.

Those crazy people at Art Asylum, eh? Not content with creating a superbly articulated 3″ figure, they proceeded to saddle them with some of the most bizarre choices of action figure licenses ever assembled under one roof. OK, Bruce Lee is always cool, if not particularly relevant these days, and Star Trek made sense when they had the overall license for the larger figures too, but Minimates based on Rock Stars alter-egos? Dark Angel? Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon? What the -?

Anyway, after that rambling opening paragraph, let’s try and bring back some normalcy to the review. Ahem. Here we have the first review of Art Asylum’s Rock Minimates line, Rob Zombie in his Superbeast persona.

Packaging

The majority of the 2002-era Minimates came in plastic tubes. These were no doubt very expensive to produce and must have added a lot to the unit costs, and later 3″ Minimates would be carded. Some lines, like Star Trek, have Minimates that came in both styles of packaging. Each Rock Minimate I have has been in the tube, so I’m not sure if carded versions ever came out. Certainly if they did, they aren’t as prevalent.

Rob Zombie

One good reason for choosing Rock stars is that by their very nature they are flashy and showy. Rob Zombie here is no exception. The hairpiece is the largest I’ve seen on a 3″ Minimate, the long two-tone dreadlocked hair cascades down his back and down to his waist at the front. It also contains a mustache and beard combo, although one of my collegues at work insists that the rectangular piece underneath the mustache is his tongue coming out Gene Simmons-style.

Rob Zombie has a fantastic costume in this persona, with some great unique pieces which set him up as one of the best 3″ Minimates out there. First off are his metal chest and shoulder protectors, which are distinctive and evil looking in a sinister grey finish, but obviously what really catches the eye are his giant claws. No puny Wolverine-style thin razors here, Rob has these thick prongs that look like they could cause real damage. They are in different styles as well, the right one having three prongs and the left one with two. These add so much to the figure because they make him able to be played with. Who wouldn’t want to pit him against Bruce Lee, or team him up with the visually-similar LOTR Sauron for maximum evil carnage? Finally, Rob Zombie has these big metallic boots to complete the intimidating look.

Like a lot of the 3″ Minimates, Rob Zombie comes with no accessories, although his claws of his are certainly more than just costume filler.

Overall, this is one of the best 3″ figures out there for looks and playability, and will actually work well as a “villain” in all of the other 3″ lines. Highly recommended.

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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