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To capitalize on the success of the Guardians of the Galaxy movie, in 2015 Marvel launched an on-going cartoon chronicling the adventures of our favorite space-outlaws who aren’t in Star Wars or Firefly.  Right around that same time, DST and Walgreens teamed up to give us some Minimates based on those cartoons, and we got pretty much a whole set of Guardians in short oder.  Drax and Gamora were part of Wave 2 of the Walgreens-exclusive Marvel Minimates (which is actually the third wave, thanks to the weird “1, 1.5, 2” numbering).

The Packaging

It’s just the usual Marvel fare again here.  I will say that I find the purple used for the Guardians releases to be by far the most eye-catching of the three packaging styles for the Walgreens ‘mates, so it has that going for it.

The Figures

Gamora (w/ Potted Groot)

This was Gamora’s third Minimate in the line, which isn’t too bad for someone most of the general public didn’t know about until four years ago. Gamora got one of the more tweaked designs in the cartoon. It’s sort of based on her Ravager gear from the end of the first movie, but it’s sort of, I don’t know, averaged with her main assassin look from the rest of the film, resulting in what we see here. It’s not a bad look, though it’s just a bit blander than her others, if I’m honest. Still, not bad.

Her only add-on piece is her hair, which is also shared with this wave’s Black Widow ‘mate. It’s not a bad piece. It’s definitely very stylized, but it works quite well for Gamora’s design from the show, and looks quite lively to boot.

The rest of her details are handled via paint. It’s not as detailed as some Minimates, but the work here is incredibly sharp, and does quite a nice job of capturing the animated design, which, I might add, translates pretty flawlessly to the ‘mate aesthetic.

Gamora includes her signature sword (which is the same piece as the Wave 57 movie version’s), as well as a little potted Groot, which is probably one of my favorite Minimate accessories in quite some time.  He’s just a little guy, no articulation or anything, and he’s easy to miss, but he’s a lot of fun, and has the added bonus of fitting in with the movie ‘mates as well.

Gamora’s certainly fine, though I can’t say she’s my favorite version of the character.  If I’m honest, potted Groot is what really sold me on this set.

MMC Score — 6 out of 10

Drax

Ah, finally. After it was dropped for the movie, animated Drax regains his “The Destroyer” sub-title. Yay! Like Gamora, this was also Drax’s third Minimate. Drax’s design is a good deal closer to his movie appearance (specifically his Ravager gear) than Gamora’s. His tattoos are a bit simpler, and he’s straight grey rather than greyish green, but the overall look is pretty much the same.

Drax makes use of three add-on pieces. His waist cap is a standard piece, which just gives him a little extra bulk. The gauntlets appear to be new pieces (I could be wrong on that), and they work quite nicely for Drax’s design.

Drax’s paintwork is pretty solid. Once again, he’s a bit more simplistic than other recent ‘mates, but he looks really sharp. I especially like the tattoos, and I really appreciate the angry expression on his face.

Drax includes a pair of knives (taken from the movie version).

Of the two included in this set, I think I prefer Drax.  This was an improvement on his movie release, thanks to its lack of that goofy torso cap.  Obviously, he’s not a direct replacement, but he’s an entertaining variant of the character nonetheless.

MMC Score — 7 out of 10

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

As of this writing, this set is in stock at Luke’s Toy Store here.

Review and pictures by Glantern.

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