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The packaging is the standard window box with control art below the windows. The sides have individual picture of the two figures. On the back are the mini-bios of each character along with group picture of all figures in this wave. 

 

 

 

 

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We’ve had just a few Wolverine variants released in the past [/end sarcasm]. This is totally understandable; Spidey and Wolverine are the bread and butter of the Marvel line. Keeping these characters in the rotation keeps drawing young/old/new/fans/collectors to the line. However for diehard minimate collectors having soooo many variants of the same character can grow tiresome. This would be the fourth time he has been released in this costume (Gaijin Wolverine I & II, Battle-Ravaged); fifth if you count Daken.

 

 

Logan again has his mask, it looks similar to past ones but looking closer you’ll notice it’s a different sculpt. The front ridge is higher between his eyes and the ears extend higher and further back than prior masks. It is a nice design. Unfortunately the paint application is shoddy; the black is bleeding all around his mask into the dirty orange color.  The face underneath is itself a variant of one we’ve seen before. It is the exact same face on Battle-Ravaged Wolverine with his smirk starting from the other side, dots for eyes and no chin scruff. Stay with what works though I guess, as it is a good detailed face. The hairpiece is new; it has similar style as before it just extends further in the back. Included in this set is a hanging mask piece for when Wolverine has his mask off. This is really a great new accessory and happy to see them show up in new sets. The only drawback is the paint apps are once again not very good, the colors bleed into each other.

 

 

The rest of his costume is a direct rehash/update of same costume from Gaijin one. Same color scheme (if anything a bit muted this time) and same design. I do like the chest detail on this version vs the old; the old looks more like shade blobs instead of actual chest detail. He also has arm hair and leg detail this time around too.

 

 

Two other changes to note. Wolverine has a belt cover instead of the design painted on the waist-piece. I’m not a big fan of this, I think it makes him look too blocky; it would be better suited for someone like Colossus. Also the boots are not the full sized large boot foot but rather regular sized foot with the sculpted boot fronts. This does look better and allows for easier movement.

 

Wolverine has a couple of accessories. I’ve already mentioned the hanging mask but he also has a red katana sword which may seem odd (dude has adamantium claws what does he need a sword for) but perhaps this is making up for it missing from the Gaijin sets. I’m guessing calling him Gaijin Wolverine III might have taken the rerelease issue a bit too far. He also comes with an extra pair of non-claw hands. The only problem with them: they’re black instead of the same brown color that’s on his wrists. All together a decent amount of stuff for customizers with this figure.

 

 

In conclusion this could have been one of the better Wolverine releases. But the ho-hum nature of been-there-got-that along with miscues on things like paint apps and accessories make him just another so-so release.

MMC Score – 5 out of 10

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Dark Magneto

I love/hate this figure. Magneto is arguably one of the most popular villains in the Marvel universe. He’s also the villain with the most minimate figures too. So what better character to pack with Wolverine in what should be one of the best-selling packs in stores. For a kid seeing minimates for the first time, this should be the starting point of a new minimate adventure. Sadly, woe onto those that got this set with any intentions of actually playing with them.

 

 

Let’s start with the good. I’ve said before with some of the Iron Man figures, I love the hot-rod red color; and that color looks just as good on this figure. The helmet is same one used for AoA Magneto and is definitely the best design to date. Good paint apps on the helmet too, the purple detail around the front and M on the back really stand out well. The extra white hairpiece is a good design. And great expression on his regular face with lots and lots of details; it lines up well with his helmet on too. Now the extra head for his “dark” face; the red eyes and menacing teeth look great. The problem is with the peg-hole. I tried and tried but could not get it on the peg. Taking a closer look, you’ll see that the hole is noticeably smaller than it should be. Unfortunately it wasn’t just mine that was like that; others have noted on the forums the same issue. You could try boiling the head to loosen it up to get it on but you’ll end up doing the same if you have to get it off again (not very play friendly).

 

 

Magneto has his signature purple cape piece that fits over the very top of the torso piece. This is the best sculpt we’ve seen of this so far, it fits over his shoulder giving just enough room to allow for more arm movement than we’ve seen prior. His torso, legs & arms continue the red/purple costume with good details on his chest. He does have large purple wrist bracelets and ones on his shins to give him that boot look (crap his foot fell off, hold on let me fix it) …. on my figure the wrist bracelets were too tight on his arms. I didn’t want to risk scratching off some of his paint to remove them.

Purple hands and feet too (crap it fell off again) …

The feet are a bit loose (arrrgh, it’s off again) … perhaps swapping the feet might fix it … nope fell off again. Ok looking further the peg-hole for the foot seems to be too large on my figure’s right leg; I’ll have to get some putty to fix that later (others have reported similar problems). The bracelets/boots look great for his costume but size-wise the figure would function better if the design was printed directly on the arm/leg instead (crap, foot’s off again).

 

 

He has several accessories. I’ve mentioned the dark head and he also has a clear flight stand and two purple energy bulbs for his hands. One bonus that the flight stand is good for … it helps to keep his feet on (just don’t take him off). These accessories are great too for other figures and with all the parts from Magneto you could mix and match and get a better working figure too. 

 

 

If you can position him exactly as you want to, say a little prayer and hope you can get that alternate head on if you want to, and you can store him where there is no movement whatsoever then he is a great figure. Anything else and all he causes is heartache (crap, darn foot fell off again!!!).

MMC Score – 4 out of 10

Review and pictures by Lurch77

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