Day 235

Day 235 August 23^rd

Wave 41 Review Day 1

Unmasked Spider Man and Green Goblin w Glider

This is a new step for the blog, a slight swerve from the usual course. Recently there was a review posted of this wave after the reviewer was sent a free advance set of the minimates. I felt the reviewer was not all that interested in the minimates and the review showed that lack of interest. So here is my go at doing a good review!

Packaging – Wave 41 marks a new package design debut! I really like the larger window right off the bat as it really allows for a god view of the minimates inside, as well as a better peek at any extras in the package. The artwork on the front no longer runs the risk of obscuring the minimates inside and is also used on the side flaps, which provides a nice consistent feel to the package. The back showcases the entire wave along with a small bio/write up box for both characters. I like how DST is starting to use a double tray system on the inside for when the minimates have a lot of accessories packed with them; such is the case in this set.

Unmasked Spider Man – While some might nitpick at the name since we have already had a minimate named ‘Unmasked Spider Man’, I don’t really find it too much of an issue here especially since the look of this particular Spider Man is linked to issue 39 of Amazing Spiderman and the tagline on the cover was all about unmasking! The slip over mask is a nice touch here to make the minimate instantly recognizable as Spider Man to even the new or casual buyer. The face and hair for the unmasked look have a more old style look to them, I think anyways, which lends itself even more to the look of that iconic cover. The tearing away of Peters civilian clothes and the Spider Man costume showing underneath was executed perfectly and there is very little colour bleeding present, great work here as it is a make or break point of this minimate! The hair piece is a reuse from the Wolfmans Larry Talbot but frankly it looks better here. Other than the mask Spider Man also comes with a web line which is always great to get.

Green Goblin with Glider – This is a huge step for minimate fans that have been around for awhile, as we have long asked/begged/hounded DST to make a glider for the various Green Goblin minimates since it is rather iconic to the character. When they released the Menace minimate with a glider I am sure many people bought spares to have more gliders for other users too, I know I did! Here we have Normal in his classic Green Goblin dude, right down to the satchel for his pumpkin bombs. Speaking of them, the pumpkin bomb hand makes an appearance here, another great accessory for the Goblin. The use of the new separate cuff pieces for the gloves makes it possible for the pumpkin bomb hand look natural when in use since both hands still have the cuffs for gloved look. The long hat piece is now molded to the head and no longer a removable piece as it had been before and I actually prefer it that way. The big crazy looking eyes on his face really sell the maniac that the Green Goblin has been portrayed as. He does come with a second head and hairpiece to be unmasked as Norman Osborn, again playing back to the issue of Amazing Spider Man and the unmasking therein. I found the hairpiece to be a bit ill fitting as it seems to have a bit of a gap but I am sure a bit more working with it will fix that.

The glider is probably the biggest note of this whole set, and it does not disappoint! It has a foot peg on one raised platform along with a matching platform on the other side for the other foot to rest on. The feet fit nicely here and a stance looks really good on it. The wings are the classic, bat-like look and there is the thruster out the back and the iconic head on the front. On the underside are two ports, maybe exhaust ports, but they serve the purpose of allowing the glider to connect to the flaming propulsion base that is also included in the set. This really helps to sell the blasting off/flight look for the glider! There is one more accessory in this set and this piece locks the homage to the cover of Amazing Spider Man 39. That is of course the rope that wraps around the Peter Parker minimate and can be held by the Goblin while he is flying on the glider! In essence the rope then turns Peter into the most detailed accessory to the Green Goblin minimate ever!!

This set goes through huge paces to give us some great looking minimates with a ton of extra pieces and too boot it helps recreate an iconic moment in Spider Man history! I give this set a 4.5 out of 5, docking points only for the fact that the tampos on Spider Mans arms don’t go all the way around, a new trend that is a bit disappointing as a whole.