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Of all the TV and movie licenses DST have picked up in the last few years, Despeartely Seeking Susan has been one of the most controversial. Derided by Minimate fans used to superheroes or action stars, this set actually sold very well to fans of the film, and of it’s star Madonna.

Packaging

The box for this set is similar to that of the Back to the Future 2-packs. It is distinctive from the recent Marvel 2-packs as this one has a much larger window on the front allowing you to see the entire figures inside. This package has a lot of funky, 1980s-type designs on it, including blue and neon green plush animal prints, and neon green polka dots on a purple background. Very cool stuff. You can also see film screen shots of both Susan and Roberta in the background on the front of the box, along with the design shown on the back of their jackets. The side of the box has mug-shots of each Minimate included, as is the norm for Minimates, and the back has mug-shots, a brief blurb about the film, and a small picture of the Minimate Desperately Seeking Susan movie poster.

The Figures

Roberta

Roberta is played in the film by Rosanna Arquette. Face-wise, I don’t see her in this Minimate. Arquette she has a very distinctive look that may not translate to the Minimate format very well. I think it may have something to do with her lack of a nose, which is an important characteristic to her human incarnation’s face. Rosanna (inspiration for the great Toto song, incidentally) usually seemed to have a kind of smirk when she smiled, but Roberta’s lips here are pretty straight-forward and plain. She has some makeup over her eyes, which is very subtle and effective. Ultimately, her face is pretty as far as Minimates go. Her hairpiece is blonde with a bow on it, and she has an ear-ring over her right ear.

Roberta’s jacket is the one that she is wearing on the movie poster. It is brown, with black marks reflecting a stylish 80s design on the yellow collar (or possibly, this is a sash of some kind?). The back of the jacket contains the Great Seal of the United States, with the Eye of Providence and “New Order of the Ages” written in Latin (“Novus ordo seclorum”). The pyramid is painted in shiny gold. Not having seen the movie in many, many years, I have no idea what the significance of this is, but it is pretty cool having this amount of detail on the back of her jacket. Roberta seems to be wearing a black belt with another fancy 80s design for the belt buckle. She has a gold band over her right wrist, possibly representing a bracelet or a watch (it doesn’t look like the jacket itself has this gold band on the actual movie poster). Her chest block has a small, frilly white shirt with some nice details on it representing folds in the shirt. The side and back of the chest block are white, so you can’t really pose her without the jacket. She also has a few pearl-looking necklaces, or possibly one large one folded over several times. She has dark brown pants, white gloves, black shoes, and cool, neon green socks.

This set comes with a single accessory, and I don’t know who it applies to, but I keep it with Roberta for some reason, so I will review it as if it is hers. This accessory is a black purse or hand bag of some kind, with a handle on the top and some freaky looking white skulls on it. It actually looks like one of those boxes that people would carry their hats in in the 1950s. One cool detail here is that one side of the box/purse/bag has a noticeable black line, making it look as if you could open it. However, I have tried to pry it open to no avail, and so am pretty sure that this is just a cosmetic line.

In conclusion, I like this Minimate quite a bit. I was a kid of the 1980s, I like stuff in the 80s style, and Roberta is definitely that. Not a great likeness to Arquette, but she is quite distinctive and interesting with some cool little details..

MMC Score – 7 out of 10

Susan

Susan is played by Madonna. Unlike Roberta, the likeness here is great – this is definitely Madonna. Something about the angle of the eyes, the mouth, the cheek lines, and the mole make for a terrific likeness. I am a huge fan of 1980s Madonna, so was really anticipating her when she was first announced, and was not disappointed when I got her “in hand”. She also has the nice application of makeup over her eyes that Roberta gets, which was an important trait of 1980s Madonna. Her hair is a dirtier shade of blonde than is Roberta’s, and she has darker brown highlights on the top and front of her hair. She also has a bow in her hair, though it is much larger than Roberta’s, and she seems to have the same ear-ring over her right ear that Roberta does. The ear-ring is very exotic-looking and large.

Susan’s jacket, at first glance, appears to be the same as Roberta’s. But looks can be deceiving. These are actually completely different sculpts! They both have the yellow collar/sash thing, but Susan’s has different design marks on it, and she has an extra little ridge along her shoulders that Roberta lacks (possibly representing shoulder pads – another vestige of the 1980s that we sadly do not see much of anymore). Her mammary glands (as reflected in sculpted bulges in the jacket) also appear to be of a slightly different shape than Roberta’s. Susan appears to have some nice 80s bracelets on both wrists, and has the same design on the back of her jacket that Roberta has. Her chest block is painted with a skimpy brownish red shirt with stylish black shapes on it. Her cleavage is much more evident on the chest block than is the case with Roberta. Similar to Roberta, the back and side of Susan’s chest block are completely painted (a plain brownish red here), so again, you can’t really pose her with flesh arms and no jacket piece, which is a bit unfortunate, as it would give her a bit more depth. Susan has white gloves with one hand being molded holding a cigarette, black pants, black shoes, and a bluish-gray belt with a more traditional belt buckle than Roberta gets. Unfortunately, no neon colored socks for Susan.

In conclusion, this Minimate is really great. The likeness to Madonna is fantastic, and if I were a better customizer, I would definitely have “Material Girl” Madonna, “Like a Virgin” Madonna, etc. all using Susan’s face. Some of the early, 3 inch Minimates were of rock stars, and I would personally like to see more 1980s musicians in the 2 inch format like this. Thriller-era Michael Jackson, Van Halen, the Police, U2, DEVO. . . C’mon DST. Make it happen.

MMC Score – 10 out of 10

Review and pictures by karamazov80

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