by DJ | Aug 28, 2014 | Action Figure Reviews, Action Figures, Diamond Select Toys, Minimates
Minimates: Best Of Marvel Minimates Series 1 – Captain America and Thor
Minimates makes no false claim entitling this series of figures a Best of Marvel. It’s not just that these are the best Marvel Minimates releases, but these are characters that are truly the best, the most classic that Marvel has to offer and they are captured in perfect form to show each character from an incredible highlight in their history. Today we are going to look at Captain America and Thor. Two characters that Marvel has built their legacy around nearly as much as your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Their names are nearly, if not as well known, and their history rich with a ton of options for Minimates to pick from.
Captain America
The Good:
- Everyone’s favorite Star-Spangled hero is here in all of his glory with a color scheme to show his vintage 70’s color scheme.
- Removable helmet / added hair make Cap and Steve Rogers look true to the comic page.
- Line / muscle detail is again, page perfect.
- Very clever mechanism to bind Cap’s shield to his wrist (it’s a whole other wrist!).
- This Steve Rogers face is Steve Rogers…clean, plain, nowhere near as ‘pretty’ as the Chris Evans face representations in the Cap movie line figures.
The Bad:
- Fantastic release, love it. No bad news here!
Thor
The Good:
- The hammer is inscribed and it looks fantastic.
- Excellent comic-like character detail in Thor’s most iconic uniform.
- Who doesn’t love a fancy included flight stand?
- Thor’s plastic cape is not made of cloth, but the paint finish does a great job of fooling the eye!
The Bad:
- It would have been nice to have a helmetless Thor with hair to match the helmetless Cap.
Both
The Rest:
- The characters are classic and the representations that Minimates has put together here are exceptionally classic comic-accurate.
Availability:
Captain America and Thor Pictures:
Minimates: Best Of Marvel Minimates Series 1 Pictures:
MUReview received these products for free.
by DJ | Aug 22, 2014 | Action Figure Reviews, Action Figures, Diamond Select Toys, Minimates
Minimates: Best Of Marvel Minimates Series 1 – Spider-Man and Green Goblin
Call them the Adam and Eve of Marvel Comics if you want. Most peoples first memories of their love affair with Marvel started with a good guy and a bad guy, Spidey and the Green Goblin. Both classic characters are captured as Minimates to near perfection!
Spider-Man
The Good:
- This is Spider-Man. The Spider-Man I grew up with, and he has a Peter Parker head. That’s all I really want!
- Clean lines, excellent paint app and very find details in the paint showcase excellent design.
The Bad:
- Awesome figure, nothing bad to say.
Green Goblin
The Good:
- Alt Norman head!
- Alt pumpkin hand!
- Amazing coloring and paint application, he’s so bright he glows!
The Bad:
- I was hoping with this Green Goblin I might not have the same issues found with the Zombie Villains Goblin. Standing Norman on the glider was a little easier, but not by much and still it was ultimately an exercise in frustration.
Both
The Rest:
- It’s a greatest hits set of characters you probably already have, but if you don’t. You can’t ask for any more. Go git’ em!
Availability:
Spider-Man and Green Goblin Pictures:
Minimates: Best Of Marvel Minimates Series 1 Pictures:
MUReview received these products for free.
by DJ | Aug 14, 2014 | Action Figure Reviews, Action Figures, Diamond Select Toys, Minimates
Minimates: Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Captain America and Winter Soldier
Well here it is, the crown jewel of the Captain America: The Winter Soldier Minimates wave, Cap and Winter Soldier themselves!
Captain America
The Good:
- Cap is featured in his classic (as of the 2011 movie), spangled suit mimicking Old Glory herself in red, white and blue.
- Once again, love the way Cap’s shield mounts to his arm with the secondary wrist piece.
- Fine details on the helmet, as with the stealth suit, the chin strap is a different color than the cowl / helmet top.
- Cap features tons of fine line detail to impress.
The Bad:
- As with Stealth Suit Cap (with Brock Rumlow) the face here is the only thing for me that is off putting. It’s just so pretty.
The Winter Soldier
The Good:
- The Winter Solider comes with a ton of accessories!
- Knives, and holsters for the knives.
- All weapons fit in hand perfectly.
- The steel arm looks fantastic!
- Attention to detail to both masked and maskless head is highly appreciated.
The Bad:
- In my Minimate collecting career this is one of the first times that I’ve encountered weapon attachment methods such that are displayed here. I’d love to say hell yeah it’s awesome, but for me it really doesn’t work. Unique to Winter Soldier, he has protruding posts on several parts of his body, call them normal holster points. His weapons have divots / holes that are meant to line up with these posts and ‘snap on’. Unfortuantely, the holes on the weapons aren’t / can’t be deep enough because they are so small, so that leads to frustration and weapons falling off left and right.
Both
Weapon complaints aside, this is a very solid pack that deserves your attention.
Availability:
- LCS LCS LCS…and a lil’ luck. Oh, we’re probably giving this away soon, so come on back now ya’here!
Captain America and the Winter Soldier Pictures:
Captain America: The Winter Soldier Group Pictures:
MUReview received these products for free.
by DJ | Aug 12, 2014 | Action Figure Reviews, Action Figures, Diamond Select Toys, Minimates
Minimates: Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Captain America and Brock Rumlow
Captain America: The Winter Soldier featured on of Marvel’s most reveled baddies..before the mask. Brock Rumlow AKA Crossbones! To say that Rumlow is infamous is an understatement, having pulled the trigger that ‘killed’ Captain America. In the movie, we get to see Brock begin down his path to Crossboneyness, and in this 2-pack, we get two great figures. One to become Crossbones and one to eventually be killed by him? Nah, but I bet they can mix it up real good about now!
Captain America
The Good:
- Cap is featured in his stealth suit with stealth shield and features both helmeted and helmet-less configurations.
- This an, as usual, exceptional movie accurate portrayal by Minimates.
- I’m a very big fan of the included alternate wrist band with shield holder.
- You can also place the shield on Cap’s back.
The Bad:
- I don’t know if this is the fault of the Minimate or the fault of Chris Evans. The helmet-less configuration that shows Cap’s full face. It feels too pretty to be Cap. I picture him as clean cut, all American, but gritty. Here…looks a little prissy.
Brock Rumlow
The Good:
- Brock has Guns…lots of Guns. And HOLSTERS!
- Removable vest shows off a movie accurate undershirt.
- In addition to guns, Brock comes with a knife. All weapons fit very well in hand.
- Face is dead on, gritty and mean.
The Bad:
- It wouldn’t have been true to the movie, but it’d of been cool to have a Crossbones masked head.
Both
The Rest:
- This was a great movie. This is a set from the movie. You should get this, because it features awesome characters and uniforms from the awesome movie.
Availability:
- Happy hunting. Or just keep an eye here, we will be giving this away soon!
Captain America and Brock Rumlow Pictures:
Captain America: The Winter Soldier Group Pictures
MUReview received these products for free.
by DJ | Aug 11, 2014 | Action Figure Reviews, Cons, Marvel Legends, SDCC 2014
SDCC 2014: Hasbro Thanos Imperative Box Set
I’m not going to beat around the bush here, but I will caveat. I haven’t reviewed my weight in 6 inch figures as I have definitely done in 3.75 scale, so I admit I’m less an expert in this category. However. In my honest opinion the SDCC 2014 Thanos Imperative Box Set from Hasbro has put the 6 inch action figure world on notice. Marvel and Hasbro have caught a keg worth of lightining and they are loosing it on the world between sets like this and the success of Guardians of the Galaxy. Every single figure in this set is amazing. Amazing. The packaging, also amazing.
The Packaging
The Good:
- The mouth of the Galactus Engine opens (slides down) to reveal Blastaar. A box…it’s a box, and it has an articulated mouth.
- Opening the mouth reveals a set of wings that can be folded out to make the box appear to be a ship.
- The Galactus Engine artwork is incredible.
- Excellent character detail is displayed as hidden until the mouth is opened / wings are unfolded.
- Blastaar faces out from Galactus’ mouth, while ‘the good guys’ face out through clear plastic on the opposite side. The 4 heroes are in a single tray and Blastaar gets his own tray….he needs it.
The Bad:
- The box isn’t made of plastic so it won’t last forever :(.
Black Bolt
The Good:
- Every figure in this set is incredibly pose-able.
- Fine line details showcase the bolts on the uniform.
- The tuning fork is a nice independent piece on Bolt’s forehead.
- Under arm wings work far better here than on the previously released Legends Black Bolt. These are hard plastic vs the very easily rip/breakable old Bolt release.
The Bad:
Medusa
The Good:
- I have never had the good fortune to say this of an action figure, until today. Medusa has fine child bearing hips.
- Excellent paint application.
- Excellent facial detail and expression.
- Spiked heals!?
- Medusa’s hair will help her stand where her heels may fail her.
The Bad:
- While her hair is awesome…it’s not articulated. I can’t wait till the figure out how to pull that off.
Star Lord
The Good:
- Remember the 3.75 Star Lord Figure that came out in the MU Guardians of the Galaxy box set? He looks like that, but 2x the size, right down to the guns…but.
- Articulation here is once again incredible, where by size the MU release was a little bit more limited.
- Exceptional costume and helmet detail. Star Lord comes off the pages in a stunning three dimensional representation.
- Fits right in with Drax and Rocket releases from last year. Looks great standing next to Nova too!
The Bad:
- Icing on the cake here would have been a swappable head without helmet / mask.
Gladiator
The Good:
- Gladiator is the second meatiest figure in this bunch, sturdy and thick limbed.
- Comic accurate facial / uniform detail, mohawk and cape.
- Highly articulated for setup of just about any pose.
- This is an incredibly substantial figure.
- What the hell are they gonna use this mold for next? I can’t wait to see!
The Bad:
- I don’t even have anything witty bad to put here.
Blastaar
The Good:
- Blastaar is massive.
- Facial / hair detail is to the comic page accurate.
- Body accessories, while molded on are again, page perfect to the Thanos Imperative story line.
- He’s just so freaking big! There is nothing dainty about this monster.
- What the hell are they gonna use this mold for next? I can’t wait to see! ( I repeated myself on purpose).
The Bad:
- He’s missing one little thing, a shoulder / upper arm guard. Totally being nitpicky here though, this figure is astounding.
The Rest:
- Ohhh my gosh it sucks so much that you can’t buy this for cost anymore. This is a must own for Marvel Cosmic fans!
Availability:
- Right, so let me adjust the above statement. Word on the street is that this would not be solely an SDCC exclusive. There is no tagging on the box to indicate that to be the case. The rumor is that this will be a convention exclusive, and there will be other conventions. It would be a terrible shame not to get this set into as many hands of wanting folks as Hasbro can because it is a bargain at twice the retail price and it includes some of the most exceptional figures my hand has ever held.
Hasbro Thanos Imperative Box Set Group Picture:
MUReview received these products for free.