2011
06.02

 

Alas DC Minimates. I knew you well. Let’s face it, we’re extremely late with these reviews. The minimate avalanche since 2008 has shown no sign of abating and the late and much lamented DC line has been late and much neglected by MMC. We’re aiming to fix that in the first quarter of 2010. Stick with us kids.

DC wave 6 was another strange mix of characters, with name recognition not as high as for previous waves.

 

Packaging

DC seemed to like to stick to a distinctive look for their mates. The blister card is the same on all releases. The only differences being the featured character on the inlay (this time being Supergirl) and obviously the photos on the back of the card.  
 
 


 

The Figures

Stargirl

Courtney Whitmore originally started out in her super-hero career as the Star-Spangled Kid. It was only after Jack Knight (Starman) gave her a cosmic rod that she took on the mantle of Stargirl. Stargirl regularly appears in the comic series Justice Society of America and has also appeared in the animated series Justice League Unlimited.

There’s something a little ‘off’ with the face on this ‘mate. I think that because the hair flares away from the face it leaves Stargirl looking a little lantern jawed. Not an attractive look on a young lady. It’s a shame as I think with a different hairstyle this would have been an excellent Minimate. The mask is well applied and Stargirl has huge expressive eyes but the designers have opted to give her that sardonic half smile that so many female Minimates ended up with. I think the placing of the mouth tampo also leaves the bottom of the face looking larger than it should.

The uniform however, is pretty much spot on. Stargirl’s belly shirt looks maybe a tad odd due to the square chest block but it’s true to the character. I’m very impressed with how the star detailing down the arms has been carried out. It was a brave decision to place the centre tampo right over the arm joints and it’s not quite as successful as perhaps it was envisioned. But overall it looks a lot better than if the star had been omitted, or if the stars had been placed elsewhere on the arm.

The one other criticism I have of this Minimate is the lack of a belt piece. Stargirl wears a fairly chunky belt yet on the Minimate it’s a simple tampo that’s barely noticeable between the fleshtone of her midriff and the blue of her shorts. The shorts are well applied. I think the white borders at the thigh help to add definition and also help avoid the rather messy paint lines we’ve seen in this area on some earlier DC ‘mates. Also of note are the boots. Someone’s taken a lot of trouble detailing not only the red laces but also the tongues of the boots. The laces also continue down the front of the foot. Nice touch, and appreciated by this fanboy.

Stargirl is accessorised with her cosmic rod. It’s a great looking piece but is slightly too large for Minimate hands. This consequently stretches the hand a lot further apart than is perhaps necessary and could cause a failure of the hand over time.

In conclusion: Not an awful Minimate by any means but I expected more from this one.

MMC Score – 7 out of 10


 

S.T.R.I.P.E.

Okay this is a bit convoluted, stay with me. Pat Dugan is rather embarrassingly, the adult sidekick of a teen superhero called the Star Spangled Kid (A different Star Spangled Kid to Courtney Whitmore). Dugan marries Courtney’s mother, and so Courtney takes on the mantle of Star Spangled Kid to irritate him (this makes sense in comics… Apparently). Dugan being a bit of an inventor comes up with a robotic suit so as to protect Courtney. Effectively becoming the adult sidekick to a kid super-hero again. Has this man no shame? S.T.R.I.P.E stands for Special Tactics Robotic Integrated Power Enhancer. No, doesn’t sound at all contrived to me either…

Right, exposition out of the way, what’s the Minimate like then? Well, I have to say right off of the bat, I love this Minimate. I think it looks fantastic. The head is the same scale as the 2″ Minimate head but has been placed on the 3″ body. This gives S.T.R.I.P.E a very powerful look as the chest, especially with its added chest piece, looks absolutely massive. The head itself is great, it has a great expression gifted to it by dint of the lower jaw jutting out and dominating so much of the face. Kind of like a lantern jaw that works.

The chest piece has two handles on the back. These, apparently, are for the Star Spangled Kid (as she was before being given a cosmic rod) to hold on to while S.T.R.I.P.E flies. Guess what… Stargirl can hold on to them. Nice attention to detail there from the DC Direct guys and the Art Asylum team. Remove the chest piece and there’s a nice little easter egg – a tampo of Pat Dugan sitting inside the chest block working the controls for S.T.R.I.P.E.. Obviously the tampo is totally out of proportion to other Minimates but that’s not really the point. It’s a sweet touch and again the kind of attention to detail that’s appreciated by fans.

Decoration on the ‘mate is fairly minimal. Apart from the chest block tampo there’s the S emblem on the upper chest piece and some nice metallic red paint on the lower. There are some very plain black lines on the inner thighs and that’s it. S.T.R.I.P.E is finished off with some nicely chunked out boots, complete with claws on the toes. It’s the addition of these the gauntlets and that huge chest piece that really give this Minimate a sense of mass. Simple but brilliant. The only flaw I can see is that the lower section of the chest piece appears to be warped. I’m sure it’s supposed to be symmetrical but the ‘air vents’ (if that’s what they are?) definitely look skewed to me.

In Conclusion: An almost perfect representation of the character, slightly spoiled by the chest block.

MMC Score – 9 out of 10

 

Review and pictures by Rad Kerrigan

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