Tag Archives: TRU Exclusive

#0744: Spider-Man – Stealth Suit & Sandman

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

SPIDER-MAN – STEALTH SUIT & SANDMAN

MARVEL MINIMATES

Sandman&Spidey1

After 63 series of Minimates based on Marvel characters from both the comics and the live action movies, DST has decided to mix things up a bit, introducing figures based on the current crop of Marvel cartoons. Generally speaking, that means a fair amount of repeats of the “heavy hitter” characters, but it also gives us a chance at some slightly more obscure characters and looks we might otherwise not get, which is always a plus. So, let’s take a look at my first set from this new breed of ‘mates, Spider-Man in his Stealth Suit and Sandman!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This pair was released as part of the 20th Toys R Us Exclusive series of the main Marvel Minimates line. All the sets in this particular series are based on the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon, and that includes these two.

SPIDER-MAN – STEALTH SUIT

Sandman&Spidey3Here’s the required Spider-Man. Oh boy. As noted in the name, this figure gives us Spidey in his SHIELD-issued stealth suit from the cartoon. Essentially, it’s just a clear Spider-Man Minimate. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation. He uses the standard Minimate body, with no add-on pieces, which is pretty much par for the course with Spidey. My figure has a slight misshaping on the front of the head, which is a little bit noticeable, but not the worst thing ever. The paintwork on the figure is pretty straight-forward. He’s molded in clear plastic. All the detail lines are done in white, and the logo and eyes are done in grey. The line work is nice and clean, and matches up nicely with the standard Spidey from this wave. Spider-Man was packed with a strand of web, an extra torso showing his costume de-cloaking (which is a pretty fun piece) and a clear display stand.

SANDMAN

Sandman&Spidey2Sandman is definitely the main draw of this set. It’s not the first time we’ve gotten Flint Marko in Minimate form (we’ve actually had five before this one), but it’s the first time we’ve gotten him in something other than the striped shirt. The costume he’s wearing here is, obviously, his design from Ultimate Spider-Man, but it’s also a pretty close match for Flint’s Jack Kirby-designed costume from his time with the Frightful Four. This is actually the first time this design’s ever made it into toy-form, so that’s pretty sweet! Sandman has three add-on pieces for his collar, shoulder pads, and belt, as well as non-standard pieces for his arms and feet. The shoulder pads were last used on Series 60’s Avalanche, the belt is a fairly standard issue piece, the arms are the same as those on the last three Sandmen, and the feet were used on the GotG Groot ‘mate. The collar appears to be a new piece, but I’m not 100% sure on that. The end result is a decent match for the show/comic design, and looks pretty sharp in general. Sandman’s paint application is pretty darn great. The design of the costume has been handled very sharply, with some great geometric work, and the texturing on the sand parts is well-handled. His face is a little more simplistic than some recent ‘mates, due to his animated origins, but he shouldn’t stick out too much from regular Marvel Minimates. Sandman includes a spare set of normal arms and hands and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Hey, remember Force Friday? Where I went to Toys R Us at midnight in order to get the new Star Wars toys? Well, if there was one plus to that trip, it was that I found this set, so that’s cool. I never got into Ultimate Spider-Man, but I’m a sucker for classic Kirby designs, so I’m happy to have this version of Sandman, and thrilled that he’s so well-done to boot. Spidey’s not much more than package filler for me, but he’s not a bad ‘mate, and he’s certainly different from the Spider-Men we’ve gotten before.

#0725: Bruce Banner & War Machine

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

BRUCE BANNER & WAR MACHINE

MARVEL MINIMATES

Banner&WM1

Age of Ultron had quite a few characters in it, just about all of whom deserved to be represented in toy form. Of course, getting all of those characters actually released in said form is kind of a different story. Diamond Select toys has by far made the best stab at it, giving us figures of almost every character, including today’s entries, Bruce Banner and War Machine.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Banner and War Machine are the TRU exclusive set from the second series of AoU-inspired Marvel Minimates. They don’t have quite the clever pairing of yesterday’s Hulkbuster and Hulk, but it’s not a huge stretch to consider this the “pals of Tony” set.

BRUCE BANNER

Banner&WM3This isn’t the first Bruce Banner Minimate, or even the first MCU Banner Minimate, but it is the first Mark Ruffalo Bruce Banner ‘mate. Banner was actually supposed to get a ‘mate from the first Avengers, but the army builder case which was meant to include him was scratched before it was even solicited. But here he is now! Yay for him! Banner represents his look from the lab scenes in AoU. It’s a look that falls back in line with the more classic depictions of Bruce from the comics, which isn’t really a look he’s had in the movies. It’s certainly more befitting of Bruce’s scientific nature. The figure stands about 2 ½ inches tall and he has the usual 14 points of articulation. Banner has two main add-on pieces: his hair and his lab coat. Both are re-used. The hair dates back to El Indigo from the Fistful of Dollars set, and the jacket first appeared on Ghostbusters 2’s Janosz. The hair is passable; it’s not a perfect match, but it’s not horribly off either. The coat is really just a basic coat, so no issues there. Banner’s paintwork is all pretty nicely handled. The checkering on the shirt under his coat is very well-done, and adds a nice bit of pop to the figure. It makes me wish he had a set arms with sleeves to match, but, alas, he’ll always be stuck with the lab coat. The face is a good Ruffalo likeness, which is always a plus. Banner includes the standard clear display stand, as well as an extra angry head. The extra head is a fantastic addition, and I love the bright green eyes.

WAR MACHINE

Banner&WM2War Machine has a somewhat minor role in AoU, but he does play into the big climactic fight and he was part of the Avengers roster in the final shot, so his inclusion is certainly warranted. In AoU, War Machine is wearing the his Iron Patriot armor from Iron Man 3, but done up in his more traditional War Machine colors. Since it’s the same armor, it’s an easy repaint for all the toy companies that made IM3 stuff, which is why he’s shown up in several of the AoU tie-in lines. Structurally, this figure’s the same as Series 49’s Iron Patriot ‘mate. He’s got add-ons for the helmet, torso piece, waist, upper arms, boots, and gloves. I thought the armor looked just a bit pudgy on that figure, and I still feel that’s the case here, but it’s not horrible. His paint is more or less identical to Series 49’s War Machine 2.0. Since it’s the same basic design and the same sculpted parts, that’s kind of expected, though. There are a few differences: the Air Force linsignias from the gloves of the 49 version are no longer there, his facial expression has been changed, and the overall finish of the figure is much shinier. The loss of the insignias is a bummer, but not a big deal. The face looks a bit more like Cheadle, but I can’t say I’m a fan of his dopey expression. War Machine includes the usual clear display stand, as well as a flight stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got this TRU exclusive at TRU. What a novel concept, right? I actually picked him up while out on this big video game shopping trip we did for my brother’s birthday, which was kind of cool. Banner’s a fun addition to the line, and I’m glad he finally made it out. War Machine feels a little unnecessary, and not quite as good as his Series 49 counterpart, but he’s a good figure for those that missed out on the first version, I suppose. Not the most thrilling set of all time, but a pretty solid one.

Banner&WM5

#0667: Captain America TTA Part B

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

WORLD WAR II CAPTAIN AMERICA & ARMORED CAPTAIN AMERICA

MARVEL MINIMATES

CapTTA1

“One of these days, I’ll get the other half of the set. I mean, everybody’s gotta have a crazy 90s armored Captain America in their collection, right? How could you not? “
–Ethan Wilson
The Figure In Question #0020: Captain America Through The Ages Part A

Hey guys! Guess what! I got the other half of that set! It totally happened! Aren’t you so excited? I sure am! Without further delay, let’s have a look at the second half of the Captain America Through the Ages boxed set!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

World War II Cap and Armored Cap make up the second half of the Toys R Us exclusive Marvel Minimates Captain America Through the Ages boxed set, which was released to coincide with Cap’s return to life a few years back. The other two figures in the set were Reborn Cap and Suspended Animation Cap, who I reviewed here.

WORLD WAR II CAPTAIN AMERICA

CapTTA2This set took a few cues from the Captain America: Reborn series that returned Cap to the land of the living. The default Cap was based on his appearance at the end of the series, and this Cap is based on his appearance early on in the series when he’s reliving his WWII days. It’s not incredibly far removed from his earliest comics appearances, but it has been given a few updates to make it just a touch more “real-world.” The figure is roughly 2 ½ inches tall and has 12 points of articulation (due to the sculpt of the boots). Cap has sculpted add-ons for his helmet, upper torso, glove cuffs, belt, and boots. He shares the boots and glove cuffs with the Reborn Cap in this same set, but other than that all of his pieces are new to him, and as far as I can tell they’ve remained unique. The helmet is a nice update on his original mask design, merged with just a touch of Ultimates styling. It ended up being the inspiration for the film take CapTTA4on the costume, so it looks pretty familiar nowadays. The upper torso is an interesting piece; it applies the more recent change of giving Cap three-dimensional scales on his upper torso and also serves to bulk him up a bit. I’m not typically a fan of the really obvious scales, but in this case it doesn’t look too bad; in fact, it kind of makes him stand out nicely from the crowd. Cap’s paintwork is noticeably more subdued here than on most versions of the character, but it’s definitely true to the design DST’s aiming to capture. It actually looks pretty cool, almost like a faded photo from the 40s. The paint is pretty great overall, with no issues of slop or bleed over to speak of. The underlying face has a nice Jack Kirby feel to it, which is perfect for a WWII era Cap. This version of Cap is packed with his original mighty shield, a spare, more classically inspired mask, and a spare hairpiece to display him unmasked.

ARMORED CAPTAIN AMERICA

CapTTA3From one extreme to the other. Behold, the 90s. Oh joy. In the 90s, Cap’s powers stopped working correctly, leaving him with brittle bones and stuff. So, like all good 90s heroes, he got powered armor. Yay. Here it is, in all its glory. He’s got 6 all new sculpted pieces, which, to date, still remain unique to him. Because no one else would ever touch something this ugly. To their credit, the pieces all do a pretty good job of capturing the design from the comics and translating it to fit on a Minimate body. Truth be told, the blocky nature of the line actually does the design some favors, and he manages to get some pretty great mobility, in spite of the bulky armor. The paintwork on this figure isn’t quite as great as WWII Cap, but it’s not bad. The metallic red works pretty well, and the stretched out A on the head captures the 90s styling pretty decently. And he’s even got a proper grimace under the helmet! There’s a bit of slop around the edges of the torso stripes and the head wings, but neither is horribly distracting. Armored Cap includes his trusty shield, done up to match the armor, as well as a hair piece (which has some pretty bad flashing on the sides. Yikes!)

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

In case you’re wondering, no, I didn’t break down and buy these two for their inflated eBay prices. I actually had some restraint. I did, however, end up finding a sealed Cap TTA set while at Yesterday’s Fun. And the best part is that it wasn’t much more than retail! So, I got these two guys, along with spares of the other two, which is pretty awesome. This pair is an interesting combination. I fully admit to way underestimating WWII Cap. He might well be the best figure in the set. Armored Cap, though? Well, he’s better than I expected, but he’s still my least favorite. Honestly, I’m just glad to finally have the whole set!

#0652: Vasquez & Battle-Damaged Alien

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

PVT VASQUEZ & BATTLE-DAMAGED ALIEN

ALIENS MINIMATES

VasquezXeno1

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.

VasquezXeno9

#0645: Hudson & Screaming Alien

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

“CPL” HUDSON & SCREAMING ALIEN

ALIENS MINIMATES

HudsonXeno1

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?

HudsonXeno4

#0565: Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch

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

QUICKSILVER & SCARLET WITCH

MARVEL MINIMATES

QS&SWAoU1

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.

QS&SWAoU4

#0524: Agents of SHIELD

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

AGENT COULSON, NICK FURY, & MARIA HILL

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

AgentsOfShield1

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!