Day 212

Day 212 July 31^st

Sundays with my Son

Deadpool got his own dirt bike and sidecar he enjoys racing around town. I like the logo on the dirt bike.

Day 211

Day 211 July 30^th

Bruce Banner

This is such a great looking minimate; it really captures the feel of the scientist Bruce Banner. I love the harmless look on his face, hiding the dangerous creature within. I remember getting many extras of this minimate to be able to use the chest block for quick customs that needed a shirt and tie look.

Day 210

Day 210 July 29^th

The Incredible Hulk

Taking a step backward here the next series of entries will go back to the start of the Marvel minimates line. For being the first series of minimates I still find a lot of what I love about the line in these early minimates. With the Hulk here I love how Art Asylum nailed the facial expression! At the start of the line there was not a lot of extras added to the minimate to make it bigger depending on the character and while that has been changing I still find just as much enjoyment in this simple version of the Hulk as I do looking at the pics of the forthcoming bulked up version.

Day 209

Day 209 July 28^th

Elite Heroes 4-pack

Firefighter

Rounding out the M.A.X. specialty 4-pack is an Asian firefighter. As I have said with the smoke jumper the helmet colour and the open coat would indicate this as a fire chief. I really like the Elite Heroes line as a whole and think DST has a great idea on their hands here! With the specs from series 2 up and revealed I am excited to add the new ones to my collection as well! Again my only gripe with this 4-pack is the low number of gear included; it really seems like this set got the bums rush to get made.

Day 208

Day 208: July 27^th

Elite Heroes 4-pack

Smoke Jumper

I found it odd that the smoke jumper and the fire fighter that came in the 4-pack were both using the open jacket looks that had been used to identify the chiefs of those respective units in the 2-packs. It is not a huge deal but rather just a general little oddity I thought. I think the 4-pack was a good idea to reach those of us that don’t have access to TRUs that carry them, I just feel that they were a little rushed/not fully thought out with the lower amount of stuff included with them. I wasn’t expecting it to be as jam packed as the 2-packs but it almost feels a little too light at the same time, like they were not all that interested in making it – just tossed it out there to try and appease the specialty market.

Day 207

Day 207: July 26^th

Elite Heroes 4-pack

Special Ops

The biggest complaint that came out of the M.A.X. 2-packs was the fact that each group all came with the same face, so despite having different coloured hairpieces they still looked relatively the same. With the 4-pack that was fixed since each group had a new and different face, as seen by the African American special ops officer here.

Day 206

Day 206: July 25^th

Elite Heroes 4-pack

Law Enforcement

With the success of the M.A.X. Elite Heroes 2-pack exclusive to TRUs DST decided to throw a bone out to the specialty market by releasing a 4-pack of them. The catch was that they didn’t come with all the same gear as the 2-packs did and there were some additional changes. With the law enforcement minimate we now have a female officer, complete with the ponytailed hair with hat and glasses piece from the SWAT Sarah Canner minimate. Under the riot gear is a female uniformed chest block so with some quick part swapping it is easy to make a female uniformed officer; I just need to find a belt for her.

Day 205

Day 205: July 24^th

Sundays with my Son

In picture A and B the hunter/killer tanks are trying to destroy the city but Deadpool and pyslocke stop them.

Day 204

Day 204: July 23^rd

M.A.X. Special Ops

This set is the second most popular set in the first wave of M.A.X. minimates at Toys r Us in the states. All the great details of the gear really help these guys stand out. Add to that the uniform on the chest block underneath and all the gear they come with and it’s a win win situation!

Day 203

Day 203: July 22^nd

M.A.X. Smoke Jumpers

Easily the set that most fans found boring, I think it was a neat idea since they are very vital parts of the ‘heroes’ especially in areas heavily affected by forest fires. Much like the firefighters these sets had a regular set as well as the chief variants. They included many similar pieces of equipment as the firefighters but also have tools specific to their line of work.

Day 202

Day 202: July 21^st

M.A.X. Law Enforcement

This is probably one of the most popular sets of the M.A.X. line! All the extra parts including full riot gear and two different helmets and the tear gas gun really push this set high on the playability scale! In the package there were clear body parts holding the riot gear in place, which in turn works out to almost a third police minimate all you needed was a head basically! In the photo is a female officer that comes from the chest block underneath the gear of the law enforcement officer from the M.A.X. 4-pack.

Day 201

Day 201: July 20^th

M.A.X. Fire Fighters

DST really has hit a great idea with the Mobile Action Xtreme line of Elite Heroes! Fans have been asking for generic minimates for ages, especially in the lines of police and firefighters. These firefighters look awesome and all the accurate gear they are packed with is fantastic! The minor let down of them all having the same face is pretty easy to fix with some head swaps. In the first wave there was a pack of regular firefighters as well as a pack that was the Fire Chief, differentiated by his different coloured helmet and open jacket.

Day 200

Day 200: July 19^th

The 200^th Day!!

I would like to thank all you readers for all your hits (over 11,000!!) as well as any and all comments and ‘Likes’ over on Facebook.

Bruce Banner and The Incredible Hulk

When I first saw the Marvel minimates at Wal-Mart there was basically the first 3 waves, slightly different packaging in some cases and no variants of course. I really liked them, something neat about the scale and simpleness of them really spoke to the toy lover that I had been repressing. I had quit collecting toys and a lot of it had to do with the super hero toys moving into the larger 6 inch plus size ranges and I simply did not have room to display them. I looked at them every time we went to Wal-Mart but hadn’t bitten the bullet and bought any. When Christmas rolled around I discovered the Hulk/Bruce Banner 2 pack in my stocking from my wife! This is still one of my favorite versions of the Hulk in minimate form!

Day 199

Day 199: July 18^th

Ben Reilly, The Steel Spider

As I said in my previous days I was a rare fan of the Ben Reilly Spider clone and both his run as the Scarlett Spider and as Peters replacement as Spider man. When I started planning my comic story I knew I really wanted to have Ben in it but I wanted to have it just right. The spider armor costume is one of my all time favorite costume variations so it only made sense to have Ben use it in the comic. I have fleshed out Ben’s character to make it that he branched out of the science background into the mechanical and technical ends of life as well, using that as the basis for all the different Spider man costumes that are for specific uses. Ben and Peter would work as team-mates, basically a team of brothers until Osborn and his Dark Reign when Peter disappeared. While Ben prefers the durability of the Steel Spider suit he does not shy away from using any of the other Spider man suits as the need arises, even if it is just using Peters old classic suit to mess with Osborn’s head a bit

Day 198

Day 198: July 17^th

Sundays with my Son

Psylocke and private jet

This photo is great. The private jet has Psylockes’ sword and belt. She flies in a privet jet to Captain America’s funeral.

Day 197

Day 197: July 16^th

Ben Reilly Spider-man

A major twist to the clone storyline was when they had Ben and Peter believe that Ben was actually the real deal and Peter was the clone all along. Peter left with Mary Jane, leaving Ben to take over as Spider-man. Of course Ben whipped up a new suit and I really liked the look of it! This minimate captures that look perfectly and holds a special spot for me since the day it was released I picked it up on the way to the hospital for my triplet daughters to be born.

Day 196

Day 196: July 15^th

Scarlett Spider

While many loathe this character and the massive storyline tangle that ensued from his creation or return to the Spidey books in the 90’s I rather enjoyed it. I thought the costume fit the characters back story of basically being a drifter, not wanting to be Spider-man but forced into action. I am currently on book 2 of the Clone saga epic tradepaperbacks, getting refreshed to the story and enjoying getting to read it all in the order it was intended to be read.

Day 195

Day 195: July 14^th

Dr Doom custom

This is a sneak peak at my vision of Dr Doom for my comic project. I really enjoyed seeing Doom employing more mystical powers in some stories and have pushed my version of him even more in that direction. The questions that can be posed though are: What’s with his left hand? And whose side is he on?

Day 194

Day 194: July 13^th

Prototype Strider

From the unreleased third wave of Lord of the Rings

This is one of those oddities that pop up from ebay sellers in Hong Kong, which leads many to believe that it has somehow ‘walked’ out of a factory somewhere. It looks 100% like the figure should based on the pictures shown in solicitation. That third wave was the epic of all epicness as far as characters in it and I was crushed when it went unreleased, so much so that I have now sold off my LotR minimates since the line went unfinished in my mind and the love for it was no longer there!

Day 193

Day 193: July 12^th

Dan Ketch Ghost Rider custom

Thanks to a member at the Minimate Multiverse I pulled together the parts to put together what is by far one of my favourite looks for Ghost Rider! The head from the Champions Ghost Rider is an awesome piece and is by far the most perfect head for the character. The bike is a piece I have had for a long time, made for me by a great customizer whom I have not seen around for a long time, which is too bad.

Day 192

Day 192: July 11^th

Hydra Pilot

Available in the Captain America army builders dump case this is one nice looking minimate! I like the simple designs as they fit in my minds eye for a pilots look as opposed to the bulkier Hydra Soldier.

Day 191

Day 191: July 10^th

Sundays with my Son

I am not 100% sold on this photo. It is not great and the best one of Sundays with my Son, nothing I hate or like - it is in between. It is good.

Day 190

Day 190: July 9^th

Multiple Man

One day while discussing with someone what super power would be the coolest to have it dawned on me that being able to have more of myself around would be perfect for me since I always seem to have many different things I would like to be doing at any given moment, from work to school to writing and photography projects as well as spending as much time with my wife and kids as possible. So being able to create duplicates of myself as needed would be a no-brainer power for me. I was overjoyed at the announcement of a Multiple Man minimate and the fact that he was an army builder was even better, made it easier to amass a larger number even. DST did a great job, not only did they giver him spare arms to be able to go coatless but they even made it that he had a second version of his shirt logo on the back of the torso block! That is some great attention to detail right there!

Day 189

Day 189: July 8^th

Bucky

Caps ever faithful sidekick from the 40’s, Bucky, gets his movie minimate treatment here and for a basically civilian minimate I have to say he looks pretty darn good. Again I am not really sold on the holster attached to the jacket bit but otherwise everything else looks good. I love that we now have a sniper rifle in the weapons collection as well, always a welcome addition!

Day 188

Day 188: July 7^th

Peggy Carter

The first love of Captain America, both in the movie and in the comics is Peggy. From the trailers she defiantly knows how to handle the machine gun she comes with. I have to say that the translation from a real life person to minimate can be really hit and miss and I haven’t looked closely enough at the actress to say if this one does her justice, and frankly I am not really worried about that, but in general this is a pretty good looking minimate. The details capture the look very nicely and everything just looks right!

Day 187

Day 187: July 6^th

Hydra Soldier

The enemy for Captain America in his movie is the Red Skull and Hydra, which makes sense given their history and the Red Skull and company can substitute fairly well for Hitler and the Nazis that were the comic counterparts of the time period. I am still checking this guy out and getting a feel for the uniform and I am sure once I can get the army builder case of Hydra minimates I will solidify my stance but so far I like the look and have begun formulating plans for them. One thing that does jump out at me is the helmet piece…seems like a pretty good base for a Dr Midnight custom!

Day 186

Day 186: July 5^th

Agent Coulson

A cool reoccurring character in the Marvel Studios movies and also our first shot at the movie version of SHIELD, this minimate captures the look of agent Coulson almost perfectly. His role in Thor was the biggest yet and it added a great touch to the movie. I love the mega-phone accessory!

Day 185

Day 185: July 4^th

Frontline Captain America

To all my American readers, Happy 4^th of July! Hope you guys have a great one! It seemed rather fitting as I was mapping out these upcoming blog posts that I had a new Captain America minimate to post for the 4^th of July. I really dig the look they captured here and it is almost perfect. My one and only gripe is the holster sculpted onto the jacket piece. I find this to be too bulky looking and if I would want to use the jacket again elsewhere I stand the chance of needing to trim it off and touch up some paint to hide the removal. I do really enjoy the hand piece with the straps sculpted on for holding the shield! Also, much like the round shield for the regular Cap, this one has the straps molded onto the back as well – such a great little nod to details!

Day 184

Day 184: July 3^rd

Sundays with my Son

This one I like the best of every Sundays with my Son! Deadpool got a job from Kraven- he wants Spider-man. Deadpool does get Spider-man but he gets fooled! That sneaky Kraven, Deadpool is mad! Deadpool will get a job from someone else; maybe Doctor Doom or Red Skull, maybe Doctor Octopus or Titanium-man, anyone but Kraven again!