.

The usual Marvel Minimate carton. No surprises here, though both Rachel’s hair and the dome of the Sentinel’s head start to intrude into the window area of the box. “Variant” is written down the right hand side of the box-front.

The current Rachel Grey as she first appeared in the Marvel 616 Universe calling herself Rachel Summers at this time. As explained in the Rachel Grey/Marvel Girl review, Rachel’s history is so complicated that trying to provide a potted version is nigh on impossible, though the bio boxes on the back of the packaging do their best.

Despite being the same character as Marvel Girl there are slight differences to Rachel’s face. The linework around her eyes is much lighter here and the eyes appear brighter because of it, though this could also be caused by the lack of hair obscuring the eyes. The print for Rachel’s mouth is also different, there’s a lot more weight to the black line on the lower lip. It’s good that these small differences are apparent. Rachel’s hair is her signature style from the 1980’s – 1990’s it’s sort of a flat top that goes into a ratty ponytail at the back. DST have done a great job recreating the hair for this Minimate. There’s a silver collar around the figures’ neck that I think is supposed to represent the spiked collar Rachel used to wear, it’s not entirely successful at that, but looks good all the same.

Rather sweetly DST have given us a treat, in the shape of a second face print on the other side of the head. It’s not exactly an Easter egg, but it’s very much appreciated. The alternative face is the way Rachel’s power use to manifest when she was really letting rip. There’s also a nicely evil cast to the expression, I don’t believe Rachel ever became a Dark Phoenix, but the potential is certainly there.

Rachel’s costume is the one she wore while a member of Excalibur. It’s a red all-in-one suit that has studs running down the arms and the torso. DST have done their best to represent the studs with a silver tampo, it looks good on the front but the prints on the arms are almost unnoticeable unless looked at directly. The colour chosen for the costume is perfect, there’s very little difference in shade between the plastic of the arms and legs and the painted chest block and torso. Also the black shading print on this figure is excellent, the use of black is exactly how Alan Davis (the original Excalibur artist) used to draw Rachel and gives this Minimate a definitive look.

Like the original figure in this wave, Rachel Summers also has the Phoenix effect accessory. It’s a lovely looking piece and this version of Rachel in particular looks very good when displayed upon it.

In conclusion: Ranks among the best variants in the line. A great piece.

MMC Score – 9 out of 10

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