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Thor: The Dark World was a bit of a letdown, and Malekith and his army of Dark Elves had a lot to do with that.  I get that the director was obviously a fan of Star Wars.  Who isn’t?  But, it’d be nice if the Dark Elves weren’t such thinly veiled knock offs of the Stormtroopers.  But perhaps I’m too picky.  Others seemed to like the Dark Elves, and they don’t have bad designs, so they seem rather toy worthy.  They made up half of a pair of two-packs for the 53rd Wave of Marvel Minimates, alongside Thor’s human companions Erik Selvig and Darcy Lewis.

The Packaging

These packs are sporting the wider-windowed packaging, themed around The Dark World‘s stylings.  They didn’t exactly jump off the shelves, but the figures are well showcased, and arrive in one piece, which is what’s important.  For pictures, head on over to these sets’ database entries.

The Figures

Dr. Erik Selvig

First up, friendly scientist-turned-pawn-turned-madman, Erik Selvig!  This marked Selvig’s second appearance as a Minimate, following up a ‘mate based on the first Thor.  That first release suffered from some pretty bad quality control, and a few unfortunate plastic choices, so I suppose giving him another shot wasn’t the worst thing.

Selvig has 3 sculpted pieces: hair, and rolled up sleeve cuffs.  These pieces have all been used before, but they all look appropriate to the character, so no complaints.  This particular hair piece is a better for the character than the last one, so definitely a sensible choice.

The paintwork on Selvig is actually pretty strong.  The likeness is really good, and the detail work on his plaid shirt is nothing short of phenomenal.

Selvig includes a mobile phone, a spare set of legs, and a clear display stand.  The spare legs are a fun addition, and let you display Selvig sans pants, illustrating his mental instability throughout the film.  They’re not quite as well painted as the rest of him, but they look okay, and are a really cool add-in.

Did we need another Selvig?  Maybe not, but I think, in a perfect world, his first release just would have been a bit better.  Whatever the case, this one’s not a bad ‘mate, and Selvig’s a recurrent enough character to make him a needed figure.

MMC Score — 7 out of 10

Darcy Lewis

Kat Dennings’s love-or-hate character Darcy Lewis appeared in both  of the first two Thor films, but was absent from the first movie’s merchandise.  Given that we had both Jane and Selvig, it was kind of nice to round out the trio (even if this wasn’t the Thor-related trio that most fans were looking to round out).  Darcy is based on her appearance in the film, although, she seems to be missing the coat and hat she wore for most of the movie.  I assume that this was done to save on tooling.

Darcy features two sculpted pieces:  hair and skirt.  Both of these pieces are reused from previous Minimates, and the hair in particular seems to be popular on Marvel movie females.  These pieces were well sculpted initially and still look good now, so the reuse is fine.

Darcy’s paint is alright, I guess.  The detail lines are all applied nicely, and the likeness of the face is fantastic, but the basic paintwork leaves a lot to be desired, with lots of slop and a few mismatched colors.

Darcy includes the same mobile phone as Selvig, a laptop and a clear display stand.

Though a new character is never a bad thing, Darcy’s relatively minor place in the grand scheme of things, coupled with her lack of exciting design make her a somewhat questionable choice.  Sure, she and Selvig are solid Minimates, and I’m glad to have them, but would I want them in place of, say, Fandrall and Hogun, or even Frigga?  Not really.  In retrospect, Darcy was perhaps an ill-advised choice.

MMC Score — 6 out of 10

Dark Elf

The source of much of my ire, and the double pack of this particular assortment, the Dark Elf is still one of the offerings in this line-up that I can’t *really* protest too much.  They were kind of prominent in the movie, so I guess a spot here isn’t the end of the world. In all fairness, they aren’t a terrible design.

They feature 6 sculpted pieces:  helmet, torso armor, upper arms, blaster hand, and shield hand.  These pieces are all new to the Dark Elf.  They’re all well done, though I feel they don’t quite live up to, say, the armor on Heimdall.  Some of the details are a bit soft.

The paint, on the other hand, is some of the best in the wave.  All the detail lines are quite sharp, and the basic paint work is clean and without any noticeable slop.

The Dark Elves include unarmed hands and a clear display stand, allowing for some variation amongst the ranks.

I understand the necessity of the Dark Elves, even if I personally didn’t care for them.  Honestly, they make for some pretty decent ‘mates, and prove to be even a bit more exciting than their rather dull film counterparts.

MMC Score — 8 out of 10

Agree? Disagree? Why not vote for yourself below, or comment further over at the Minimate Multiverse MMC Review Forum.

Review and pictures by Glantern.

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