.

The packaging is very similar to the old Marvel-style carded packaging before they switched to boxes. The Minimates are very visible inside the card and there is a nice Minimate’d drawing of Ryu on the bottom left.

The back of the card shows the first wave of Street Fighter 2 Minimates, without showing any of the exclusives. Overall it’s very nice packaging, quite stylish.

The figures are packed in a bubble tray, and have several twist-ties holding them in, along with rubber bands. Like the Lord of the Rings Minimates, the twist ties are wrapped around the arms, making them difficult to remove.

The first figure in this set is Chun-Li, who joined the Street Fighter tournament to get revenge on M.Bison, who killed her father. She relies on speed and technique in her attacks rather than brute strength. Along with Ryu, she one of the most popular Street Fighter characters. In the exclusive she wore her “Player 2” pink, here she is seen in her more familiar blue.

Chun-Li is shown here certainly a lot more relaxed than her “Player 2” counterpart. There, she was screaming, eyes narrowed. Here, she has almost a serene expression. The look is simply detailed but very appealing, with her brown eyes a particular highlight. These aren’t done in an exaggerated “manga” style like the IndieMate female characters were. The hairpiece is identical to the exclusive, possibly being a slightly lighter shade of brown. It’s pegged as well, meaning the hairpiece stays on fine.

Chun-Li wears a blouse and skirt, both of which continues the relative simplisity in the detailing. This is in no way a criticism, as Minimates work best when they are not overdone. The skirt does hinder most kicking poses, and as that’s such a huge part of Chun-Li’s arsenal, that is a bit of a problem, however you can wedge the leg between the gaps in the skirt. The costume is a really lovely shade of blue, and it contrasts with the white sash and yellow detailing far better than the slightly garish pink did. The skin tones between the two version of Chun-Li match, so you can swap the heads over for different expressions OK.

Chun-Li has the same translucent yellow energy flash as her “Player 2” version. It remains a really innovative and interesting piece which adds a large amount of play value to the figure. All the energy blasts are great new additions to the Minimate accessories, and can be used by anyone. Want Black Cat to deliver a bit of a kicking to a hapless villain? Put it on her instead!

Overall, this immediately became one of my favourite Minimates ever the moment I set eyes on her. She is two inches of plastic perfection. The addition of her normal blue colours push an already top-notch figure even higher as a recommendation. She is one of those Minimates, who along with Captain America and the Flash, really define what’s great about Minimates when detailing, colours and accessories all come together.

MMC Score – 10 out of 10

The second figure in the set is M.Bison, head of the sinister Shadaloo organisation and one of the ultimate boss characters ever in a videogame. Previously seen in a sombre grey suit for his “Player 2” outfit, here he is in more usual flamboyant red.

Most of the wave 1 faces have expressions far less overt and confrontational than their “Player 2” variants. M.Bison bucks this trend by about a billion miles. Here M.Bison sports a grossly contorted evil grin. It’s like something straight out of Alice In Wonderland and it looks fantastic. It really adds an amazing amount of character to the figure than the more sober “Player 2” Bison didn’t quite manage to convey. M.Bison is the man. He knows it, you know it, he knows you know it and it amuses him greatly. The detailing on the eyes and the arched eyebrows is cleverly drawn around the peak of his cap. M.Bison is one of the few Minimates with a hat, sharing that lofty accolade with the Riddler, fact fans. The hat and hair are all one piece, and is pegged to the head block.

The military uniform is again detailed quite simply, with a bit of definition on the chest being all there is. He has a small “skirt” piece to make the suit look like an overcoat. The belt buckle is sculpted, as are the two black detailing lines coming down from it. The red costume is certainly more striking than his grey one. The main focus of the costume is definitely the cape. M.Bison was prone to fly around from side to side taunting you in the videogame, and here the cape is sculpted to be billowing out, flowing with movement. It’s a very dynamic difference to the flatter capes normally worn by the Minimate superheroes of Marvel and DC.

M.Bison has the same purple translucent energy fireball that his “Player 2” version came with. This is much smaller in length than than the longer blasts used by Ryu, Akuma and Demitri and therefore it should be easier to pose M.Bison than those others. However the cape, whilst impressive, does tend to make M.Bison overbalance at the slightest provocation.

Overall, M.Bison has a lot to recommend him, from the expression on his face to the well sculpted cape. A definite winner! 

Review and pictures by Danny Mills

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