.

As noted in my first Rock review, Art Asylum had a somewhat bizarre choice of licenses, including the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon license. Thematically, it makes some sense as they already had the Bruce Lee license too, but still. There were 4 figures in the opening wave (and a second wave of 4 was planned) but as usual for the Art Asylum of 2002, only one wave made retail.

Packaging

The set of CTHD Minimates I acquired from eBay came loose, without the packaging. Thanks to AdyCarter for getting me shots of the packaging.

Jen Yu

Jen Yu is a deadly assassin, played by Zhang Ziyi in the film. As such, she is clad in black, with a mask to hide most of her facial features. Braids of hair are sculpted on the back. As with all of the Minimates, the mask can be removed to reveal her sparsely-detailed face. I say it’s sparse, but that just might be the difference in scale between the 3″ and 2″ figures. However it remains an expressive face with those raised eyebrows.

The costume is superb, especially for the time this was produced. The Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon Minimates were the first (and last) Minimates to differenciate between male and female characters. The look for this is similar to how the Palisades PALz figures would do it 2 years later, with a slightly raised area suggesting the bosom, however this isn’t a different torso block, merely a piece that fits over the torso block. The all black look is countered by the red trim and belt. Other additional pieces include a “skirt” and cuffs as well as a pair of boots which fit over her feet.

Unlike a lot of the 3″ Minimates, the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon Minimates have several accessories. Jen Yu comes with a sword and scabbard, 2 years before the Lord of the Rings line would incorporate them. The scabbard plugs into a hole on the back of the torso block and is stopped from moving by a small catch that hits the side of the torso. The sword itself is quite detailed and looks great being used by a ninja.

Overall, this is a really good figure, which combines a great look with tons of playability – after all, there is nothing cooler than a female ninja!

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 Danny Mills.

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