05.02
DC Minimates wave 5 is a very eclectic collection. There are some famous characters in the set but most will only be known to diehard comic fans. This set contains two members of the Green Lantern Corps.
After Playalong/Art Asylum’s “Minimates with building blocks” attempts in the ill-fated C3 range, DC Direct decided to snap up the licence, bringing us 2-packs of Minimates a la Marvel, but with no chase figures. 8 waves were produced in all.
Packaging
The Figures
Guy Gardner
Onto the ‘mate. The hair is excellent. Guy’s carrot top bowlcut is lovingly rendered, I’m not at all sure about the face though. The expression is very odd. I think he’s supposed to be looking stern but ends up looking like he’s squinting. The expression on the mouth is all wrong too. Guy should sport either a big ‘Eff You’ grin or a surly snarl. Instead he appears to be worrying about whether or not he’s left the gas on.
Thankfully things improve with the costume, Guy’s bulky jacket is well executed and nicely decorated. It’s already been noted on message boards that Guy’s Green Lantern ring is an actual lantern shape and not the green dot as seen on John Stewart and the Hal Jordan Green Lantern. Aesthetically it looks much better, it’s just a shame it wasn’t done sooner. Guy’s belt and boots appear to be new pieces. The boots have little buckle designs at the top and it’s nice to see that DCD/AA haven’t scrimped and put the same design on each boot. There’s definitely a buckle for left and right.
Guy’s only accessory is a Green Lantern’s power battery. Some kind of green clip-on effect would have been nice. Even if it was just a remould of one ofthe SFII power blasts which were re-used to great effect on the Marvel Spider-Man Classics Box-Set from 2007. I won’t dock points for the lack of though.
In conclusion: A nicely put together Minimate spoiled only by an uncharacteristic facial expression.
MMC Score – 7 out of 10
Kilowog
This is the sort of B-list DC Character that should be getting made. The alien Green Lantern Kilowog is a master engineer and a powerhouse in his own right. He says “poozer”. He says it a lot.
Kilowog is another slightly controversial Minimate. Some purists bemoan the use of the 2.5 inch body, others complain about the moulded head, saying that it should be a standard cylinder with add-ons. Me? I’m far too busy to really care, but I come down on the side of DCD as I think Kilowog on a standard ‘mate body with a standard ‘mate head just wouldn’t work.
As it stands the head is a great likeness of Kilowog, The moulded forehead and eyes give the face a touch of gravitas. I’d have like to have seen more moulding around the jaw as Kilowog has some great texture around the mouth area.
Other than that we have a fairly standard Minimate body. There’s a powerhouse chest piece which is only right and proper as Kilowog is massive in comparison to most other DC characters. Decoration is fairly crisp though there is noticeable bleed where the white gloves meet the black arms and the lines for the boots look a tad asymmetric again!
Like Guy, Kilowog’s power ring print is in the shape of a lantern and also like Guy, Kilowog comes with a power battery though his is scaled up so as to be in proportion to the character. As with Guy it’s a shame that there were no ‘power ring’ effects included in the pack, but the lack of doesn’t really hurt the ‘mate.
In Conclusion: Some duff paint apps slightly spoil a very nice translation of the character. But really he’s no great shakes.
MMC Score – 7 out of 10
Review and pictures by Rad Kerrigan
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