.

The packaging continues to evolve. The windows have remained on the box, but rather than the porthole design seen on the TRU exclusive Iron-Man 2-pack, the windows now follow the contours of the pack itself. This leaves a much larger window so more of the toy itself can be seen. There’s also a very eye-catching Spider-Man design on the upper part of the pack. Looks like this is set to be the brand image for a while. I like it.

One thing that I don’t like is the way Nova is displayed within the box. For some reason DST have chosen to show him unmasked. I just cannot understand why they’d do that. In this reviewers opinion the pack would look much better if Nova was wearing his helmet. Due to the enlarged windows there’s not much space left for pack art. Gamora and Nova are represented by control art drawings but can only be seen from the shoulders up.

As usual there are photos of each character on the side flaps. The back of the pack features the obligatory group shot of the entire wave as well as the variant. There are also small boxouts featuring character biographies.

Gamora’s the last of her race and as a small child was discovered and adopted by the Titan; Thanos. Trained as a weapon, Gamora considers herself the most dangerous woman in the galaxy. She’s a martial arts and weapons expert, and wields a sword named Godslayer.

This is a nice looking female ‘mate. Her facial features are enhanced by the gold circles around her eyes. I have to say that the gold paint DST have used on this figure is extremely effective and really stands out. Gamora’s hair is a new piece which is okay but looks a bit too tidy for the character, though I am impressed with the inclusion of her hooped earrings. They’re barely there, but it’s the little details that makes for great Minimates.

Gamora wears a cape fastened by clasps in the shape of skulls. A fair attempt has been made at sculpting the skulls but it looks as though some detail has been lost to the moulding process. The cape still looks good, even to the gathered hood at the rear. A shame then that my ‘mate’s cloak is sligtly marred by a stray drop of paint (something that seems to be happening more often with the Minimates I buy). remove the cloak and you’ll see that the straps for Gamora’s costume continue across her shoulders which is a great touch. A shame then that they don’t continue down her back but this appears to be a tampo error rather than a design mistake as the straps that go up her back stop at where the shoulder blades would be.

Gamora’s costume itself is nigh on perfect. Again it’s accentuated by golden edging which really helps the dark green of the costume stand out against the light green of her skin. I’m especially impressed by the detailing to the edging of the gloves and boots. The golden skull at Gamora’s midriff also stands out well making this an extremely noticeable and nice looking Minimate.

Gamora’s accessorised with the aforementioned sword ‘Godslayer’. Godslayer has a pretty unique shape and DST have certainly done it justice.

In conclusion: A great looking Minimate, excellently designed and executed.

MMC Score – 9 out of 10

Nova’s a cosmically powered space cop, pretty much Marvel’s version of Green Lantern. He’s had his own series, been a member of the New Warriors and played a major part in fighting off the Annihilation wave that threatened the entire galaxy that Earth 616 resides in.

This Nova’s appearance is based on how he was represented in the Annihilation storyline. His uniform had to be augmented so that it could carry the world mind of Xandar (the planet where the Nova Corps are based). It’s a shame that we don’t have Nova’s far more iconic original costume with its three interlinked stars on the chest but as this is his current look I suppose it’s the best we can expect for now.

Firstly, I have to say what a cracking job DST have made of Nova’s Helmet. The shape is perfect, the eyes line up correctly, and I really like the way the starburst in the centre stands out from the helm A shame though, that the red paint used for the starburst is too dark to really stand out against the gold. It’s weird how it gets lost in there. That gripe aside, it’s a great looking piece and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see it being used for customs in the very near future (someone just has to do a Judge Dredd!). There’s an alternate hair piece so that you can display Nova as his civilian identity Richard Rider, but thanks to Nova having whited out eyes this looks a bit silly. I guess DST thought that as the helmet was removable they’d better throw in a hair piece or fans would complain. Damned if you do…

Rather than use a chest piece to capture Nova’s uniform detail DST have opted for a piece that sits over the shoulders. This is a very sensible decision as Nova shouldn’t have an overly powerful physique. The shoulder spikes look great and the gold paint app helps to give them definition. Around the back the armour comes down a bit lower and features the original Nova ‘starburst’ symbol. I’m a bit disappointed with the white ‘power’ circles on the chest though. I feel they should be bigger, and have a hint of electric blue to them. Think of the blue paint used on Wave 21’s Iron-Mongers eyes and you’ll get where I”m coming from. Other unique pieces are the rather large belt, and the golden gauntlets that graduate into spikes at the elbows. There should be matching spike detail on the shins of the ‘mate that also graduate into spikes at the knees. But this looks like it was a feat of design that even DST couldn’t carry off so instead they’ve opted to have these represented by a gold paint app.

I’m a little bit disappointed with the gold colouring on this ‘mate. It’s too dark by far. I really think it’d have made for a much more eye-catching figure if the same tone of gold as used on Gamora pin line detailing had been used on this ‘mate. Maybe that would have been a paint app too far? Still it’s not a dreadful figure – far from it in fact – but it could have been one of those perfect Minimates that DST like to spoil us with these days and instead it just missed out.

Nova has no accessories.

In conclusion: Well engineered, nice looking, but not quite as good as it should have been.

Review and pictures by Rad Kerrigan

[starratingmulti id=”1″]

[starratingmulti id=”2″]