Day 260

 Day 260 September 17^th

X-Men First Class Box set Review

            Based off of the comic book by the same name this box set contains four of the main characters from X-Men: First Class.

Packaging – This box set has the standard box set layout with the minimates and Spider Man at the top and the First Class title at the bottom.  The usual layout of the four windows for the minimates comprises the middle portion of the package.  Along the sides there are the four headshots of the characters, taken from the design artwork.  The back has a nice big picture of the four minimates as well as a nice intro style write up for the comic that they are based on.  There are also the short biographies for each character on the back.  Inside the box is the usual plastic tray system, along with a small second tray containing Angel’s wings.  The larger tray appears to be more contoured along the sides which is neat looks but also appears to make the tray use less plastic thus more environmentally friendly which is something more toy companies are looking at with their toy packaging.  The one point I noted with this package was that it looked really plain.  Most four pack packaging had a background that was made up of comic book covers collaged around the box but this one is just plain blues.  While it looks good, a pleasing progression from lighter to darker, it really leaves the box looking rather plain and dare I say a bit boring.

Cyclops – The first thing I noticed about these minimates was the look of the costumes.  I have seen the comic book but never read it so I only had a rough idea of what the costumes looked like, but wow!  These look great!  I love the contrast of the black to the bright yellow, the use of the extra cuff piece with the hand separate instead of the old bulked glove is awesome and the boots really work.  The mask piece for Cyclops fits perfectly to the timeline the minimate is based from since back in the earlier comics his mask/visor was more bulky and not as streamlined as it is now.  The red of the ruby quartz is a nice bright red and looks like it is slightly glowing with the energy it is holding back.  Cyclops comes with an extra hairpiece so he can be displayed without his mask.  His face under the mask is the usual somber/stern look that is perfectly suited to the character.  While more recent Cyclops minimates have had ruby glasses as part of the face tampo this one goes back to the earlier ones where it is just his exposed red eyes.  The red of the eyes has a slight metallic sheen to it which really looks great and makes it seem like there is an energy glowing there.

Jean Grey – This is a very nice looking Jean Grey minimate.  The reuse hair from the first Psylocke minimate looks great and is a very nice colour too.  The long stretch of yellow going up the arms from the hands and same on the legs stretching up from the feet is a perfect match to her costume in the comics.  I love the face; there is a hint of innocence mixed in with a building strength of one who will become a very powerful character.  Again a very simple colour scheme and a basic minimate yet it looks fantastic!

Angel – Once again I love the colours of this minimates!  It really seems to work well together.  Angel shares the gloves and boots that Cyclops has but unlike Cyc he has a yellow stripe that goes down the arm, shoulder to glove.  Huge props to DST for making sure the painting of the wing harness matches up to how the colours are on the costume so it does not look out of place, even on the back!  The mask is a simple one with the opening for the mouth as well as openings for the eyes.  Having not read the comics I am not sure if it’s accurate but I find Angel’s facial expression to be very angry seeming and I don’t recall Warren being that angry in his early days with the X-Men, he seemed more carefree and happy.  He comes with a great looking hairpiece to wear unmasked and from what I have found researching the looks, it looks like a pretty good match for a resued part.  I would have thought DST would have included one of the nifty flight stands they have for the flying characters but they did not.  In thinking about that I find it does not really take away from the set though.

Iceman – Last but certainly not least in this set is Bobby Drake, the Iceman!  In this case I saved him to the end of the review because he is by far my favourite minimate in the set!  More of an opaque minimate than a translucent minimate it looks fantastic!  The facial expression is perfect for the wisecracking prankster attitude that is often the calling card of Iceman.  I love the hairpiece, it really suit the look.  The body details are nicely done with blue highlighting the black lines.  He comes with an ice blast that was first released with the frosted Iceman variant to wave 11.  I have a feeling this will be my go to Iceman minimate unless I am in need of a more specific look, it really looks great!

This set was not a set I really was looking forward to, to tell the honest truth.  I hadn’t read the comics it was based off of and really had little interest in it.  I can fully admit to being very impressed with it once I got it however.  The colours look great together and the details are amazing for a simple design!  There are minimal accessories but it really does not hurt the set.  There are a couple spots on a couple minimates in my set that have slight paint issues, most notably at the top of the yellow on Jeans legs where it meets the black but again nothing serious.  The biggest detractor I see to this set is that DST is set on their box sets being at four minimates due to cost purposes.  While I can understand that it makes it hard to be excited about this team set since it is missing a team member and while there is a good chance Beast will show up in a two pack later I feel it would have been great if DST could have had it ready to go sooner, much like they did with the Angel minimates for the First Appearance and X-Factor box sets.  I give this set a solid 5 out of 5 despite the lack of the fifth member!  I will be keeping an eye out to grab an extra or two to use in some custom ideas I have swirling in my head.