08.02
Wave 8, the final wave of DC Minimates was, for better or worse, as diverse and eclectic as many of the previous waves. We at MMC apologise for having taken so long to have gotten these reviews to you, as these figures are a couple of years old now, but no one could have predicted the Minimate deluge of the last few years. Next up is a pair of Minimates who form part of the DC superhero group, the Teen Titans.
Packaging
Standard DCD Minimate blister pack featuring a yellow card with a curved blisters. Both figures can be viewed through a window created by a cardboard insert, which this wave is themed by a Minimate-style Sinestro.
The back of the pack follows the same format as previous waves with large pictures of the figures from each two-pack.
The Figures
Cyborg
The face on this Minimate is totally wrong. It looks absolutely nothing like Vic Stone. Oh sure, it’s half robot, and the other half is a guy with a black face. But, that ain’t Vic Stone! The hair is wrong. Vic has always had a close cropped style but this dude has some kind of a gelled down look. It doesn’t even look like African hair. If you look at most other coloured Minimates you’ll find that their hair is largely given a smooth look. This one has texture, and the texture looks wrong. On top of that the face doesn’t look like Vic either. The eyes are wide open and almost innocent. The mouth looks worried. Vic Stone is an intelligent, intuitive man who’s also a complete hard-ass. You’d never see this expression on his face.
Having said all that, the body is fine, though. The silver print stands out well against the brown skin tone. There’s lots to admire here. All prints are crisp and clean and there’s some really intricate work around the thigh area where Vic’s natural skin tone can be seen through a lattice work of silver armour. Even the hands and feet have some kind of tampo print on which is very unusual but also very nice to see. If I have one complaint about the body it’s that I believe it should have been given a chest piece to bulk it out a bit. Cyborg is, after all, the Teen Titan’s strong guy.
Cyborg has two alternate hands. One has an extended index finger, which presumably is some kind of computer interface device. The other is a weird hammer-type device that could possibly be a sonic cannon.
In Conclusion: This Minimate could have been great, but instead is wrecked by a very poor choice of facial expression and a terrible head piece.
MMC Score – 5 out of 10
Raven
Half-demon daughter of long-time Titans nemesis Trigon, Raven was the character who bought the original Teen Titans back together, and along with Cyborg and Changeling (later Beast Boy) formed the New Teen Titans.
Raven’s hooded cape is an amazing-looking piece of work. I’m incredibly impressed by the way the cape swoops up over the shoulders giving the suggestion of wings, and also allowing lots of movement of the arms. The cape becomes a hood over Raven’s head and with the black shadowing on the top half of her face making for a very striking bird-like look overall. I also like the way the black and silver clasps stand out from the rest of the figure.
Raven’s costume is much more simple, being a one-piece dress with outrageous splits up either side (the skirt part being a brand new piece). I have to say I really like the colour scheme that’s been chose for the Minimate as it’s very faithful to the character’s look. Detailing on the torso block suggest feminine but not over-exaggerated curves. Raven’s look is finished off with shoulder length gloves and very tiny blue slippers. The attention to detail on the hands is most welcome, Raven gloves only cover her middle two fingers leaving the outer fingers and thumbs free. A very good attempt to suggest that look has been made here, though the finishing could have been a bit crisper on the upper parts of the gloves and the same could be said for the slippers. However this is only apparent upon extremely close inspection and I don’t feel I should mark the figure down because of it.
Raven has an alternate hairpiece which really makes the figure come into its own. The hair is well sculpted and looks exactly how it should, with star-shaped earrings helping to provide contrast. What’s really sweet is that the head has a face printed on both sides in a style similar to that of the Palz block figures produced by Palisades. Raven’s alternate face lacks that huge block of shadow on the upper half. The expression on her face is almost severe but that’s very much in keeping with the character, I like the set of the eyes and that tiny bindi spot in the centre of the forehead is perfectly executed.
I’ve also just noticed that the front of Raven’s dress continues across the top of the chest block suggesting that it ties off around the back of her neck. That’s a really nice detail. My one complaint about this Minimate is that the hood piece has rubbed away some of the black tampo at the top of the head piece, but the damage can’t be seen at all when the hood is on, or when the alternate look is being displayed.
In Conclusion: A perfect port from comic page to Minimate. It’s possibly my favourite DC ‘mate and up there with my all-time favourite Minimates.
MMC Score – 10 out of 10
Review and pictures by Rad Kerrigan
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