By Dragon

Design (4.5 out of 5): Namor is modeled after his more modern comic appearance, featuring his jacket, belt, and arm bands. An important design aspect that had to be considered was the wings on Namor’s ankles. The way it has been done here is phenominal. Rather than paint the wings to the sides of the leg or sculpt them to a new foot a la DC’s Aquaman, a new part was sculpted for the wings that slips between the foot and the leg. The only part of the design that comes to question is the arm bands. The ones used are the oft used ones that debuted with DC’s Booster Gold, which look fine, but don’t really portray the layered look that the source material warrants. A better choice would have been the more recent sculpt used for Marvel’s Thor.

Attention to Detail (4.5 out of 5): Namor sports a high level of detail. The facial detail accurately portrays the regal look and attitude of the character. The chest detail shows off Namor’s muscular physique. However, where the detail really shines is the sculpting. The jacket features scales carefully carved into the material and the belt is equally detailed. The only problem with the detail is the paint application on the jacket. In some areas, the gold is not applied evenly, hurting the illusion of the belt being separate from the jacket. Still, the irregular paint apps are minor and hardly noticable.

Accessories (0 out of 5; 4.5 out of 5): Namor comes with no accessories. Given the more physical nature of the character, the only accessory I could imagine the character lacking is perhaps a trident. Still, Namor’s trident is more of a rarity in the modern Marvel universe, so the lack of it is hardly anything to lose sleep over.

Part Implementation (4.5 out of 5): Namor features a few new sculpts to help capture the uniqueness of the character. A hair piece has been sculpted to match the look of Namor. A combination jacket and belt has also been crafted, one that fits the character quite well and could not be achieved by any other part currently available. The ankle wings are also unique and quite necessary. The only part that brings forth any question is the before mentioned arm bands. While new bands wouldn’t be necessary, there were perhaps better sculpts available from the current selection of parts in the AA/DST palette.

Mechanics (5 out of 5): Namor does not seem to suffer from any of the problematic stiff or frozen joints of the recent past. All parts move freely with no noticable problems.

Articulation (14 out of 14): Namor features a full 14 points of articulation. The head, arms, hands, waist, legs, and feet all move freely despite the unique sculpts on the torso and ankles.

Availability (Uncommon): Namor is currently available exclusively to the Defenders 4-pack, sold exclusively at Action Figure Xpress. Despite this exclusive status, this set is cropping up at other online retailers, making the availability slightly more common.

Overall: Namor is an excellent figure, with strong design and high amounts of detail. Despite some minor paint application problems and perhaps not the best choice of arm bands, this is still a great minimate, and perhaps the best one of the Defenders box set.
Overall: 4.6 out of 5

By Dragon

Design (4.5 out of 5): Hulk has sported many looks over the year, but he has always come back to the bulky green variety, which is what this figure is based upon. From the start, the thing that stands out is the bulky chest piece. Given restrictions of the Marvel license and the size of the character, this is a good compromise for making the character appear larger than the standard 2″ body. The minimate look is preserved by using a flat chest piece with the muscular detail painted rather than sculpted. Overall, the design is solid, preserving the simplistic look of both the character and the minimate style. The only way it could be better is if it was in a larger scale, but given the before mentioned licensing limitations, this is a suitable compromise.

Attention to Detail (4 out of 5): Despite his simple look, Hulk features a great deal of detail. The muscular structure has been applied to both the front and back of the figure. Detail lines have been added to the legs, with the ragged bottom of the pants being outlined. The best detail on this figure is Hulk’s face, which really captures the angry look of the Jade Giant. The hair piece is equally impressive, with the unkempt hair adding to the savage look. There are a few areas of concern, however. The bottom of the legs reveal green skin of the Hulk, however this color does not seem to match the green on the rest of the figure. Another minor concern is the detail lines on the legs. On the figure I used for this review, the detail lines were missing from the front of one of the legs. This was not the case on duplicates of this figure, so this seems to be an isolated incident, though it is troubling.

Accessories (0 out of 5; 5 out of 5): Hulk comes with no accessories. Given the nature of the character, there’s really no accessory that this figure really needs, so the lack of accessory is perfectly acceptable.

Part Implementation (5 out of 5): Hulk is almost an exact reproduction of his Marvel Zombie counterpart, making use of the chest piece and hair piece sculpted for the zombie Hulk. The parts fit the character perfectly, so there’s no need to reinvent the wheel.

Mechanics (5 out of 5): Hulk does not seem to suffer from any stiff or frozen joints. All the parts move freely without being overly loose.

Articulation (14 out of 14): Hulk features a full 14 points of articulation, with free use of the neck, arms, legs, hands, feet, and waist.

Availability (Uncommon): Hulk is currently available exclusively to the Defenders 4-pack, sold exclusively at Action Figure Xpress. Despite this exclusive status, this set is cropping up at other online retailers, making the availability slightly more common.

Overall: Hulk is a solid figure, designed after the classic look of the character. The details are phenominal while maintaining the simplistic look of the source material. Minus some minor discoloration, the only thing that keeps this figure from scoring top marks is the size restriction imposed by the Marvel license.
Overall: 4.7 out of 5

By Dragon

Design (5 out of 5): Valkyrie, near I can tell, is based on the Samantha Parrington incarnation of the character. Valkyrie features her signature locks with twin braids draping over her shoulders. In addition, the costume is a remarkable recreation of the source material. Valkyrie wears an armored chest piece, silver belt and arm bands, and an interesting shoe design. Overall, the design is spot on, from the unique hair, to the cape, to the chest piece, right down to the shoes.

Attention to Detail (4.5 out of 5): Valkyrie hosts a fair amount of detail. The face is simply done, which suits the minimate style well while at the same time matching the source material. The details on the chest and belt are equally impressive. The accent lines really give Valkyrie a feminine yet muscular look. The belt is painted on, which better suits female characters than a separate piece, and the belt wraps all the way around the figure. Armbands are painted on the figure as well, which again better suits the female character. Where the paint detail really stands out, however, is the legs and shoes. The fishnet design wraps all the way around the leg and is flawless throughout. Valkyrie also sports a few sculpted details, particularly with the hair. The hair is well done, with individual strands etched out and bands wrapping around the braids. The sword also sports some unique wrappings around the hilt, which look very nice. The only problem with this detail is that while the sword looks nice, it doesn’t really match any of the famous swords that Valkyrie has used, and comes across as a little bland.

Accessories (3 out of 5): Valkyrie comes equipped with a sword. This is a good choice, in that the character has used a sword regularly over the years. The problem with this choice is that the sword given to this figure does not really match any specific sword that Valkyrie has used. Over the years, the character has used the Ebony Blade and Dragonfang, two famous blades with unique looks. The one given to this figure is rather generic and could easily fit into the ill-fated Lord of the Rings line. Absent is the often used spear that Valkyrie carries, which would have been a nice addition.

Part Implementation (4 out of 5): Valkyrie features three parts that differentiate from the standard minimate body: hair, cape, and sword. The hair sculpt is new and suits the character perfectly. The cape is a reuse of the classic C3 Superman cape, which is perfectly acceptable here as it captures the look of this character quite well. The sword, on the other hand, is a unique sculpt that could have been done better. Generic in appearance, it doesn’t really fit the look of the swords Valkyrie has used over the years, and could stand some retooling.

Mechanics (4.5 out of 5): Valkyrie does not seem to suffer from any of the mechanical flaws that have plagued previous releases, in the form of frozen or stiff joints. However, there is one mechanical flaw that should be mentioned in the form of the sword accessory. The hilt of the sword is slightly larger than the hand that holds it, meaning that the hand will be stretched out after holding the sword for extended periods of time.

Articulation (12 out of 14): Valkyrie sports limited articulation due to the cape and hair. The arms, legs, hands, and feet all move freely, giving the character 12 points of articulation as opposed to the normal 14.

Availability (Uncommon): Valkyrie is currently available exclusively to the Defenders 4-pack, sold exclusively at Action Figure Xpress. Despite this exclusive status, this set is cropping up at other online retailers, making the availability slightly more common.

Overall: Valkyrie is a great figure that sports a high amount of detail. The relative obscurity of the character makes the expectations high on its implementation in minimate form. This has been achieved fairly well, though the accessory sword proves to be the only shortcoming of this otherwise great figure.
Overall: 4.2 out of 5

By Dragon

Design (4 out of 5): Doctor Strange is based on what is probably his most well known appearance, which has been faithfully represented here. He sports his signature long, blue shirt, wrapped in yellow waist sash. Joining the look is Strange’s fabled Cloak of Levitation, accessorized with the Eye of Agamotto. The design is well done, capturing the look of the good Doctor perfectly. One thing that might have better benefitted the character is some more fluidity of the cloak. In the source material, Doctor Strange’s cape often acts as somewhat of a second set of hands, flowing freely around him. Here, it kind of drapes stiffly down his back. Still, this is a minor grievance that does not greatly harm the overall look of the character.

Attention to Detail (4 out of 5): Doctor Strange boasts an impressive amount of detail. The sculpting detail is phenominal. This is most noticeable in the cloak and the “skirt” piece. The skirt and sash show wrinkles and ripples as opposed to being stiff and straight. And the cloak features intricate scrollwork around the trim. The paintwork is also superb. The spots on the gloves are well done, as is the design on the shirt. Surprisinging, removing the cloak revealed the unbuttoned top of the shirt, a nice touch. If there’s one thing about the detail that does not meet expectation is the paint application. The yellow on the cloak is sloppy in some areas. This is also the case on the yellow sash that wraps around the waist. So, a lot of detail was poured into this figure, but it would look so much better if a little more time had been devoted to keeping the paint work uniform and neat.

Accessories (0 out of 5): Doctor Strange comes with no accessories. In some circumstances, this isn’t really a problem. That is not the case here. Doctor Strange has made use of numerous magical accessories over the years. If something along the lines of the Wand of Watoomb was hard to implement, a pair of “conjuring” hands would have been a suitable accessory as well. At the very least, the Iron Fist chi accessory, which has been recycled as the hex magic of the Scarlet Witch could have been used to give some form of magical aura to surround the hands. The inclusion of no accessory is hardly excuseable.

Part Implementation (5 out of 5): Doctor Strange features a few unique sculpts. The cloak is the most prominent of these sculpts, as the cloak acts as a character in and of itself, and there was no suitable replacement that was already available. The “skirt” piece is also one that could not have been simply reused from a previous creation. Finally, the hair. The hair piece that was created is unique to the good Doctor and looks wonderful. Another appearance of the oft-used Iron Man hair piece would not have suited the character as well as the new sculpt. So, these new parts are all necessary for accurately portraying the character.

Mechanics (5 out of 5): Doctor Strange does not seem to suffer from any mechanical flaws in the form of stiff or frozen joints. Quality control seems to be improving each and every figure since the autrocious host of easily breaking parts back around the time of Marvel Wave 13.

Articulation (12 out of 14): Doctor Strange features 12 points of articulation. While all of the joints on the arms and legs move freely, Strange’s unique cloak hinders movement of the head and waist.

Availability (Uncommon): Doctor Strange is currently available exclusively to the Defenders 4-pack, sold exclusively at Action Figure Xpress. Despite this exclusive status, this set is cropping up at other online retailers, making the availability slightly more common.

Overall: Doctor Strange is a good figure. The design is strong and the detail is great. However, the lack of personality in the cloak, the sloppiness of the paint in some areas, and the lack of any accessories really take away from the overall effectiveness of the figure.
Overall: 3.6 out of 5

(Please forgive the lack of pictures. We’re working to get pictures loaded at some point today.)

By Dragon

Design (5 out of 5): Web Armor Spider-Man is designed after, what else, the Web Armor costume once worn by Spider-Man. The design, much like its comic book counterpart, features much of the same style as the classic red and blue costume. The difference is that the silver is more angular and less fluid than the red. Overall, the design is strong and fairly spot-on with the source material.

Attention to Detail (3.5 out of 5): Web Armor Spider-Man features a great deal of detail, more than most other Spider-Man figures have sported. The webbing design on the costume has been done particularly well. The spider emblems on both chest and back also look very nice and help capture the overall feel of the character. There are, however, some oversights on this figure. The silver portion of the costume around the shoulder area of the torso does not wrap around to the sides of the torso. In addition, the top of the torso has been left black as opposed to the more appropriate silver color. Webbing detail has not been added to the top of the head, either. While this is pretty much standard with Spider-Man minimates, it is has been proven possible with the recent host of minimates to feature details on the top of the head, particularly Zombie Daredevil and Sgt. Rock. Finally, the hands are black, whereas the source material shows some silver detailing on the hands as well. This, too, has been proven possible with recent releases, even going as far back as the Ben Reilly Spider-Man. While none of these oversights is particularly bad on their own, when combined together, they do take away from the overall look of the character.

Accessories (0 out of 5; 4 out of 5): Web Armor Spider-Man comes with no accessories. Spider-Man isn’t much of a weapon user, but a web line would have been a nice addition to the figure nonetheless.

Part Implementation (5 out of 5): Web Armor Spider-Man is composed entirely of a standard minimate body. Given the overall look of the character, this is perfectly acceptable and does not deviate from the standard set by previous Spider-Man figures.

Mechanics (4.5 out of 5): Web Armor Spider-Man does seem to be a little stiff around the joints of the figure. However, these do not seem to indicated any frozen or locked joints, and the stiffness works itself out with some light use.

Articulation (14 out of 14): Web Armor Spider-Man features the full 14 points of articulation, not surprising considering the lack of any parts that restrict movement of any joints.

Availability (Extremely Rare): Web Armor Spider-Man is currently only available as a “free” promotion encouraging spending at Action Figure Xpress. Originally offered free with the purchase of $25 from a limited pool of items, it now seems to be offered with a $75 purchase from anything in their store. At present, this is the only way to acquire this exclusive, as none have made their way to any other online retailer nor are they appearing on eBay.

Overall: Web Armor Spider-Man is a fairly well done figure. The design is solid, with a fair amount of detail. Though the detail could have been done a little better, overall, this is a good figure and the highly exclusive status will make it much sought after by minimate fans everywhere.
Overall: 4.4 out of 5

Previews Exclusive “End of Day” 2-pack. Pic by Ivan.

By Fujis

The next batch of 24 Minimates are starting to arrive so keep your eyes peeled! Ivan, of Minimate Database fame, managed to snag the new Day 2 4-pack as well as the exclusives pictured above and snap some amazing pics. Click here to check them out - thanks Ivan!

Bizarro from DC’s wave 6. Pics by MINI-MYTE.

By Dragon

Design (4 out of 5): Bizarro is designed to be almost a mirror image of Superman, much like his comic character counterpart. It seems to me that the design is more of an amalgam to a couple appearances of the character than an actual specific appearance. I admit I’m not familar with the character outside of understanding the concept of what Bizarro represents. However, in researching the character appearance for this review, I could not find an instance of him wearing a purple costume with red cape. I could find a purple costume with a darker purple cape and I could find a blue costume with red cape. The look doesn’t hurt the overall look of the figure, so it is not a major gripe. While the duds may not be spot on to any particular instance, the chalky face and hands as well as the Bizarro #1 sign are very faithful to the character. Overall, as an anti-Superman, Bizarro is well designed. However, as a faithful representation of a character from a specific era, he does not seem to fare quite as well.

Attention to Detail (4 out of 5): Bizarro, as a counter to Superman, features a similar amount of detail. The torso, boot, and cape detail are almost perfect recreations of the look of Superman from Series 1, with the exception being the reversed ‘S’ symbol on the chest and cape. The facial detail is also amazing, doing an excellent job of portraying the chalky, craggy look that is Bizarro. One place that the design was found lacking was in the Bizarro #1 sign. While a great amount of detail was poured into the carving of the rope and the rocky appearance of the sign itself, the letters on the sign did not carry through very well between original sculpt and final production. The ‘O’ in Bizarro and the 1 are missing from the sign, though this could easily be an isolated incident. Another detail missing from the final release of the character is the red “shorts” that spill over onto the top of the legs. All characters in the DC Minimate line, as well as most newer releases in the Marvel line feature a patch of paint on the inside of the top of the legs to flesh out the “shorts” on the heroes. Despite appearing on the promo art on the back of the package, these red flairs are missing from the final product. So, while being a fairly detailed figure, Bizarro does suffer from some oversights and one ambitious, yet failed attempt at taking the sculpted detail to another level.

Accessories (0 out of 5; 5 out of 5): Bizarro comes with no accessories, though I cannot think of anything character specific that should have been included.

Part Implementation (5 out of 5): Bizarro, being a mirror of Superman, features mostly reused parts from the Superman figure. The cape and belt are identical to the ones found both in Series 1 and Series 2. Still, while being a mirror of Superman, Bizarro does feature some unique parts to call all his own. A more character specific hair piece joins the Bizarro sign that dangles from his neck. So, Bizarro is a perfect blend of new and used to pull of the overall feel of the character.

Mechanics (5 out of 5): Bizarro does not seem to suffer from any frozen or stiff joints. All parts move freely without moving too freely.

Articulation (13 out of 14): Bizarro carries 13 points of articulation. The arms, legs, hands, feet, and head are all capable of being moved freely, while the cape provides a limitation to the movement of the waist.

Availability (Fairly Common): Bizarro is presently available alongside Supergirl in the 6th series of DC Minimates, available wherever DC Direct products are sold.

Overall: Bizarro is fairly well done in Minimate form. While suffering some setbacks in the detail and perhaps a personal bias in regards to the color scheme, Bizarros still boasts a good amount of detail and is presented in a rather faithful fashion without coming across as a simple Superman repaint.
Overall: 4.6 out of 5

By Fujis

Two years ago today Jatta Pake said, “Welcome to Minimate Headquarters”. Since that time a one-man Minimate blog with a few dozen readers has grown into a staff of six with over one hundred thirty thousand visitors this year alone! We’ve had ups and downs these past twenty-four months but let me be the first to say “Welcome back”.

Jatta Pake, Dragon, and myself, along with the talented Cappy, Lurch, and Ivan have a lot of things planned for the HQ in our third year of operation. What are those things you ask? Well, you’ll just have to wait and see. First and foremost we’re trying our best to stay updated which can be challenging when meat-space-stuff gets in the way!

I want to take this time to thank Dragon, Cappy, Lurch, Ivan, and Barry (who we’ve since lost to Art Asylum) for all of their hard work this past year. I’d like to thank our ever-growing readership who make doing this worthwhile. I’d also like to thank all of the fanatics on the Minimate Multiverse forum - without their constant updates we’d be in the dark! And finally, I’d like to thank Jatta Pake for a wickedawesome site about the best damn block figures on the market! JP, you’ve put together something really special here and you should be proud - Happy Birthday!

By Jatta Pake

Don’t get too excited.  I somehow managed to find a few minutes to take some pictures and upload them.  Thank Fujis, Dragon, and a couple vodka martinis for my inspiration!

These Marvel Minimates are by far the best ever created yet.  They rival the quality and artistry of the new DC Minimates, and they are just plain beautiful.  Enjoy!

By Brian (Dragon)

Design (5 out of 5): Supergirl is designed after the Kara Zor-El Supergirl from the current DC continuity. The blue costume looks really nice and has been represented very well in Minimate form. From the flairing hair, cape, and skirt to the inclusion of a belt, I’m just blown away by how faithful this Minimate is designed.

Attention to Detail (4.5 out of 5): Supergirl shows an extensive amount of detail. The yellow, red, and blue colors are all applied very well with no bleeding or blending. Detail lines have been done around the tops of the boots and around the yellow portions of the costume to help make the color stand out. Detail lines are used moderately on the midsection to give her a slender, feminine look. The hair and skirt are sculpted with a great amount of detail right down to the slightly askew excess portion of the belt. Finally, in somewhat of a first for skirted characters, our good friends at Art Asylum saw fit to give Supergirl some undies. The only area where the detail is lacking is on Supergirl’s hands. While her long sleeves do spill over onto her hands, remaining faithful to her current look, the yellow trim does not stand out enough from the rest of the hand. The addition of a detail line here would have really helped bring out the color.

Accessories (0 out of 5; 5 out of 5): Supergirl comes with no accessories. However, given the nature of her powers, I’m not really certain what accessories the character would warrant.

Part Implementation (5 out of 5): Supergirl features a variety of unique parts. A new skirt sculpt has been used as opposed to reusing Series 5’s Mary Marvel skirt. In addition, a new cape sculpt has been created for this character, rather than reusing one of the countless others in existence. Finally, a new hair sculpt has been made to fit Supergirl’s unique style. Overall, the character warrants these new parts as they fit Supergirl quite well.

Mechanics (5 out of 5): Supergirl does not seem to suffer from the stiff or frozen joints that have plagued the Minimate line. The joints move fluidly while being able to hold a pose unassisted.

Articulation (12 out of 14): Supergirl boasts 12 points of articulation. She loses mobility at the head and at the waist due largely to the restrictions of her hair and cape.

Availability (Fairly Common): Supergirl is presently available alongside Bizarro in the 6th series of DC Minimates, available wherever DC Direct products are sold.

Overall: Supergirl is a great Minimate, with exceptional quality in detail and design. The part implementation is very faithful to the character as well. Finally, the Minimate itself is crafted skillfully with no corners cut and no mechanical issues.

Overall: 4.9 out of 5