25.07
After wave 24’s focus on Spider-Man, Marvel wave 25 brought us new and redone versions of other heavy hitters such as Iron Man, Captain America and the Hulk. Wave 25 double dips on Iron Man, with Bolt Face Iron Man being the variant for the wave. This review will only feature Bolt Face Iron Man, as the AIM Soldier has already been reviewed. It’s also worth noting again that this wave marked the first time DST has gone with the idea of putting army builder figures in with the variant sets, so if you get the full wave of Marvel Minimates you aren’t left with duplicates of individual, specific heroes. A top notch idea, and not before time.
Packaging
Wave 25 packaging remains the same as previous waves, this time the background is made up of Iron Man and Captain America comic panels, and the colour is a nice dark blue rather than the green of wave 24. The fact that this set is the variant is prominently marked down the left hand side of the front of the box.
The back of the box has the whole wave pictured, and the bio boxes are still present.
The Figure
Bolt Face Iron Man
The Bolt Face helmet is supposed to be a bit of a classic look for Iron Man, not being a huge fan of this guy all I’m concerned about is how different and worthwhile it is. Classic Iron Man was definitely an update to the wave 6 Iron Man Minimate, this one, well, bluntly speaking, this version just seems to be a retread of the Classic Iron Man in this wave. I know variants don’t have to be different characters, but there’s usually more to set them apart than this.
The Bolt Face helmet is slightly different, looking quite similar to the wave 6 helmet with the blank eyes filled in with black. This negates one of the problems I had with the eyes showing on the classic one. The bolts do actually look pretty good and give him a rough-hewn quality that is absent from some of the other Iron Man armours.
Remove the helmet and you get a smoother-looking Tony than the classic one, free of furrowed brows and grimaces. He has a different hairpiece too, which is good to see. Again, I don’t immediately recognise it.
Bolt Face Iron Man has the same construction of the suit as the classic figure in this wave. Interestingly, the shoulder-rings are in the tray initially, rather than being on the figure. Well, I thought it was interesting. The detailing is slightly different on the chest with the two smaller circles lower down on the chest, and muscular detailing being a tad more sparse. The paint is worse on this figure, mine has a big smudge of red paint on the gold arm.
Bolt Face Iron Man gets the extra repulsor hand, and a second helmet. This one is similar to Bolt Face, except without the bolts, and with a nose! One of the few Minimates to ever get a nose, and we see why because it does look very strange. The overall look is the most retro of the 3 helmets, when you also take Classic Iron Man into consideration.
In conclusion, this figure is just really unnecessary. It doesn’t change the Classic Iron Man’s appearance in any meaningful way. Perhaps worth picking up if you’re a fan of either of the 2 helmets included, but in all honesty, you only need one of the Iron Men in this wave, and not both – An easy choice when most retailers charge almost double for the variant. A disappointing first run out for the “army builder” variant set idea.
MMC Score – 5 out of 10
Review and pictures by Danny Mills
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