.

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 color is a nice dark blue rather than the green of wave 24.

The back of the box has the whole wave pictured, and the bio boxes are still present.

The name may be Captain America, but this is not Steve Rogers. Assassinated at the end of the Civil War, Cap’s longtime friend Bucky – himself thought to have died many years ago until his return as the mysterious Winter Soldier – has taken up the mantle of his friend. There, how many storylines can I spoil in one sentence? To be fair, most of that is also on the bio on the back. 

As this is a different Cap, the look is slightly different. They’ve not messed with the mask though, that retains the iconic wings and “A” symbol. It’s a full mask, with Bucky’s grim expression also captured on it. This can be removed, and a more serene expression is left, with which you can use one of the best Minimate hairpieces I’ve ever seen. It’s got nice partings, the hair is well textured, it’s just great. Not sure if it’s a reuse, I certainly can’t remember seeing one like this before. 

The detailing on this Captain America is superb. The red and white part on the front of the costume is all scrunched up, but the star can be seen clearly. Instead of the “chain mail” that Steve Rogers had, Bucky has white stars on each shoulder, really nicely done at this scale. The light blue is somewhat shiny and pearlescent, contrasting really well with the black of the rest of the outfit – the lower part of the torso and the legs are just black with no highlights. 

Instead of the larger gloves, Bucky has regular Minimate hands along with a “cuff” piece. He also gets the buccaneer-style boots seen on all of the newer versions of Cap. 

Bucky has a ton of cool accessories. First, there is the shield. This is done in the usual Cap way, with an attachment that slides onto the arm which you can put the shield onto. He also gets the shield harness first seen with the Invaders set, a lovely piece which looks nice, doesn’t impede articulation and allows the shield to be stored on his back. A quick note; remove the harness and you can see that the back of the figure has detailing, including another star symbol. This is a very nice touch. To distinguish this darker version of Cap, he also gets a utility belt containing a pistol holster and a knife sheath, along with the weapons to put in them. 

In conclusion, this Minimate representation of Bucky as Cap is superb, with lovely detailing, many great touches and bags of play-ability making this a worthwhile addition to the ranks of Captain America Minimates. Highly recommended.

MMC Score – 9 out of 10

The Red Skull, Johann Schmidt, is Captain America’s oldest foe, an evil and twisted genius who rose from the ranks of the Nazis to spread terror and destruction for years afterwards. There has already been one Red Skull Minimate before, released, rather fittingly, in the“Villains” boxset. This is a different look to the green-jump-suited Red Skull in that set. 

There have been many skull-like Minimate heads produced over the years and they’ve all looked pretty decent. This one is no exception, with busy (but not overdone) facial detailing and a truly crazed expression on the Red Skull’s face. The eyes gleam with evil intent and the jaw is fixed in a rictus grin. Great stuff! 

Instead of the plain green jumpsuit, this figure gets the more military look, with a very stylish uniform jacket. This is a really nice piece and I’m sure many customisers would be eyeing it up. There is a holster attached to the jacket, to put Red Skull’s 1950’s-style futuristic pistol into. Again, it’s a very nice piece. 

Red Skull also gets another chest piece, this time a formal shirt and tie with a suit jacket. This meshes equally well with the black arms and legs that the figure sports. From checking Wikipedia I believe this is a more current look to him than the classic military jacket so huge kudos to DST for including it in the set, as the ability to have 2 different looks is really worthwhile and adds to the value of the set (both financially and in terms of play-ability). 

In conclusion, one of the Marvel Universe’s headline villains executed in superb style. A must-have, even if you have the previous one.

MMC Score – 9 out of 10

Review and pictures by Danny Mills

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