.

Standard Marvel packaging. A cardboard carton with windows through which the figures can be seen. In a marked departure from previous waves the large Minimate Spider-Man graphic is missing from the ‘J’ hook area of the box and the Wolverine logo sits proud above the window section. Other than that it’s business as usual. Each character has it’s own side flap and the rear of the box features a picture of all the characters in the wave and bio boxes for the figures within.

Possibly Wolverine’s arch-nemesis, they’re certainly evenly matched. Sabretooth is bigger and nastier. Wolverine has cunning undercut with a hint of honour. Both possess mutant healing factors and wicked claws. This is the fourth Sabretooth seen in the Marvel Minimates line; in wave 3 we had an Ultimate version and much more recently a movie version, plus variant, yet undoubtedly this one is the most recognisable and iconic.

This is a great representation of Sabretooth. His hair and headband look just right and the ferocity on the face is fantastic. That mouth is all snarl and slaver, and the eyes, though pupil-less, have an intense look to them.

Sabretooth’s costume has been created using a one-off chestpiece that has a mane running around the back and shoulders. Interestingly the mane is asymmetric at the front. The left side sits flush with the brown section of the costume while the right veers noticeably inside it. I’m not sure that’s an intended effect but I actually prefer it in this instance. After all the mane would be all over the place while Sabretooth is in action. All detailing appears to be present and correct. The orange and brown costume is very faithful to the look of the character, I’m impressed with how tight the detailing is, especially on the diamonds that run down the outside of Sabretooth’s legs. 

The hands look to be all new pieces. While we’ve had plenty of clawed hands on Minimates past these are the first ones to have what I’ve seen referred to as ‘sharks’ – blades that come up from the outside of the gloves with the points facing back toward the elbows. It’s a good attempt but they’re a bit too flat in my opinion. I believe they should be rounded and appear to be more of a dew-claw. Interestingly the claws themselves have been cast in clear plastic and painted brown. I don’t know why this should be? But my best guess would be some kind of attempt to show Sabretooth’s more natural claws (at his fingertips) by removing some of the paint at the tips of the fingers. Either this was missed at final production or nixed at some point during production. This though is all supposition on my part.

Sabretooth has no accessories, but he’s more of a hands-on villain so we’ll let them off. 

In conclusion, this is a great looking figure that any Minimates X-villains display would be all the poorer without. Well worth the wait.

MMC Score – 8 out of 10

Shapeshifting alien enemies of the entire Marvel universe. The Skrulls want Earth. But they’ve a lot of heroes to wade through first. Maybe they should invade quietly, like in secret or something. Seriously though, what do Skrulls have to do with Wolverine? Oh sure, they’ve tangled in the past but the Skrulls are Fantastic Four villains, as shown by pairing the exclusive Super Skrull with the Thing a few years back. Surely DST could have come up with a more Wolverine-centric army builder? 

That little rant aside this isn’t a bad looking figure. The face is great, all teeth and rage. Plenty of furrowed brow and gnarly chin action too. However, Skrulls aren’t clones and don’t all look the same. Furthermore, this particular ‘mate has a very unique expression on his little face. Putting a load of these together doesn’t make for an army. DST really missed a trick here, the hairpiece/helmet covers enough of the head for an alternate face to have been printed on the other side. It amazes me that this wasn’t made to happen from an army builder standpoint. For my own display I used a spare Skrull head from the Secret Invasion boxset to give a little variety.

The Skrull uniform is pretty basic; a light purple jumpsuit with minimal points of contrast. Some silver bands at the wrists and ankles some black detailing under the shoulder piece and a hint of musculature. There’s not a lot going on with this ‘mate, but then it is supposed to be a soldier. Another way to create a bit of variety is to remove the shoulder piece. Underneath is a nice spiky black design on the front and back, unfortunately it doesn’t go over the top of the chest block, but it can still make it look as though you’ve a grunt and a CO at least. The holster on the Skrull’s right thigh is a lift from the Battlestar Galactica pilots (it has the same design on the side) and looks very clunky on this figure. 

The Skrull is accessorised with a silver pistol which appears to be cast from the same mold as the Battlestar Galactica pistol, which has seen a fair amount of re-use in the Marvel line but makes sense to use as a spacey-looking gun.

In conclusion, this Minimate isn’t really a Wolverine baddie, but certainly isn’t unwelcome.

MMC Score – 6 out of 10

Review and pictures by Rad Kerrigan

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