Tag Archives: Vision

#0502: Vision & Quicksilver

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

VISION – MARVEL NOW & QUICKSILVER

MARVEL MINIMATES

Vision&Quicksilver1

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.

Vision&Quicksilver4

#0199: Vision, Hawkeye, & Vision 2.0

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

VISION, HAWKEYE, & VISION 2.0

MARVEL MINIMATES

Time for another entry in the tales of the Mates of Mini! Or something like that… More Minimates is what I’m getting at here.

This is yet another set from the Marvel Minimates line. The three characters looked at today all hail from the Avengers side of the Marvel Universe. The characters featured are Vision (who you can read about over in the Backstories Section), Hawkeye, and the variant release Vision 2.0.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These three were released as part of series 20 of the Marvel Minimates line.

VISION

Vision has always one of the most important members of the Avengers in my personal opinion. The character was a prominent member for many years, and it was cool to see him get a release in the line. The figure is based on Vision’s classic look. He’s built on the standard Minimates body, which means he has 14 points of articulation and stands 2 ½ inches tall. He has 2 sculpted add-ons: a cowl and a cape. Both pieces are brand new, and look pretty much spot on to the character’s look. Paint is where my one real issue with the figure lies. They’ve attempted to depict him in mid-phase, which leaves his arms, legs, and cape permanently in a state of semi-translucence. It’s not terrible in theory, or if it had been a separate set of pieces, but as the standard look for the figure, it’s disappointing and ends up making him look awkward on the shelf. One other issue is that I feel his greens and yellows are a bit too washed out, especially compared to more recent releases. The basic details are handled well enough, though, and the figure features no noticeable slop or bleed over.

HAWKEYE

If Vision is one of the most important Avengers, Hawkeye is the quintessential member. It’s just not the Avengers without him. He’s also based on his classic look, and is built on the standard Minimate body. Hawkeye features three sculpted add-ons: a mask, a torso cover, and a belt/loincloth piece. These are okay pieces, but they feel incredibly dated, especially the bulky upper torso piece, which gives the character some inappropriate girth. Paint is okay, but once again the colors seem just a touch too subdued. There is also a small bit of slop around the boots, and the face doesn’t quite line up with the masks. Hawkeye includes his bow and a sonic arrow.

VISION 2.0

Vision 2.0, or Jonas as the hip and happening kids call him, is not quite as prominent as the other two reviewed here, but he is a neat little character, and he’s a great fit for the variant slot. He’s fairly straight forward, being a vanilla ‘mate accessorized with the same cape sculpted for the normal Vision. The figure is molded in clear green plastic, of which I am always a fan, with some painted details. While I do feel that the face may be a bit crowded, everything else looks pretty cleanly applied and well handled. This figure is definitely a lot more vibrant than the other two, which is kind of funny, seeing as he’s the only “modern” character in the lot.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got these sets right around the time of their first release. Vision 2.0 was actually one of the very first variant sets I ever acquired, given my fandom of the character. The set was cool at the time, just to get Hawkeye and Vision, who were both essential members of the Avengers. Hawkeye certainly hasn’t aged well, but there have been a few more recent releases that improved greatly on this one. This is to date the only Vision available. That’s too bad, but it’s not the worst Minimate ever. Plus the character may actually be coming into a bit more prominence in the upcoming year or so. All in all, not a terrible set, but not really the greatest.

#0021: The Vision

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

VISION

MARVEL LEGENDS (TOY BIZ)

Today, I’m looking at the first of what I’m sure will be many Marvel Legends reviews.  Back in the early 2000s, this was THE line to collect.  They had killer sculpts, awesome paint, and of course, a huge quantity of articulation!  And let’s not forget the scalper appeal.  While this line didn’t start the trend of action figure scalpers, its high demand and tendency to pack fan-favorites as short-packs led to high prices, and a whole lot of “legitimate businessmen” trying to corner the market.  It was so great.  No, wait, I meant the other thing.  Terrible.  It was terrible.   I’ll be looking at the Vision figure from the line.  For those of you who are unaware (which is probably a large portion), the Vision is a long standing member of the Avengers.  He was a synthezoid (basically an android) created by the villain Ultron to destroy the Avengers.  However, he was created using the brain-patterns of Wonder Man, a reluctant villain who the Avengers had tried to help before his unfortunate demise.  Apparently, Wonder Man’s emotions overpowered the synthezoid, and he rebelled against his creator and joined the Avengers.  There’s a lot more to his story, but that’s the basic gist.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Vision was part of the seventh series of Toy Biz’s Marvel Legends line. He stands roughly 6 inches tall and has 33 points of articulation.  He also included a clear poseable stand that can simulate his flying ability.  He was available in both regular and “Phasing” versions.  The regular has a normal paint job, while the phasing is cast in various translucent plastics.  I managed to get a hold of both versions, and since they’re the same sculpt, I’ll be looking at both today.  The phasing version was technically the variant.  I say technically because Vision was only one to a case, meaning which version of him was in said case was fairly random.   Both figures depict Vision in his original green and yellow costume.  Vision was built on a base body, with the details added via paint.  The body’s fine, though the abundance of articulation does give it some odd proportions.  The head is this figure’s real strong point.  It’s an all new sculpt, and it’s really well done.  It has that perfect “just too perfect to be human” look, which is great!  The painted figure has some sharp paint ops that really highlight the sculpt well.  For this reason, I think the regular version is a bit better than the phasing version, as the details can get lost in the clear plastic.  Both figures are topped off by a nicely done rubber cape.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, you saw the displeasure up there about the whole scalpers charging insane prices thing?  Yeah, that pretty much sums up my experience with this figure.  While I was eventually able to track down both versions of this character for my collection, it wasn’t until well after Toy Biz’s Marvel Legends were done and gone.  Being less than one per case (thanks to the variant) he was near impossible to find, and instant scalper bait, resulting in a high after market price.  I was fortunate enough to track down both versions loose from a local toy store that had just bought someone’s collection, which made me a happy collector indeed!