Mojo and Spiral

I still can't believe they made a Mojo minimate.

Payback Wolverine and Classic Sentinel

Payback Wolverine is from when he lost his healing powers and went to work for criminals. Or something like that. I dunno,  I wasn't reading X-men then. Anyway, Wolverine's dead for now so it's weird that there's merch from that period.

But hey, new Sentinel minimate! That's what I like.

Minimate Monday: Captain Kirk and Khan

It was on sale for a ridiculously low rate and I never got the Khan minimate from the Star Trek minimates they made last decade. So easy buying choice.

It's young Khan Noonien Singh. Although I have too many young Kirk's to appreciate this minimate. 

Fun fact: on Enterprise it was revealed that Data's creator, Noonien Soong was named after Khan because his ancestor was a loyal follower of Khan's teachings.

Minimate Monday: Officer Rick Grime and One-Armed Zombie

I find Rick Grimes minimates pretty boring, but when you add a crap loaf of accessories, include a bag that the minimate can carry the accessories in, and include enough alternate body parts to change the minimate's costume, then I can overlook the generic blandness of Rick Grimes facial design. Dude comes with a hatchet that can be carried by a loop in his belt, how can you say no to that?

His giant hat is weird though.

And the zombie comes with an extra arm in case you prefer a two armed

Zombie. That's the kind if customization that more minimates should feature since their design is perfectly suited to such interchangeability.

Kra'ang

I only seek out a Kmart these days for exclusive toys I really want. That isn't very often since, y'know, it's Kmart. That place imploded in the mid90s when it suddenly found its niche taken over by WalMart and realized it couldn't compete on price, customer service, or store design so they alienated their existing customer base to try and capture the upmarket Target crowd which didn't want anything to do with Kmart's stigma as a store for poor people.

But hey, minimate Kra'ang! Kmart is the only non-specialty store to carry the blind bags and Kra'ang is only available in the non-specialty store sets. He comes as giant brain in the torso of a robot, but the pack also comes with a minimate version of the disembodied giant brain version. You can pretend he's 80's cartoon Krang!

Minimate Monday: Captain Sisko and Jem'Hadar

I love Sisko and enjoy the Jem'Hadar, so this was a no brainer.

I love how Sisko minimates always come with great army builders so if you want a Jem'Hadar squad you end up with a squad of Siskos.

Minimate Monday: Carol and Pole Zombie

I have no idea who Carol is. Those chapters of the walking dead weren't available at my local library. Or if I did read the chapters she was in then the character just didn't leave an impression on me. But I like that she comes with alternate parts so you can take off her hat and jacket in case you want Winter Carol or Spring Carol.

Also, kinda neat that the zombie comes attached to a pole. That's a cool minimate feature. I wonder if the zombie is meant to be a boy or girl. I think I missed that issue. Was it when they were in the prison? I skimmed over a lot of those issues. Wait, was Carol the lady who got bit by the pole zombie? That would make sense.

Minimate Monday: Big Bang Theory

They made minimates of the main cast of Big Bang Theory. All 7 cast members over 2 sets of 4, with variants of breakout character Sheldon in each set. I'm a minor fan of the show, but the chance to own a Mayim Bialik minimate is too tempting to ignore. Also, the acessories! 

Hands holding Chinese food, chopsticks, and sodas! Build-a-couch... Actually, the couch is weird. The back of the packages say to collect both sets to create the couch, but each set has a full 3 seated couch but it's designed to be modular so you can combine the 2 couches however you want.

The minimate designs are actually pretty great likenesses of the actors. And the clothing is very well designed. Even if I hated the show I could use these as nerd/civilian minimates.

These are Entertainment Earth exclusives, but I was able to save a few dollars and pay no shipping by getting them on e-bay. Hopefully that didn't screw up the chance for future series.

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.

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.

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.

Minimate Monday: Clerks box set

So the Clerks minimate set available at comic shops, online, and toy stores are in black and white, reflecting the original movie. I'm not a fan of b&w toys, even if I love the Clerks series of films/cartoons. But this Toys R Us set has repainted the figures in full color, meaning they look nothing like they do in any movie. Well... Randall and Dante kinda look like they do in Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, but I prefer to think this is a Clerks the Animated series set of figures and they're preparing to do battle with Alec Baldwin as Leonardo Leonardo.

Minimate Monday: Peter Pan Pirate Ship

I mentioned last week that I only buy minimate vehicles if I want the figures that come with them. This is a prime example. The only way to get the Wendy and Smee minimates was to pick up the Pirate Ship that came with them. This made them the most expensive figures to acquire and also meant I would end up with a second minimate pirate ship since this is pretty much just a repackaged ship from the Calico Jack minimate pirate line. (Remember that? I barely do. But if they release more figures I'll snatch them up, because I have a sickness and it's called minimates.)

There's some differences, to be sure. The mast is larger to match the one from the movie and the sails are different, but the base ship is the same. I dunno, I would have just preferred they released the figures seperately.

I'm sure they knew they had collector's by the balls. Who would get Peter Pan minimates but not get the Wendy minimate? Weirdos, that's who.

Minimate Monday: Munster Coach with Herman Munster

I'm not huge into minimate vehicles. I was once, but after having some in my hands, I realize that they're pretty serious shelf-space hogs and don't contribute that much to a display. That said, I will still pick them up if they come with figures I want.

Such is the case with the Munster Coach which comes with the only Munster minimate... well there's the black and white variant but I'm not counting that. Basically they only made Herman Munster, the patriarch of the clan and who has so many accessories hanging around his neck that his head won't stay on with any reliability. Shame, it's a nice head sculpt and the alternate head is nice. But overall... the inability of having a head stay in place kinda kills my enthusiasm.

Minimate Monday: Survivor Rick and Shot Zombie

I like to call this set: I can't believe they made a minimate of Rick after his hand was cut off . He doesn't even come packaged with an extra hand, just that bandage to represent his stump. He does come with an ax, in case you want to recreate the scene where his hand is cut off and holy crap that's sadistic of the toy makers.

As for the shot zombie, which is the real reason I got this set, they cast his torso, placed strategically under his shot up shirt, in transparent plastic, so you can see the light go through his bullet holes.

Minimate Monday: Prison Lori and Shoulder Zombie

One reason to get this set even if you don't like the Walking Dead is 1) it comes with a minimate swaddled baby and 2) the base body is of a woman in a tight fitting convict uniform and you one day hope to do a Babes Behind Bars minimate custom.

Also, I can't figure out a good way to get the shotgun to fit into her minimate hands and look like she is actually wielding it.

Incidentally, this set depresses me. Unlike the tv show, in the comic books that baby was killed in a gruesome way because Robert Kirkman... kinda a sadist.

Minimate Monday: Prison Hershel and Farmer Zombie

Okay, quick ground rule for Minimate Monday: The answer to Why Did I Buy This Toy ™ is always going to be because they're minimates and they're either of a property I have a minimal appreciation for or because I think the figure looks cool. That's all the thinking that usually goes into why I buy minimates. That said, if there's something of unique interest that made me REALLY want a minimate set then I will bring it up.

That said,

I sometime wonder if the reason they package Hershel with the Farm zombie is because they're both farmers. Seems like kinda the easy way to go, like maybe they're running out of steam. Not that I can blame them, when you're doing variants of the Hershel character your creativity reserves are probably exhausted and in desperate need of a break.

Minimate Monday: Plants vs Zombies box set

I wasn't going to get this set, but I have a weakness for minimates when I see then in person. I don't even play this game but c'mon, minimate zombies with minimate plants. 

No, really. I thought the plants were just static figures but they're actually unique minimate bodies that will fit any minimate head... So like this:

Beautiful.