Minimate Mondays: Captain Archer and Dolim

I stopped watching Enterprise before they got to the Xindi story arc about a planet where evolution has resulted in 8 dominant species from different animal types (birds, lizards, mammals, etc) that work together to blow up South America with a super laser. So I don't know who this Dolim is. But this set came with the rest so now I have a Scott Bacula minimate and that's not a bad thing.

Hot Dog Guy

Hey, so new set of Lego minifigs are out. I've learned from past waves to only get the ones I REALLY want when they first arrive and then wait a few months for them to drop in price. So I picked up Hot Dog Guy because of how unique his costume is. The others, even the Ethnic/Cultural stereotype figures, can wait until the drop in price. I know, I'm shocked I didn't pick up the girl in the Unicorn Costume too.

Snoopy and Louis LaRue

Okay, with Snoopy I'm just bragging that I found one. Because it's Snoopy, possibly the biggest part of my cultural childhood. And he has a Hot Wheel where he drives his house.

As for Louis LaRue, I've been waiting for this guy for a while. He's a mime. But he's also an anthropomorphic car. It's a ridiculous combination and I must win that ridiculousness. The only Cars due cast in this series I want more is the irrate and surly French tour bus. Because stereotypes.

Mass Effect

Oh hey, Mass Effect 1 minimates are at GameStop now. At $5 per figure they're actually a little cheaper than the single boxed Aliens colonial marines vs xenomorph minimates. Yes, these are blind bagged, but thanks to the armor and head shapes it's insanely easy to figure out who is who using the squeeze method.

There's 8 figures in this wave, but since I never played ME1 I don't care about Ashley or Wrex, I never played or got attached to Fem Shep, and the Elusive man looks like a business casual Charlie Sheen clone in the pictures I've seen, so none of them are worth $5 to me. Actually Shepard isn't either, but I want to try putting different minimate heads on the N7 armor. I think it'll make me laugh.

Baron Zemo

Wow, what a horrible paint application.

Minimate Monday: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

I wasn't eager to get my hands on the TMNT minimates, but I found some packs at Toys R Us, so why not? 

The first thing you notice when you open them is that these are marketed as keychains, but they're really not. There are key rings included, but they're attached to the minimates by a thin string around the neck which isn't looped or tied with a not. They're relying on the permanence of a neck joint in a toy designed to have the head come off. Oh and the string can be removed without taking the head off I you're trying hard enough. So I'm expecting some kid is going to lose their minimate if they do something like attach it to a bag zipper.  I'm going to assume this whole keychain thing is a workaround so that Diamond can license toys in this scale.

The toys themselves are nicer than I anticipated. I was afraid the Turtles would end up as glorified Battle Beast minimates with extra parts slipping over the minimate base humanoid body. But these are more sophisticated, with the animal body parts and ninja padding sculpted onto the body base. This means the feet aren't removable, but that's a small price to pay for slightly more stability in the figure.

Interestingly, Michelangelo's nunchucks are connected with metal chains. 

Oh and all the turtles have weapon holders sculpted onto their shells. And really the heads and shells are the unique bits since aside from color, the turtle bodies are identical, but they're minimates so you have to expect stuff like that. And I like that the figure stands for the turtles are sewer lids.

The human/robot figures that come with the figures are serviceable. The four arms of the robot foot soldier is pretty cool, and Shredder has a scarred face under his mask, but I'm not getting these figures for the humans. 

Couldn't find a Leonardo figure, which is odd. These 3 sets were the only ones onthe shelves so I snatched them up.

Minimate Monday: Peter Pan set

For the Peter Pan anniversary a few years back they released Peter Pan minimates in 3 different sets. One was the Smee/Wendy pirate ship set I discussed earlier and another was this set of Peter Pan and the Lost Boys.

First things first, the Lost Boys suck. Not the toys, just the characters in the Disney movie. They completely failed to make an impact and I barely remember they're in the movie. Sure that might be because I've never watched the movie start to finish but I think I've got the gist of things. I wouldn't have gotten this set if it was just made up of Lost Boys, and I'm sure I'm not alone in that sentiment.

But then I think they knew that and that's why they put the Peter Pan minimate in this set. Because if you're going to be the type of person that gets Peter Pan minimates then you are damn well going to get the set that includes Peter Pan. And at least he comes with some cool accessories, like a flying stand and a Tinkerbell mini-minifigure he can hold to simulate her obsessive need to be at least 1 foot or closer to him. (A personality trait that does not at all gel with her characterization in the Disney Fairy straight to DVD movies of which she is the star. In those she's a sweet natured eccentric inventor.) although Peter Pan has his dagger so he can straight up murder the dude Peter goes out of his way to antagonize.

I'm not a fan of what I've seen of the Disney  movie. But damn do I love minimates.

Minimate Monday: Black Friday aftermath edition

I got minimates on Black Friday because of course I did!

Look, as much as I enjoy the concept of All-New X-Men (which for the uninformed is that the original X-Men, early in their careers when they are still young and idyllic, are brought to the present and are horrified by what the X-Men and mutants have turned into) the series has kind of lost its way and their new costumes are ridiculous, so I wasn't really too interested in a wave of minimates of the characters in their new costumes with minimate designs that make them all look like adults, not young teenagers. Fortunately Iceman in ice form just looks like any Iceman and I have yet to truly get my hands on a good Iceman minimate. And it comes with a Sentinel, which, let's face it, is a good army builder figure. So an easy Black Friday buy if it's on sale. Also, metal tentacles!

The other set is Urban Yukio and Black Clan Ninja from the Wolverine in Japan movie wave. But if you ignore that it's Urban Japanese Girl minimate and Ninja minimate. So my desire to own more Asian characters as minimates is sated. Although the ninja comes with a slightly curved sword and his sheath is straight so the sword doesn't fit without tearing the soft plastic it is made of.