2013
01.05

BBmf00a

Back for more battle action we have two more figures from the first LCS wave of Battle Beasts. A fearless falcon warrior along with a terrifying tarantula make up this set; which one will be victorious? Read on to find out…

 

Packaging

BBmf01

The packaging is the blister card pack showcasing the figures and accessories. And the top of the card has the large Battle Beasts logo with several of the characters from the comics. The pack has an insert with the Minimates logo along with headshots of each of the characters on either side. The back shows all the figures in this wave along with short bio of each of the two characters included.
 
BBmf02

 

The Figures

Merk

BBmf03

Merk’s bio is as follows: A predator from birth, Merk clashed with Vorin many times before they became allies. But Merk studies his friends as well as his opponents, and Vorin does not yet know the extent of the role Merk has played in his past.

BBmf04 BBmf05

Merk has a well done sculpted grey falcon head along with a neat tan hood; really gives you that Egyptian god Horus look. His hood is not really attached to anything so it comes off easily. Like the other LCS sets the paint apps have a little bit of sparkle in them and are more muted than their TRU counterparts. For me, I prefer the brighter, shiny metallic colors of the TRU versions.

BBmf06 BBmf07

He has a long vest torso cover with a bit of armor in the back. Both the front and back have peg holes for attaching his weapons. Underneath is an extra bonus of torso detail on the main torso piece. This makes him one of the better figures (like the snakes) to display without armor.

BBmf08 BBmf09

His arms come with two wing pieces each. On his upper arm there’s a loop with attached short feathered wing piece. And on his claw hand is attached a long feathered wing pieces. All wings are new sculpted pieces that look very good with an amazing amount of feather detail. The only drawback is for larger weapons the wings under his claws make it hard to hold these weapons. His legs have sculpted bird talons for feet with what look like shin pads in the front.

BBmf10

Merk comes with several weapons but from the pictures I have attached two are not the right ones for him. I assumed since they were the same grey color as Merk and since they were in the pack right behind him that the two long claw-like axes were his. But they’re not, they’re for Fenruk which is confirmed by the control art on the DST & Battle Beasts Facebook pages. Never fear though, this is a good thing since the long axes fit horribly in Merk’s hands. Instead Merk comes with the two small axes and two saw-like talons which fit sooooo much better. For customizers this line has outdone itself; so many extras: wings, torso covers, extra weapons. Not to mention how cool it is to mix and match the beasts to create your own.

BBmf11

Merk is a good figure, he’s not the best of the beasts IMO but still a good catch.

 
BBmf12

MMC Score – 7 out of 10


 

Fenruk

BBmf13

Proof that they can make any character in minimate form we have Fenruk. Here’s his bio: The giant spider Fenruk is second-in-command to Vachonus, and is almost as frightening. As part of Vachonus’ band of bounty hunters, he pursues Vorin, Merk and Gruntos across inhospitable terrain on his eight legs.

BBmf14 BBmf17

He’s definitely not your normal minimate figure. There is a base minimate torso under there with a modified waist piece with four leg pegs. A large torso cover fits over the base torso and believe it or not they did include chest detail on the base. Fenruk’s small spider head is on a peg on the top front. I love the detail for his eyes and furry chelicera (the little mouth pincers). There great fur detail on the top of his torso with grey armor below. Another peg in the lower back helps attach his abdomen and two more at the top are where two more of his arms attach. Tons of detail and texture to his eight arms/legs. They do bend at odd angles so positioning him can be difficult.

BBmf15 BBmf16

Again this LCS version has some sparkle to his paint job. He’s a grey spider as opposed to the TRU version (Spidron) is a black spider. Of the two I prefer this grey version better.

BBmf18 BBmf19

He comes with two weapons; not the short axes I show in the pictures, although the black/grey color match him but rather the long claw-like axes. They can fit together at the handle to make one large double headed axe and fit into the holes on the sides his abdomen. He’s another good figure for customs with unusual pieces that can be used to create unique creatures.

BBmf20 BBmf21

In conclusion he may be a bit creepy but he’s also really cool!

MMC Score – 8 out of 10

 

BBmf22

 

Review and pictures by Lurch77

[starratingmulti id=”1″]

[starratingmulti id=”2″]

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