.

Disclaimer: Obscurity ahead!

Packaging

With DST announcing that it won’t be making Minimates based on Marvel Fox movies any time soon, it seems like we’re getting a comic-themed wave instead, which is totally fine by me. I’ll take comic-themed waves over the movie stuff any day. So, just in time for the Deadpool movie, DST have released wave of Deadpool and friends Minimates in all their 616 glory!
It’s business as usual with the packaging. We’ve got the character art on the front and sides of the box, a red/black colour scheme to suit the wave’s theme, and pictures of the wave on the reverse along with some wacky, Deadpool-esque bios.
Copycat is the actual figure mentioned in the bio, rather than Domino, despite it being Domino’s big grinning mug on the front of the box. That’s because this is a Copycat action figure. The first Copycat action figure. Ever! More on that later…

The Figures

Marvel Now Deadpool

As DST begins to release more and more versions of popular characters, the need to be able to tell them apart becomes greater. This is how we end up with figure names like ‘Marvel Now Deadpool’. It helps us to figure out which of the 21 different versions of Deadpool we are talking about. Well… almost.
You see, we have already gotten this version of this look. ‘Marvel Now Deadpool’ is also the Deadpool we got with the 2013 Thunderbolts set. For the sake of everyone’s sanity, lets refer to that previous version as ‘Thunderbolts Deadpool’.

Now, there are a few differences: Rather than use a slip-on mask, this version has his mask printed on a regular head. It’s more of an angry looking mask than the previous one.
He comes with an alternate head, so that you can display him in all his hamburger-faced glory, and his unmasked face is also different to the previous Thunderbolts unmasked face. He’s a lot more smiley this time around.

His chest block is different from the previous version too. Even though it’s the same costume and you can see some of the same features, there is a little more detailing on this version.
The paint application is pretty nice all over, although mine has a little bit of black spray on the red of the upper thighs.

This version uses plain legs with the details painted on, whereas Thunderbolts Deadpool had sculpted shin guards attached to his feet. TB Deadpool also had sculpted gauntlets that connected to his hand pieces. The current version has also got sculpted gauntlets, but they are a separate piece from the hands.
Marvel Now Deadpool also has the same harness, belt and holster that were used for the Thunderbolts version.

I can’t really see how any of the changes make this figure worthy of an update. It’s not like a costume that hasn’t been done since the first few waves of the line. It’s a version of a character we’ve seen a lot of, in a costume that only got released a couple of years ago.

Deadpool comes with twin katanas and a pistol. One nice little touch is a sculpted minimate hand giving a ‘thumbs-up’ gesture. The piece was first seen with the ‘Buddy Christ’ Minimate in the View Askew line. It’s cute and character appropriate. I don’t think it really justifies the release of a new figure, though. It’s a piece that could have been packed in with any other Deadpool. I can think of a number of other Deadpool looks that we haven’t seen yet, that could have been included here: X-Men Deadpool, Dead Man Wade (Age of Apocalypse), Ultimate Deadpool, Symbiote Deadpool. Heck – even a battle damaged Deadpool would have been a better choice. For a man who gets stabbed, shot, beaten up and dismembered fairly regularly, I’m actually kind of surprised that we haven’t seen a BD Deadpool yet.

This is by no means a poorly made figure. It’s just a figure that we didn’t really need. For that reason alone, i’m giving it 6 our of 10.

MMC Score – 6 out of 10

Copycat as Domino

DST has a history of sneaking in of sneaking in obscure characters, and has even been the first company to create a figure in some cases. A few years ago, DST gave us the first ever Marrina figure. They were the first to put out a Jewel/Jessica Jones toy. Now we have the first ever Copycat.

Copycat (Vanessa Carlyle) was first introduced to us the New Mutants #98. We just didn’t know it at the time. You see, the character that we all thought was Domino, was actually Copycat who had used her shape-shifting abilities to mimic Domino’s form and infiltrate the New Mutants / X-Force. Aaaaaand she hasn’t done a whole heap since. She has appeared in the X books on and off over the years since, but has never been a major player. So why is she getting her own figure? Well – she once dated Deadpool. There is also a ‘Vanessa’ in the Deadpool movie currently screening who may or may not be the same Vanessa we’re dealing with here. So, this might just be a little nod to what’s on the big screen right now.

Even with a possible film appearance, Copycat is a bit of a hard sell. She’s pretty obscure as far as characters go, so to make her a bit more sellable, DST have called her ‘Copycat as Domino’. Domino is clearly more well known, and would sell better. In fact, despite being called a Copycat figure, the figure we see inside is actually packaged more like a Domino figure with bonus Copycat parts. But in my heart, this is a Copycat figure, and I’m still taking this as a win for obscure characters everywhere.
The gimmick makes perfect sense given Copycat’s history with Domino in the comics.

Copycat has never really had a real costume of her own. She wore whatever Domino wore when she mimicked her. In appearances as herself, she wore plain clothes, or dark, black-ops / tactical gear.
Domino hasn’t really had a dedicated look in recent years either. She has mostly worn black, form-fitting military wear or leather. And that’s the costume that DST have gone for here.
If i had to guess, I’d say that DST took their inspiration from X-Force #9 (Volume 3)
Copycat gets an all-black outfit that looks a bit like a black leather catsuit. Her collar is open, revealing her décolletage. As she has blue skin in her true form, and Domino has white skin, DST have included two versions of the chest block.
DST could have easily taken the cheap route out on this one and given her a closed top that showed no skin and be done with it, but have instead gone the extra mile. She also has both blue and white hands so you can display either character accurately.

Copycat’s face is a little bit plain. I could have used a bit more expression, but i’m willing to overlook it, simply for the fact that we got a Copycat Minimate at all. She has a big head of white hair, which appears to be a re-use of the AVX Emma Frost hair. It works quite well on this figure. Again, Copycat has never been drawn regularly enough to have a truly distinctive hair-style, So DST could have gone with almost any, longish hair piece.

Domino’s face is pretty darn happy. She’s someone I usually think of as a more determined, angry character. We’ve already seen a somewhat angry face on the first Domino DST did, so i’m not too put out by this one being a happier look. Copycat comes with twin pistols and a big-@$$ gun. I can’t place the pistols, but i’m pretty sure the huge blaster is one we’ve seen with Cable previously, which seems appropriate given her ties to X-Force.

If DST had done Copycat alone, i would have been pleased. But not everyone is as big a fan of D-list characters as I am. The extra parts to turn her into a modern Domino (which is a character we also needed) make her a much more desirable figure, for a much wider audience. It’s shrewd marketing from DST in the kindest, most collector friendly way, and i applaud them for it. It very nearly makes up for the unneeded Deadpool.

8 our of 10.

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 Nessex.

[starratingmulti id=”1″]

[starratingmulti id=”2″]