it’s a lot closer than the other Marines in the line, so that’s good. On the accessory front, Hudson has an extra hairpiece, a standard issue pulse rifle, a facehugger, and a clear display stand. The rifle and facehugger are the same ones we’ve seen before, but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The hair is one of the standard male hairpieces, first used for Marvel Series 27’s Ultimate Iron Man. It’s too long to really work for Hudson, and it’s definitely painted too lightly to be Paxton’s hair. But it’s the thought that counts, I suppose.

SCREAMING ALIEN

HudsonXeno5Well, I guess it wouldn’t really be an Aliens set without another Alien, right? So, here’s this one. But this time he has a new hat—err, I mean, he’s screaming! That’s sort of different. Different enough when you’re dealing with army builders, anyway. For the most part, this figure is more or less the same as the other Aliens. It has sculpted pieces for the head, torso, tail, hands, and feet. The pieces are as well sculpted as always, so that’s good. This figure uses the “attacking” head, but it lacks the inner mouth piece, giving it the screaming appearance hinted at in the name. The figure’s paint is pretty much identical to all the prior Warrior and Attacking Aliens the line’s offered. There’s plenty of painted texturing and such, which keeps the figure visually interesting.  As far as accessories go, the Screaming Alien only includes a clear display stand. However, this is totally on par with prior Aliens, and it’s totally reasonable, given how many sculpted parts the figure has.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When it was announced that Hudson and Vasquez would be available in both this line-up and in Series 2, I had planned to just wait for the later release. Then I saw these guys at my local TRU and I caved. Big shock, right? Hudson’s a pretty good addition to the line. He has a few minor issues, but he’s an important character, and he’s good overall. I’m curious to see if the Series 2 release might fix one or two of the issues here. The Screaming Alien isn’t really that different from the other Aliens, but it’s different enough to add a little bit of variety to your horde of Aliens. And isn’t that the dream?

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#0565: Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch

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

QUICKSILVER & SCARLET WITCH

MARVEL MINIMATES

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Let me kick things off here by saying that Avengers: Age of Ultron was a really, really, really, really, really good movie. Just fantastic. If you haven’t seen it, you should do so. I’ve seen it three times and I still feel like I should see it a few more.

As a Marvel Studios movie, it is of course entitled to the usual tie-ins, specifically Marvel Minimates, one of my favorite lines. The first round of them hit just before the film’s release, so I’ll be taking a look at them over the next few days. Let’s kick things off with newcomers Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are the Toys R Us Exclusive two-pack from the first assortment of Avengers: Age of Ultron-based Marvel Minimates. They were released to coincide with Series 61 of the main line.

QUICKSILVER

QS&SWAoU2Quicksilver gets to go first because he’s technically 2 minutes older. Also fast. The figure is roughly 2 ½ inches tall and he has 14 points of unimpeded articulation. He’s based on the character’s appearance in the film’s big climactic battle scene at the end. It’s a good choice, given that it’s the look that sees the most action. Pietro is built on the standard Minimate body, with an add-on piece for his hair. The hair was previously used on Series 58’s Young Magneto figure. Father and son sharing the same hair piece really appeals to the comic nerd in me. The hair piece is a pretty decent approximation of what his hair looks like in the movie, so it was well chosen. The rest of the design is handled via paint. There’s some good, some bad, and some just plain annoying on that front. The good is that the face features an excellent Aaron Taylor-Johnson likeness and the detailing on the torso and upper legs does a fantastic job of evoking the costume details from the movie. The annoying is that the patterns on his arms don’t line up quite right, resulting in some colors being too thin and some lines being much more jagged than they ought to be. The bad is that the brown detailing of the lower portion of his hair has been missed entirely. This leaves his hair a stark white, which isn’t accurate to his depiction in the film and also looks rather bland. As a whole he isn’t a bad looking figure, but he could be better. Quicksilver includes a dust cloud base to simulate running, as well as a more conventional clear display stand.

SCARLET WITCH

QS&SWAoU3Quicksilver may have been first, but Scarlet Witch is definitely my favorite of the twins, both in the comics and the movie. This marks the fourth time that Wanda has graced the Minimate form, beating Pietro by one. Like her brother she is about 2 ½ inches tall and she sports 14 points of articulation. The articulation here is a little more impeded than it was with Quicksilver; the hair and skirt both do their share of restricting. Scarlet Witch is also based on her final battle look, I’d gather for much the same reasons as Quicksilver. She uses the basic body, with add-ons for her hair, jacket, and skirt. All of the add-ons are re-used. The hair is from Series 50’s Songbird, the jacket is from Knight Rider’s Michael Knight, and the skirt is just one of the generic skirt pieces. They add up to a pretty decent approximation of Wanda’s film appearance. The only piece I’m not 100% sold on is the hair, just due to how it sits, but it isn’t bad. Wanda’s paintwork is actually quite good. I can definitely see Elizabeth Olsen’s likeness on the face and the outfit features plenty of great detail work. She’s even got little gold rings on her hands, which is an easily overlooked detail. Wanda’s only accessory (unless you count her brother) is a clear display stand. She feels kinda light without any extras. Something to illustrate her powers, such an energy piece for her hand or an extra head with red eyes, would have been a very welcome addition to the figure. Oh well.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Oh boy, the story of getting these guys. Well, my local Toys R Us sold out of this set before I got there. So, I had to resort to ordering via TRU’s online store, which is really never a fun experience. The item shipped, and I got my tracking information. Like any good collector, I religiously watched the tracking, waiting to see when it would arrive. The item was marked “Out For Delivery” a whole two days before the expected delivery. Cool, I was gonna get it early. But, then it didn’t arrive that day. Or the next. Or the one after that. Another day passed and I finally called my local postal service about it. I was informed that someone would look into it, and I’d get a call back shortly. The next day, after not hearing back, I actually drove to the post office to check on things. I was informed that it was on a truck somewhere and I should come back the next morning before business hours. So, the next morning, I got there before business hours. And no one was there. So, I called them from outside the building and had a long, rather uninformative chat with someone in the back. They told me to go home and wait. Finally, these guys actually arrived, a week after going “Out For Delivery.” Yay, I guess. Anyway, I have them now. To be honest, they aren’t the most thrilling Minimates, but I like them well enough, and I’m damn sure going to enjoy them after all the stress of actually getting them.

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#0524: Agents of SHIELD

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

AGENT COULSON, NICK FURY, & MARIA HILL

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

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After a few years of treading water and treating the line as second best, Hasbro has really turned things around with Marvel Legends. It seems the 6 inch scale is here to stay, and the 3 ¾ inch scale is on its way out (for Marvel, anyway). One of the things that helped Hasbro to build a successful line is partnering with big retail stores to offer exclusive figures, allowing them to up the number of characters released in a given year. So, let’s have a look at their latest exclusive set, the Agents of SHIELD set!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This three-pack, consisting of Agent Coulson, Nick Fury, and Maria Hill, was released exclusively through Toys R Us (and eBay!) just in the last few weeks. Though the set is named “Agents of SHIELD” it’s not really based on the show (although all three characters present here have been on the show). All three of these figures present the characters as they were seen in 2012’s Avengers. So, these guys might be just a little late to the party, but we’ll let them slide.

AGENT COULSON

AgentsofShield2Yes, his first name is very definitely Agent. Coulson is really the main draw of this set, for a few reasons. First off, there’s that whole “Son of Coul,” most popular character in the MCU thing he’s got going for him. I don’t think anyone would have guessed that was going to happen to the bit part guy from the first Iron Man movie, but holy crap did it ever. The second, more toy-geek centric thing is that Coulson is also the first character to make use of Hasbro’s new suit body, which lots of people are excited about. Anyway, the figure is about 6 inches tall and he’s got 30 points of articulation. That’s a lot of articulation for a guy in a suit, but, aside from his elbows being a touch low, it works out really well. Coulson’s sculpt is all-new from head to toe. The suit body is definitely a strong sculpt. With something like a suit, finding a good balance between movement and sculpt can be tricky, but Hasbro’s done admirably here. The articulation all flows with the sculpt, and the sculpt maintains a great level of detail. The suit has all the proper fold, creases and even the stitching you’d expect from the real deal. He’s even got a proper crease at the front of his legs; Coulson does not let his pants go un-ironed! The hands feature a great level of detail, and work well with the included accessory, so that’s great too. Coulson has two head sculpts included: with or without sunglasses. He comes wearing the “without” head, which has a pretty decent likeness of Clark Gregg. It’s just a tiny bit off, but how much of that is sculpt and how much is paint is hard to tell. The “with” head is the same as the “without,” but with the addition of the sunglasses. The head ends up being the stronger of the two, and the likeness looks pretty much spot-on. As far as paintwork goes, Coulson ends up being mostly straightforward; the suit is molded in black, the shirt is molded in white, and the hands and head are molded in flesh-tone. The paint is mostly on the face and tie. The tie is pretty nicely done, with nice, clean, straight lines. The sunglass-ed head is pretty decent, but the one without has some slightly wonky eyes and eyebrows. Coulson comes packed with the extra head and, best of all, the Destroyer gun, which fits perfectly in the figure’s hands.

NICK FURY

AgentsofShield4Fury here is kind of the requisite “re-issue” of the set, sort of filling the same slot as Cap in the Avengers set. We’ve essentially seen this figure twice before, although there are a few small differences here and there. The figure is just a little taller (though not as much taller as he should be) than Coulson and features 31 points of articulation. Fury makes use of Hasbro’s trench coat body, which was originally sculpted for the Ultimate Nick Fury several years ago. It’s an okay looking body, but the poseability isn’t really up to par, especially when compared to newer offerings. A basic standing pose is fairly attainable, but the biggest issue is easily the shoulders, which can’t get any closer to his sides than about a 45 degree angle. Fury specifically makes use of the Red Skull version of this particular body, which had newly tooled hands and lower legs. The new pieces end up being rather detrimental to Fury. The feet were designed to shorten the body, robbing him of the appropriate height, and the hands have been designed to fit the more meglomaniacal Skull. In particular, his left hand, which was sculpted to hold the Cosmic Cube, makes little sense for Fury. Topping it all off is the head sculpt, which appears to be the same piece used on the version of the character from the Walmart-exclusive First Avenger line. It’s a decent piece, with a good likeness of Samuel L Jackson, so that’s good. The figure’s paint is fairly basic, but good nonetheless. He’s mostly just molded in black plastic, with a few small silver and shiny black details here and there to keep things interesting. The head does have a slightly crazy eye thing going on, but it’s not as bad as some Hasbro figures. Fury includes two small handguns, deco-ed to look like the “night-night” guns from Agents of SHIELD.

MARIA HILL

AgentsofShield5The other new piece of this set is Maria Hill. Hill’s comic incarnation got a figure a few years back, but this is the first time Hasbro’s tackled the MCU version. Hill is just shy of 6 inches tall and she sports 26 points of articulation. Like Fury, Hill seems a little on the short side, due to parts re-use. Hill’s sculpt makes use of the legs and upper arms from last year’s Black Widow figure, along with an all-new head, torso, lower arms, and hands. I really liked the Widow figure, but I think that was a “whole is better than the sum of the parts” situation. The individual parts don’t hold up quite as well, and the legs in particular just don’t work quite as well here. The new pieces are okay, but not fantastic. The torso is probably the best. It’s nicely proportioned and decently textured. The head is okay, but it’s too large, and it has some very strange proportions when viewed from any angle but head-on. The likeness isn’t too bad, but it feels more like a caricature of Colby Smolders than a proper likeness. The hands end up being the worst piece of the sculpt. The right’s not bad, but the left is in a fist for some reason, and it’s not even a well-sculpted fist at that. The paintwork on Hill is probably the best of the lot. There’s actually a fair bit of detail and layering. The logos on the shoulders are nice an sharp, and the head manages to avoid any of the wonky eye issues. Hill includes no accessories, which is really annoying. Fury has two guns, so you can give her one of those if you want, but there really should have been enough of those to go around.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Well, feel free to take a guess as to where I acquired this Toys R Us exclusive set. Okay, I didn’t actually get this at a physical TRU location, I ordered it online. And I even had a pleasant experience. Shocking, isn’t it? I, like most people, bought this set for Coulson. For that purpose, the set lives up to expectations. Coulson is the star attraction here. He’s got the best pieces, the best likeness, and the best accessories. Fury ends up being the set’s weakest link, mostly due to the choice of body, and Hill falls somewhere in between the two, but probably closer to Fury than Coulson. All in all, it’s a decent set, and I can’t really ask for much more from Hasbro.

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#0502: Vision & Quicksilver

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

VISION – MARVEL NOW & QUICKSILVER

MARVEL MINIMATES

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Obviously, yesterday’s Marvel Minimates review wouldn’t be complete unless it were to be followed by another Marvel Minimates review, right? That’s just plain old sound logic right there. Obviously. So, how’s about we take a look at two pretty important Avengers who are undoubtedly certain to be thrown into super-stardom by this summer’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, Vision and Quicksilver!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This pair of figures makes up another of the four two-packs released as the 19th series of Toys R Us exclusive Marvel Minimates. Unlike yesterday’s set, which augmented a boxed set, these two are just kind of stand-alones for this series. In fact, they don’t even represent the characters from the same period of time in the comics, so they aren’t even related to each other.

VISION – MARVEL NOW

Vision&Quicksilver2Vision is the next in a decently-sized of characters getting the requisite figures of their looks from the Marvel Now! re-branding. This marks the third figure named Vision in the line, but it’s really only the second figure of the “original” Vision (Vision 2.0 being a related, but separate character). While the last Vision represented the character’s classic look, this one is, as the name indicates, based on the look he received as a result of Marvel Now! For my money, it doesn’t quite live up to the classic design, but it’s not a bad look purely on its own. Vision is about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation. He’s built on the standard Minimate body, with an add-on for his cape. The cape is a re-use from DC Minimates Series 1 Superman. It’s a pretty straightforward normal cape piece, so it’s a fair choice. Other than that, the figure is just a vanilla ‘mate, which is pretty much to be expected for Vision. Vision’s paint is pretty spot on. The base colors are clean, and all the line work is nice and sharp. The colors could possibly stand to be a bit bolder, especially the greens, but they aren’t bad. Also, I would much prefer yellow to the gold on the figure, but that’s more of a personal preference. Vision includes a spare set of arms and legs which are translucent (to simulate his phasing abilities) and a clear display stand. The lack of a flight stand is a little annoying, but the extra limbs are pretty cool.

QUICKSILVER

Vision&Quicksilver3This marks Quicksilver’s second Minimate. He’s actually the same basic design as the last one, so this one’s more of an update than anything else. Both are based upon the character’s second, blue and white costume, which is the one he’s worn for the majority of his career, so it’s a pretty classic design. The figure is about 2 ½ inches in height and he has 14 points of articulation. He uses the standard Minimate body, with an add-on piece for the hair. The hair is re-used from one of the Wolverine Origins Wolverines. It’s something of a questionable choice. It’s not terrible, but it’s not a particularly close match. It would be nice if he’d gotten his own piece, but I guess this one works in a pinch. Quicksilver’s paint work is overall, pretty decent. The colors are nice and bold, and the detail lines are sharply applied. I do like that he has the proper black shorts that he tended to have in most depictions of the costume. Those were absent from the last Quicksilver, so it’s nice to see them here. Perhaps the only real issue with the figure’s paint is his face. Admittedly, the face is much better in person than it looks in pictures, but something about the mouth just seems really off. Maybe if he lost the dimples, it would look better. Quicksilver includes a dust cloud piece for running and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like the last set, I got these from my local TRU (shout out to Minimate Multiverse member Ms. Marvel Fan, who helped make sure I got the set). This set isn’t perfect, but I really like it. Vision is one of my favorite Avengers, so getting a new version of him is pretty awesome. And Quicksilver offers a nice update to the original, which is a welcome addition.

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#0501: Iron Man – Space Armor & Ronan the Accuser

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

IRON MAN – SPACE ARMOR & RONAN THE ACCUSER

MARVEL MINIMATES

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You know what I’ve missed reviewing? Marvel Minimates. Sure, I’ve reviewed a fair amount of figures from other Minimate lines, and a fair number of other Marvel figures as well, but it’s just not the same! As luck would have it, the latest set of TRU exclusive Marvel Minimates just started hitting stores, so new Marvel Minimates to review! First up, it’s two space-faring ‘mates, Space Armor Iron Man & Ronan the Accuser!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two comprise one of the four two-packs that make up the 19th Toys R Us exclusive series of Marvel Minimates. These two figures in particular were originally designed for the TRU exclusive Infinity tie-in set, but they weren’t amongst the four chosen for the actual set. It’s nice to see them turn up here.

IRON MAN – SPACE SUIT

IM&Ronan2Like Captain America before him, Iron Man has had quite a few Minimates in the past, but he had yet to join the ranks of the space worthy heroes. Now he’s an official member of the club, with a card and everything. Okay, there’s no card. Or club. It’s more of an “in my mind” sort of thing. Anyway, Iron Man was the other “heavy hitter” from the Infinity poll, so it’s no surprise to see that DST found a spot for him. The figure is roughly 2 ½ inches in height and he has 12 points of articulation. Tony’s had a few space armors over the years, but this ‘mate is based on the most recent one, which has made prominent appearances in the recent Guardians of the Galaxy comics, as well as being Tony’s main look in Infinity. Iron Man is built on the standard Minimate body, with non-standard pieces for the upper arms, hands, and feet, as well as add-ons for the helmet and torso armor. The figure features a fair bit of re-use from previous Iron Men. The upper arms come from the Series 35 Mark V, the hands are from Series 49’s Mark 42, and the feet are from Series 45’s Mark VII. The helmet and chest piece are both new to this figure, and both seem to be pretty great adaptations of the comic design. The re-use pieces are also pretty decent matches to the source material, which is always cool. It’s really awesome to see DST put their tremendous bank of prior IM pieces to good use. Iron Man’s paint is overall pretty good. The base colors are a little sloppy in some places, and it would be nice if the red and gold were just a little bit more distinguished. The biggest issue is one that isn’t apparent when the figure is all armored up. The underlying Stark face is set rather high on the head, resulting in a rather chubby looking Tony, and worst off all, the red paint from the helmet has bled onto the face, resulting in permanent red marks. Fortunately, these issues are hidden by the helmet, and the rest of the figure’s paint, particularly the detail work, looks nice and sharp. Iron Man includes a spare hair piece (re-used from the Series 51 Nova), a blast off base cast in yellow, and a clear display stand.

RONAN THE ACCUSER

IM&Ronan3Now we get to the real star of the set, Ronan the Accuser! This marks Ronan’s second venture into the world of Minimates, but it’s the first comic version of the character. As cool as the movie version was, it’s hard to beat the classic Ronan design. Ronan stands about 2 ½ inches tall, and has 14 points of articulation, although his head is a bit restricted by the hood. Ronan is based on his original comics design, which is the one he’s pretty much stuck with since his creation. It’s a solid piece of design work, and really holds that classic Marvel feel. The figure is built on the standard Minimate body, with add-ons for the hood/shoulder pads, belt/skirt, and glove and boot cuffs. The glove and boot cuffs are re-used from numerous classic Iron Man ‘mates. They’re pretty straightforward pieces, and they are pretty much perfect for Ronan’s look. The hood/shoulder pads and the belt/skirt are both new to this figure. Both pieces are very nicely sculpted and are pretty much spot-on for the character. The impediment of the neck movement by the hood is a little annoying, but I’m not sure how else it could be handled. Ronan features some pretty great paint work. The various greens are all very nicely chosen and all pop in their own way. The detail lines are fantastically handled, and the face in particular is perfect for Ronan. Ronan includes his signature hammer (and the head is right side up this time) and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I acquired these two from my local TRU, with the assistance of fellow Minimate Multiverse member Ms. Marvel Fan, who was super helpful in making sure I got a set. I’ve been anxiously awaiting this set’s release ever since I picked up the Infinity set, so I’m really happy to finally have them. Iron Man is a little “meh” but he’s not terrible. Ronan, on the other hand, is easily one of my favorite ‘mates in quite some time. He’s just so well done!

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#0429: Infinity Minimates

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

SPACE SUIT CAPTAIN AMERICA, ARMORED HULK, INFINITY THANOS, & THANE

MARVEL MINIMATES

Marvel Minimates is really just the line that keeps on giving. I have a pretty substantial back log of figures I already had before the site was started, so they were already going to show up a lot. However, they also provide new releases on a very regular basis. Which makes for even more frequent reviews. Yay.

Marvel Minimates is also one of the few Minimates lines to be fairly consistently supported by Toys R Us. TRU has carried 18 of their own exclusive series of the line. In addition, they’ve offered fans the opportunity to influence the line a bit with Fan’s Choice boxed sets based on certain events. Today, I’ll be looking at the most recent of those sets, based on last year’s Infinity cross-over. Full disclosure: I haven’t read any of Infinity, so I can’t really speak to any story specific stuff. I know the general gist of it, and I know who the one storyline specific figure in this set is.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These four were released as part of a Toys R Us exclusive four-pack. The line-up was chosen via a poll on Toys R Us’s website. There were two other figures, Ronan the Accuser and Space Suit Iron Man, who did not make the cut for this set, but will be appearing in the TRU Series 19.

SPACE SUIT CAPTAIN AMERICA

There have been a fair number of Captain America ‘mates, especially recently, but this is the first time he’s been space worthy. It’s also the third ‘mate based on Cap’s Marvel Now! appearance. Cap’s clearly the “safe” figure in this set, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and he sports 14 points of articulation. He’s based on Cap’s space-faring look from Infinity, which I understand is the look he had for most of the story. It’s basically just a tweak on his regular Now! design and it looks pretty good. The figure makes use of the standard Minimate body, with non-standard upper arms and hands, as well as add-ons for his helmet and space-y web gear. The hands and helmet hail from the previous two Now! Caps, which is a sensible re-use. They’re well-sculpted pieces that are accurate to the source material, so it’s a win-win. The upper arms originally appeared on the Series 49 Mark 42. They aren’t quite as warranted as the hands and helmet, but they’re reasonable enough as a generic set of tech-y arms. The web gear is the only really new piece present. It’s well enough sculpted, and it seems to be pretty accurate to the source material. It’s not the most exciting piece, but it does its job. Cap’s paint work is pretty decent. For the most part, everything is clean, and the details are sharp. However, the paint on the helmet/head is applied in such a way that is impossible for me to get the helmet off his head, which is rather annoying. Cap includes his mighty shield and a hand wield said shield (both reused from the previous Now! figures), as well as a hair piece (also from the Now! Cap), and a clear display stand. The shield is a bit sloppy paint-wise, and the hair is ultimately not very useful due to the issues with the helmet.

ARMORED HULK

Hulk here is a bit less space-ready than the Cap figure. As the name implies, he’s just an armored version of the character. The figure is over 2 ½ inches tall, closer to the 3 inch mark, and he features 12 points of articulation. He’s based on the character’s Now! look. This is the second Minimate based on the look, but the first one was more armor-lite. This is what the character’s looked like for most of the Now! run. The figure is built on the basic Minimate body, with non-standard pieces for the hands and feet, as well as add-ons for the hair, torso, upper arms, waist, torso extender, and upper legs. The hair and upper arms first cropped up on the Series 41 Mega Rage Hulk, the feet first appeared on TRU’s Hulk as Nul, the hands are from the Hulk TTA Maestro, and the torso extender, waist cover, and upper legs are from the TRU 16 Now! Hulk. The chest piece is the only truly new part, however it’s nicely handled. The reused pieces are used a such a way that it wasn’t immediately obvious that the torso was the only new part, which is a sign of good re-use. The shift from sculpted detail lines on the armor on the torso and upper legs to painted on the feet is a little bit jarring at first, but it’s not too bad. Hulk’s paint alright, but it could be better. There’s some bleed over on the transitions from armor to skin, and there’s some pretty bad slop on the back of the figure’s head and torso. The figure also suffers from the same stuck pieces that plagued Cap, something that is a common theme in this set. Hulk includes a clear display stand.

INFINITY THANOS

Thanos here is probably the biggest draw of this set. This is the third version of Thanos in the Marvel Minimates line, but it’s been five years since his last figure. If you’re a faithful follower of my reviews, you’ll recall I didn’t think the last one was very good. Plus, he’s set to be a major player in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the next few years, so it’s really good timing. Thanos is the largest ‘mate in the set, coming in at just shy of 3 inches tall, and he has 12 points of articulation. He’s based on Thanos’s recent redesign from Infinity. It’s not far off from his original design, but there are a few differences in the execution of some of the details. Thanos uses the basic Minimate body as a starting point, with non-standard hands and feet, as well as add-ons for his helmet, torso, upper arms, waist, torso extender, and upper legs. The upper arms and legs are from the Series 41 Hulk, the extender is from the TRU 16 Hulk, and the waist cover is from a whole bunch of Minimates (I’m not sure who used it first). The helmet, torso cover, hands, and feet are new to Thanos, and they’re pretty good overall. The torso is probably the best piece. It has a lot of ornate detail work that looks really good. The hands and feet are decent, though they seem a little too rounded. The helmet is good in theory, but not quite in practice. It’s well sculpted, but it sits too low on the head, which obscures a lot of the details on the face. Thanos’s paintwork is pretty clean overall. There are a few spots with some bleed over, but most of it’s pretty sharp. The face in particular looks really good, and it definitely improves on the last one. Unfortunately, Thanos was not exempt from the stuck paint issues. His helmet was practically glued on when I got him and took quite a bit of effort to remove. Thanos includes a clear display stand. It would have been nice to get an Infinity Gauntlet that matched this figure, but since it wasn’t in the story, I can understand its absence here.

THANE

Hooo boy, Thane. This guy. So, Thane is the one new character in the set. He’s also new to the storyline, and he has a sort of important role, so I guess his inclusion makes sense. In case you were unaware, Thane is Thanos’s son and he’s half Inhuman, which sort of makes him a bit of a mess. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation. Thane is based on the character’s appearance post-Terrigen Mist exposure, which is notably Thanos-inspired. It’s an okay design, though not particularly thrilling. The figure is mostly a “vanilla ‘mate” with his only unique piece being his left hand. This piece is re-used from the DC Minimates Series 6 Cheetah figure. It’s a pretty standard clawed-hand, so that’s good. The rest of Thane’s detail is done with paint. For better or worse, Thane exhibits the best paintwork of the lot. The base colors are clean and even, the colors are pretty bold, and the detail lines are nice and sharp. Thane didn’t have any issues with stuck pieced due to paint, although that’s likely due to his lack of add-ons. The figure includes a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I found this set while killing some time during one of my brother’s rehearsals. Obviously, I got it from Toys R Us, it being an exclusive and all. I did participate in the vote on this one, and three of the four I voted for are in the final set, so I guess that’s cool. Unfortunately, Ronan, the one I wanted the most, lost out to Thane, which is a bummer. Guess I’ll have to wait for TRU 19. All in all it’s a pretty good set. Cap and Hulk are fun variants and Thanos offers some nice improvements to the last one. Thane is good on a technical level, but sadly neither the character nor his design is particularly exciting.  But hey, three out of four ain’t bad!

#0311: Marvel’s Cyclops

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

MARVEL’S CYCLOPS

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

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Ever since I first got into the marvelous mutants of the X-Men, I’ve been a pretty big fan of Cyclops. Well, the idea of Cyclops, I suppose. His powers are cool, and he’s been graced with some of the cooler costume designs in comics. In the 90s, every X-Man got a figure, and Cyclops even got several. They were of varying quality, but I had just about all of them, and I loved them all. When Marvel figures moved to the 6-inch scale with Marvel Legends, I patiently awaited that awesome figure that would live up to my expectations of good ol’ one-eye. Sadly, while Toybiz did eventually produce a Cyclops, it was far from what I’d hoped. Cyclops made a few more appearances in the Marvel Legends style, but none of them did much for me. I recently picked up my first Cyclops figure in what feels like forever, courtesy of Hasbro’s Marvel Legends Infinite Series.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

CyclopsNowWilsonThis version of Cyclops was released in the recent X-Men themed series of Marvel Legends Infinite Series. The series is done to loosely tie-in with Days of Future Past, and it is exclusive to Toys R Us. Cyclops stands a little over 6 inches tall and features 32 points of articulation. He’s based on the character’s “Marvel Now!” look. Well, one of them anyway. There are currently two versions of Scott Summers running around the Marvel universe. This one’s the older one. He’s all surly. According to the back of the box, Scott has lost control of his powers. Well, more so than before, I guess. What that means design-wise is that instead of the traditional visor we’ve all grown accustomed to, Scott now has a big red “X” on his face. Yay comics! Cyclops is built on Hasbro’s new standard male buck, used on figures such as Boomerang and Zemo. It’s a pretty decent, medium-build type body that works for a lot of characters, so that’s cool. Scott also has a pair of fists stolen from the recent Nova figure, as well as an all-new head sculpt and belt add-on. The head is actually a very nice sculpt. The X-visor has been etched in place, and Scott’s been given a facial expression that befits his older, surlier self. The belt is a basic belt with pouches, but it’s well sculpted, so that’s cool. It’s generic enough that I could see Hasbro putting it to use elsewhere. The rest of Scott’s details are handled via paint. The figure is CyclopsNow2molded in black, with red, orange, and flesh-tone paint providing the various details. The paint is fairly cleanly applied, but it’s not perfect. The red lines on his costume are pretty good, but his visor’s a bit of a mess. It seems like the paint didn’t want to stay in the lines. In addition, the “x” on Scott’s belt is off center, once again failing to follow the sculpted line work. Still, this isn’t as bad as some Hasbro efforts, and the figure does end up looking better as a whole. Cyclops’s only accessory is the arm to this Series’ Build-A-Figure, Jubilee. I don’t know why, but for some reason this BaF figure piece seems more morbid tan previous ones.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

In all honesty, I was not a fan of this Cyclops design when it was first revealed. But, as other artists (read: NOT Joe Quesada) started to draw it, I actually kind of warmed up to it a bit. It’s one of those rare modern costumes that doesn’t suffer from being too over-designed. So, when this series of Marvel Legends was announced, I was a little bit interested in the figure, but I wasn’t 100% sold.

The other day, I had a rough day at work, and decided to stop by my local TRU, just to see what they had. I found the remnants of a case of this series. All that was left were two Wolverines and this guy. In person, I was even more impressed with the costume’s design, and so I decided, what the heck, I’ll go for it. To be honest, he’s probably the best Marvel Legends version of Scott produced. Also, now I kinda want to finish Jubilee, but that means I’ll have to buy a Stryfe figure. I’m not sure I’m ready for that…

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#0305: Yondu & Sakaar Trooper

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

YONDU & SAKAAR TROOPER

MARVEL MINIMATES

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Guardians of the Galaxy was an awesome movie. Minimates are one of the greatest toylines of all time. These are indisputable facts. Sorry if you disagree, but that’s just how it is. So, the combination of these two things can be nothing if not amazing!

The Guardians of the Galaxy Minimates are a subset of Diamond Select Toys’ flagship Marvel Minimates line. Their just starting to hit stores, starting with the Toys R Us assortment. Today, I’ll be looking at Yondu and the Sakaar Trooper.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Yondu and the Sakaar Trooper are the exclusive set from the TRU assortment of Guardians of the Galaxy Minimates. The Sakaar Trooper will also be packed with Nebula in Marvel Minimates Series 57, making Yondu the only true TRU exclusive.

YONDU

Sakaaran&YonduWilson2Yondu holds the honor of being the only of the original Guardians of the Galaxy to appear in the film. He also ended up being the character that had perhaps the most changes made to him. I guess the world just wasn’t ready for a blue-skined 30th century archer who sports a 2 foot red mohawk and spandex. And that’s a shame. The Minimate is of course based on the film version of the character. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and features 14 points of articulation. He uses the standard Minimate body, with all new pieces for Yondu’s “mohawk” and scavenger jacket. Both pieces are well sculpted and look accurate to the source material. Perhaps the details on the jacket could be a bit sharper, but that feels a bit nit-picky. The painted details on Yondu are top-notch. Even with blue skin and red eyes, that’s definitely Michael Rooker’s face. Yondu’s uniform is also quite impressive. There’s tons of folds, straps, pouches and zippers present, which really helps the figure convey the “scavenger” look. The Mohawk piece is red, which isn’t quite right to the movie, where it was a silver piece that glowed red, but I actually prefer the red. Yondu’s only accessory is a clear display stand. It’s a little disappointing that he didn’t get any of his little console doodads, or at the very least his golden arrow, but I suppose the line has to be drawn somewhere.

SAKAAR TROOPER

Sakaaran&YonduWilson1The Sakaar are yet another alien race elevated to movie-dom thanks to Marvel Studios not having the rights to all the top-notch aliens.  They and the Chitari must just laugh it up every time the Skrulls and the Baddoon stop by! The Sakaar Trooper stands 2 ½ inches tall and features 14 points of articulation. The Sakaar Trooper is built on the base Minimate body, with the addition of a newly sculpted helmet. The helmet is a decent piece. It has the look of a rough sculpt, but that’s pretty accurate to the look of the Sakaar from the movie. The rest of the figure’s details are handled via painted details. They’ve done a pretty great job of boiling down the rather complex Sakaar design into a basic set of painted details. Like Groot, the Sakaar Trooper features some rather extensive texture detailing that wraps around many of the surfaces. The Sakaar Trooper includes a blaster and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I purchased this set at the same time as yesterday’s Drax, Groot & Rocket. This being the exclusive set, it was the one I was actually looking for at TRU. Yondu’s a pretty cool ‘mate of a pretty cool character, so I’m glad to have gotten a hold of him. The Sakaar Trooper isn’t the most exciting Minimate, but he could be worse. Maybe he’ll be cooler when I have two of him…

#0204: New Mutants Magik & Warlock

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

NEW MUTANTS MAGIK & WARLOCK

MARVEL MINIMATES

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Marvel! Minimates! Marvel! Minimates! Marvel Minimates! Yep, another Marvel Minimates review today. This time around, I’ll be taking a look at two of the New Mutants (well, technically three), an offshoot of the X-Men. The characters are Magik (or, “New Mutants Magik,” because branding) and a combo figure of Warlock and Cypher. If you’d like to know a little bit more about them, check out Magik’s backstory here, and Warlock and Cypher’s here.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This set was released as part of the 9th Toys R Us exclusive series of Marvel Minimates, and was released to coincide with Diamond’s New Mutants boxed set.

NEW MUTANTS MAGIK

Magik was one of the more prominent members of the team, and ended up being one of the few to move to the X-Men proper. She’s depicted here in her New Mutants uniform, so she fits in with the others. Magik is built on the standard Minimate body, which means she sports 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall. She has a sculpted hairpiece and a shoulder pad. Both pieces are new to this figure and look spot on to her comicbook counterpart. The shoulder pad is a bit loose, but it looks good when it sits properly. She also features gloved right hand, which is a re-use. The paint work is a bit mixed. The detail lines are nice and clean, and I quite like her sly expression, but the base paint is a bit sloppy. Magik has two accessories: a fiery sword and a stand that replicates her teleportation abilities. They are both new pieces, and they are great additions to the figure.

WARLOCK

Now, the figure that is actually two figures in one. This figure not only represents shape-shifter Warlock, but also the team’s resident brainiac Cypher. It’s a nice idea, given the closeness of the characters and the fact that Cypher might not be the most exciting figure on his own.  Warlock/Cypher is built on the basic body, just like Magik. He features five newly sculpted add-ons: head/mask, gun arm, claw arm, torso, and left foot. Warlock had an always changing look in the comics, but these seem to do the job well enough. He also features a torso extender, which is reused from a modern Battlestar Galactica Cylon. The paint is similar to Magik, in that the detail lines are nice and clean, but some of the more base paint is a bit fuzzy around the edges. Still, the detail work is impressive, especially at this scale. Warlock includes a hairpiece, hands and feet to allow you to display the figure as Cypher, which is a really cool option.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set is actually one of the few TRU exclusives I didn’t have any trouble tracking down. Just found it in my local store one day. If I recall correctly, I was even asked what Minimates were by the woman standing behind me in line, which was cool. I really like this set, especially because it features my three favorite members of the New Mutants, especially Warlock. In a sad twist of fate, Warlock is actually one of the few Minimates I’ve ever lost, misplaced somewhere between my dorm room and home. I ended up having to get a replacement (for quite a mark-up) from Amazon. But, it was definitely worth it. I really like this set, even more than the boxed set it was meant to augment.