.

No real need to redesign such a successful package, everyone knows what it looks like now.

There have already been several Beasts in the Marvel Minimates line; wave 13’s Astonishing X-Men “cat” version of Beast, wave 14’s X3 Beast and more recently a regular comic version of Beast in the Secret Invasion set. Not forgetting the human-ish Beast in the First Appearance X-Men boxset. But to some people of a certain age, this Beast will be the definitive version, to trump all of these.

The facial detailing on Beast is phenomenal, the expression on his face is just so spot on to the source material with its big toothy grin. His wild mane of hair has been well captured, although possibly it’s a tad too big and spiky. It has some fine detail work on the back when it could easily have been just a flat surface.

Beast is a big guy in the cartoon, and as usual DST have tried to make concessions to this and failed. Beast has a powerhouse chest piece, reused from the Hulk, no surprise there. They also put on the “duck feet” that Hulk usually gets, but at least this time the additional toes and fur detailing make them look more like they actually belong to the Minimate. Finally Beast gets these ridiculously long forearm pieces. They make him look really freaky. While I think it’s a nice touch that the claw hands can separate from the forearms, I still think they look really ugly. To be fair, though, Beast’s simian proportions lend themselves more to these extras than someone like the Hulk or Thing. I just think they spoil the Minimate aesthetic too much.

So it’s a massive bonus to the figure that the powerhouse chest piece is removable, and the chest block underneath also sports similar chest detailing. Normally characters with powerhouse chests have blank chest blocks underneath, so this was really nice to see. You also get regular Minimate hands and feet, so you can display your Beast how you want. This kind of flexibility is very useful and most welcome. It’s a shame you are stuck with the large belt piece, it would have been great to have some pelvis detailing but I guess a line had to be drawn somewhere!

Beast has no accessories, not really a surprise as he’s never been a Minimate blessed with many.

In conclusion: From the amazing face detailing and hairpiece to the flexibility of his extra pieces, I regard this as the definitive Beast figure.

MMC Score – 9 out of 10

Rogue was originally released in wave 11, a Marvel Minimates dark age when full waves were being released without any new parts, and the character selections were seemingly dictated by how few new parts they’d need. So she’s a figure that’s definitely worth revisiting.

Rogue gets a huge new hairpiece. Seriously, it’s one of the biggest I’ve seen on a Minimate and makes her head look massive. The detailing is good, though with the flowing locks, “skunk stripe” and headband, it may be slightly too busy. The expression on her face is quite similar to the original figure with the little smirk. Like the Black Queen in this wave, Rogue gets thin detailing lines, ensuring the face doesn’t get too cluttered.

The outfit is pretty much identical to the previous figure too, but then Rogue’s really only had 2 main costumes in proper Marvel continuity. The level of detail is much higher here, with special emphasis on her outstanding curves and abs muscularity. This version comes with her jacket, something the fandom would have loved on the original figure so it’s great to see it here. I’m not sure if it’s a reuse but it works well. The belt section is included on the jacket piece meaning it’s quite difficult to remove. In a really nice touch, the arm gets an X logo.

Rogue also gets the newish slipover boot pieces that have been used on recent Minimates. In other reviews on this site Rad likes these as they give the impression of a boot from the front (and sometimes sides) without being too bulky. I have to agree with him, they are a very clever piece of engineering and work well here.

Rogue doesn’t come with any accessories but she’s a character that doesn’t really use them. It would have been great to get some green coloured arms to use when the jacket was off.

In conclusion: A superb update of a figure previously limited in scope by parts reuse. Finally Rogue gets the Minimate she deserves.

Review and pictures by Danny Mills

[starratingmulti id=”1″]

[starratingmulti id=”2″]